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
Thank You For Not Smoking
The world did NOT wake up to the dangers of smoking on September 25th, 1878, despite the efforts of Dr. Charles R. Drysdale, who had a letter published in The Times warning that smoking is a practice…
00:11:50 |
Mon 25 Sep 2023
Welcome to Downing St
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, t…
00:11:38 |
Fri 22 Sep 2023
The 'Cod War' Heats Up
Rerun. ‘The Fish Feud!’ - as the tabloids originally termed the standoff between Britain and Iceland over fishing rights - had escalated into a fully-fledged ‘Cod War’ by 21st September, 1958, when t…
00:11:46 |
Thu 21 Sep 2023
The Pope, the Antipope and the Other Pope
Robert of Geneva was elected Pope Clement VII on 20th September, 1378. Inconveniently, there was already a pope: Urban VI. Cue three decades of confusion and division, as citizens and nations had to …
00:12:19 |
Wed 20 Sep 2023
Discovering The Iceman
When German hikers Erika and Helmut Simon stumbled upon a dead body in the Oertzel Alps on 19th September, 1991, they believed it to be a recently fallen mountaineer, whose cadaver had been preserved…
00:12:19 |
Tue 19 Sep 2023
Welcome To Tiffany's
Tiffany, now a $16 billion jewelry empire, opened their first store at 259 Broadway, New York, on 18th September, 1837. Their first day’s sales total was $4.98.
Co-founded by 25 year-old Charles Lewi…
00:11:30 |
Mon 18 Sep 2023
Hitler's Swastika Hijack
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 Hinduis…
00:13:06 |
Fri 15 Sep 2023
Oh Say, Can You See?
Rerun. ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is now well-known as the USA’s national anthem - but when Francis Scott Key wrote the words on 14th September, 1814, it was merely the latest in a series of patrioti…
00:11:21 |
Thu 14 Sep 2023
Escape of the Drug Guru
The ‘High Priest of LSD’, Timothy Leary, made a daring escape from the California Men's Colony on September 13th, 1970. A prominent counterculture figure and advocate for psychedelic substances, Lear…
00:13:38 |
Wed 13 Sep 2023
Barrett ❤️ Browning
The secret wedding of poets Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning on September 12th, 1846, was witnessed by just two people. Elizabeth was so nervous about the ceremony, held at Marylebone Parish Chu…
00:14:16 |
Tue 12 Sep 2023
Let's Build The Pentagon
Construction of the Virginia headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense began on September 11th, 1941 - spookily, the same date it was attacked by al-Qaeda six decades later.
The massive five-si…
00:11:12 |
Mon 11 Sep 2023
Last of the Tasmanian Tigers
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 …
00:11:54 |
Fri 08 Sep 2023
The Umbrella Assassin
Rerun. Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was shot by a poisoned pellet whilst walking on Waterloo Bridge on 7th September, 1978. Four days later, he was dead.
He thought the bullet – believed to be fill…
00:10:49 |
Thu 07 Sep 2023
Circumnavigating The Globe
The Nao Victoria, the first ship to circumnavigate the globe, arrived back to its starting point in Spain on 6th September, 1522, with one person notably missing: Ferdinand Magellan, the man who had …
00:13:04 |
Wed 06 Sep 2023
Welcome To Bavaria, U.S.A.
Today, 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 fa…
00:12:20 |
Tue 05 Sep 2023
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 nearly…
00:12:28 |
Mon 04 Sep 2023
Candle In The Wind II
On 1st September 1997, as Britain was still reeling from Diana Princess of Wales’ untimely death, Elton John’s Candle in the Wind 1997 turned up on a shortlist of potential music to be performed at h…
00:13:27 |
Fri 01 Sep 2023
I Say, Boy, It's Foghorn Leghorn
Rerun. A giant chicken with the mannerisms of a wise-crackin’ Southern gentleman, Foghorn Leghorn first appeared in the Looney Tunes short ‘Walky Talky Hawky’ on 31st August, 1946.
Directed by Robert…
00:11:41 |
Thu 31 Aug 2023
The Grouse Massacre
Lord Walsingham shot 1,070 grouse on 30th August, 1888 – a number that remains a world record, and, one feels, is unlikely to ever be bettered.
To achieve this astonishing figure Walsingham started s…
00:12:43 |
Wed 30 Aug 2023
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, Califor…
00:11:48 |
Tue 29 Aug 2023
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