Today In History with 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.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 12 minutes
- Episodes
- 1103
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Laughter, Uncanned
'The Hank McCune Show' - an otherwise unremarkable footnote in American TV history - became the first single-camera sitcom to deploy a pre-recorded laugh track (aka ‘canned laughter’) on 9th Septembe…
00:11:16 |
Tue 09 Sep 2025
Making Michelangelo's David
Now celebrated as the most famous statue in the world, Michelangelo's David was first unveiled in Florence's Piazza della Signoria on 8th September, 1504.
Originally intended for the roofline of Fl…
00:12:03 |
Mon 08 Sep 2025
Welcome To Bavaria, U.S.A.
oday, the small town of Leavenworth in Washington is known for its Bavarian-themed hotels, restaurants, shops and festivals, but when it was incorporated on 5th September, 1906, its main claim to fam…
00:12:16 |
Fri 05 Sep 2025
The Quiz Show That Won The Jackpot
On 4th September, 1998, the debut episode of the world-conquering game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? aired in the UK.
Initially titled Cash Mountain, the show format had been offered to nearl…
00:12:27 |
Thu 04 Sep 2025
Who Invented The Air Fryer?
Fred van der Weij, a Dutch electronics engineer with a craving for healthier chips, spent years tinkering in his garage to create the “frit air” - launched by Philips as the “Air Fryer” at Berlin’s I…
00:12:37 |
Wed 03 Sep 2025
Queen Of The Cuban Sea
Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad was 64 years old when she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage for protection on 2nd September, 2013.
Nyad completed the …
00:11:06 |
Tue 02 Sep 2025
Why Japan Loves Baseball
How come baseball, that most American of games, is even more popular in Japan than in its home country?
It’s a story with roots into the nineteenth century, as Arion, Olly and Rebecca discover whil…
00:11:34 |
Mon 01 Sep 2025
The Last Of His Tribe
Ishi, a native American man who was widely acclaimed as the “last wild Indian” emerged from the wilderness on 29th August, 1911.
His arrival came as a huge surprise to the people of Oroville, Califo…
00:11:44 |
Fri 29 Aug 2025
The First Gay Games
Over 1,300 athletes from 12 countries gathered at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco for the first-ever Gay Games, on 28th August, 1982.
Intended as the “Gay Olympics,” the event had to change its name…
00:12:36 |
Thu 28 Aug 2025
The 38 Minute War
The shortest war in history began at 09:02 on 27th August, 1896 - and was over 38 minutes later - when The British Empire, at the peak of its power, flexed its military might over the African island …
00:13:43 |
Wed 27 Aug 2025
Colin The Caterpillar - A Cultural Odyssey
Equally beloved at office boardrooms and toddler birthday parties, Colin the Caterpillar - a £7 swiss roll cake with white and milk chocolate and buttercream - was launched at an unsuspecting public …
00:11:41 |
Tue 26 Aug 2025
Beavers on the Moon
The ‘Great Moon Hoax’ was published by the New York Sun on 25th August, 1835, claiming over six instalments that renowned English astronomer John Herschel had spotted bat-men, unicorns, and bipedal b…
00:12:26 |
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Leaving Devil's Island
Established in 1852, Devil’s Island, one of six penal colonies in French Guiana, was finally closed on 22nd August, 1953. Nicknamed the ‘Green Hell’ and the ‘Dry Guillotine’, it earned a reputation a…
00:11:37 |
Fri 22 Aug 2025
Cat Bin Lady, Internet Villain
CCTV footage captured middle-aged bank worker Mary Bale dropping friendly tabby cat Lola into a Coventry wheelie bin on 21st August, 2010. The video went viral, and Bale was disgraced on the front pa…
00:12:44 |
Thu 21 Aug 2025
The Rolling Stones' Biggest Hit
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction was released in Britain on 20th August, 1965 - having already reached No. 1 for four weeks Stateside.
With its distorted guitar riff, raw energy, and thinly veiled sexua…
00:13:30 |
Wed 20 Aug 2025
The Surprising Start of Vietnemese Nail Bars
Tippi Hedren, star of Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ and ‘Marnie’, was already known for her activism - primarily rescuing big cats - when, on 19th August, 1975 she visited a Vietnamese refugee camp in Sacr…
00:11:12 |
Tue 19 Aug 2025
Apartheid and the Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned South Africa from competing in the upcoming Tokyo Games on 18th August, 1964, after the nation had signalled its intention to send only white athletes…
00:11:43 |
Mon 18 Aug 2025
The Real Macbeth
Immortalised by Shakespeare, Scottish king Macbeth was killed in battle near Lumphanan, Aberdeenshire on 15th August 1057; a demise that brought significant changes to Scotland's monarchy.
But the r…
00:12:33 |
Fri 15 Aug 2025
Capturing Carlos The Jackal
A decades-long manhunt closed in on international terrorist Illich Ramirez Sanchez, aka Carlos the Jackal, on 14th August, 1994 - when he was sedated and kidnapped by French intelligence agents in Kh…
00:12:41 |
Thu 14 Aug 2025
Building The Berlin Wall
Berliners awoke on 13th August, 1961 to find their city divided in half. East German troops had worked overnight to roll out barbed wire and barricades, turning neighbourhoods into no-go zones. It be…
00:13:02 |
Wed 13 Aug 2025
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