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
- 1104
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Yes, We Have Bananas
Bananas, the world’s favourite fruit, were first displayed in London on 10th April, 1633, in the shop window of botanist Thomas Johnson, editor for Gerard’s Herball.
Despite societal taboos surroundi…
00:12:29 |
Wed 10 Apr 2024
Charles and Camilla's Wedding
Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles broke royal norms by having a modest civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall on 9th April, 2005. Against a turbulent backdrop of past scandals and public opinio…
00:12:35 |
Tue 09 Apr 2024
The Nudge Revolution
Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler’s bestseller ‘Nudge’ was released on 8th April, 2008, catapulting a new method of behavioural economics into the public psyche - and the hands of policymakers, includ…
00:11:43 |
Mon 08 Apr 2024
The Battle on the Ice
A frozen Lake Peipus played host to a dramatic fight between 2,000 Catholic Crusaders and 6,000 Orthodox Christians on 5th April, 1242.
The invading forces were the Teutonic Knights, armed with spear…
00:11:48 |
Fri 05 Apr 2024
Chinese Restaurant Syndrome
Rerun: MSG, the umami seasoning frequently added to Chinese cuisine, came under fire on 4th April, 1968 - when Dr Robert Ho Man Kwok wrote a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine musing about…
00:11:45 |
Thu 04 Apr 2024
The First Motorbike
Gottlieb Daimler's patent for his high-speed petrol engine (dubbed the "Grandfather Clock") on 3rd April, 1885, wasn't just a technological breakthrough—it inadvertently birthed the motorbike.
Teami…
00:11:52 |
Wed 03 Apr 2024
When Tarzan Went To Hollywood
Johnny Weissmuller made his debut as ‘Tarzan The Ape Man’ on April 2nd, 1932, when MGM released the first talkie to feature the jungle hero - spawning a Tarzanmania craze.
The blockbuster, loosely ba…
00:11:21 |
Tue 02 Apr 2024
The World's Strongest Man
Rerun: Edward Lawrence Levy, a bald and bespectacled 40 year old choir-master from Birmingham, became the first ever winner of an international weightlifting contest at Cafe Monaco in London on 28th …
00:12:00 |
Thu 28 Mar 2024
Cleopatra ❤️ Caesar
Julius Caesar intervened to put his lover and ally Cleopatra on the Egyptian throne on 27th March, 47 BC - cementing their position as the world’s premier Power Couple.
But Cleo's ascent to power was…
00:12:47 |
Wed 27 Mar 2024
Knights Gone Wild
‘The Combat of the Thirty’, happened in Brittany on 26th March, 1351.
Despite being largely irrelevant in military terms, it was referenced for generations as the pinnacle of chivalric honour in Fra…
00:12:06 |
Tue 26 Mar 2024
Flour Power: The Tichborne Dole and the Biddenden Maids
Each Lady Day, the Hampshire village of Tichborne hands out bags of flour to the locals - a tradition that began on 25th March, 1150 after Lady Marbella Tichborne, on her death-bed, suggested distri…
00:12:14 |
Mon 25 Mar 2024
Welcome To Sea World
There were no orcas or rollercoasters, but there were ‘seamaids’ serving tropical drinks when Sea World San Diego first welcomed guests on 22nd March, 1964.
Originally conceived as a themed restaura…
00:12:14 |
Fri 22 Mar 2024
Last Days of Alcatraz
Rerun: The world’s most famous high-security jail, Alcatraz, evicted its last prisoner on 21st March, 1963. Met by a huge crowd of reporters who asked him what he thought of ‘the rock’, armed robber …
00:11:29 |
Thu 21 Mar 2024
What Caused The Black Death?
The bubonic plague was blamed on witches, Jews, God’s wrath, and, on 20th March 1345, in a new theory propagated by the King of France, the rare planetary alignment between Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars …
00:12:10 |
Wed 20 Mar 2024
Gaudí's Magnum Opus
The cornerstone of the Sagrada Familia was laid on March 19, 1882, kicking off a construction project so ambitious that it is still going to this day.
Perhaps unexpectedly, however, on the day it beg…
00:12:01 |
Tue 19 Mar 2024
Braille For Your Feet
Tenji blocks (点字ブロック) - small raised shapes in the pavement to assist visually impaired people in crossing the road - were first installed near the Okayama School for the Blind in Japan on March 18th…
00:11:45 |
Mon 18 Mar 2024
The Woman Who Made van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh’s genius was finally recognised 11 years after his death, when, on March 15th, 1901, the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery in Paris debuted his first major exhibition. Without the persistence o…
00:11:42 |
Fri 15 Mar 2024
Finger Lickin' Lawsuit
Rerun. Colonel Harland Sanders’ image continues to grace the logo of KFC, who continue to sell the chicken inspired by his ‘11 secret herbs and spices’. But on 14th March, 1978 the Colonel and the ch…
00:11:02 |
Thu 14 Mar 2024
Fall of the Maya
The Guatemalan island of Flores, once known as Nojpetén, witnessed the final clash between Spanish conquistadors and the last independent Maya kingdom on March 13th, 1697.
The Itza warriors, equippe…
00:11:51 |
Wed 13 Mar 2024
Dennis The Menace(s)
On this day in 1951, by a peculiar quirk of fate, the world got not one, but two Dennis the Menaces.
Both Dennises were mischievous rascals with slingshots, dogs, and striped outfits, but their pers…
00:12:07 |
Tue 12 Mar 2024
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