Today In History with The Retrospectors

Research In Motion were once the world’s most popular maker of smartphones, but when they launched the BlackBerry 850 on 19th January, 1999, the device had no phone functionality: it was marketed as a two-way pager.However, the gadget’s ability to bounce emails from a desktop server to its users on the move, and its bespoke instant messaging service, BBM, ensured it soon became an essential tool in the executive businessperson’s arsenal. Until the iPhone came along, anyway…In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the ‘CrackBerry’ phenomenon; unpick the role of Al Gore and Barack Obama as ultimate celebrity influencers for the brand; and wonder whether anyone will still be using one, after the company’s recent announcement that their handsets will no longer be supported…Further Reading:• ‘The one reason why I’ll always miss the BlackBerry’ (Slate, 2013): https://slate.com/technology/2013/10/the-one-reason-why-ill-always-miss-the-blackberry.html• ‘The rise and fall of the BlackBerry in popular culture’ (BBC Newsbeat, 2016): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-37500230• ‘Classic BlackBerry Devices To Officially Stop Working After Decades Of Popularity’ (NBC Today, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhuVEfDPv8For 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.#90s #Technology #Inventions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

‘The First Fleet’ - the eleven ships carrying around 1400 people from Britain, most of whom were convicted criminals - landed in New South Wales on 18th January, 1788.Australia had been home to indigenous people for at least 50,000 years - but was a barren and shocking destination for 'the poms', who’d endured an epic 252-day voyage to get there; a journey about which Robert Hughes wrote: “before them stretched the awesome lonely void of the Indian and Southern oceans, and beyond that lay nothing they could imagine.”In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore how Captain Arthur Phillip motivated his prisoners to build a new settlement; unpick what Captain Cook got wrong about Botany Bay; and explain why the descendants of convicts in modern-day Oz maintain a certain swagger… Further Reading:• ‘From Captain Cook to the First Fleet: how Botany Bay was chosen over Africa as a new British penal colony’ (The Conversation, 2020): https://theconversation.com/from-captain-cook-to-the-first-fleet-how-botany-bay-was-chosen-over-africa-as-a-new-british-penal-colony-128002• ‘Australian Penal Colonies’ (Simple History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS1072MshS0• ‘Australian Genocide: How It Happened And How It Haunts Us To This Day’ (All That’s Interesting, 2016): https://allthatsinteresting.com/australia-genocide For 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.#1700s #Crime #UK #Australia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first night of Richard Sheridan’s classic comedy ‘The Rivals’ did not go according to plan. Critics thought it was too long, the Irish gentry in the audience were insulted, and an actor was pelted with rotten fruit. It closed after one performance on 17th January, 1775.But then… after eleven days of rewrites, recasting and edits (a process Sheridan called “prunings, trimmings and patchings”), the show re-opened - and became the much-loved hit it remains to this day.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly expose how Sheridan exploited his notoriety in Bath to put bums on seats; unpick how the play’s famous ‘Malapropisms’ achieved seminal status; and revisit the best of Sheridan’s real-life one-liners…Further Reading:• ‘The scourge of Bath’ (The Guardian, 2004): https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/may/15/theatre• The Dramatic Works of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (Cavan Library): http://www.cavanlibrary.ie/file/Local-Studies/Library-Scanned-Docs/The_dramatic_works_of_Richard_Brinsley_Sheridan.pdf• ‘What Are Malapropisms?’ (Bright Idea, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMdgr-qSAfMWe had EVEN MORE to say about Sheridan's second draft. To hear bonus material this and every week*, support the show NOW at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or on Apple Podcasts.(*top two tiers only)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 2021.#1700s #Theatre #Arts #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Disney’s long-awaited feature ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was rapturously received at Radio City, New York, inspiring three-hour queues for tickets. The reviews that America woke up to on 14th January 1938 were euphoric: a masterpiece had landed.“It is a classic as important cinematically as The Birth Of A Nation”, Frank Nugent wrote in The New York Times.  “You’ll not, most of the time, realise you are watching animated cartoons”, he continued. “And if you do, it will only be with a sense of amazement”.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the technical feat of creating the world’s first feature-length animation (nicknamed ‘Disney’s Folly’) was all the more remarkable considering the inexperienced cartoonists on the crew; reveal why the UK censors very nearly classified it as unsuitable viewing for children; and challenge the notion that the Disney version of the Grimm tale is any less morbid than its literary forebears… Further Reading:• ‘THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; The Music Hall Presents Walt Disney's Delightful Fantasy, 'Snow hite and the Seven Dwarfs'-Other New Films at Capitol and Criterion’ (The New York Times, 1938):https://www.nytimes.com/1938/01/14/archives/the-screen-in-review-the-music-hall-presents-walt-disneys.html• ‘The Making of Snow White’ (Disney, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7X8u-EjADw&t=4s• ‘Disney's Folly: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ (Neatorama, 2012):https://www.neatorama.com/2012/06/13/disneys-folly-snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarfs/Want to hear more ‘Snow White’ chat from the team? There’s over SEVEN MINUTES of extra content today, cut for time from today’s episode and exclusively available to our top-tier subscribers. Head to patreon.com/Retrospectors to support the show and get exclusive bonus content each week. Thanks!We'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 Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #30s #Film #Arts #Technology #Inventions #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chariot racing was a dangerous and violent sport at the best of times, but on 13th January, 532, a hooligan-led protest at the Hippodrome of Constantinople - known as ‘the Nika rebellion’ - ultimately lead to over 30,000 deaths and the destruction of half the City. Upon hearing his wife urge him that ‘royalty is a good burial shroud’, the Emperor Justinian reportedly decided to slaughter his own people to maintain his position of power. Yet, despite this, he was ultimately deemed to have earned his epithet: ‘The Great’. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unearth the tradition of ‘curse tablets’; explain why Empress Theodora switched allegiances from the ‘greens’ to the ‘blues’; and reveal how a eunuch wielding gold coins helped to stabilise the Byzantine empire…Further Reading: ‘Overview of the Nika Revolt’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-nika-revolt-1788557 Deadly Moments in History - The Nika Riots (Invicta, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm9mscL2qHU ‘12 Historic Little Known Rebellions with Tragic and Bloody Ends’ (History Collection, 2017): https://historycollection.com/12-historic-little-known-rebellions-tragic-bloody-ends/9/ For 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.#Medieval #Sport Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr James Bedford became the first dead body to be cryogenically frozen on 12th January, 1967 - a day still commemorated in the ‘suspended animation’ community as Bedford Day.But in this burgeoning (pseudo)science, there were plenty of preparations yet to be made. Which meant that the freezing team - lead not by scientists but enthusiasts - ran out of ice, and forgot to drain his blood. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dive into the legal cases that sprang from this early period of cryogenic freezing; consider the psychological implications of being awoken from death, generations after your grandchildren have died; and propose a controversial solution for minimising future errors in the process…Further Reading:• ‘Cryonics: Will These Bodies Come Back From Death?’ (The Atlantic, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YjrQVVSSbI• ‘Cool dude James Bedford has been cryonically frozen for 50 years’ (CNET, 2017): https://www.cnet.com/news/cool-dude-james-bedford-has-been-cryonically-frozen-for-50-years/Photo credit: AlcorFor 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.• ‘Evaluation of the Condition of Dr. James H. Bedford After 24 Years of Cryonic Suspension’ (Alcor, 1991): https://www.alcor.org/library/bedford-condition/#60s #Person #Science #Strange #Macabre #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With a top prize of £5,000 and a celebrity backer in the form of Queen Elizabeth I, England embarked on its first ever national lottery draw at St Paul’s Cathedral on 11th January, 1569.The results continued to be announced, day and night, for four months; a particularly prolonged process due to the fact that the prizes had to be divided into twelve, as the organisers had only sold a twelfth as many tickets as had been predicted. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the cost of entry had been set so high (a year’s salary for a working class labourer); reveal the desperate ‘get out of jail free’ tactic to flog more tickets; and ask whether, despite its apparent failure, the event was, at least, proof-of-concept for the state funded lotteries we still know today…Further Reading: ‘It Could Be Ye: England’s first lottery’ (The History Press, 2019): https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/it-could-be-ye-england-s-first-lottery/ ‘11 January 1569: England holds its first lottery draw’ (MoneyWeek, 2021): https://moneyweek.com/421338/11-january-1569-england-holds-its-first-lottery-draw ‘January 11 - The first recorded lottery’ (The Anne Boleyn Files and Tudor Society, 2020):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-XqukRpgk For 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.#1500s #Royals #Inventions #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Sinclair C5, Sir Clive Sinclair’s disastrous entry into the EV market, launched at Alexandra Palace on 10th January, 1985. Looking like a cross between a mobility scooter and a child’s pedal car, it had no on-board storage, was too heavy to climb uphill, and a top speed of 15km per hour. But Sinclair had contracted Hoover to produce the vehicle, expecting orders of 200,000 units per year.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the original publicity material for this doomed design classic; rank the public embarrassment of the car’s failure against Sinclair’s other high-profile flops; and reveal the contents of the optional ‘wet weather kit’ drivers could enjoy…Further Reading:• ‘A Revolution in Personal Transport’ - the original press kit from the launch (1985): www.sinclairql.net/downloads/1985-01-10_Sinclair_C5_launch_press_kit-SQPP.pdf• ‘Sinclair C5: the history of Sir Clive Sinclair’s electric car’ (Auto Express, 2021): https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/356059/sinclair-c5-history-sir-clive-sinclairs-electric-car• ‘Imagine a Vehicle that can drive you five miles for a penny’ - original Sinclair C5 TV advert (1985): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EQetm_qWDgPhoto credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eevblog/For 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.#80s #Technology #Inventions #Mistakes #UK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s our last episode of 2021, and Olly is putting Arion and Rebecca to the test to see what they’ve learned from our first 168 episodes...How many copies of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ were in the original print run in 1811? What (horrifying) ingredients were in Jane Asher’s 1990 ‘Mary, Mary’ cake for children’s parties? Which four U.S. Presidents had been cheerleaders at College? It’s a fight to the death to establish our Retrospectors champion of the year!If you’ve enjoyed the show this year, please…• leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and help other listeners discover the show:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-retrospectors/id1564093130• join our Patreon, where you can support the show, get ad-free episodes and extra content every single week:https://patreon.com/Retrospectors• tell your friends about us on social media:https://twitter.com/RetrospectorsHQhttps://www.instagram.com/theretrospectors/https://www.facebook.com/theretrospectors/https://www.linkedin.com/company/theretrospectors/• get in touch and let us know what we should cover in 2022!theretrospectors@gmail.comMerry Christmas and Happy New Year! The Retrospectors will return on January 10th, 2022.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 2021.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before becoming the most valuable poem in American Literature, ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas’ was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel on 23rd December, 1823 - its author remaining a secret for fourteen years.The work, commonly known as ‘The Night Before Christmas’, was eventually revealed to be written by philosopher and lecturer Clement Clark Moore - although, in recent years, the family of Major Henry Livingston Jr. have claimed that their ancestor was its true author.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the poem has influenced our perception of Santa’s rotundness, but not his height; reveal the Protestant-Catholic divide deftly swerved by Moore in his setting of his story; and explore just what else the Troy Sentinel brought the world… Further Reading:• ‘'Twas The Night Before Christmas - Narrated by Michael Bublé’ (Michael Bublé, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Y1IpCGHss• ‘The Mystery Behind the World's Most Famous Christmas Poem’ (Mental Floss, 2016): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/26719/mystery-behind-worlds-most-famous-christmas-poem• ‘Clement Clarke Moore, American scholar and author’ (Britannica): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clement-Clarke-MooreFor 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: Emma Corsham.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.#1800s #Arts #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices