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 Kamikaze Pornstar
When ultra-nationalist Yoshio Kodama was attacked by disaffected erotic actor Mitsuyasu Maeno in a kamikaze-style plane crash on his home in Tokyo on 24th March, 1976, it came as a surprise even to M…
00:12:01 |
Thu 24 Mar 2022
Handel's Biggest Hit
Hallelujah! Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is one of the cornerstones of Western classical music. But when it had its London premiere at Covent Garden on 23rd March 1743, it was billed as “a new sacred oratorio”…
00:11:21 |
Wed 23 Mar 2022
Let’s Ban Gambling!
For most of America's history, gambling has either been outright banned or incredibly tightly controlled - a tradition that began on 22nd March, 1630 when the Puritan colonists in Boston issued a dec…
00:11:28 |
Tue 22 Mar 2022
Last Days of Alcatraz
The world’s most famous high-security jail, Alcatraz, evicted its last prisoner on 21st March, 1963. Met by a huge crowd of reporters who asked him what he thought of ‘the rock’, armed robber Frank W…
00:11:27 |
Mon 21 Mar 2022
The Birth of Fast Fashion
The craze for paper dresses was the huge and unexpected impact of a viral marketing campaign for the Scott Paper Company that debuted in TIME magazine on 18th March, 1966.
For $1.25, readers could s…
00:11:16 |
Fri 18 Mar 2022
The Original Sad Clown
Joseph Grimaldi, the most famous clown in Britain, made his final appearance at Sadler’s Wells Theatre on 17th March, 1829 - the very venue where he’d made his stage debut as a toddler in his father’…
00:11:21 |
Thu 17 Mar 2022
Murder at the Masked Ball
Gustav III was shot, in the back and at close range, at Stockholm’s Royal Opera House on 16th March, 1792. But he didn’t die for another two weeks. Which made things rather difficult for the conspira…
00:11:51 |
Wed 16 Mar 2022
When Posh Met Becks
David Beckham met Victoria Adams in the Manchester United Players Lounge on 15th March, 1997. The Spice Girl wrote her parents' phone number onto a boarding pass, passed it to the midfielder, and rep…
00:12:02 |
Tue 15 Mar 2022
Finger Lickin' Lawsuit
Colonel Harland Sanders’ image continues to grace the logo of KFC, who continue to sell the chicken inspired by his ‘11 secret herbs and spices’. But on 14th March, 1978 the Colonel and the chain’s o…
00:10:59 |
Mon 14 Mar 2022
COPS Hits TV
Producer John Langley had been pitching a no-frills, fly-on-the-wall documentary series following US Police Officers for six years when, in the midst of a writer’s strike, Fox finally bit. COPS made …
00:12:03 |
Fri 11 Mar 2022
Britain's First Census
How many eligible men can we send to fight France? Are there enough food supplies to feed the population for the next century? Until 10th March 1801, the British Parliament weren’t sure - which is wh…
00:11:07 |
Thu 10 Mar 2022
Write E For Eunuch
India’s Hijra community - who for centuries held a significant cultural, political and spiritual role in Indian society - were officially recognised on 9th March, 2005, when a new option appeared on …
00:11:53 |
Wed 09 Mar 2022
Frank Sinatra: Boxing Photographer
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier’s ‘Fight of the Century’ at Madison Square Garden on 8th March, 1971 had the attention of the world - including multiple celebrities. But the photographer LIFE magazine h…
00:11:43 |
Tue 08 Mar 2022
Constantine’s Sunday Sabbath
Why is Sunday the Christian day of rest? Because Jesus said so? No! It was Roman emperor Constantine The Great who decreed on 7th March, 320 that “on the venerable day of the sun, let the magistrate …
00:10:43 |
Mon 07 Mar 2022
Trashing the White House
When Andrew Jackson was inaugurated on 4th March, 1829, large crowds of recently emancipated, enthusiastic voters turned up to the Capitol to watch the former Army commander become President. But the…
00:11:42 |
Fri 04 Mar 2022
Inventing the Sweatshirt
Russell Athletic, the company that created the sweatshirt, began life as The Russell Manufacturing Company on 3rd March, 1902 in Alexander City, Alabama. Its founder was entrepreneurial polymath Benj…
00:11:56 |
Thu 03 Mar 2022
How Not To Invade Ethiopia
The Victory of Adwa on 2nd March, 1896 marked a milestone in the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ - because, whilst so much of the continent had been colonised by European nations, Abysinnia successfu…
00:11:57 |
Wed 02 Mar 2022
Eva Tanguay: Cyclonic Comedienne
Eva Tanguay, vaudeville megastar, was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky on 1st March, 1910 after stabbing a stagehand three times with a hat pin. At the police station, she reportedly produced a roll …
00:12:01 |
Tue 01 Mar 2022
Dord: The Ghost Word
Webster’s New International Dictionary (Second Edition) was the largest book to be mass produced, but - as was revealed on 28th February, 1939 - it contained an embarrassing error: on page 771, betwe…
00:11:51 |
Mon 28 Feb 2022
The Lonely Hearts Serial Killer
Henri Landru, known as ‘Bluebeard’ to the French public, was executed by guillotine on 25th February, 1922, having murdered at least ten women he dated during the First World War.
He continued to pro…
00:11:55 |
Fri 25 Feb 2022
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