Today In History with The Retrospectors

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Horseracing Hits Britain Feb 09, 2022

Show notes

Chester Racecourse hosted Britain’s first ever recorded horse-racing meet on 9th February, 1539. The winner received a set of silver bells to hang from their bridal.

Mayor Henry Gee had come up with the idea as a replacement for the traditional Shrove Tuesday football match - which he’d banned for being too riotous and violent.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly debate the folk etymology of ‘Gee Gees’; explain why the Royals were responsible for robbing the North of its equestrian edge; and reveal why Oliver Cromwell took objection to a day at the races…

Further Reading:

• ‘History - Chester Racecourse’ (chester-races.com): https://www.chester-races.com/about/history/

• ‘Shrove Tuesday football: “No quarter asked nor given”' (BBC News, 2020): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-51445310

• ‘Horrible Histories, HHTV Tudor Horse Racing’ (CBBC, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S53q_Cij3XY

Image: John S Turner and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#Sport #1500s #UK

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Inventing The Credit Card Feb 08, 2022

Show notes

Diners Club, the world’s first credit card, was used for the first time at Major’s Cabin Grill in New York City on February 8th, 1950. Perhaps at odds with the debonair image the company went on to cultivate, the first iteration was made of cardboard, and required three signatories.

Frank X McNamara claimed to have invented the product after previously dining at Major’s and realizing to his horror that he’d left his wallet at home. By the end of their first year in business, Diners Club signed up 42,000 card holders.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick the role of Diners Club’s PR man Matty Simmonds in the company’s compelling origin story; commend the savviness of the start-up for targeting wealthy diners at elite restaurants; and explain why, in 1950s America, credit was a man’s game…

Photo: The National Museum of American History / Flickr CC

Further Reading:

‘When Were Credit Cards Invented: The History of Credit Cards’ (Forbes Advisor, 2021): https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/history-of-credit-cards/
‘The surprising history of credit cards: How this tech has evolved and where it's headed’ (CNET, 2022): https://www.cnet.com/features/the-history-of-credit-cards/

‘How Credit Cards Were Invented’ (NPR Planet Money, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IksSNiEo2g

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#50s #Science #Inventions #Food #Technology #US

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Preventing Technological Surprise Feb 07, 2022

Show notes

Inventing the internet and pioneering satellite navigation, U.S. government agency DARPA has had an illustrious history since being founded by President Eisenhower (as the Advanced Research Projects Agency) on February 7th, 1958.

Created in response to the Soviets launching Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite, its mission, which continues to this day, is ‘to prevent technological surprise.’

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover how DARPA helped create the humble computer mouse; explain how former Nazi Wernher von Braun found his way to the head of this supposedly All-American organisation; and look forward to a world of self-sustaining surveillance robots eating us out of house and home…

Further Reading:

‘Fifty years of DARPA: A surprising history’ (New Scientist, 2008): https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13908-fifty-years-of-darpa-a-surprising-history/
‘The Nazi Science That Fed the Apollo 11 Moon Landing’ (Time, 2019): https://time.com/5627637/nasa-nazi-von-braun/
‘3 of the strangest projects DARPA has worked on’ (Tech Insider, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hSs0S5FVx8

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#50s #Inventions #Technology #Russia #US

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Barry Bremen, The Great Imposter Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

Disguised variously as a baseball umpire, NFL referee, pro golfer, and even Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, Barry Bremen earned his reputation as America’s greatest pitch invader - a career that kicked off on 4th February, 1979.

Dressed as a player for the Kansas City Kings, the 32 year-old insurance salesman crashed the court of an NBA All-Star basketball game - much to the delight of fellow players and spectators. Hey, it was the Seventies!

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask why top sportsmen of the day were so keen to support him; reveal how the media encouraged his efforts to become a sporting celebrity; and explain why his behaviour pushed the broadcasters of the 1985 Emmys to cut quickly to a puzzled David Hasselhoff…

Further Reading:

‘From Ali Dia to Karl Power: the greatest impostors in sporting history’ (The Guardian, 2016): https://www.theguardian.com/sport/shortcuts/2016/oct/18/from-ali-dia-barry-bremen-greatest-fakers-in-sporting-history
’When Barry Bremen Tried to Infiltrate the Dallas Cowgirls, the Team Found It a Drag’ (People, 1980): https://people.com/archive/when-barry-bremen-tried-to-infiltrate-the-dallas-cowgirls-the-team-found-it-a-drag-vol-13-no-2/
‘The Great Imposter Barry Bremen’ (NBC, 1979): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNjZni1yQ90

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#70s #Sport #Person #Funny #Strange #US

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Who Killed Belle Starr? Feb 03, 2022

Show notes

The women of the Wild West mostly spent their lives laundering men’s clothes, bringing up children, and avoiding getting caught in the crossfire - but that didn’t stop a legend forming around them; not least dime novel heroine and ‘Bandit Queen’ Belle Starr, who was murdered on 3rd February, 1889.

The ‘outlaw’ was riding home, two days before her 41st birthday, eating a piece of cornbread, when she was blasted off her horse. And then shot again, in the face. But mystery still surrounds the identity of her killer.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the fallout from the civil war shaped Starr’s life; ask whether ostrich plumes, rattlesnake rattles and dried earlobes could come back into fashion; and explain what Tom Starr’s gang had in common with Elton John…

Further Reading:

‘Belle Starr the Bandit Queen: How a Southern Girl Became a Legendary Western Outlaw’ (Atlas Obscura, 2013): https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/belle-starr-the-bandit-queen
‘Belle Starr The Badass "Bandit Queen" Of The Wild West’ (allthatsinteresting, 2021): https://allthatsinteresting.com/belle-starr

‘Belle Starr's Crazy Life Story & Grave!’ (Rhetty for History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2XLrY0cuJ8

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#1800s #Person #Strange #US

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Christian Bale's Terminator Freakout Feb 02, 2022

Show notes

TMZ posted leaked footage of Christian Bale’s infamous meltdown on the set of ‘Terminator Salvation’ on 2nd February, 2009.

Triggered by the film's Director Of Photography, Shane Hurlbut, repeatedly walking past his eyeline, Bale launched into an expletive-laden tirade that lasted more than three minutes, during which he threatened to smash up the lights, and have Hurlbut fired from the set.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dissect how Bale’s star power immunized him against reasonable pushback; compare his defense with Prince Andrew’s declarations of honour; and rank the rant against other notorious on-set ‘freakouts’ from the likes of Tom Cruise and David O. Russell…

Further Reading:

‘Christian Bale apologises 'unreservedly' for Terminator set rant’ (The Guardian, 2009):

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/09/christian-bale-apologises-for-onset-rant

‘Film stars' most shocking on-set meltdowns - from Tom Cruise's Covid rant to Christian Bale’s foul-mouthed outburst’ (The Sun, 2020): https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/13492481/film-star-meltdown-tom-cruise-christian-bale/
‘Christian Bale Freaks Out on Set w/ SUBTITLES OF CREW in background’ (jenndouglas1, 2009): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0auwpvAU2YA

… AND there is over seven minutes of extra content from Arion, Rebecca and Olly on this subject available to our show supporters today! In our bonus episode, ‘Loose Lips Sink Starships’ our trio investigate how Hollywood reacted to the leaking of the tape, and inspired smartphone restrictions on the 'Star Wars' set, embarrassing moments on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', and even the #MeToo movement that killed so many careers. To hear it - and a bonus bit of content every single week - support our show on Patreon (patreon.com/Retrospectors) or click ‘Subscribe’ on Apple Podcasts.

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#2010s #Person #Film #US

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The Hashish Club Feb 01, 2022

Show notes

Theophile Gautier’s account of ‘green jam’ cannabis consumption at the drug-addled dinner parties of the ‘Club des Hachichins’ - alongside literary figures Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo and Honoré de Balzac - was first published in Revue des Deux Mondes on 1st February, 1846.

The Club, founded by psychiatrist Dr Jacques Joseph Moreau to establish the psychedelic effects of eating copious amounts of marijuana, met in Arab fancy dress; its members mashing their drugs up with with cinnamon cloves, nutmeg, pistachio, sugar, orange juice - and an aphrodisiac derived from Spanish Fly.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Napoleon inadvertently triggered the French trend for weed that endures to this day; consider the influence of Thomas de Quincey’s ‘Confessions of an English Opium Eater’ on this select group of Romantic literati; and review Charles Baudelaire’s claim that he was merely a spectator and DID NOT INHALE…

Further Reading:

• ‘Spoonfuls of paradise’ (extract from ‘Cannabis’ by Jonathon Green, 2002): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/oct/12/featuresreviews.guardianreview34

• ‘The Hashish Club: How the Poets of Paris Turned on Europe’ (High Times, 1979): https://hightimes.com/culture/the-hashish-club/

• ‘Jon Snow takes cannabis’ (Channel 4, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyn0fDFqG3I

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#1800s #Food #Strange #France

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McMoscow Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

McDonald’s invested $50million to establish an outpost in the Soviet Union, and after 14 years of preparation, their first Russian restaurant opened in Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square on 31st January, 1990.

30,000 residents lined up in the freezing cold to be amongst the first customers to get a taste of America - although the restaurant, at the time the world’s largest, was technically an offshoot of McDonald’s of Canada.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how the Soviet authorities clamped down on ‘burger scalping’; compare and contrast the golden arches with Communist iconography; and explain how it wasn’t just the Big Macs, but the customer service, that felt entirely foreign to the Muscovites…

Photo credit: Alexander Steshanov/МАММ/MDF/russiainphoto.ru

Further Reading:

‘The first McDonald’s in Moscow that drove the city mad, 1990’ (Rare Historical Photos, 2021): https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/first-mcdonalds-moscow-soviet-union-1990/
‘The Evolution of Russia, as Seen From McDonald’s’ (The New York Times, 2010): https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/business/global/02mcdonalds.html
‘McDonald's opens in hungry Moscow, but costs half-a-day's wages for lunch’ (CBC, 1990): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckbfS99N6jY

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: Emma Corsham.

#90s #Food #Russia #US

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Lego Shifts To Plastic Jan 28, 2022

Show notes

Stud-and-tube bricks, which paved the way for Lego to become one of the most successful companies in Denmark, were patented on 28th January, 1958. But this family business had already been in existence for 26 years, mostly making wooden toys.

It later emerged, however, that the plastic self-locking bricks that brought them so much success had in fact already been invented - and patented - by British toymaker Hillary Page in 1940.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Lego’s lawyers stay one step ahead of their imitators; unconvincingly demonstrate how to pronounce ‘Skoda’; and reveal how branded toys - a controversial pivot for the company in the ‘90s - helped save the business…

UNLOCK BONUS CONTENT: including this week's Great Lego Fact-Off, as Arion, Rebecca and Olly compete to out-do each other with astonishing facts about the Danish brand... only when you join Patreon (top two tiers only) or take out an Apple Podcasts subscription. Patreon.com/Retrospectors

Further Reading:

• ‘LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities’ (Gizmodo, 2008): https://gizmodo.com/lego-brick-timeline-50-years-of-building-frenzy-and-cu-349509

• ‘Self-Locking Building Bricks, Lego precursor, Kiddicraft (1944-)’: https://www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk/index/Category:Self-Locking_Building_Bricks_(Kiddicraft)

• ‘60 years of LEGO: capturing the world's imagination’ (5 News, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZTiAarAOqw

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: Emma Corsham.

#50s #Games #Inventions #UK #Denmark

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The Ancients v The Moderns Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

Modern art was controversially celebrated on 27th January, 1687, when Charles Perrault read his poem ‘The Century of Louis The Great’ at the Académie Française - railing against the prevailing wisdom that believed literature should follow the strict classical templates laid down by the likes of Homer and Aristotle.

The subsequent debate between rival factions of ‘ancient’ and ‘modern’ intellectuals raged for more than five years, and became known as ‘the quarrel’.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask how much of Perrault’s argument was actually to do with kissing Louis XIV’s arse; explain what Aesop had to do with the gardens at the Palace of Versailles; and wonder if the Ancients would have approved of Agatha Christie…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Battle of the Books: History and Literature in the Augustan Age’ by Joseph M. Levine (Cornell University Press, 1991): https://bit.ly/32GeA9V

• ‘Charles Perrault, a multifaceted man’ (breteuil.fr): https://www.breteuil.fr/en/charles-perrault-a-multifaceted-man/

• ‘Charles Perrault INVENTED fairy tales Cinderella Mother Goose Little Red Riding Hood Sleeping Beauty’ (Timeline, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLGOJHaE6oU

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: Emma Corsham.

#1600s #Arts #France

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