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
Martin Monti - American Traitor
Rerun. The first ever U.S. officer to be convicted of treason, Army Lieutenant Martin J. Monti Jr., defected from the Air Service to the Nazis on 13th October, 1944.
After a stint in radio propaganda…
00:11:14 |
Thu 13 Oct 2022
Dirty Weird! Jesus Story!
Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ opened at New York’s Mark Hellinger Theater on 12th October, 1971. The Guardian summarized the show as “the work of two young Englishmen, f…
00:11:51 |
Wed 12 Oct 2022
Vatican II: This Time It's Personal
The Second Vatican Council - a conference of senior Catholics that transformed the way Mass is given in Churches around the world - began on 11th October, 1962.
The incentive of Pope John XXIII, who…
00:12:06 |
Tue 11 Oct 2022
The Smell of the Big Screen
Scent-o-Vision, an in-cinema olfactory experience, was unveiled at the New York World’s Fair on 10th October, 1940.
Accompanying a short film ‘My Dream’, its Swiss inventor, Hans Laube, pumped in aro…
00:11:30 |
Mon 10 Oct 2022
Gambetta Takes Flight
Léon Gambetta took to the skies above Paris in a hot air balloon on October 7th, 1870, soaring over the enemy German soldiers that surrounded the city on his way to raise new armies to swing the Fran…
00:12:07 |
Fri 07 Oct 2022
The Play That Never Ends
Rerun. Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’, the world’s longest-running play, opened at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham on 6th October, 1952, with a cast including Richard Attenborough. The producer, Pet…
00:10:58 |
Thu 06 Oct 2022
The End of American Apparel
American Apparel, the company founded by charismatic weirdo Dov Charney, first filed for bankruptcy protection on October 5th, 2015.
It amounted to a fall from grace from just three years earlier whe…
00:12:06 |
Wed 05 Oct 2022
Here Comes The Orient Express
The first ever Orient Express set off from Paris on October 4th, 1883, immediately becoming a byword for extreme luxury.
With its wood panelling, silk sheets and gourmet menus, the train quickly beca…
00:12:10 |
Tue 04 Oct 2022
The End of Siegfried and Roy
The Roy half of Siegfried and Roy was mauled on October 3rd, 2003, by a 380-pound white tiger live on stage in Las Vegas.
Roy lived, but was partially paralysed, which spelled the end for the wildly …
00:11:51 |
Mon 03 Oct 2022
Thunderbirds Are Go!
The first ever episode of Thunderbirds, the revolutionary British TV show starring puppets, aired on September 30th, 1965. It was instantly a hit in Britain, and elsewhere in the world, but its failu…
00:11:33 |
Fri 30 Sep 2022
The 33-day Pope
Rerun. The corpse of John Paul I was discovered by a nun in the early hours of 29th September, 1978. His body was embalmed within 24 hours, heightening suspicions that the cause of death may have bee…
00:12:02 |
Thu 29 Sep 2022
King of the Coup
Gilbert Bourgeaud, better known by his nom de guerre “Bob Denard” was shot in the head at least twice, married seven times and had at least three religious conversions. And on September 28th, 1995, h…
00:12:10 |
Wed 28 Sep 2022
Hunting Noah's Ark
The trend for “Arkeology” was kickstarted on September 27th, 1829, when the German explorer Friedrich Parrot ascended to the top of Mount Ararat in Armenia, which was believed at the time to be the f…
00:11:54 |
Tue 27 Sep 2022
The French King of Sweden
Jean Bernadotte’s dad, a local prosecutor in the southwestern French city of Pau, intended for his son to follow in his footsteps as a lawyer. Instead, Jean became heir to the Swedish Crown on Sept…
00:12:05 |
Mon 26 Sep 2022
Introducing 'Club Retrospectors'
Fancy a brand new, full-length SUNDAY EPISODE of this show, each and every week?
Of course you do! Become a member of Club Retrospectors and unlock an additional, ad-free episode each weekend. Join n…
00:10:15 |
Sat 24 Sep 2022
Here Comes Nintendo
Nintendo was world-famous by the 1980s but the origins of the company go back a century earlier - to September 23rd, 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a maker of brightly-coloured…
00:12:02 |
Fri 23 Sep 2022
The All-Female Jury
Rerun. Witchcraft and infanticide were the charges levelled against young maidservant Judith Catchpole at the General Provincial Court in Patuxent County, Maryland on September 22nd, 1656. Since the …
00:11:51 |
Thu 22 Sep 2022
The Birth of Mexican Wrestling
El Santo, masks, spandex suits... all were yet to be conceived when Salvador Lutteroth González launched Mexico's first ever national pro wrestling promotion, on 21st September 1933.
‘Lucha Libre’ - …
00:12:06 |
Wed 21 Sep 2022
First Cannes Film Festival
There was no red carpet, no Palme d’Or, and no Palais des Festivals - but Hollywood nonetheless descended on the French Riviera for the opening of the first Cannes Film Festival on 20th September, 19…
00:11:43 |
Tue 20 Sep 2022
Let’s Illuminate Blackpool
Powered by steam engines, and positioned on 60ft poles along the seafront, the Blackpool illuminations were first shown to adoring public on 19th September, 1879.
70,000 people came to see eight arc …
00:12:04 |
Mon 19 Sep 2022
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.