Today In History with The Retrospectors

Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepherd who starred in more than 27 Hollywood films, died on 10th August, 1932 at the age of 13. Radio stations around the country interrupted programming to announce his death and then broadcast an hour long tribute to him. Discovered in war-torn France by American corporal Lee Duncan, he was taken back to the USA and trained to be a stunt dog, but it was his emotional close-up work which wowed the critics. “Perhaps Rin Tin Tin belongs to that modern school of acting, which expresses everything in the face”, raved the LA Times.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal why Rin Tin Tin was named in Duncan’s wife’s divorce filing; explain how he followed in the footsteps of previous canine movie star, Strongheart; and consider the logistics of exactly how he performed in the Rin Tin Tin radio show… Further Reading:• ‘Excerpt: Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean’ (The New York Times, 2011): https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/books/review/rin-tin-tin.html• ‘The Dogs Who Saved Hollywood: Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin’ (Rutgers University Press, 2014): https://arcade.stanford.edu/content/dogs-who-saved-hollywood-strongheart-and-rin-tin-tin-0• ‘Susan Orlean on the original Rin Tin Tin’ (The New Yorker, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOA4og8To8But… what’s that, boy? Five minutes more of Rin Tin Tin chat, just for supporters of the show? WOOF! To unlock it, and a bonus bit like it every single week, visit patreon.com/Retrospectors or click Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. WOOF!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

Construction began on a white marble bell tower for Pisa’s new Cathedral complex on 9th August, 1173. Little did the engineers working on the project know that their building would become famous all over the world, because of its principal flaw: it wasn’t straight.The Leaning Tower of Pisa is now one of Europe’s biggest tourist attractions, and perhaps the most monitored building in the world. Millions have been spent PRESERVING its famous lean, but for well over a century it was something that Pisans worked hard (and fruitlessly) to straighten.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the warning signs were always there, in the city’s history and other architecture; reveal how Mussolini very nearly ruined one of the world’s most perfectly imperfect landmarks; and ask if it’s really so surprising that the original architect’s name has been lost to history… Further Reading: • ‘Why does the Leaning Tower of Pisa lean?’ (HISTORY, 2015): https://www.history.com/news/why-does-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa-lean• ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa's architect is revealed as Bonanno Pisano’ (Mail Online, 2019): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7809335/Leaning-Tower-Pisas-architect-revealed-Bonanno-Pisano.html• ‘LEANING TOWER OF PISA-Climbing to the Top and Why the Tower Leans’ (Andy’s Awesome Adventures, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbpbn9E2dcFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'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

Abbey Road was a street known only to North Londoners until The Beatles posed on the zebra crossing outside EMI Studios on 8th August, 1969. Photographer Iain MacMillan took just six snaps, one of which graced the front cover of their penultimate album, ‘Abbey Road’.The image became instantly iconic, partly due to the decision not to name the band or the album on the front of LP. It even spurred a conspiracy theory that claimed that Paul McCartney was dead, and being played by a lookalike, attested to his by bare feet and the number plate on the vehicle behind him.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the picture nearly didn’t happen in St John’s Wood at all, but in NEPAL; dive into the ‘Paul Is Dead’ conspiracy; and check out the live feed of hapless tourists approximating the picture… Further Reading:• ‘Obituary: Iain MacMillan’ (The Independent, 2006): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/iain-macmillan-364645.html• ‘Revisiting London's iconic album cover images’ (BBC News, 2008): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-43318498• ‘Beatles fans flock to Abbey Road for 44th anniversary’ (Telegraph, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoVvSW-QqmkThanks so much for supporting the show! We're your Octopus's GardenThe 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

Little Orphan Annie, Harold Gray’s plucky heroine, made her newspaper debut on 5th August, 1924. The iconic comic strip then ran for an astonishing 86 years.Although now most associated with the saccharine musical it inspired, ‘Annie’ was MUCH edgier in comic form - gangsters and Nazis made an appearance, and Daddy Warbucks was so disappointed by the election of FDR that he DIED (briefly. Before being brought back to life).In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how, for millions of readers, comic strips once filled the role of soap operas; reveal how Gray plagiarized a popular poem for the name of his heroine; and tell how Ovaltine had a disproportionate influence on the plot-lines of Annie’s titular radio show… Further Reading:• ‘Little Orphan Annie and Little Orphan Annie in Cosmic City by Harold Gray’ (Chicago Herald Tribune, 1926, 1933): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Little_Orphan_Annie_and_Little_Orphan_An/pUOpAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=little+orphan+annie&printsec=frontcover• ‘The Politics of “Annie”’ (The New Yorker, 2012): https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-politics-of-annie• ‘Why "Little Orphan Annie" is Important in Comics’ (Comic Book Historians, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIYRSlMHUEQIf you enjoyed this episode, there's FIVE MINUTES more from the cutting room floor about how Little Orphan Annie showcased Harold Gray's libertarianism, and ended on an ominous note with the 'Butcher of the Balkans'.To unlock it - and a bonus bit like it every single week - subscribe via Apple Podcasts, or support the show via patreon.com/retrospectorsWe'll be back on Monday! 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

Rerun. Benedictine monk Dom Perignon is said to have discovered champagne on 4th August, 1693. 200 million bottles are now produced and sold every year.The sparkliness was originally considered a defect - because carbonated wine caused the fragile bottles of the era to burst. Until stronger glass was developed in the mid-19th century, mass-produced champagne was impossible to manufacture, so it gained a reputation as a high society tipple.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine the boredom of wine-tastings; explain how to make fake champagne; and reveal how the bombing of French vineyards, ironically, helped to save the industry...Further Reading:• ‘Dom Pérignon 'Drinks the Stars' (WIRED, 2009): https://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech-0804/• ‘6 things you can carbonate with your SodaStream’ (CNet, 2016):https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/things-you-can-carbonate-with-your-sodastream/• ‘How Dom Perignon Became The King Of Champagne’ (Alux, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaUB8bFV0lM‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! 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

Sir Francis Younghusband’s band of British troops reached Lhasa on 3rd August, 1904. Along the way, they’d massacred thousands of bewildered Tibetans - but justified their incursion with the (false) claim that Russia had been manipulating Tibet to gain ground in British India.Despite the disastrous violence wrought by his men, Younghusband was considered by many back home as an explorer and adventurer - and, later, as a man of peace and friend of Gandhi.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore through Younghusband’s private letters to his father; try and explain the 18 pairs of boots and shoes he brought to the Himalayas; and consider his conversion to ‘mysticism’ following the flawed invasion he lead…Further Reading:• ‘Sir Francis Younghusband's 1903 Invasion Of Tibet’ (HistoryExtra, 2017):https://www.historyextra.com/period/edwardian/francis-younghusband-1903-invasion-tibet-expedition/• ‘Parshotam Mehra: Beginnings of the Lhasa Expedition: Younghusband's Own Words’ (Cambridge Univesity Press, 2009): http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/bot/pdf/bot_04_03_02.pdf• ‘With the Younghusband Tibet Expedition 1903-4: the diary of Lt Harvey Kelly - Christoph Baumer’ (Royal Society for Asian Affairs, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCi4h1DGh2YFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'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

Olivier Clisson III was beheaded for treason on 2nd August, 1343 - an event which triggered his wife Jeanne to violently avenge his death for years: a brutal killing spree that earned her the nickname ‘The Lioness of Brittany’.Despite being a fortysomething mother of two, she fitted out three warships with black paint and red sails, and targeted defenseless French merchant ships with her fearsome ‘Black Fleet’.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how to storm a French castle - via the front door; tell how Jeanne changed gear for her last chapter, with an English husband and a chateau; and consider whether taking two young kids to see the beheaded corpse of their father is, um, questionable parenting… Further Reading:• ‘1343: Olivier III de Clisson, husband of the Lioness of Brittany’ (Executed Today, 2008): https://www.executedtoday.com/2008/08/02/1343-olivier-iii-de-clisson-husband-of-the-lioness-of-brittany/• ‘Vengeful Facts About Jeanne De Clisson, "The Lioness Of Brittany"’ (Factinate): https://www.factinate.com/people/34-vengeful-facts-about-jeanne-de-clisson-the-lioness-of-brittany/• ‘These Were The Most Notorious Female Pirates In History’ (Grunge): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t74QGCvM02QFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'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

Chubby Checker's "The Twist", the most popular single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, was released on 1st August, 1960.It was just a cover version of a B-side which had already been released by its writer, Hank Ballard - but after it appeared on The Dick Clark Show, the world slowly became obsessed with the catchy tune and simple lyrics, and the suggestive dance that inspired it.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly tell the bizarre story of how Checker was selected to perform the version that sold millions of copies; revisit other 60’s dance crazes the turkey trot, bunny hug, and the grizzly bear; and explain how the song reached No.1 again two years later, thanks to a completely different audience getting hold of the trend… Further Reading:• ‘The Twist: A Worldwide Dance Craze in the 1960s’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-twist-dance-craze-1779369• ‘‘The Twist’ top song of Billboard Hot 100 era’ (NBC Today, 2008): https://www.today.com/popculture/twist-top-song-billboard-hot-100-era-1C9421254• ‘Chubby Checker performs ‘The Twist’ & ‘Let's Twist Again’ on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’’ (CBS, 1961):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGprGUreOcFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'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

Viking King Olaf II Haraldsson was killed on 29th July, 1030, kicking off a campaign, led by an English clergyman, to declare him a Saint.The cult of Olaf continues in Norway still, with festivals, pilgrimages and prayers given in his honour - even though Olaf used extreme violence and suppression to force parts of the country to convert to Christianity.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the inner-workings of the medieval church’s PR machine; explain why ‘extreme violence’ and ‘missionary work’ are ever muttered in the same breath; and consider whether ‘Saint’ Olaf would in fact be best remembered by his contemporary suffices: Olaf ‘the Fat’ or Olaf ‘the law-breaker’... Further Reading:• ‘St. Olaf’ (V&A Museum of Childhood, 2014): https://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/sanctus-ignotum/st-olaf• ‘Today is Norway's Day of St. Olaf, celebrated for over 900 years’ (Norway Today, 2021): https://norwaytoday.info/culture/today-is-norways-day-of-st-olaf-celebrated-for-over-900-years/• ‘Olaf Haraldsson: King of Norway 1015-1028’ (History Time, 2018):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XvE1EKxUHcFor bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'll be back on Monday! 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: Emma CorshamCopyright: 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

#throwbackthursday William James Herschel, a British colonial magistrate in India, first used fingerprints as a means of identification on 28th July, 1858 - not to catch a criminal, but to implement two-step verification on a contract.In Britain, the technology was first used to solve the theft of some billiard balls in 1902. These days, it’s been largely usurped by DNA, but remains a staple of the policing repertoire.In this episode, Rebecca, Arion and Olly consider whether ears might be better criminal identifiers than fingers; reveal the history of the mugshot; and explain why koalas are our secret hand doubles... Further Reading:• ‘Press Down Firmly, You're in Our Files Now’ (WIRED, 2011): https://www.wired.com/2011/07/0728india-fingerprint-identification/• ‘The Blackburn child killer and rapist who changed criminal forensics forever’ (LancsLive, 2019): https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/blackburn-child-killer-rapist-who-17118836• The Bertillon System of Criminal Identification in use by the Police in the 1910s (Kinolibrary Archive Film collections): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Myc8LZSME‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ We’re planning exciting new things for the autumn, and we’re banking that most of you haven’t heard it yet. So stick with us.For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/RetrospectorsWe'll be back tomorrow with a new episode! 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: Emma CorshamCopyright: 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