Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Royal Wedding between Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips on 14th November, 1973 was a lavish affair at Westminster Abbey, with an anticipated global audience of 500 million - but the 23 year-old daughter of the Queen was clearly awkward about being the centre of attention, and asked to be only filmed from behind.Labelled ‘Princess Sourpuss’ by some of the tabloids, the public had yet to warm to Anne’s devotion to public service, love of horses and reticence to engage with the limelight. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick their favourite ‘facts’ from the exhaustive eight-hour TV coverage of this event; explain why it was bad form to mention sausages at the wedding reception; and revisit Prince Philip’s most quotable line about Anne: “if it doesn’t fart, or eat hay, she isn’t interested”... Further Reading:• ‘Royal Wedding Fever’ (The Observer, 1973): https://www.theguardian.com/news/2014/oct/12/from-the-observer-archive-14-october-1973-royal-wedding-fever• ‘Princess Anne Married Mark Phillips 47 Years Ago’ (People, 2020): https://people.com/royals/on-this-day-in-royal-history-princess-anne-married-mark-phillips/• ‘THE ROYAL WEDDING (COLOUR)’ (Movietone, 1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMsr7xfwoYc&t=3s#Royals #Wedding #70sLove 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

Britain's first ‘New Town’, built to accommodate 60,000 residents, was Stevenage, Hertfordshire - designated on 11th November, 1946 by Lewis Silkin, Labour’s Minister for Town and Country Planning. Inspired by the rush to accommodate Londoners displaced by the Nazi bombing of the capital, the construction of the concrete metropolis was heavily opposed by the 6,400 residents of ‘Old Stevenage’, the ancient town that was to be superseded.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace Silkin’s vision back to a 1695 essay by Quaker reformer John Bellers; ask whether the concrete-clad aesthetic of the architecture was a terrible mistake; and re-live nostalgic trips to play laser tag in the leisure park…Further Reading: • ‘Stevenage New Town’ (Stevenage Museum, 2022): https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/stevenage-museum/history-of-stevenage/stevenage-through-the-ages/stevenage-new-town• ‘Stevenage: The town that aimed for Utopia’ (BBC News, 2016): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-37826783• ’Mr. Silkin Goes To Stevenage’ (British Pathé, 1946): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txHbMusO33o#40s #UK #Architecture #Design We'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. In the early days of advertising, tyre company Goodyear sent a giant tyre on a coast-to-coast publicity trip. It was photographed on 42nd Street, New York on 10th November, 1930.Was this the birth of the ‘big things’ phenomenon that has lead us to roadside giant prawns, record-breaking sausages, and Instagrammable statues of Jeff Goldblum? Perhaps. We’ll go with it, anyway.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Goodyear’s publicity nous went beyond photo opportunities and into their very origin story; explain why press agent Harry Reichenbach once brought a lion into a New York hotel room; and discover how Australia’s love affair with the Big Banana, the Big Prawn and the Big Peg came to be… Further Reading:• The photo that inspired this episode - 42nd Street, New York, 1930 (excerpted from ‘Curious Moments’, published by Konemann, 1999): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDv1k7TXsAILXh7?format=jpg&name=large• ‘Most Ridiculous Ways Anyone Ever Promoted A Movie’ (Grunge, 2017): https://www.grunge.com/42153/ridiculous-ways-anyone-ever-promoted-movie/• ‘The World: Australia's BIG Things’ (PRX, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=178HL72VnTA‘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

Prince Tokugawa Yoshinobu (徳川 慶喜) was the 15th and last shōgun of the Tokugawa shōgunate of Japan. On November 9, 1867, Yoshinobu tendered his resignation to the Emperor.This restored traditional rule for the first time in over 250 years, yet also progressively reformed the country; ushering in the Meiji era, under an Emperor who was just 14 years old.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the country’s policy of isolationism had come to be tested - first by Portugese, then Dutch, and then American interlocutors; explain why this tumultuous transition of power split the urban and rural Japanese; and consider why even bloody uprisings look nice in screen-print…Further Reading:• ‘From Meiji to Modernity: How Japan Reinvented Itself Through The 20th Century’ (HistoryExtra, 2021): https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/japan-traditional-reinvention-20th-century/• ‘Meiji Restoration: Edo Period & Tokugawa Shogunate’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/topics/japan/meiji-restoration• ‘Tokugawa Yoshinobu : The Last Shōgun’: (JAPANquickies, 2021):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU6uY042IBI… want even more?In this week’s bonus bit, exclusively for 🌴 CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴members, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss how the end of the shogunate changed Sumurai hairstyles, evolved the Army so it was able to score victory over Russia, and precipitated the global recognition of Japan as one of the big five powers in the world… get this and exclusive Sunday episodes by joining 🌴 CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 now.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: Sophie KingTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.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

Guy Fawkes has gone down in history as the most-remembered figure from the thwarted 17th century plot to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I. But the ringleader of this attempted terror attack was actually Warwickshireman Robert Catesby, who was shot and killed in Staffordshire on 8th November, 1605.This Catholic extremist, who had seen his father imprisoned for practicing his religion and sheltering priests, supposedly died clutching a portrait of the Virgin Mary. He was then decapitated; his head brought back to London to be placed on the side of Parliament House. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dabble in a bit of recusancy; explore the considerable repression that English Catholics were living with during this period; and consider how Catesby used his class and charm to coalesce his group of co-conspirators into the gunpowder plot that very nearly exploded the government… Further Reading:• ‘Robert Catesby, by Marilee Hanson’ (English History, 2022): https://englishhistory.net/stuarts/robert-catesby/• ‘A History of Treason: The bloody history of Britain through the stories of its most notorious traitors’ (The National Archives / John Blake Publishing, 2022): https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=p9SUEAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PT168&dq=8th+november+catesby&hl=en&source=newbks_fb&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false• ‘Gunpowder Plot – Stories from Parliament’ (UK Parliament, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YptNONmnXH0&t=0s#1600s #Catholic #UK #Crime #PoliticsLove 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

Why are the Republican Party represented by an elephant, and the Democrats (unofficially) by a donkey? The answer lies in the work of revered political cartoonist Thomas Nast, whose picture ‘Third Term Panic’ was published in Harper's Weekly on 7th November, 1874 - the day before the mid-terms.His Aesop-style symbolism is rather tricky for modern readers to untangle, but the satiric thrust of this particular cartoon related to news that President Ulysses S. Grant was considering running for an unprecedented third term in office. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why 19th century political cartoonists were so influential;  consider whether Nast’s view of the Irish corresponded with his more enlightened views on African-Americans; and reveal how Andrew Jackson reclaimed his portrayal as a ‘jackass’ and turned it into a political positive… Further Reading:• ‘Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons by Fiona Deans Halloran’ (University of North Carolina Press, 2012): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Thomas_Nast/HlX6kAxzyRYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=thomas+nast+elephant&printsec=frontcover• ‘Why are an elephant and a donkey the Republican and Democratic party symbols?’ (The Sun, 2020): https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12977208/elephant-republican-donkey-democratic-party-symbols-elections/• ‘Elephant or Donkey? How Animals Became U.S. Political Symbols’ (National Geographic, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5MmEfkli9o#1800s #US #Politics #Publishing Love 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

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first big-screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling book series, had its premiere in London's Leicester Square on November 4th, 2001.Among the glittering guest list were Sting, Cliff Richard, and the Duchess of York, but Baby Spice spoke for all of us when she told reporters “I don’t know what to expect, but I'm really excited!”In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore why Warner Bros was so nervous about bringing Harry Potter to the big screen; look into how Steven Spielberg imagined the film when he was briefly attached to the project; and discuss how Daniel Radcliffe was given the title role ahead of 60,000 other boys who had auditioned for it…  Further Reading:• ‘Charmed 'Harry Potter' Is Poised to Set New Records’ (The New York Times, 2001): https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/23/movies/charmed-harry-potter-is-poised-to-set-new-records.html?searchResultPosition=164 • ‘Chris Columbus Interview: Harry Potter 20th Anniversary’ (Screen Rant, 2021): https://screenrant.com/harry-potter-20th-anniversary-chris-columbus-interview/ • ‘From the archives: The Chatterley trial’ (Spectator, 2010): https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/from-the-archives-the-chatterley-trial • ‘The Original Harry Potter ScreenTests that Started it all - Daniel Radcliffe’ (No1 Potterhead, 2000): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WqhS5o52T4 #2000s #Film #Arts #UKWe'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. Attending or producing raves was made illegal in Britain with the passing of the Criminal Justice Act on 3rd November, 1994. The government even legislated against electronic dance music, “wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”These unprecedented restrictions were partly in reaction to the moral panic caused after a 'free party' at Castlemorton Common attracted 30,000-40,000 attendees, and the ire of the tabloid press.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the provenance of ‘revellers’ in the raver’s lexicon; explain why the creation of the M25 lead directly to the Act; and confess just how many illegal parties they’ve (inadvertently) attended… Further Reading:• ‘The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 becomes law’ (The Guardian, 2011): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/15/criminal-justice-public-order-act• Police clash with ravers at Castlemorton (BBC News West, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOySsljl54E• ‘Why did raves become illegal?’ (BBC Newsbeat, 2020): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-53170021#1990s #UK #music #culture‘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

Publishing House Penguin Books was found unanimously not guilty of obscenity for printing an unexpurgated Lady Chatterley's Lover on November 2nd, 1960.The novel’s author, D.H. Lawrence, had died 30 years earlier, but the court’s landmark ruling had a significant impact on the publishing world, paving the way for greater freedom of the written word.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore how the chief prosector Mervyn Griffith-Jones massively misread the social moment; look into how the case inadvertently helped usher in the coming era of sexual liberation; and discuss why the establishment would have been ok with the book if only the gamekeeper had died…  Further Reading:• ‘The trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover: how the 'obscene' book caused a moral storm’ (History Extra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/the-trial-of-lady-chatterleys-lover-obscenity-trial/ • ‘Lady Chatterley's legal case: how the book changed the meaning of obscene’ (The Guardian, 2019): https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/aug/01/lady-chatterleys-legal-case-how-the-book-changed-the-meaning-of-obscene • ‘From the archives: The Chatterley trial’ (Spectator, 2010): https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/from-the-archives-the-chatterley-trial • ‘Forbidden Love - Lady Chatterley's Lover’ (BBC, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjGOKzpvMz4 #60s #Books #Arts #Strange #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

John Adams became the first US president to move into the White House on November 1st, 1800, even though construction work was still underway and most of the building was unfinished.There was a reason for his determination to get in as quickly as possible: he clearly wanted to be the first president to live in the White House and there was an election coming up just a week later – an election that he lost.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore why his wife hated the White House; look into why so many presidents finish their presidency in debt; and discuss why there are so many fun rooms in the White House, including a bowling alley, music room and even a cinema…  Further Reading:• ‘How the Declaration of Independence wooed Americans away from Britain’ (National Geographic, 2002): https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2022/06/how-the-declaration-of-independence-wooed-americans-away-from-britain • ‘Adams moves into the White House, Nov. 1, 1800’ (Politico, 2018): https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/31/president-adams-moves-into-the-white-house-nov-1-1800-949132 • ‘At home in the White House: how different presidents adapted to life in office’ (Prospect, 2017): https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/other/at-home-in-the-white-house-how-different-presidents-adapted-to-life-in-office • ‘The White House: A Journey Through Time!’ (The Time Travel Artist, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsJU0CMibEg #1800s #Architecture #US Love 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