Today In History with The Retrospectors

Queen Elizabeth II made Britain’s first long-distance automated phone call on 5th November, 1958 - when, from Bristol, she spoke directly to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, 300 miles away, without the need for an Operator.  Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD) transformed the telephone network, but was not without its challenges: automation brought efficiency but also led to job losses, sparking some labour disputes, and the roll-out was not completed for twenty years.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why women were selected over men as telephone operators; track the evolution of phone technology through international calls and push-button phones; and propose a future role for the monarchy in testing out social media DMs…  Further Reading: • ‘Caller, putting you through!’ (Daily Express, 2012): https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/334666/Caller-putting-you-through • ’Queen's first video call echoes Her Majesty's historic trunk call to Edinburgh in 1950s’ (The Scotsman, 2020): https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/retro/queens-first-video-call-echoes-her-majestys-historic-trunk-call-to-edinburgh-in-1950s-2881983 ‘Queen Dials Edinburgh’ (British Pathé, 1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfH0Xr1rIcY This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘ghost ship’ Mary Celeste was discovered drifting in the Atlantic by Captain David Morehouse of the Dei Gratia on 4 December 1872. On board there were intact provisions, undisturbed cargo, no evidence of violence or theft… and zero crew. Although some damage to the rigging and open hatches hinted at recent rough weather, nothing suggested a crisis severe enough to justify taking to the lifeboat. One pump had been dismantled and about a metre of water had collected in the hold, but this was neither unusual nor dangerous for a vessel of that size. Crucially, the ship’s papers and navigational instruments were missing, implying a deliberate and orderly departure.  Nevertheless, no signs of fire, piracy, collision, or structural failure explained why Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife, their two-year-old daughter, and seven experienced crewmen had deserted a floating refuge for a far riskier open boat. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore over the case that captured the Victorian imagination; explain how Arthur Conan-Doyle kickstarted some internet conspiracies; and consider some of the fruitier explanations for the mystery…  Further Reading: • ‘Mary Celeste, The 'Ghost Ship' Found Abandoned In The Atlantic’ (All That’s Interesting, 2022): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mary-celeste • ‘From the Mary Celeste to the USS Cyclops: The ships which disappeared or were found abandoned’ (Daily Mail Online, 2023): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12218135/From-Mary-Celeste-USS-Cyclops-ships-disappeared-abandoned.html • ‘The True Story of the Mary Celeste’ (Smithsonian, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTb54_gLd5Q #Mystery #Victorian #Strange Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Renaissance Man Thomas Harriot was noted for many things - devising the theory of refraction, creating mathematical symbols including ‘greater than’ and ‘lesser than’, and being the first person to draw the Moon through a telescope. But the contribution for which he’s most remembered is bringing back the potato to Britain - an event commonly credited to 3rd December, 1586. On first spotting the vegetable on Roanoke Island, he wrote: ‘They are a kind of roots of round form, some of the bigness of walnuts, some far greater, which are found in moist & marish grounds growing many together one by another in ropes, or as though they were fastened with a string. Being boiled or sodden they are very good meate.’ In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca ask what a ‘versifier’ is; come up with a new name for Accountancy; and discover the bizarre means by which Antoine-Augustin Parmentier popularised spuds in France… Further Reading: • ‘The history of the potato: The humble vegetable that changed the world’ (Sky HISTORY): https://www.history.co.uk/articles/the-history-of-the-potato-the-humble-vegetable-that-changed-the-world • ‘Thomas Harriot (1560 - 1621) - Biography’ (MacTutor History of Mathematics, St Andrews University): https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Harriot/ • ‘History through the eyes of the potato’ (Leo Bear-McGuinness, TEDx 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xROmDsULcLE This episode first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tinseltown’s most notorious pimp was convicted of providing high-class ‘call girls’ to undercover police officers on 2nd December, 1994. It followed a dramatic sting involving the LAPD, the Beverly Hills police department, the state alcoholic beverage control agency and the state attorney General's office. They seized her ‘little black book’ (actually a red Gucci diary) full of high-profile names, but the only celebrity client of hers that testified was Charlie Sheen. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether Fleiss’ own desire for profile was part of her undoing; explain how she had unseated ‘Madam Alex’ from the top of the tree; and reveal the role of Travellers Cheques in her most famous client’s downfall… There was a surprising next chapter to Fleiss’ career - as a carer for parrots - which we discuss in today’s bonus bit, only available for supporters of the show. Just click Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, or head over to Patreon.com/Retrospectors (top two tiers only) to hear it, and a weekly bit of bonus content every single week. By so doing, you’re also supporting our show - so, thanks! Further Reading: • ‘HEIDI FLEISS GUILTY OF PANDERING’ (The Washington Post, 1994): https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1994/12/03/heidi-fleiss-guilty-of-pandering/d836cdbd-4461-47d2-9038-45842269c3c9/ • ‘Heidi Fleiss on Her Arrest, Macaw Cause and “Drug Addict” Ex Tom Sizemore’ (The Hollywood Reporter, 2018): https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/heidi-fleiss-her-arrest-macaw-cause-drug-addict-tom-sizemore-1117449/ • ‘Jurors in the Heidi Fleiss trial watch videotape of police arresting four alleged prostitutes’ (AP, 16 Nov 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO0mQUA0bVw This episode first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Which young men should be sent to fight in Vietnam? Amidst a growing public outcry against the biases in the system, the United States instituted a live televised lottery draft on December 1st, 1969. In a sombre spectacle, plexiglass drums and capsules containing birthdates were drawn live on CBS, dictating the order in which men born on that day might be conscripted. Youth delegates participated to symbolize approval from the draftees’ generation, but some refused to cooperate; one storming off live on air, others making peace signs or reading out protests during the broadcast. Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how this dystopian ‘Hunger Games’ lottery came to be; consider the effect Vietnam the draft had on parenting and college statistics back home; and track their own birthdays to discover when they would have been drafted… Further Reading: • ‘Live From Washington, It's Lottery Night 1969!’ (HistoryNet, 2009): https://www.historynet.com/live-from-dc-its-lottery-night-1969/ • ’Curtis W. Tarr, Selective Service chief who ran the Vietnam War draft lottery, dies at 88’ (The Washington Post, 2013): https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/curtis-w-tarr-selective-service-chief-who-ran-the-vietnam-war-draft-lottery-dies-at-88/2013/06/26/7c615842-de97-11e2-b2d4-ea6d8f477a01_story.html • ‘The Draft Lottery’ (CBS, 1969): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl29gRRppBg Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the annals of automotive innovation, November 28th, 2018 marked a peculiar milestone: the birth of the Lincoln Chimes. The brainchild of Jennifer Prescott, overseer of "Vehicle Harmony" at the motor company, this warning system replaced the synthetic sound of in-car emergency alerts with a blend of violin, viola, and marimba played by The Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Lincoln's endeavour followed in the wake of Bentley revamping its alert and indicator sounds, drawing inspiration from the gentle ticking of a grandfather clock - but cars are not the only luxury products to dabble in ‘sonic branding’. From computer startup chimes to the noise accompanying credit card transactions, there’s a soundscape of jingles which have become an integral part of our conditioned understanding of products and experiences. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how NBC were the first company to trademark  a sound; check out MasterCard’s deviation into recorded music; and reveal just how many drafts Brian Eno went through before settling on his final start-up sound for Windows95… Further Reading: • ‘Why Big Brands Are Using Sonic Signatures To Reach Consumers’ (Forbes, 2018): https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferhicks/2019/05/08/why-big-brands-are-using-sonic-signatures-to-reach-consumers/?sh=35f5b651d39c • ‘Inside Mastercard’s ‘10-layer’ sonic branding plan’ (Marketing Brew, 2022): https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2022/10/17/inside-mastercard-s-10-layer-sonic-branding-plan • ‘2019 Lincoln Aviator chimes recorded by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’ (Wheel Network, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7uZ27Uzgsk This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most notorious accused spy of the early Cold War, Alger Hiss, emerged from Lewisburg Penitentiary on 27th November, 1954; calm, composed, and determined to reclaim his reputation. Surrounded by a scrum of journalists, he insisted fear had shaped his conviction, and vowed to vindicate his name. A reserved, cultured “grey man” who had risen through the New Deal, attended the Yalta Conference with Roosevelt, and served as acting Secretary-General at the UN’s founding, Hiss’s conviction for perjury when accused of Soviet espionage had captured America’s attention. Former communist Whitaker Chambers claimed Hiss had been part of an underground network with him in the 1930s, and produced the explosive “pumpkin papers” to prove it: microfilm and typed copies of classified documents that he said Hiss had passed to him, which he’d then stored inside a pumpkin on his farm in Maryland. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover how a young Richard Nixon was instrumental in Hiss’s downfall; discover how support for Hiss among prominent liberals turned the case into an early culture-war flashpoint, fuelling the rise of McCarthyism; and probe into Hiss’s red-tinged prison reading list… Further Reading: • ‘Chaos Agent, by Jeff Kisseloff’ (Harper’s, 2025): https://harpers.org/archive/2025/09/chaos-agent-jeff-kisseloff-rewriting-hisstory-alger-hiss/ • ‘SEQUELS: Ordeal of Living’ (TIME, 1954): https://time.com/archive/6885609/sequels-ordeal-of-living/ • Alger Hiss Released From Jail’ (British Pathé, 1954): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIII6PLV4LY #Scandal #ColdWar #50s #Legal #Politics  Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your TV signal wobbles. An alien voice (albeit one with a Southern English accent...) seizes control of your set. And, instead of newsreader Andrew Gardner reporting on the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, you hear a voice claiming to be ‘Vrillon’, of Ashtar Galactic Command, with a message for humanity. Such was the experience for viewers attempting to watch the ITV Evening News on Southern TV on 26th November, 1977 - an incident which became infamous in the ‘signal-jamming’ pantheon of the twentieth-century. Nobody has ever claimed responsibility. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly compare ‘Vrillon’ to its US counterpart, the ‘Max Headroom’ incident; unpick the idea that the broadcast was part of the Raelian movement; and explain how Twitter ruined signal-jamming pranks forever...   Further Reading: • ‘Alien Vrillon Interruption 1977’ (RECREATION by RukiTheDreamer, YouTube 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNriwaMTQE • ‘Vrillon: the alien voice hoax that became a legend’ (The Independent, 2017): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/vrillon-hacking-alien-voice-seventies-extra-terrestrial-hoax-unexplained-mysteries-a8069926.html • ‘Five Of The Eeriest Interruptions In Broadcast History’ (Neatorama, 2015): https://www.neatorama.com/2015/11/30/Five-Of-The-Eeriest-Interruptions-In-Broadcast-History/ This show first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wearing an armoured breastplate, clasping a silver cross and seizing an Army spontoon, 31 year old Elizabeth Petrovna appeared at the HQ of the elite Preobrazhensky Regiment guards in St. Petersburg on 25th November, 1741 - intent on over-throwing Tzar Ivan VI (a baby), and seizing the Russian throne for herself. Although she was the daughter of Peter The Great, she was also illegitimate, and overlooked in the line of succession. But her coup was bloodless, and she oversaw a productive cultural period for the dynasty - including her role in selecting Catherine The Great. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall Elizabeth’s fondness for food, fashion and f***ing; posit that her husband Alexis Razumovsky was a bit like Dolly Parton’s beau Carl Dean; and explain why, if you’re staging a coup, you should always slit your drums… Further Reading: • ‘Elizabeth I, Empress of All Russia’ (Unofficial Royalty, 2018): http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-elizabeth-i-of-russia/ • ‘Decadent Facts About Empress Elizabeth Of Russia, The Last Romanov’ (Factinate): https://www.factinate.com/people/empress-elizabeth/ • ‘St Petersburg Palaces of the Romanovs’ (RT, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3LRMZfmAsU This episode was first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Vincenz Czerny performed the world’s first breast augmentation in Vienna on 24th November, 1893. After removing a benign tumour via a mastectomy, Czerny addressed the asymmetry left behind by innovatively transplanting a non-cancerous lipoma from his patient’s lower back to reconstruct her breast. Czerny’s work was cutting-edge for its time (pun intended): it wasn’t until the Second World War, in the era of curvier pin-up girls, that cosmetic surgery began to become widespread, alongside the rise of silicone. The breakthrough came in 1962, when American surgeons Frank Gerow and Thomas Cronin developed the first silicone breast implant, tested on a Texas woman named Timmie Jean Lindsay, who agreed to the surgery only after being promised an ear-pinning as a bonus. Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover the story of breast surgery, both reparative and cosmetic; explain how early attempts at the art resulted in unfortunate outcomes like “paraffinomas”; and reveal why a dog named Esmeralda has an historic place in pantheon of historic boob jobs… Further Reading: • ’Breast implants: the first 50 years’ (The Guardian, 2012): https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/11/breast-implants-50-years?CMP=twt_gu • ‘From supersized to a more natural look: The evolution of breast implants’ (CNN, 2021): https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/evolution-of-breast-implants/index.html • ’Breast Implant Options for Augmentation & Reconstruction (Graphic)’ (Cleveland Clinic, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twsPcwxNSQQ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the Maccabees celebrated the recapture of Jerusalem from the Macedonian emperor Antiochus IV, they lit a menorah in the city's holy temple. The date, in the ancient Hebrew calendar, was the twenty-fifth day of the third month of Kislev 3597… the first Hanukkah.  Hanukkah's significance waned in some early Jewish texts due to the favourable portrayal of Romans in the Book of Maccabees, but gained prominence in the Diaspora during the late 19th century, as it offered a distinct celebration for Jews in Western societies during the festive season.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether the Maccabees were freedom fighters or religious fundamentalists; explain why donuts may have played a crucial role in the widespread adoption of Hanukkah; and recall Adam Sandler’s totemic contribution to Hanukkah lore… Further Reading: • ‘The story of Hanukkah: how a minor Jewish holiday was remade in the image of Christmas’ (The Conversation, 2019): https://theconversation.com/the-story-of-hanukkah-how-a-minor-jewish-holiday-was-remade-in-the-image-of-christmas-127620 • ‘Hanukkah: 20 Facts You Probably Didn't Know’ (Entertainment Tonight, 2021): https://www.etonline.com/20-facts-you-probably-didnt-know-about-hanukkah-137874 ‘Saturday Night Live: Adam Sandler on Hanukkah’ (NBC, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5Z-HpHH9g This episode first aired in 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Windows 1.0 came out on 20th November, 1985, introducing graphical user interface to the masses for the first time. Well, that was the concept, anyway; in truth, users required mighty hardware by the standards of the time (TWO floppy drives!), and hardly anybody bought it. But it laid the template for what would, within a decade, become world-conquering software.  Built on MS-DOS, Microsoft’s operating system empowered users to point-and-click rather than type commands, and run multiple programs at once (theoretically: your PC would actually politely freeze most of them…), including Paint, Notepad, Calculator, and a game called Reversi. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how Bill Gates and Paul Allen built their ambition to have a ‘computer in every home’; review Apple’s flawed lawsuit against Microsoft for copying their technology; and reveal who was responsible for putting the word Microsoft in front of all their product names…  Further Reading: • ‘Microsoft Windows 1.0, where it all began (pictures)’ (CNET, 2013): https://www.cnet.com/pictures/microsoft-windows-1-0-where-it-all-began-pictures/ • ‘From Windows 1 to Windows 10: 29 years of Windows evolution’ (The Guardian, 2014): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/02/from-windows-1-to-windows-10-29-years-of-windows-evolution• ‘Microsoft Windows 3.1 promo’ (Microsoft, 1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyg-DYm7b0A Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer:  Ollie Peart Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Mount Vesuvius erupted - and original hosts Rome pulled out - the British Olympic council sent a letter, dated 19th November, 1906, agreeing to host the fourth modern Olympic games. With just two years to go, the event was put together hastily, and on a paltry budget; a stadium erected at the White City home of the Franco-British exhibition, and the chosen events ones that British athletes excelled at, including polo, lacrosse, tug of war, deer-shooting, and duelling. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what a ‘flip-flap’ was; consider the calculation done to establish the length of the modern-day marathon; and establish how a small swig of champagne contributed to one of the Games' greatest ever controversies... Further Reading: • ‘The 08 Olympics... 1908, that is’ (BBC News Magazine, 2008): http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7544392.stm • ‘Why Is a Marathon 26.2 Miles?’ (HISTORY, 2014): https://www.history.com/news/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles • ‘The 1908 London Olympics - extracts from surviving footage of Track & Field and Marathon events’ (BFI, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IqE2KEqZJI This episode first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Switzerland’s most famous archer shot fruit off his own son’s head on 18th November, 1307. Or did he?  ‘Chronicon Helveticum’ by Aegidius Tschudi, from which the date comes, claims to be a serious historical account, but was written roughly 200 years later - and not published until nearly 200 years after that. And the myth bears remarkable similarities with the Danish folklore of Palnatoki, recorded in print centuries earlier.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recount the improbable beats of Tschudi’s tale; consider the small casting pool for 1950s swashbucklers; and marvel at how the story has come to represent the (genuine) Swiss resistance of the Habsburg army… Further Reading: • ‘A Brief History of the Legend of William Tell’ (The Culture Trip, 2017): https://theculturetrip.com/europe/switzerland/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-legend-of-william-tell/ • ‘Shooting an apple off one's child's head’ (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_an_apple_off_one%27s_child%27s_head#Palnatoki • ‘The Adventures of William Tell: Opening Theme’ (ITC, 1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcfykK8Iw7w This episode first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The bizarre, incoherent ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’ was broadcast only once, on 17th November, 1978. Despite CBS signing up the stars of the original movie - Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, the plot swapped epic battles for a bizarre variety show filled with cameos from Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur, and Jefferson Starship. The story revolves around Chewbacca’s family as celebrate “Life Day” on their home planet, Kashyyyk. George Lucas' initial vision was for a sombre, character-driven tale. But instead, it evolved into a chaotic blend of guest star sketches, dodgy green screens, and musical numbers. Lucas reportedly hated it so much he wished to destroy every copy with a sledgehammer. Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Fisher ended up singing a new song to the tune of John Williams’s Star Wars theme; consider how Disney attempted to scrub the memory of the Special from the Star Wars canon after acquiring Lucasfilm; and contemplate the wisdom of making Wookies - who speak an unintelligible language, with no subtitles - the stars of the show… Further Reading: • ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special: A Retrospective’ (Empire, 2009): https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/star-wars-holiday-special/ • ‘Star Wars Holiday Special: Inside the Confusing Christmas Special’ (Thrillist, 2017): https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/star-wars-holiday-special • ’The Star Wars Holiday Special’ (CBS, 1978): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxtSX1lg8rE Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Workers involved in tomb construction in the Valley of the Kings staged the earliest recorded strike in history on 14th November, 1157 B.C. Having not been paid their ration of food for 18 days, they set about disrupting temple life and rituals, to the shock of Pharaoh Ramses III’s administration. The workers' struggle wasn't solely about wages; it reflected broader discontent, too, as they voiced concerns about alleged corruption, such as barley being replaced with dirt in payments. And the strike indicated a shift in the workers' perceptions, as they realised they couldn't rely solely on the divine authority of the Pharaoh to meet their basic needs. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Ancient Egypt was financially decimated by the suppression of the ‘Sea Peoples’; explain how an offer of cake was (unsurprisingly) not enough to pacify the protests; and consider whether the workers’ picket-line slogans needed a little workshopping…  Further Reading: • ‘When Was The First Strike In History?’ (HistoryExtra, 2016): https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-egypt/when-first-strike-history/ • ‘Red Traces, Part 4: Strikers and Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt’ (Counterfire, 2023): https://www.counterfire.org/article/red-traces-part-4-strikers-and-pharaohs-in-ancient-egypt/ • ’Rameses III Describes Invasion Of Sea Peoples’ (Voices of the Past, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01eyTLfFJqQ This episode first aired in 2023 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Westminer’s most famous landmark, Big Ben, bongggged for the first time on 13th November, 1856, outside the not-yet-finished House of Commons. Londoners gathered to hear what would become Britain’s most iconic sound; a spectacle so loud and unsettling that some spectators literally ran away.  But the first bell didn’t last long: after just eleven months of impressive Saturday tolls, it cracked under the strain of its own colossal hammer. The whole thing was melted down and recast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry… but the second bell also cracked and broke! But, after a bit more tinkering - rotating the bell slightly and fitting a lighter hammer - Big Ben finally settled into its iconic almost-but-not-quite-E natural tone.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the BBC struggled to adapt its chimes for radio broadcasts; reveal why the Elizabeth Tower leans ever so slightly; and consider a potential Victorian euphemism for pants-pissing… Further Reading: • ‘When Did Big Ben First Bong?’ (Londonist, 2022): https://londonist.com/london/history/when-did-big-ben-first-bong • ‘This History Might Ring a Bell’ (WIRED, 2011): https://www.wired.com/2011/10/1014big-ben-lifted/ • ‘Big Ben - 5 Secrets About London’s Famous Chimes | Most Iconic Buildings’ (DW Euromaxx, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Jo8hHsFXA #London #Victorian #Design #Mistakes Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jules Leotard first somersaulted off a trapeze at Cirque Napoléon in Paris on 12th November, 1859. His act inspired gymnasts and circus performers the world over - although Leotard is now best remembered as the inventor of the skin-tight outfits he wore on stage. Leotard had abandoned his studies as a lawyer to perfect his circus skills, spurred on by his acrobatic father. He developed his act into a twelve-minute trapeze routine with only a heap of mattresses to break his fall.  In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca perve over old photos of Leotard’s physique; reveal how Alvin and the Chipmunks AND Bruce Springsteen have a connection with this day in history; and consider how the leotard evolved from a ‘strong man’ outfit to a girl’s ballet costume…  Further Reading: • ‘The First Public performance by Jules Leotard’ (Squaducation, 2020): https://www.squaducation.com/blog/first-public-performance-jules-leotard • ‘THE DRESS AND THE LEGEND: HISTORY AND FUNCTIONS OF A LEOTARD’ (The Vistek, 2020): https://thevistek.com/the-dress-and-the-legend-history-and-functions-of-a-leotard/ • ‘Eddie Cantor - The Man On The Flying Trapeze’ (Columbia Years 1922-1940): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwvqMptS7UA This episode first aired in 2021 Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Geoffrey Chaucer’s granddaughter Alice was first married at the age of 11. She was granted a license to marry her third husband on 11th November, 1430; and became defined by her three powerful unions with men she outlived. Having lost her first two husbands in the Hundred Years War, she then settled down with William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk; a marriage that got her closer than ever to the seat of power. At one point, she even filled in for Queen Margaret on a ceremonial parade in France. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly marvel at Chaucer’s ability to climb the social hierarchy via her marriages; explain why ‘jointures’ changed the fortunes of widows in the Middle Ages; and consider the merits of commissioning multiple statues of themselves… Further Reading: • ‘Four Thought: And His Wife’ (BBC Radio 4, 2021) - Olly Mann interviews Jessica Barker about medieval statues of women, including Alice Chaucer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z0c4 • ‘Historical Figures: Alice Chaucer, Lady of the Garter’ (Just History Posts, 2020): https://justhistoryposts.com/2020/08/11/historical-figures-alice-chaucer-lady-of-the-garter/ • ‘'Till Death Us Do Part? Love and the Medieval Tomb Monument with Dr Jessica Barker’ (The Churches Conservation Trust, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH55Vq3tHo0 This episode first aired in 2021 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Big Bird, Oscar and Bert & Ernie were first introduced to America’s children on 10th November, 1969, when Sesame Street made its small-screen debut. Designed to resemble a real inner-city street, its set and multicultural cast including African Americans was a groundbreaking concept. Aiming to address educational inequality, its creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morissette had been inspired by the idea that TV could help underprivileged kids get a leg-up by learning through engaging skits, songs, and lovable characters. The show became wildly popular, with 7 million children watching daily, and early studies showing viewers scored higher on educational tests.  Over time, the series tackled issues such as racism, death, autism and bullying. Arion, Rebecca and Olly recount how Jim Henson came on-board; reveal how racists in Mississippi refused to screen the series; and explain how this transformational show came about thanks to a dinner party gambit… Further Reading: • ‘How Sesame Street Helps Children Learn for Life’ (PBS, 2017): https://www.pbs.org/education/blogs/pbs-in-the-classroom/how-sesame-street-helps-children-learn-for-life/ •  ‘Mississippi banned Sesame Street for showing Black and White kids playing’ (The Washington Post, 2023): https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/02/05/sesame-street-ban-mississippi/ • ‘Sesame Street’ (Children’s Television Workshop, 1969): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9NUiHCr9Cs Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices