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PODCAST

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll. From the invention of the Game Boy to the Mancunian beer-poisoning of 1900, from Julius Caesar"s invasion of Britain to America"s Nazi summer schools... each day we uncover an unexpected story for the ages. In just ten minutes! Best Daily Podcast (British Podcast Awards 2023 nominee). Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

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All Episodes

10:28

The First Miss America

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/08

Margaret Gorman, a schoolgirl from Washington DC, was crowned ‘Miss Intercity Beauty’ at the “Fall Frolic” in Atlantic City on 8th September, 1921 - an event that would eventually become known as Miss America, and watched by 75% of American households.She and her fellow competitors took part in an early incarnation of the swimsuit round (complete with woollen leggings), making their grand entrance on a barge, headed up by ‘Neptune’ (played by the octogenarian inventor of smokeless gun powder. Of

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9:14

The Umbrella Assassin

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/07

Rerun. Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was shot by a poisoned pellet whilst walking on Waterloo Bridge on 7th September, 1978. Four days later, he was dead.He believed the bullet - believed to be filled with ricin - had emanated from the umbrella of a Soviet secret agent. The British press labelled his assasination the ‘Poison Brolly Riddle’.In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explain how Markov was initially disbelieved by doctors; reveal the mysterious involvement of a pig in the Porton Down

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10:23

Up The Royal Oak

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/06

Charles II, the 21 year-old King of Scotland, sought refuge up an oak tree at Boscobel House on 6th September, 1651. Having been chased out of Worcester by Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads, he feared for his life, and was disguised as a working class woodsman.The escape was much re-told upon his restoration to the throne, and highly romanticised; being committed to poetry by Cowley, prose by Peyps - and inspiring hundreds of English pubs to name themselves ‘The Royal Oak’.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca

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10:18

Bring On The Beard Tax

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/05

Peter The Great levied a tax on facial hair on 5th September, 1698, requiring every man in Moscow to shave or stump up some cash - although there were exemptions for the Orthodox Church.The hare-brained scheme occurred to the eccentric Peter on his expeditions through Europe, where he came to see clean chins as symbolic of progress and sophistication.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover Peter’s other ‘European rules of comportment’; convert the costs of Peter’s taxes into the

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23:03

EXTRA: Can nuclear power overcome its image problem?

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/03

Our friends at The Week (where, fun fact, The Retrospectors met) have a great podcast we'd like to share with you for your Saturday listening pleasure.It's called The Overview, and it's the perfect accompaniment to our shows this week on the SOLAR APOCALYPSE and NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY - because it's about the future of nuclear power.As the world races to decarbonise, nuclear power is being touted as an essential energy source. But safety fears remain, along with claims that nuclear reactors are too

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10:25

Solar Explosion!

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/02

The Carrington Event - the largest solar storm in recorded history - occurred on 2nd September, 1859. Although its effects would later be felt by millions around the world, it had initially only been spotted by one amateur, British astronomer: Richard Carrington.What he’d witnessed was a giant Coronal Mass Ejection - a significant release of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the Sun's corona into the heliosphere. If repeated today, it could bring down satellites and cause city-wide

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9:49

Nokia’s Beloved Brick

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/09/01

Rerun. The Nokia 3310 - featuring Snake II, pop-on/off covers, and a discreetly concealed antenna - was launched on 1st September, 2000 at a boardsports event in Dusseldorf, Germany.Nicknamed ‘the brick’, the handset went on to shift 126 million units— more than 20 times as many as the first-generation iPhone.In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion marvel at a time when only 50% of people in the US had a phone in their pockets; rack their brains to recall the OTHER games that were bundled on the

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10:33

Gorilla Marketing

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/31

Cadbury’s Dairy Milk re-energised its flagging brand in the UK on 31st August, 2007, when its iconic ‘Gorilla’ ad premiered in the Big Brother final on Channel 4.The 90-second commercial, which featured a gorilla drumming along to Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’, was an instant hit on YouTube (a novelty back in 2007), and turned around sales for the chocolate company after a series of PR misfires and a salmonella scare.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the ad’s concept was

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10:33

The Moscow-Washington Hotline

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/30

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviets and Americans agreed to install a ‘hot line’ between their Presidents. On 30th August, 1963, a 10,000 mile transatlantic Washington-Moscow cable went live from the Pentagon to Red Square.In the public imagination (in part thanks to Kubrik’s ‘Dr Strangelove’), it remains a red telephone - but it is, in fact, a pair of beige teletype machines that each required ten staff to operate.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why, prior to this,

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10:14

When Caesar Invaded Britain

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/26

When Julius Caesar showed up in the Channel with thousands of men on 26th August 55 BC, he doubtless intended to get a bit further than the coast of Kent. Unfortunately for him, he had moored his ships where they could be pelted from the cliffs, and the Gaulish chief he sent in advance had been imprisoned.Nonetheless, he reported back to Rome that his British adventure had been enormously worthwhile - as he had traveled to the very edges of the known world - and had another, marginally more

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9:33

The Beatles’ Giggling Guru

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/25

Rerun. John, Paul, George and Ringo travelled to a transcendental meditation workshop in Bangor, Wales on 25th August, 1967 - at the invitation of ‘giggling guru’, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.The event changed everything for The Fab Four - influencing their music, their philosophy, and ultimately contributing to the end of the band.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly question whether the retreat lead them to give up LSD; reveal how Ringo, frankly, never really seemed to be in to it; and uncover the

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10:41

The Last Hieroglyph

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/24

In the temple at Philae, an Egyptian Priest called Nesmeterakhem created the last ever known hieroglyphic inscription on 24th August, 394. Although ostensibly praising the God Mandulis, the scribe spent just as long commemorating his own presence - and the names of his Mum and Dad.For centuries, Western academics assumed his words might be more mysterious and spiritual than the somewhat prosaic reality - because, until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799, there was no accurate way to read

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10:30

The ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ Robbery

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/23

Stockholm Syndrome - the condition in which hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors during captivity - was named after a bank robbery that began on 23rd August, 1973. It lasted for five days, with 73% of the Swedish public tuning in to watch it.The robber was Jan-Erik Olsson, who pulled a loaded submachine gun, fired at the ceiling and, disguising his voice to sound like an American, cried out in English, “The party has just begun!”.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick

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9:19

Balloons With Bombs On

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/22

The world’s first notable air raid occurred on 22nd August, 1849, when the Austrian Army attacked Venice using a fleet of 200 miniature hot air balloons, each delivering a 33lb pound bomb.Following a disastrous first attempt - when the balloons blew back on to their own men - this time the Austrians equipped each balloon with a long copper wire to trigger the detonation.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly weigh up if the event had a decisive effect on their recapture of the Italian city;

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10:34

The Whole Truth

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/19

Court witnesses have promised to tell ‘the whole truth’ since the 13th century; but, on 19th August, 1992, the U.S. Appeals Court permitted Wallace Ward to stand trial under his own oath - pledging not ‘truth’, but ‘fully integrated honesty’.Ward, the president of a Nevada-based mail order company, had coined the phrase himself when he devised Neothink, a cultish belief system structured around charging hundreds of dollars for self-help advice.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly weigh up

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10:09

The First TV Weather Report

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/18

Rerun. A weather map was first broadcast on TV on 18th August, 1926 - but there were no fancy graphics, no on-screen forecaster, and only one intended recipient: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC.In the UK, the Met Office had been producing weather forecasts since 1861, but the BBC didn’t bring a ‘weatherman’ to British screens until 1954.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain Charles Darwin’s connection to weather-forecasting; review the first weather

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10:26

Party at the Palace

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/17

Louis XIV was among the V.I.P. guests at Nicolas Fouquet’s lavish houseparty on 17th August, 1661 - and was supposedly so consumed with jealousy that he had Fouquet arrested for treason.Although not entirely true, the story adds to the mystique of Vaux-le-Vicomte, the opulent chateau Fouquet created with the design team who later went on to reimagine Versailles.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Molière, d'Artagnan, and even the Man in the Iron Mask became tied up in this iconic

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10:29

The Deadly Air Race

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/16

Aviation in the 1920s could be a lethal business, as proven on 16th August 1927, when only 2 of the 15 planes that entered The Dole Derby - a $35,000 contest to fly from California to Hawaii - successfully reached their destination.The brainchild of pineapple magnate James D. Dole, the competition inspired the public imagination - and a crowd of 100,000 people - but claimed the lives of TEN participants.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the inefficient and dangerous aeronautics of

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10:35

America's Nazi Summer Camps

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/15

Camp Siegfried hosted a ‘Nazi Camp Fete’ for 40,000 attendees on 15th August, 1938. The Summer resort, on Yaphank, Long Island, was the epicentre of the German-American Bund: an organisation devoted to establishing a Nazi stronghold across the United States.Alongside campfire building and swimming lessons, young attendees were taught to emulate the Hitler Youth and host mini Nuremberg-style rallies.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how delegates were trained to anticipate a Nazi coup

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10:30

The Bodies Buried at Bedlam

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2022/08/12

When 42 bodies buried near Liverpool Street Station in London were dug up as part of the works on Crossrail on 12th August, 2015, they were thought to be victims of the Great Plague of 1665. The incident shone a light on the cemetery in which they were buried - a pauper’s grave at Bethlem Hospital; the institution more commonly known as ‘Bedlam’.From its establishment in 1247, Bedlam ‘lunatic asylum’ quickly gained a reputation as a place that was pioneering - it was the only mental health facility

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1,259 results

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