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
- 1105
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Not The Beginning Of The World
According to the 17th-century Archbishop James Ussher, the world began on 23rd October, 4004 BC at precisely midday.
Today, it is easy to ridicule Ussher’s date – and plenty of people do – but his me…
00:11:34 |
Mon 23 Oct 2023
Australia's Most Iconic Building
The Sydney Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20th October, 1973, marking the start of a two-week festival of events in celebration of the audacious new building.
“I understand that its…
00:10:48 |
Fri 20 Oct 2023
David Blaine, Trickless Magician
Ten thousand spectators gathered by the side of the Thames on 19th October, 2003 to watch street magician/illusionist David Blaine come back down to Earth, having spent 44 days suspended in a perspex…
00:10:23 |
Thu 19 Oct 2023
Let's Buy Alaska
On October 18th, 1867, the United States formally took possession of Alaska, after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre.
This certainly looks like an …
00:11:46 |
Wed 18 Oct 2023
The Sound of the Circus
The traditional music for the circus, "Entrance of the Gladiators", wasn’t actually written for the circus at all, instead when it was composed on 17th October, 1899, it was in fact intended to be a …
00:12:11 |
Tue 17 Oct 2023
Catch Me If You Can
Jack The Ripper’s ‘letters’ can mostly be dismissed as hoaxes. The possible exception is the letter sent to George Lusk, the President of Mile End Vigilance Committee, on 16th October, 1888. It was m…
00:11:09 |
Mon 16 Oct 2023
Reviving Hebrew
On October 13th, 1881, the linguist and grammarian Eliezer Ben-Yehuda held what is thought to have been the first modern conversation in Hebrew with two friends at a Paris café.
The conversation woul…
00:11:35 |
Fri 13 Oct 2023
Playboy's Identity Crisis
The world’s most famous adult magazine went ‘SFW’ on 12th October, 2015 - when Scott Flanders, then Playboy’s chief executive, announced that future editions would no longer contain full nudity.
The …
00:11:43 |
Thu 12 Oct 2023
The Japanese Exclusion League
Triggering a national and international outcry, the San Francisco school board issued an order on October 11th, 1906, requiring all Japanese and Korean children to attend a separate “Oriental School”…
00:13:10 |
Wed 11 Oct 2023
Governing Outer Space
On 10th October, 1967 a treaty went into force that has gone on to become the backbone for all international space law – a United Nations-approved agreement known as the The Treaty on Principles Gove…
00:13:02 |
Tue 10 Oct 2023
Rigging the World Series
Scandal beset baseball’s biggest contest on 9th October, 1919, when members of the Chicago White Sox conspired to lose the World Series to underdogs the Cincinnati Reds, in return for a slice of gamb…
00:11:54 |
Mon 09 Oct 2023
Bienvenue au Moulin Rouge
The world’s most famous cabaret, the Moulin Rouge, opened its doors in Paris on 6th October, 1889. Founded by Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler, the club was originally called the Jardin de Paris and f…
00:11:43 |
Fri 06 Oct 2023
To Versailles! To Versailles!
The ‘Women’s March’ of 1789 began spontaneously, when a market trader banged a drum in a Parisian square on 5th October - launching a chain of events which would eventually end a century of Versaille…
00:11:42 |
Thu 05 Oct 2023
Carving Mount Rushmore
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum began chiseling the rockface of Mount Rushmore on 4th October, 1927 - the start of a 14 year project to carve Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt into the …
00:12:54 |
Wed 04 Oct 2023
When Sinéad Shocked America
Irish popstar Sinéad O’Connor tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her performance of Bob Marley’s ‘War’ on NBC’s TV show ‘Saturday Night Live’ on 3rd October, 1992. The unexpected act was met…
00:11:57 |
Tue 03 Oct 2023
Meet Peter Rabbit
Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit was published on October 2nd, 1902. The book was an instant sensation, needing reprints almost immediately, and ultimately went on to sell an extraordinary 4…
00:12:04 |
Mon 02 Oct 2023
The Inquiry Office
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 pl…
00:11:39 |
Fri 29 Sep 2023
Let's Get Metric
Rerun. Feet, inches, palms, cubits, rods… all were SWEPT ASIDE on 28th September, 1889, when the first General Conference of the Weights and Measures Commission met in Sèvres, France to refine a defi…
00:11:41 |
Thu 28 Sep 2023
Let's Catch A Steam Train
George Stephenson drove Britain’s first-ever steam-powered passenger train, the Locomotion Number One, on 27th September, 1825, from Darlington to Stockton on Tees.
The Cambridge Chronicle and Journa…
00:13:00 |
Wed 27 Sep 2023
Yves Rossy: Rocketman
Pushing the boundaries of human flight to hitherto unknown extremes, Swiss aviator Yves Rossy entered the record books on 26th September, 2008, becoming the first person ever to cross the English cha…
00:11:58 |
Tue 26 Sep 2023
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are the property of The Retrospectors. This content is not affiliated with or endorsed by eachpod.com.