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
Renouncing King John
The Magna Carta would not have become law unless a group of Barons had first renounced their allegiance to King John on 5th May, 1215. Primarily protecting their own interests, they were keen to prev…
00:11:36 |
Fri 05 May 2023
Debut of the Daily Mail
Rerun.
As British literacy rates surged to a new high of 97%, the time was right to launch a simpler, shorter, more readable newspaper - and Alfred Harmsworth’s Daily Mail caught the zeitgeist when i…
00:11:54 |
Thu 04 May 2023
Box Office Poison!
In a full-page ad published in the Hollywood Reporter on 3rd May 1938, the Independent Theater Owners Association blamed declining ticket sales on some of the era’s biggest names in cinema, including…
00:12:06 |
Wed 03 May 2023
The Shapes in the Sky
Scientists from around the world gathered in Rome on 2nd May 1922 to agree on a definitive list of 88 constellations, which up until then had been an astronomical free-for-all.
The collection of emin…
00:11:12 |
Tue 02 May 2023
Don't Call Me Bigot
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown dealt his party’s reelection campaign a massive blow on 28th April 2010, when during a meet-and-greet in the marginal constituency of Rochdale, he was caught on mi…
00:12:02 |
Fri 28 Apr 2023
The Duel That Shocked France
Rerun.
King Henri III of France had a favourite group of young courtiers – his ‘mignons’ (or ‘cuties’, ‘sweeties’, or ‘‘darlings’) – known for dressing in an effeminate and eye-catching style. On 27t…
00:12:00 |
Thu 27 Apr 2023
Murder In Lafayette Square
On 26th April 1859 Congressman Daniel Sickles’ claimed the dubious honour of becoming the first person in US history to successfully escape a murder charge using the insanity defence, even though pre…
00:12:09 |
Wed 26 Apr 2023
Lisztomania!
The German poet and journalist Heinrich Heine coined the term “Lisztomania” on 25th April 1844 to describe the phenomenon of frenzied fandom in Europe where women would physically assault Franz Liszt…
00:12:09 |
Tue 25 Apr 2023
CW: The Last Ming Emperor
On 24th April 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor walked to Meishan, a small hill in present-day Jingshan Park and hanged himself on a tree, bringing a sudden end to the Ming dynasty.
The writing had been on…
00:12:11 |
Mon 24 Apr 2023
The Red Baron's Flying Circus
Germany’s most famous fighter pilot, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (aka ‘The Red Baron’) was shot down near the Somme River on the Western Front, on 21st April 1918. He had been credited w…
00:12:07 |
Fri 21 Apr 2023
The Truth About Timbuktu
No European had returned alive from Timbuktu until French adventurer René Caillie, who arrived in the ‘City of Gold’ on 20th April, 1828 after an arduous year-long journey. He was fêted by the Sociét…
00:11:36 |
Thu 20 Apr 2023
Becoming Princess Grace
Thirty million viewers watched Hollywood star Grace Kelly marry Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, on April 19th, 1956. The Royal wedding, at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monte Carlo, was filmed by MGM as a…
00:12:00 |
Wed 19 Apr 2023
It's Superman!
Action Comics #1, published on April 18th, 1938, featured the first ever appearance of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s iconic superhero, Superman.
The character already boasted invincibility, had a h…
00:11:54 |
Tue 18 Apr 2023
Let's Buy London Bridge
Oil tycoon Robert P. McCulloch purchased London Bridge for $2,460,000 on 17th April, 1968. The Victorian structure, which had been sinking into the River Thames at a rate of one inch every eight year…
00:12:04 |
Mon 17 Apr 2023
Meet The Naked Chef
Jamie Oliver blasted on to British screens when his first TV series, ‘The Naked Chef’ premiered on BBC Two on 14th April, 1999.
Created by Pat Llewellyn for Optomen, the show was revolutionary for i…
00:12:05 |
Fri 14 Apr 2023
The Crazy Queen of Spain
Joanna of Castile, was, as a young lady, remarked upon for her intellect and good companionship, and married off to prize catch Philip the Handsome - but by the time she died on 13th April, 1555 she …
00:12:12 |
Thu 13 Apr 2023
Apple's Forgotten Co-Founder
Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake in Apple to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on 12th April, 1976 - having been a co-founder of the company just 11 days earlier. He received back his initial investment of…
00:11:09 |
Wed 12 Apr 2023
Stealing The Stone of Destiny
The Stone of Scone, an oblong block of red sandstone used for centuries in the coronation of British monarchs, was recovered by Police on April 11th, 1951; three and a half months after its removal f…
00:11:57 |
Tue 11 Apr 2023
The Kodak Moment
George Eastman filed a patent for the first ever celluloid roll film on 6th April, 1889 – an incremental development following the release of the first Kodak handheld camera, released in 1888, but a …
00:12:04 |
Thu 06 Apr 2023
Bottling Elizabeth Taylor
Celebrity perfumes went mainstream on April 5th, 1991, when Elizabeth Taylor launched her most popular fragrance, White Diamonds, in a publicity blitz that included the Hollywood legend touring depar…
00:11:41 |
Wed 05 Apr 2023
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