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
Star Trek's Interracial Kiss
Rerun: Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) embraced and kissed on "Plato’s Stepchildren"; an episode of ‘Star Trek’ broadcast on 22nd November, 1968 - just a …
00:11:38 |
Fri 22 Nov 2024
Let's Revolve A Restaurant
Rerun: La Ronde, the USA’s first revolving restaurant, opened on 21st November, 1961, at the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu. On the menu in the 298ft-tall tower was shrimp cocktail, mahi-mahi, and ‘the…
00:11:54 |
Thu 21 Nov 2024
Beethoven's Biggest Flop
Beethoven's first attempt at opera, Leonore, premiered in Vienna on 20th November, 1805. Attendance was sparse, due in part to Napoleon's recent invasion: the audience largely composed of French offi…
00:11:36 |
Wed 20 Nov 2024
Pelé's 1000th Goal
Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore over the astonishing career of football legend Pelé, who (by his own count, if not FIFA’s) scored his 1,000th goal on 19th November, 1969.
Smashing racial barriers, Pelé…
00:11:42 |
Tue 19 Nov 2024
Year of the Fistula
King Louis XIV underwent risky surgery to remove a painful anal fistula on 18th November, 1686: an event that created a sensation at court, leading to 1686 being declared the ‘year of the fistula’.
…
00:11:26 |
Mon 18 Nov 2024
The (Lady) Pirates of the Carribbean
Rerun: Anne Bonny and Mary Read - the most notorious women to swashbuckle and plunder in the ‘golden age of piracy’ - were captured near Jamaica by pirate-hunter Jonathan Barnet on 8th November, 1720…
00:11:55 |
Fri 15 Nov 2024
When Anne Married Mark
Rerun: The Royal Wedding between Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips on 14th November, 1973 was a lavish affair at Westminster Abbey, with an anticipated global audience of 500 million - but the …
00:11:58 |
Thu 14 Nov 2024
What Happened At Amityville
Amityville is synonymous with horror movies, but that’s because of a real-life tragedy that happened on 13th November, 1974, when Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents and his four younger siblings. …
00:12:13 |
Wed 13 Nov 2024
The Exploding Whale
Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall the events of 12th November, 1970, when the coastal town of Florence, Oregon faced a dilemma: the 8-ton dead sperm whale washed up on its shores, emitting a putrid sten…
00:13:00 |
Tue 12 Nov 2024
Gangsters on the Gallows
Joseph "Blueskin" Blake was hanged on 11th November, 1724. His notoriety as a highwayman was due in large part to his network of criminal associates, including ‘London’s most glamorous rogue’ Jack Sh…
00:12:41 |
Mon 11 Nov 2024
Scott & Charlene Get Hitched
Rerun: Kylie Minogue and Jason Donavan’s characters in hit soap opera ‘Neighbours’ were wed in 1988, causing a shopping mall riot in Australia, and attracting an astonishing 20 million viewers to the…
00:11:50 |
Fri 08 Nov 2024
The Elephant and The Donkey
Rerun: Why are the Republican Party represented by an elephant, and the Democrats (unofficially) by a donkey? The answer lies in the work of revered political cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose picture ‘T…
00:11:57 |
Thu 07 Nov 2024
Catherine The Dead
Catherine the Great of Russia died on 6th November, 1796 - but, contrary to rumours which still persist to this day, the event did not involve an intimate act with a horse. In reality, she collapsed …
00:12:21 |
Wed 06 Nov 2024
The Men Who Stole Monopoly
Arion, Rebecca and Olly unearth the origins of iconic board-game Monopoly, marketed across the United States by Parker Brothers on 5th November, 1935.
Its roots lay in a game designed by Quaker femi…
00:12:14 |
Tue 05 Nov 2024
America's First Catwalk
The Fashion Fête, a three-day event at the Ritz Carlton in New York, began on 4th November, 1914, offering New Yorkers their first glimpse of what we would now understand as a fashion show.
With Pari…
00:12:55 |
Mon 04 Nov 2024
We ♥ Emoji
Rerun: The first ever emoji set, including the earliest incarnations of 🍷, ❤️, and 💩, was released in Japan on 1st November, 1997. But the only users could send and receive them were owners of a now-…
00:10:52 |
Fri 01 Nov 2024
Casanova's Prison Escape
Rerun: One of Giacomo Casanova's most famous deeds was his daring midnight, cross-rooftop escape from the dreaded “The Leads” prison in Venice on the night of October 31st, 1756.
Key to his escape pl…
00:12:05 |
Thu 31 Oct 2024
The 'War of the Worlds' Panic
Martians invaded New Jersey on CBS Radio on 30th October, 1938, when Orson Welles' War of the Worlds delighted and confused a generation of Americans.
The fictional news bulletins sounded terrifying…
00:11:01 |
Wed 30 Oct 2024
Stealing The Star Of India
The ‘jewel heist of the Century’ occurred at the American Museum of Natural History, New York on 29th October, 1964.
Florida surfer ‘Murph the Surf’ and his accomplices, Allan Kuhn and Roger Clark…
00:12:54 |
Tue 29 Oct 2024
Meet Lemuel Gulliver
Jonathan Swift’s enduring satire Gulliver’s Travels was first published on October 28, 1726 - though the true identity of the book’s author was concealed from readers.
A spoof of Daniel Defoe’s popu…
00:12:29 |
Mon 28 Oct 2024
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