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
May 11, 2025 • 12 mins
Winnie - the real-life bear who inspired A.A. Milne to create Winnie-the-Pooh - died at London Zoo on 12th May, 1934.
Brought to the UK by Canadian soldier Harry Colbourn, who’d named her after Winnipeg, the approachable bear took up residence at the Zoo during the First World War, where she became a favourite with visiting children, who were permitted to ride on her back and feed her treats. One such visitor was none other ...
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May 8, 2025 • 12 mins
Fourteen years of food rationing came to an end in Britain on 4th July, 1954, when restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat and bacon were lifted - and we're running this episode today as part of the 80th anniversary of VE Day that Europe is celebrating this week.
Members of the London Housewives’ Association held a special ceremony in London’s Trafalgar Square to mark Derationing Day. Meanwhile, The Minister of Fuel and P...
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May 7, 2025 • 14 mins
Today is the 80th anniversary of ‘Victory in Europe Day’, but despite the popular impression of the joyous street parties and jubilant crowds that took over London on 8th May, 1945, the reality was rather more complex.
For starters, the terms of Germany’s surrender itself had displeased the Soviet Union, and Stalin insisted on a second, official surrender in Berlin. This meant that while the West celebrated on May 8th, Russia and...
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May 6, 2025 • 12 mins
Nazi propagandist William Joyce, best known to British radio listeners as ‘Lord Haw Haw’, was hanged by Albert Pierrepoint at Wandsworth Prison on 3rd January, 1946 - and we're running this episode today as part of the 80th anniversary of VE Day that Europe is celebrating this week.
At the peak of his powers, his anti-Allied broadcasts from Hamburg reached up to 50% of the UK listening public, who tuned in to hear the German persp...
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May 5, 2025 • 12 mins
Winston Churchill had only been Prime Minister for three months when, on 20th August, 1940, he delivered ‘The Few’ - one of his most iconic speeches - in the House of Commons.
Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how and why Churchill’s paean to the courage of RAF pilots during the Battle of Britain has been so well-remembered - albeit mainly for a quote that appears in the middle of a lengthy address: “Never in the field of human co...
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May 4, 2025 • 12 mins
Americans and Nazis fought side-by-side in the ‘Battle For Castle Itter’ on 5th May, 1945 - an attempt to free high-profile French prisoners from a 13th century Austrian castle at the very end of the War.
The prison - a sub-unit of Dachau concentration camp - housed former prime ministers and military figures, treated as "honour prisoners" by the Nazis. But the looming chaos of the war's end brought the risk of execution as Alli...
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May 1, 2025 • 11 mins
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 eminent astronomers eventually settled on 42 animals, 29 inanimate objects and 17 humans or mythological characters, which, taken together, offered a complete map of the skies for the very first time.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and O...
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April 30, 2025 • 12 mins
In the deregulated skies of the 1980s, airlines needed new ways to make customers feel special. Enter the first major frequent flyer program, American Airlines’ AAdvantage, on 1st May, 1981.
Bob Crandall built a powerful data system to track and process his customers’ miles, giving American a huge head start whilst rivals scrambled to copy his idea. Suddenly, airline loyalty points weren’t just for free flights — they were currenc...
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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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