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.
Episodes
April 29, 2025 • 12 mins
A British motoring icon made its debut at the Amsterdam Motor Show on 30th April, 1948: the Land Rover. The UK’s first off-road vehicle (that wasn’t a tractor!) had been sketched in sand by its creator, Maurice Wilks.
Heavily inspired by the American Willys Jeep, the first Land Rovers were simple, no-frills workhorses with no roof, no heater, and barely any doors — just half-height flaps to keep you from falling out. And at £450,...
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April 28, 2025 • 11 mins
Where are meatballs from, and why does it matter? Social media users frenziedly grappled with these very questions on 29th April, 2018, when Sweden’s official Twitter account proclaimed: “Swedish meatballs are actually based on a recipe King Charles XII brought home from Turkey in the early 18th century. Let's stick to the facts!”
Does this tale about the Royal family bringing meatballs back from the Ottoman Empire check out? And ...
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April 27, 2025 • 12 mins
History’s most famous mutiny kicked off on 28th April, 1789, when Captain William Bligh was ousted from his ship by his former friend, Fletcher Christian, and 23 rebelling crew members: ‘The Mutiny on the Bounty’.
Bligh and 18 of his loyal crew were then set adrift in a small boat with minimal provisions, while the mutineers set sail for Tahiti.
Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how some ripening breadfruit was to blame for the moun...
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April 24, 2025 • 12 mins
he 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 by tearing his clothes, fighting over broken piano strings and locks of his shoulder-length hair.
Heine said there was something about Liszt’s performances that “raised the mood of audiences to a level of mystical ecstasy” – which seeme...
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April 23, 2025 • 12 mins
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 the wall for him for some time. By 1640, the unfortunate emperor faced multiple pandemics, an invasion, two internal rebellions, persistent drought, widespread famine, and an economic collapse.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ...
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April 22, 2025 • 13 mins
Coca-Cola was approaching its 100th birthday on 23rd April, 1985, when it unveiled a new beverage at New York City's Lincoln Center: the ‘smoother, rounder, bolder’ flavour of ‘New Coke’.
The success of Diet Coke had fragmented the market, and, in response to Pepsi's aggressive marketing campaigns targeting younger consumers, Coke had sought to introduce a sweeter formula. But, instead of offering the new formula alongside the ori...
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April 21, 2025 • 11 mins
Riding a Penny Farthing bicycle from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Yokohama, Japan, Thomas Stevens began his epic two-and-a-half year journey around the world on 22nd April, 1884.
Along the way, he encountered mountain lions, Persian aristocracy, and thousands of supporters from bicycle clubs, who turned up to hear him speak. His journey was endlessly delayed by having to demonstrate the virtues of his bike to anyone who asked.
In...
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April 20, 2025 • 11 mins
Costing just 12,500 yen, Nintendo's revolutionary handheld console, the Game Boy, was released in Japan on 21st April, 1989, quickly selling out its initial stock of 300,000 units.
With its compact size, cartridge-based games, and impressive battery life, the Game Boy went on to become a cultural phenomenon, setting the stage for a new era of portable entertainment.
Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the device’s humble monochrom...
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April 17, 2025 • 11 mins
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 hopeless crush on Lois Lane, and an inexplicable penchant for wearing bright red underpants on the outside of his costume. But, as yet, he could not fly, did not live in Kansas, and did not work at the Daily Planet.
In this episode, Ario...
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April 16, 2025 • 12 mins
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 years, was then dismantled stone by stone and shipped to the USA, where it now bestrides Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
The wheeze was the work of advertising executive-turned-London councilor Ivan Luckin, who convinced his colleagues that it ...
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April 15, 2025 • 12 mins
Pharaoh Thutmose III’s legendary military career kicked off on 16th April, 1457 BC with the Battle of Megiddo, the first recorded battle in history.
Facing a rebellion from the Canaanite city-states, who thought they could take advantage of his inexperience, Thutmose assembled a massive army and marched straight to Megiddo, a crucial strategic hub in modern-day Israel.
Boldly, he led his troops through a treacherous, narrow pass...
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April 14, 2025 • 12 mins
A chaotic, shambolic and critically panned parody, the first on-screen incarnation of Ian Fleming’s novel ‘Casino Royale’ received its London premiere on 12th April, 1967 - with final edits still being made in the projection room. Nonetheless, it went on to take an extraordinary $40 million at the box office.
Hardnut hero James Bond’s adventures had become a swinging Sixties sex comedy starring Peter Sellers, thanks to Fleming’s d...
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April 13, 2025 • 12 mins
President William Howard Taft became the first Commander-in-Chief to throw the ceremonial first pitch on 14th April, 1910.
Taft's participation cemented baseball as the quintessential American sport, in a period when it was still shedding its dodgy image.
The game’s enduring popularity ensured that the tradition persisted for over a century, with each president adding their unique flair to the ritual - though it has faced challe...
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April 10, 2025 • 11 mins
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 from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day.
Four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow (Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) stole the stone in the hope it could boost interest in Scottish nationalism. Instea...
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April 9, 2025 • 11 mins
The foundations of modern copyright law were laid on 10th April 1710, when the Statute of Anne came into effect. Before the Act, anyone could copy and sell books without giving a penny to the author; now, writers would be protected from being completely exploited by (British) publishers for an initial period of 14 years.
Writers like Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe had earned respect as professionals, pushing for more control over ...
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April 8, 2025 • 11 mins
The only sitting U.S. president to ever be arrested was Ulysses S. Grant, who was busted THREE TIMES for the same crime: speeding. The first was 9th April, 1886, when he tore through Washington, D.C. in a horse-drawn buggy. General Grant scoffed at the idea of getting arrested and simply rode off: the 1860s version of flipping the bird.
Grant’s love for fast horses wasn’t just a reckless hobby—it was part of his identity. Even at ...
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April 7, 2025 • 11 mins
The most famous armless statue of all time, ‘Venus de Milo’ was discovered by a farmer on the Aegean island of Milos on 8th April, 1829, sparking an international bidding war that saw her eventually donated to the Louvre by Louis XVIII.
The French had a particular interest in snapping up a new ancient treasure, having been forced to return many priceless artefacts to their original nations following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.
...
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April 6, 2025 • 11 mins
George Michael and Andew Ridgely, aka British duo Wham!, became the first Western group to play a gig in Communist China on 7th April, 1985.
The event, staged at the People's Gymnasium in Beijing, was primarily a strategic move aimed at breaking the band in the United States; the brainchild of the band’s managers, Gordon Jazz Summer and Simon Napier Bell, who embarked on a series of hotel lunches with Chinese officials, gradually ...
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April 3, 2025 • 12 mins
Gerald Holtom’s CND symbol, known internationally as the ‘peace’ symbol, made its debut at a protest march by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on 4th April, 1958.
The march went from London to Aldermaston, where Britain’s nuclear weapons were and still are manufactured. Five hundred cardboard ‘lollipop sticks’ displaying the logo were produced - and it’s since scarcely been out of circulation as an anti-establishment plea for ...
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April 2, 2025 • 11 mins
Before the transcontinental telegraph, sending a message coast-to-coast in the United States could take up to a month via stagecoach. Until, that is, the opening of the Pony Express, on April 3, 1860.
Its founders, William H. Russell, William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors, set up over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail, recruiting wiry teenage lone riders (‘orphans preferred’) to make the precarious trek in a record-b...
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