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
Who Invented The Telephone?
Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson made an important discovery, by accident, on June 2, 1875. While working on their ‘harmonic telegraph’. Watson inadvertently plucked a reed that had been tight…
00:12:07 |
Fri 02 Jun 2023
Heimlich’s Big Maneuver
‘Cafe coronaries’ were a fact of life until The Journal of Emergency Medicine published details of The Heimlich Manoeuvre on June 1, 1974.
In so doing, they made a household name of thoracic surgeon …
00:11:44 |
Thu 01 Jun 2023
When Psy Broke The Internet
Viral megahit ‘Gangnam Style’, by South Korean pop star Psy, became the first video to reach 2 billion plays on YouTube, on May 31st, 2014.
The EDM/K-Pop banger, released in 2012 as the lead single f…
00:12:21 |
Wed 31 May 2023
The Peasants Are Revolting
The most significant rebellion of the Medieval era, the so-called Peasant’s Revolt, kicked off in Brentwood, Essex on 30th May, 1381, when tax collector John Bampton attempted to collect unpaid poll …
00:13:10 |
Tue 30 May 2023
When Australia Said Sorry
A coalition of Australian community groups came together on May 26th, 1998 for the country’s first “National Sorry Day”, an annual day of atonement for the social-engineering policy that ripped an es…
00:12:27 |
Fri 26 May 2023
Shakespeare Unbanned
Rerun. Chinese citizens were once again able to read and perform the works of William Shakespeare on 25th May, 1977.
Chiang Ching, Chairman Mao’s wife, had instituted the ban eleven years earlier - a…
00:11:43 |
Thu 25 May 2023
Sugar, Sugar and the Cartoon Band
The biggest hit of 1969, bubblegum pop song “Sugar, Sugar” was released on 24th May. The songwriters, Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, had a strong pedigree in penning 60s anthems. But the band itself was fi…
00:11:17 |
Wed 24 May 2023
Captain Kidd: Pirate or Privateer?
Hanged for piracy and murder, sea captain William Kidd was executed in Wapping on 23rd May, 1701. From the gallows he proclaimed to the large assembled crowd that he was innocent of the crimes, as he…
00:12:05 |
Tue 23 May 2023
Introducing Pac-Man
Namco’s ground-breaking arcade game Pac-Man had its first focus test in a Tokyo cinema foyer on May 22nd, 1980. Created by 24 year-old Toru Iwatani, it was originally called ‘Puck-Man’ and designed t…
00:12:09 |
Mon 22 May 2023
We Want YOU 🫵 to Support Our Podcast!
It’s our birthday 🥳! Our show is now TWO years old, with over 600 episodes in the bank - but we want to keep making even more. And we need your help to do that.
If you enjoy our daily, independent po…
00:06:22 |
Sat 20 May 2023
Fox's 'Glee' Gambit
Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s musical comedy-drama ‘Glee’ was first screened on Fox on May 19th, 2009. In a strategy to whip up excitement before the season premiere in the Autumn, the network showe…
00:12:11 |
Fri 19 May 2023
Dracula! Live on Stage!
Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first introduced to the world NOT via his canonical novel, but rather in the pages of a seldom-performed - and by all accounts appalling - play-reading at London's Lyceum Th…
00:11:40 |
Thu 18 May 2023
Louie, Louie and the FBI
The supposedly pornographic lyrics of garageband classic “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen were, improbably, thoroughly investigated by the FBI, who reached a conclusion on May 17th, 1965, when the FBI L…
00:12:13 |
Wed 17 May 2023
Beau Brummell: Dandy on the Run
Socialite, wit and fashion influencer Beau Brummell fled to France on 16th May, 1816, in order to escape his creditors, from whom he had racked up around £600,000 of gambling debts.
Staying at Dessin…
00:13:00 |
Tue 16 May 2023
Launch of the Sky Girls
Ellen Church became the first ever airline stewardess on May 15th, 1930 - when she took to the skies with a Boeing Air Transport flight from Oakland, California to Chicago.
A licensed airplane pilot…
00:12:15 |
Mon 15 May 2023
Richard I's Awkward Wedding Night
Richard the Lionheart was a bachelor into his thirties, but finally got hitched on May 12th, 1191, at the Chapel of St. George at Limassol, Cyprus. His Bride? Berengaria of Navarre, daughter of King …
00:11:08 |
Fri 12 May 2023
The Opening Night of 'Cats'
Rerun.
At a cost of £2m, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ‘Cats’ premiered at the New London Theatre on 11th May, 1981 – and the world had never seen anything like it.
With a cast including Brian Bless…
00:12:29 |
Thu 11 May 2023
The Strangler in the Ring
Evan ‘The Strangler’ Lewis took on English wrestling champion Jack Wannop on May 10th, 1888 at Chicago’s Battery D Armoury: the first, and much-anticipated, wrestling ‘Championship of the World’.
Lew…
00:12:08 |
Wed 10 May 2023
Meet Mr Punch
Punch and Judy shows, a staple of the British seaside, evolved from the ‘Pulcinella’ marionette shows performed by Italian puppet showman Pietro Gimonde, first spotted by diarist Samuel Pepys in Cove…
00:11:33 |
Tue 09 May 2023
The Teen Who Hijacked The Subway
Trainspotter Keron Thomas was just 16 when he impersonated a subway motorman and took control of an A train in New York City on May 8th, 1993. His actions went unnoticed by his passengers, who were s…
00:12:17 |
Mon 08 May 2023
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