Today In History with The Retrospectors

Compilation. Happy New Year, Retrospectors! Before the show returns on January 3rd, Arion, Rebecca and Olly are taking one last look back at their favourite episodes from 2022.In ‘Eva Tanguay, Cyclonic Comedienne’, the team recall the events of 1st March, 1910, when the vaudeville megastar was arrested in Kentucky after stabbing a stagehand three times with a hat pin. Her edgy charisma, style and sexuality gave her a stellar career, coupled with suggestive lyrics and wild gossip calculated to keep her in the public eye.In ‘Captain Blood and the Crown Jewels’, we explain how fugitive Thomas Blood sneaked his way into the Tower of London’s jewel room on 9th May, 1671 – bludgeoning the 77 year-old Keeper of the Jewels, Talbot Edwards, in the process. The audacious and complex heist involved multiple pairs of white gloves, a fake nephew and stuffing an orb down his trousers.Finally, in ‘Finger Lickin’ Lawsuit’, the Retrospectors recount the events of 14th March, 1978, when Colonel Sanders was at legal loggerheads with the owners of KFC over his constant criticism of their food. As franchises were being rolled out worldwide, Sanders described the new batter as "a damn fried doughball stuck on some chicken", and the iteration of his gravy as "God-damned slop"...Further Reading:• ‘Attempt to steal the Crown Jewels’ (The National Archives): https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/significant-events/attempt-to-steal-the-crown-jewels/ • ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken of Bowling Green, Inc. v. Sanders’ (Supreme Court of Kentucky, 1978):https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/supreme-court/1978/563-s-w-2d-8-1.html• ‘Eva Tanguay sings ‘I Don't Care’’ (Nordskog, 1922): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zte2sDJ0rysLove the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe 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: Sophie King.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Holidays! Arion, Rebecca and Olly will be back with more cracking ‘Today in History’ content from January 3rd 2023… but in the meantime, it’s time to wrap the year with the Pub Quiz that ONLY makes sense if you’ve doggedly revised everything we’ve discussed for the past 51 weeks.It’s Arion vs Rebecca as Olly tests their knowledge on subjects as diverse as Ozzy Osbourne, blade-stropping and Milton Hershey’s middle name. Can Rebecca keep her crown from 2021? Does Arion’s attempt to get his rivals drunk pay dividends? And for which iconic TV show was the pilot episode called ‘Ned’s Bicycle’? The Retrospectors reveal all.Thanks so much for listening to the show this year. If you’ve enjoyed what we’ve done, pretty please leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts - it really helps others discover the show:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/today-in-history-with-the-retrospectors/id1564093130And if you want even more to listen to over the festive period - that’s weekly, full-length Sunday episodes, an ad-free feed, and over 75 bonus bits of content unlocked immediately - join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴for less than £1 per week, and support our independent podcast: join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun. The first string of lights festooned upon a tree dazzled visitors to the New York home of Edward Johnson, Vice President of the Edison Electric Light Company, on 22nd December, 1882.Lit patriotic red, white and blue, the tree also revolved; wowing a reporter from The Detroit Post and Tribune. “At the rear of the beautiful parlors, was a large Christmas tree presenting a most picturesque and uncanny aspect,” he wrote. “It was brilliantly lighted with… eighty lights in all encased in these dainty glass eggs… One can hardly imagine anything prettier.”In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what electric lights have in common with potatoes; ask why Americans were frightened of wired bulbs yet quite content to set candles on fire and attach them to flammable resin in their own homes; and untangle how a failed patent application was responsible for the trend finally catching on…Further Reading: ‘Untangling the History of Christmas Lights’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2016): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untangling-history-christmas-lights-180961140/ ‘Who Invented Christmas Lights?’ (PBS, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qB61a_qbuo ‘Thomas Edison planned to invent a machine to talk to the dead’ (weirdhistorian, 2016): https://www.weirdhistorian.com/thomas-edison-talked-to-the-dead/ ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsLove the show? Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Melancholic Elvis pastiche ‘Lonely This Christmas’, by glam rockers Mud, became the UK’s Christmas No. 1 hit on 21st December, 1974, beating off festive competition from top 70s popsters Gilbert O’ Sullivan, The Goodies, and The Wombles. Despite its continuing popularity in Britain, there remains a widespread misconception that the track was actually sung by Elvis Presley, rather than Les Gray doing an impersonation of him. Even though Elvis himself had a song in the Top 10 at the same time.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain Basil Brush’s role in making Mud true contenders; explain why the band appeared on ‘Top Of The Pops’ with a ventriloquist’s dummy; and consider the valuable role of downbeat pop in the Christmas charts… Further Reading:• ‘Lonely This Christmas: Mud’s Fantastic Wallow In Festive Misery’ (Dig!): https://www.thisisdig.com/feature/lonely-this-christmas-mud-song/#:~:text=Lonely%20This%20Christmas%20wasn%E2%80%99t%20just%20iconic%20in%20terms,huge%20amounts%20of%20fake%20snow%20over%20the%20group.• ‘1,000 UK Number One Hits By Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh’ (Omnibus Press, 2010): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/1_000_UK_Number_One_Hits/BwwLBaH9488C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=les+gray+%2B+lonely+this+christmas+%2B+number+1&pg=PT526&printsec=frontcover• ‘Mud - Lonely This Christmas’ (BBC Top Of The Pops, 1974): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a61sUu5rcu8#Christmas #Music #70s #UKLove the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe 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: Sophie King.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ‘Frost Fair’, held on the frozen River Thames, caused a sensation on 20th December, 1683, when all London society, from Charles II down, came out to enjoy a bacchanalian Christmas on the ice. The festivities were a great relief for a nation riddled with smallpox, and enduring what was possibly Britain’s coldest ever Winter.Among the entertainments on offer were fox-hunting, cock-fighting, sledding, coach-racing, pop-up barbers, barbecues and public houses, and, um, a lot of sex workers. Plus something called ‘Dutch Whimsy’.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask why the monarch’s attendance at the event was so important to the capital’s watermen; reveal how printed souvenirs came to be THE must-have keepsake from the fair; and explain how the ‘new’ London Bridge ruined all the frost fair fun… Further Reading:• ‘The Great Frost Fair of 1683-4’ (History Today, 1960): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/feature/great-frost-fair-1683-4• ‘A Carnival on the Water: the Frost Fair of 1683’ (British Library, 2017) : https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2017/05/a-carnival-on-the-water-the-frost-fair-of-1683.html• ‘Frost Fairs: London's Frozen Thames’ (Museum of London, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM923V4G6zs#1600s #London #ChristmasLove the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe 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: Sophie King.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles Dickens’ novella ‘A Christmas Carol’ was written in just six weeks, and published on 19th December, 1843. The timeless story, which introduced the world to Ebeneezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, was conceived in part to get its author out of a sticky financial situation.Dickens’ other motive was to put into an accessible fable the political ideas that had formed the core of his proposed pamphlet, ‘An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man's Child’. In so doing, he re-focussed the Christmas message around charitable giving and kindness for generations. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Dickens plundered his own back-catalogue to surface some ‘Christmas goblins’; consider whether the book-buying public truly understood the intended message of his work; and reveal why his determination to produce it in an affordable edition hit him in the pocket… Further Reading:• ‘A Christmas Carol: The True History Behind the Dickens Story’ (Time, 2021): https://time.com/4597964/history-charles-dickens-christmas-carol/• ‘How did A Christmas Carol come to be?’ (BBC Culture, 2017): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20171215-how-did-a-christmas-carol-come-to-be• "What day is it?" (George C. Scott - A Christmas Carol - 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YO17UOjcovg#Victorian #Books #ChristmasLove the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe 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: Sophie King.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Avenue Montaigne, Christian Dior’s atelier in Paris, opened its doors on 16th December 1946. His staff had just six weeks to get it ready for their first show on February 12th, 1947 - the landmark post-war collection that became known as ‘the New Look’.Bettina Ballard, fashion editor of Vogue, wrote: “Never has there been a moment more climatically right for a Napoleon, an Alexander the Great, a Caesar of the couture. Paris fashion was waiting to be seized and shaken and given direction. There has never been an easier or more complete conquest than that of Christian Dior in 1947." In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick Dior’s business decisions; explain how a connection with the British Royal family was cultivated and exploited to promote his nascent brand; and consider why he became known as ‘the tyrant of hemlines’... Further Reading:• ‘Christian Dior: The New Look’ (The Metrolpolitan Museum of Art): https://artsandculture.google.com/story/kwWhkHJ-Ok8UIg?hl=en• ‘Christian Dior - The Man who Made the World Look New, By Marie France Pochna’ (Arcade Publishing, 1996): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Christian_Dior/ffkK4dy00SoC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=30+Avenue+Montaigne&pg=PA113&printsec=frontcover• ‘“Haute-Couture”: The world of Monsieur Dior in his own words’ (Dir. Henri A. Lavorel, 1949): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZESWE3myVLk#40s #Fashion #LGBT #FranceWe'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!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: Sophie King.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun. Napoleon was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Helena. But, 19 years later, on 15th December, 1840, he got buried again: this time at Les Invalides, Paris. It was an ornate state occasion, involving multiple caskets, 500 sailors, 14 semi-naked female statues... and a lot of lardy cakes.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what Napoleon’s cadaver looked like; explain why a previous petition to relocate his remains had failed; and discover an unexpectedly culinary description of the day from The Sunday Times…  Further Reading:• ‘Bring Him Home: How Napoleon Bonaparte’s delayed funeral came to be’ (Lapham’s Quarterly, 2020): https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/bring-him-home• ‘Napoleon’s legacy: ashes, tombs and DNA’ (National Geographic, 2010): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/napoleons-legacy• ‘Secrets of Les Invalides: Home to war veterans and Napoleon’ (France 24, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA4uvmiPVUQ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsLove the show? Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lionel Bart’s musical ‘La Strada’, based on the hit Fellini film, suffered the ignominy of closing after its opening night in New York on 14th December, 1969, losing $650,000.Heroin addict Bart never made it over to the States for the previews, during which time his songs were chopped and changed to such an extent that on opening night a Playbill could not be produced, because it would have been full of inaccuracies.In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reflect on what went wrong; revisit Bart’s earlier flop, Robin Hood musical Twang!!, and check out the opening night reviews that killed La Strada, which, all things considered, aren’t *that* bad… Further Reading:• ‘Broadway’s Top Ten Musical Flops’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2011): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/broadways-top-ten-musical-flops-169390390/• ‘Before Lloyd Webber: how La Strada became one of the biggest flops in theatre history’ (Telegraph, 2017): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/lloyd-webber-la-strada-became-one-biggest-flops-theatre-history/•’Madeline Bell - Belonging’ (from the musical ‘La Strada’, 1969): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8nQYx7C2_k#Broadway #1960s #TheatreLove the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/RetrospectorsThe 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: Sophie King.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celestine V rocked the Catholic world on 13th December, 1294, when he stood up, gave a short speech, stripped himself of his Papal insignia and resigned the Pontificate. He was 79 years old, and had been Pope for just 15 weeks. Previously a well-regarded hermit who’d lived a humble life in the mountains, he got the gig after writing a letter to the conclave, urging them to choose a new Pope soon, lest they incur God’s wrath. He had never considered that the Cardinals would respond by offering the job to him.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why medieval Papal elections sometimes took years to conclude; reveal how Charles II of Naples was pulling the strings behind the scenes; and recall how Dante responded to Celestine’s controversial ‘Great Refusal’...  Further Reading:• ‘The Pope Who Quit: A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation,By Jon M. Sweeney’ (Crown Publishing Group, 2012):`https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Pope_Who_Quit/dnp-eTkoAmkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=resignation+of+Celestine+V&printsec=frontcover• ‘In the Entire History of the Catholic Church, Only a Handful of Popes Have Resigned’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2013): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/in-the-entire-history-of-the-catholic-church-only-a-handful-of-popes-have-resigned-14734771/• ‘Pope Celestine V, the last pope to resign before Benedict XVI’ (EWTN, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4RSo6D076s#Catholic #Italy #Medieval #ReligionLove the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices