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Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

BEST DAILY SHOW (British Podcast Awards Nominee, 2026). Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann (Answer Me This!), Rebecca Messina (The Week Unwrapped) and Arion McNicoll (The Chaser). 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! Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or

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All Episodes

12:11

Making Monty Python

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/10/05

Monty Python’s Flying Circus made its TV debut, in a Sunday night graveyard slot on BBC 1, on 5th October, 1969. Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones - plucked from ITV kids show Do Not Adjust Your Set - were matched by BBC producers with the acerbic John Cleese and Graham Chapman from At Last The 1948 Show, and, surprisingly, American animator Terry Gilliam. The result was an unprecedentedly anarchic and volatile smorgasbord of innovative TV sketches. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and

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11:30

Creating Opus Dei

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/10/02

Secretive Catholic sect Opus Dei was founded on 2nd October, 1928 by the young, energetic priest Jose Maria Escriva, who believed his divine mission was to inject religious fervour into everyday life, with holiness achieved not via clergy, but from the daily work of laypeople. The faith grew rapidly in Spain, especially during the Franco era, eventually spreading internationally. But its ties to right-wing governments, including those of Franco and Pinochet, sparked criticism; and its propagation

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13:13

Screening The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/10/01

Tobe Hooper’s legendary low-budget horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, first screened in Austin on 1st October, 1974.The movie was an international sensation - making £21.9 million from its £100,000 budget in its first year - although not in the UK, where it was not screened nationally for 25 years, due to the BBFC’s concerns about its portrayal of suffering and violence against women. In this episode, The Retrospectors unpick the picture’s gruesome reputation, given that much of the

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11:34

Thunderbirds Are Go!

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/30

The first ever episode of Thunderbirds, the revolutionary British TV show starring puppets, aired on September 30th, 1965. It was instantly a hit in Britain, and elsewhere in the world, but its failure to captivate a US audience led to its untimely demise after just two seasons.The show used a system, coined by its creators as “Supermarionation” which involved pre-recording the voices, which would then be played back during filming. Each marionette’s head contained filters which converted the

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11:40

The Inquiry Office

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/29

Henry Robinson opened the Office of Addresses and Encounters on Threadneedle Street, London on 29th September, 1650. The centre provided a forward-looking, unusual mix of services ranging from job placements, money lending, and property dealings… to (shhh) match-making.Robinson's inspiration came from a broader philosophical concept of creating a place where people of all classes could access information, regardless of their status in society. He accordingly charged a minimal fee for answers to

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10:56

Philadelphia's Deadly Parade

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/28

The Liberty Loan Parade on 28th September, 1918 was the biggest party Philadelphia had ever seen: floats, marching bands, and miles of cheering crowds. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a deadly super-spreader event.The Spanish flu had first killed a Philadelphian just nine days earlier, and cases were already popping up in the Navy Yard. Doctors warned the city to cancel the parade, but officials waved them off. Within days, Philadelphia was a disaster zone. Hospitals overflowed, schools and

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11:05

Praise The Lord, It's Billy Graham

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/25

Billy Graham’s Los Angeles Crusade started modestly on 25th September, 1949. But after newspaper giant William Randolph Hearst told his editors to "puff Graham", the nightly revival meetings exploded in popularity, becoming a ‘sin-smashing sensation’, and Graham soon became America’s favourite preacher.His style was perfect for the Hollywood backdrop. At just 30 years old, Graham had a youthful, energetic presence, dashing good looks, and a flair for the dramatic. His sermons, packed with urgency

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12:08

Sexing Up Jane Austen

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/24

The ‘Austenmania’ craze of the mid-90s kicked off with the BBC’s production of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which first aired on 24th September, 1995.Now primarily remembered for Colin Firth’s ‘wet shirt’ scene, Andrew Davies’s ‘sexed up’ adaptation also starred Firth’s real-life squeeze Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, and was the first serialisation of the novel to be filmed on location, with picturesque country estates providing a ‘property porn’ backdrop to the plot’s central romance. In this

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12:03

Here Comes Nintendo

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/23

Nintendo was world-famous by the 1980s but the origins of the company go back a century earlier - to September 23rd, 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a maker of brightly-coloured ‘Hanafuda’ cards.The hand-painted playing cards, made of mulberry bark, were produced for decades and were a favourite of Yakuza gangsters for use in illegal gambling. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look into the bizarre businesses with which Nintendo experimented before their pivot into

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11:38

Welcome to Downing St

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/22

Robert Walpole, first Lord of the Treasury, moved into 10 Downing Street on 22nd September, 1735, after three years of renovations. Although initially given to him as a personal gift from the King, the house became the official residence for all future Prime Ministers.Despite its central location in London, Downing Street wasn't fashionable at the time, and the house already had a long history of structural issues due to soft ground, leading to constant repairs. Over time, the original yellow

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11:50

The Man Who Bought Stonehenge

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/21

Barrister Cecil Chubb attended a Salisbury auction on September 21st, 1915 intending to buy curtains or chairs, but impulsively bought… Stonehenge. Yes, that Stonehenge. Built by Neolithic and Bronze Age communities for purposes still debated today - ceremonial? religious? - for centuries the site had been treated less like a sacred monument and more like an inconvenient field ornament. Sheep grazed around it, tourists scratched their names into it, and the Aristocratic family who owned it had

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13:02

How the Paralympics Began

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/18

The first Paralympic Games - hosting 400 athletes from 23 countries - took place in Rome on 18th September, 1960.But it was only known by this name retrospectively: the day it took place, this festival of disabled sport was called The Ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games. Sprung from a competition held at a hospital in Buckinghamshire, and pioneered by German-Jewish neurosurgeon Dr. Ludwig Guttman, the Games began as part of a physiotherapy programme for soldiers and civilians with

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11:49

The Bermuda Triangle Theory

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/17

Why were multiple ships and planes lost in the section of the Atlantic between Miami, Puerto Rico and Bermuda? Journalist Edward van Winkle-Jones first floated the idea of ‘the Bermuda Triangle’ - although he didn’t call it that - in an article for the Miami Herald on 17th September, 1950.The speculation that ensued inspired a lively industry in conspiracies, myths and tall tales that remains to this day, but the association with that area being dangerous dates back almost 500 years - when no less

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12:38

New York's First Terror Attack

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/16

The Wall Street bomb, outside JP Morgan’s headquarters, killed 38 people and seriously injured 143 more on 16th September, 1920. It was the biggest terror attack in New York City until 9/11.The blast shattered windows, overturned vehicles and sent fragments of metal and glass flying through nearby buildings. J.P. Morgan himself was safely on holiday in Scotland, but his son Junius Morgan was among those injured. Mostly, the victims were clerks, stenographers, messengers, and porters caught in the

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13:04

Hitler's Swastika Hijack

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/15

As a symbol over 7,000 years old, the swastika had a long, diverse history before becoming the official flag of Nazi Germany on 15th September, 1935. It had been considered a sacred symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Odinism - and appeared on artifacts from pre-Christian European cultures.It had even featured as part of U.S. Girl Scout iconography in the early 20th century. But when Adolf Hitler made it the symbol of the Nazi Party in 1920, its resonance altered forever. No longer an image of good

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13:03

Pop-Tarts: So Hot, They're Cool!

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/14

Kellogg’s launched their space-age convenience food, Pop-Tarts, on 14th September, 1964. In a cheeky bit of corporate one-upmanship, the cereals company had beaten their arch-rivals, Post, to supermarket shelves: Post’s product “Country Squares” was actually announced first, but couldn’t gain ground on Kellogg’s copycat product. Culturally, Pop-Tarts arrived at just the right moment. Women were working outside the home, households were busier, and convenience was becoming fashionable instead of

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12:06

The Real Lord of the Flies

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/11

Captain Peter Warner and his crew made a startling discovery as they sailed past the uninhabited island of Atta in the Pacific on 11th September, 1966: six naked, shaggy-haired teenage boys, who had been stranded there for fifteen months.Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke, and Mano had escaped from their boarding school in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, having "borrowed" a boat and embarked on a spontaneous adventure that went horribly wrong when a storm left them adrift at sea. For eight days, they

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11:51

The 19th Century Drunk Driver

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/10

London cab driver George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building on 10th September, 1897. He was fined 20 shillings (around £130 in today's money) - but was not banned from the road.The vehicle he was driving only had a top speed of 12 mph, but, unfortunately for him, the building he crashed into was the home of celebrated actor Sir Henry Irving - which might be why he was the first person charged with a law that had technically been on

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12:52

Why Nobody Liked 'Joey'

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/09

‘Friends’ spin-off ‘Joey’ premiered on NBC on 9th September, 2004. 18.6 million Americans tuned in to watch Matt LeBlanc’s next chapter as Joey Tribbiani, now relocated to Los Angeles, alongside his sister Gina and her teenage son Michael.But the audience steadily melted away, and NBC shunted the second season around before putting the show on hiatus, before cancelling it. In today’s episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the delicate dance of trying to spin off a character from a massively

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11:54

Last of the Tasmanian Tigers

Today In History with The Retrospectors ·

2026/09/08

The last known Tasmanian tiger to be held in captivity was found dead at Hobart’s Beaumaris zoo on 8th September, 1936. The critically endangered marsupial was accidentally locked out of its shelter overnight and succumbed to the frigid temperatures. With the animal’s death, a species that had once roamed across Australia for thousands of years went out with a whisper. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss why 19th- and 20th-century Australians hunted Tasmanian tigers with such

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