Today In History with The Retrospectors

Latest Episodes:

Inventing The Typewriter Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

The Glidden-Sholes prototype for “the writing of ordinary communications with types instead of a pen” was granted a patent on 23rd June, 1868. It wasn’t the first typewriter, but it became the first to be mass-produced, and gave the world a new way to write things down.

But it only typed out in uppercase, didn’t yet have a QWERTY keyboard, and users couldn't actually see what they were typing. It also looked like a sewing machine, having been developed in collaboration with sewing machine manufacturer Remington.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how it was not Glidden or Sholes, but actually investor James Densmore, who was most responsible for making it a hit; reveal what a ‘Japanning Finish’ is; and consider the role of Remington’s marketing department in creating the ‘typing pool’ and - therefore - a generation of jobs for women…

Further Reading:

• ‘Improvement in Type-Writing Machines: Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 79,265’ (United States Patent Office, 1868):

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/f2/f8/c2/77225faf96c627/US79265.pdf

• ‘The typewriter: an informal history’ (IBM Archives, 1977): https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/modelb/modelb_informal.html

• ‘How QWERTY conquered keyboards’ (VOX, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8f6us-Sjlo

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

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Public Enemy Number One, Number One Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

John Dillinger, infamous 1930s gangster, jail breaker, bank robber and brawler, earned himself a new title on 22nd June, 1934 - when he became the FBI’s first ever ‘Public Enemy Number One’.

The authorities were intent on disabusing Americans of their love affair with the ‘Robin Hood’-style gangsters as portrayed in the movies. But the new title didn’t dissuade Dillinger’s admirers from continuing to idolise his illegal pursuits.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace Dillinger’s career from teenage tearaway to the world’s most-hunted fugitive; explain how he used his preposterous ‘wooden gun’ to escape from one of the USA’s most ‘inescapable’ prisons; and reveal how, decades after his death, his relatives are still trying to claim his honour…

Further Reading:

• John Dillinger - Public Enemy No. 1 (ThoughtCo, 2020): https://www.thoughtco.com/john-dillinger-public-enemy-no-1-104610

• ‘Retouching Dillinger's Reputation’ (The New York Times, 2009): https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/03/19/arts/20090319-dlillinger-slideshow_index/s/20090319-dlillinger-slideshow_slide6.html

• ‘How John Dillinger Went from Pesky Thief to Public Enemy No. 1’ (Smithsonian Channel, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Boubgkq-6M

But wait - there’s more! How did the FBI manage to find Dillinger, and gun him down? How did his adoring public react to seeing his corpse in the street? And has the successor to the 'Public Enemy' list, the '10 Most Wanted', helped the U.S. authorities capture more fugitives? Find out in our weekly bonus bit - only available to supporters of the show.

Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, or visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

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Empire of the Sunglasses Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

Why are spectacles so expensive? The sheer scale of EssilorLuxottica, the world’s biggest maker of eyewear and lenses, might have something to do with it. On 21st September, 2007, they paid $2.1 billion for the last major designer brand they didn’t already own: Oakley.

Their empire now includes Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany, Persol, Ray-Ban and DKNY. But they don’t just make frames: they also own many opticians, including LensCrafters; a situation critics suggest has resulted in them effectively operating a price-fixing monopoly.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the feud between Luxottica’s billionaire founder Leonardo Del Vecchio and Oakley’s James Jannard; ask if luxury eyewear can be considered an ‘essential’ product; and explain why, the next time you buy a bottle of booze, you might have less choice than you think…

Further Reading:

• ‘Leonardo Del Vecchio, the Italian billionaire defying old age’ (Financial Times, 2019): https://www.ft.com/content/1fcf395e-eb39-11e9-85f4-d00e5018f061

• ‘Meet the Four-Eyed, Eight-Tentacled Monopoly That is Making Your Glasses So Expensive’ (Forbes, 2014):

https://www.forbes.com/sites/anaswanson/2014/09/10/meet-the-four-eyed-eight-tentacled-monopoly-that-is-making-your-glasses-so-expensive/?sh=7ec0514c6b66

• ‘60 Minutes: Do you know who makes your glasses?’ (CBS, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvTWjWVY9Vo

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

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The Famous Painting Ape Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

Congo, pet chimp of science writer and TV personality Desmond Morris, was considered a novelty in the art world when his paintings were displayed in the 1950’s. But, on 20th June, 2005, three of his works went under the hammer at prestigious London auction house Bonham’s - and sold for £12,000.

Morris - zoologist, surrealist and author of the bestselling science book The Naked Ape - had the perfect experience to support the monkey in his artistic career, and was rewarded when his chimp’s paintings were displayed at the ICA, lauded by Dali, and purchased by Prince Philip.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Congo’s approach to art differentiated him from other primates; question whether Morris really was truly able to determine, as he claimed, that financial reward ruins artistic impulses; and reveal how Congo’s status as the world’s most advanced painting ape might soon be under threat…

Further Reading:

• ‘Bidders go ape for chimpanzee art’ (BBC News, 2005): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4109664.stm

• ‘Congo and the ‘Biology of Art’’ (Zoological Society of London, 2021): https://www.zsl.org/blogs/artefact-of-the-month/congo-and-the-biology-of-art

• ‘Meridian Tonight: Desmond Morris and surrealist art ‘ (ITV, 2012)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvzGV3LnWIE

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

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Fancy Meeting You Here Jun 17, 2022

Show notes

When Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen abandoned his epic, but failed, attempt to reach the North Pole, he was not expecting to hitch a ride home with a Brit.

But, on 17th June, 1896, in the remote wilderness of Franz Joseph Land, he and colleague Hjalmar Johansen - replete with long shaggy beards and frozen mittens - bumped into English explorer Frederick Jackson, who was also in the Arctic thanks to funding from the Daily Mail.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Nansen's ship, the Fram, pioneered pack-ice exploration; reveal the nasty fate of Nansen’s dogs; and marvel at the English understatement of Jackson’s diary detailing their famous encounter…

Further Reading:

• ‘MET NANSEN BY CHANCE; JACKSON'S STRANGE EXPERIENCE ON AN ICE FLOE’ (The New York Times, 1896): https://www.nytimes.com/1896/08/15/archives/met-nansen-by-chance-jacksons-strange-experience-on-an-ice-floe-the.html

• ‘"Aren't you Nansen?" - FG Jackson's Diary’ (ExplorersWeb, 2007): https://explorersweb.com/polar/news.php?id=16309

• ‘The Polar Exploration Museum! With our two centrepieces Fram and Gjøa’ (Fram Museum Oslo, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbJ4Cu7nFro&t=32s

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

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Don't Wear Orange Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

Dutch patriots are now regularly spotted sporting orange wigs, orange clothes, orange banners and orange face paint. But, on 16th June, 1784, they were BANNED from wearing anything orange.

The intention was to silence supporters of the ‘stadtholders’. And the colour - descending, in the public imagination, from William of Orange - had become so politically toxic in some cities that it was even prohibited to display orange carrots without their green tops showing.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why the Dutch flag isn’t orange, despite the Netherlands’ love of the colour; posit what not to do on what used to be ‘Queen’s Day’; and reveal why Queen Wilhelmina’s wartime exile inLondon finally sealed the deal for this controversial colour…

Further Reading:

• ‘Why the Dutch wear orange’ (Amsterdam Tourist Information): https://www.dutchamsterdam.nl/321-why-the-dutch-wear-orange

• ‘The Dutch Patriot Movement of the 1780s’ (Loyola University of New Orleans, 1986): http://people.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1986-7/botticelli.htm

• ‘Why do the Dutch wear orange?’ (WonderWhy):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFLcaYUPphY

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

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Don't Eat The Ice Cream Jun 15, 2022

Show notes

Typhoid Mary - real name Mary Mallon - was the first ever asymptomatic carrier of typhoid to be identified. A cook for wealthy New York families, her name was published on 15th June, 1907, when sanitation engineer George Soper exposed her as the source of numerous outbreaks of the disease across the City.

Of particular concern was Mallon’s habit of preparing fresh peach ice cream for her clients on a Sunday. “No better way could be found for a cook to cleanse her hands of microbes and infect a family,” Soper concluded.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask if Mallon was treated unfairly by the authorities due to her class and circumstances; explain how she came to be quarantined - twice - on North Brother Island; and question how she possibly found herself working back in kitchens, preparing food, even after her reputation as a carrier of typhoid had been well publicised…

Further Reading:

• ‘THE WORK OF A CHRONIC TYPHOID GERM DISTRIBUTOR’ (George A. Soper, Ph.D, 1907): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/463876

• ‘Typhoid Mary, Who Spread Typhoid in Early 1900s’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/typhoid-mary-1779179

• ‘What Exactly Is Typhoid Fever?’ (Seeker, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1lKW2CYU68&t=306s

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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: Alexa Weissman.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Zsa Zsa and the Beverly Hills Cop Jun 14, 2022

Show notes

Slapping a police officer is rarely a great idea, but it somewhat revived the career of actress and Hollywood personality Zsa Zsa Gabor, whose trial began amidst a media blitz on 14th June, 1989.

After being pulled over in her $214,000 Rolls Royce convertible, she had assaulted officer Paul Kramer - who then charged her with driving with an open flask of Jack Daniels, and speeding off after being apprehended.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit Gabor’s greatest one-liners, on film and in court; consider how “Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler” ended up being invoked against a motorcycle cop; and reveal how Gabor was spared “the lesbians” in jail…

Further Reading:

• ‘Remember When Zsa Zsa Gabor Slapped a Motorcycle Cop Across the Face?’ (Jezebel, 2016): https://jezebel.com/remember-when-zsa-zsa-gabor-slapped-a-motorcycle-cop-ac-1787290804

• ‘Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Beverly Hills cop and 'the slap heard 'round the world’' (Los Angeles Times, 2016): https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-zsa-zsa-gabor-retrospective-20161219-story.html

• ‘Zsa Zsa Gabor in "The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear" Opening Credits’ (Paramount, 1991): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BI4F7ZgbHQ

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Let’s Censor Hollywood Jun 13, 2022

Show notes

The Production Code Administration - which policed standards of decency on all US cinema releases for twenty years - was established on 13th June, 1934, following a patch of unconvincing Hollywood self-censorship.

‘Excessive or lustful kissing’ and ‘sex perversion’ were no longer allowed - but nor was ‘depictions of safe-cracking’, ‘childbirth,’ and ‘dynamiting’.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether the strict rules enforced by the code actively inspired the classic ‘golden era’ movies that are still regarded with nostalgia today; reveal the anti-semitism behind the policy; and remind us of the pre-code movies, starring the likes of Jimmy Cagney and Mae West, that remain “raunchy - for now”...

Further Reading:

• ‘The Quick 10: 9 Movies and Shows Affected by the Hays Code’ (Mental Floss, 2010): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/24341/quick-10-9-movies-and-shows-affected-hays-code

• ‘Film | The First Amendment Encyclopedia’ (mtsu.edu): https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1246/film

• ’How the Catholic Church censored Hollywood's Golden Age’ (Vox, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXZGKhpv8eg

#US #Hollywood #Film

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Dmitry The Undead Jun 10, 2022

Show notes

Three imposters claimed to be the assassinated son of Ivan the Terrible, Prince Dmitry - but the first of the fraudsters got the furthest, actually being crowned Tzar on 10th June, 1605, and reigning over Russia for almost a year.

His name was Grigory Otrepiev - now more often known as ‘False Dmitry I’ - and he’d come to power despite a previous coup (in which he led a rebel army of Lithuanian and Polish nobles, Jesuits and Cossacks) having failed.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how he overcame this military defeat to seize power anyway; ask why so many Muscovites were prepared to state he was the ‘real’ Dmitry when he quite plainly wasn’t; and reveal whose testicles he ripped off to (very briefly) achieve his dreams…

Further Reading:

• ‘Grigory Otrepiev - the first of Lzhedmitriyev’ (Unansea):

https://en.unansea.com/grigory-otrepiev-the-first-of-lzhedmitriyev/

• ‘Russia: A History, by Derek B Lange’ (New Word City, 2018): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Russia_A_History/UO1jDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=false+dmitry+i&printsec=frontcover

• ‘Weird History Sock Puppet Theatre: False Dmitry I’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYta60nyY0k

#Russia #1600s #crime #Royals

For bonus material and to support the show, visitPatreon.com/Retrospectors

We'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:podfollow.com/Retrospectors

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices