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
- 1104
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
The Outing of Milli Vanilli
German pop duo Milli Vanilli sold 33 million singles, including three US number ones, but harboured a shameful secret: their vocals were sung by someone else. At a promotional gig in Connecticut on 2…
00:11:53 |
Thu 21 Jul 2022
The Gymnast with the Shattered Kneecap
Shun Fujimoto scored 9.5 on the pommel horse and 9.7 on the rings at the Montreal Olympics on 20th August, 1976 - despite having a badly damaged kneecap, having landed catastrophically during a tumbl…
00:12:00 |
Wed 20 Jul 2022
When Paris Went Underground
The Paris Metro, engineered by Fulgence Bienvenüe and inaugurated on 19th July, 1900, was far from a world first: London, Budapest and Vienna had all beaten France in the race to create the next gene…
00:11:53 |
Tue 19 Jul 2022
Making Voting Secret
Before the Ballot Act of 18th July, 1872, the British electorate were expected to declare their preferred candidate publicly at hustings, often under pressure from their employers and landlords, and …
00:11:38 |
Mon 18 Jul 2022
RetroRecommends: We Didn't Start The Fire
Happy Saturday to you. We have another brilliant show to share with you for some relaxed, longer, weekend listening.
It’s another history podcast - it’s called We Didn’t Start The Fire, it’s high c…
00:43:58 |
Sat 16 Jul 2022
Gaddafi's Favourite Redneck
Billy Carter, the beer-guzzling brother of President Jimmy Carter, became a serious headache for the White House when he was required to register as a foreign agent on 15th July, 1980, due to his dea…
00:11:51 |
Fri 15 Jul 2022
The Spock Generation
#throwbackthursday Dr Benjamin Spock’s ‘Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care’ was first published on 14th July, 1946. It was then translated into 40 languages, selling over 50 million copies - se…
00:11:14 |
Thu 14 Jul 2022
When New York Went Dark
The massive blackout across New York City that began at 9:30pm on 13th July, 1977 lasted for a little over a day. Yet, during that time, arsonists set over 1,000 fires and looters ransacked 1,600 sto…
00:12:01 |
Wed 13 Jul 2022
The Many Wives of Joseph Smith
Mormons were told to embrace polygamy on 12th July, 1843 - when the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith, said a revelation had told him he must marry multiple women to continue ser…
00:11:50 |
Tue 12 Jul 2022
Zheng He's Treasure Odyssey
China’s greatest naval explorer, Zheng He, set sail on the first of seven epic voyages on 11th July, 1405. He led a fleet of 255 ships, with an estimated 28,000 people on board.
A eunuch, and a Musli…
00:11:59 |
Mon 11 Jul 2022
Shelley: Goth, Genius, Infidel
Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned off the coast of Tuscany on 8th July, 1822. His wife, Mary Shelley, waited an agonizing ten days to discover news of the dramatic shipwreck.
Announcing the …
00:11:38 |
Fri 08 Jul 2022
Three Tenors, Zero Royalties
When Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti teamed up for their first joint performance on 7th July, 1990 in Rome, it was intended as a one-off collaboration to celebrate the FIFA World…
00:12:00 |
Thu 07 Jul 2022
The Best Thing Since Wrapped Bread
Rerun. Sliced bread had never been automated before Otto Rohwedder unveiled his “power-driven, multi-bladed bread slicer” at Chillicothe Baking Company on July 6, 1928 - after an astonishing SIXTEEN …
00:11:04 |
Wed 06 Jul 2022
Jeff Bezos and the Infinite Bookstore
Amazon, created in the Seattle garage of Jeff Bezos, was incorporated on 5th July, 1994.
Before Bezos had settled on the site’s name as a way of conveying the size and scope of the e-commerce platfo…
00:11:49 |
Tue 05 Jul 2022
Here Comes The Hamburger
Who invented the hamburger? It’s almost impossible to know, given that mincemeat has been consumed all around the world, and for centuries - but Oscar Bilby, of Tulsa, Oklahoma is a strong contender.…
00:11:56 |
Mon 04 Jul 2022
The Last White Rajah
The British Empire gained a new colony on 1st July, 1946 - the kingdom of Sarawak. For over 100 years, it had been ruled as the personal fiefdom of a Devonshire family: the ‘White Rajahs’.
‘Adventure…
00:11:36 |
Fri 01 Jul 2022
In Case of Emergency, Call 999
The world’s first emergency number, 999, was launched in London on 30th June, 1937 - to a great deal of scepticism, and open laughter in the House of Commons.
But when five women died in a house fir…
00:11:51 |
Thu 30 Jun 2022
Let's Go Cruising
The first purpose-built cruise ship in history, the Prinzessin Victoria Luise, was launched by Albert Ballin’s Hamburg-America Line on 29th June, 1900.
Luxuriously appointed, she was kitted out with …
00:10:59 |
Wed 29 Jun 2022
Bonnie Prince Betty
When Jacobite heir Bonnie Prince Charlie made his escape from the British Army on 28th June, 1746, he did so in bizarre style - disguised in drag as Irish spinning-maid ‘Betty Burke’.
With a £30,000 …
00:12:04 |
Tue 28 Jun 2022
When Hugh Met Divine
It was the sex scandal of the year: British rom-com star Hugh Grant procuring the services of hitherto unknown L.A. streetwalker Divine Brown on Sunset Boulevard on 27th June, 1995.
When their in-car…
00:12:03 |
Mon 27 Jun 2022
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