Today In History with The Retrospectors

Latest Episodes:

There's Poison In My Pint Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

Thousands of beer barrels were emptied into the streets across Lancashire on 1st December, 1900 - when it finally dawned on people that the cheap stout they’d been drinking was contaminated with arsenic.

Over 6,000 members of the public were poisoned, mostly across Manchester and Salford, thanks to the practice of breweries padding out the barley with inexpensive glucose syrup.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the role that the class system played in the initial diagnoses of mass ‘alcoholic multiple neuritis’; reveal the one company in the supply chain that eventually stumped up £136,000 compensation; and explain how general elections were believed to push the general public into the public houses…Further Reading:

• ‘The Lancet’ covers the news (1900): https://www.sciencedirect.com/sdfe/pdf/download/eid/1-s2.0-S014067360189036X/first-page-pdf

• ‘The 1900 arsenic poisoning epidemic’ (from the Journal of the Brewery History Society):

http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/130/Arsenic.pdf

• ‘Arsenic: The Most Popular Poison In Victorian Britain’ (Victorian Pharmacy, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93XYE56KwSk

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.

#1900s #Food #Strange #UK

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Football's First International Nov 30, 2021

Show notes

England played Scotland in a publicly-advertised game for the first time on 30th November, 1872 - kickstarting international football as we know it today. The English team included players drafted in from Oxford University. The Scottish team was entirely made up of teammates from Queen’s Park. The score was 0-0.

Much of the game was yet to be codified - for example, that you couldn’t catch a ball with your hands. Readers of the match-report in The Guardian had to have it explained to them that half-time was 45 minutes. But the game was an indisputable hit.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal why Scotland still wear dark blue in international competitions; consider the role of cricket stadiums in the continuing confusion over pitch sizes; and question the wisdom of the photographer booked to document the occasion - who decided not to turn up…Further Reading:

• ‘Scotland v England 1872’ (scottishsporthistory.com): https://www.scottishsporthistory.com/scotland-v-england-1872.html

• ‘The first official fixture between England and Scotland’ (The Guardian, 1872): https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/nov/11/england-scotland-first-football-fixture-1872

• ‘EXCLUSIVE! First ever International Highlights’ (Queen’s Park YouTube Channel, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OJD1nXlnuA

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 #Sport #Football #UK

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Concorde - The Future of Flight Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

Supersonic aircraft took a giant leap forward when the French and British governments signed a treaty to join forces on designing Concorde on 29th November, 1962. Up until this point, the two countries had been developing their aircraft separately - which had already cost the United Kingdom £150 million.

Technologically superior and far more luxurious than any commercial passenger jet that had come before, it was also the fastest - capable of launching its wealthy clientele from London to New York in under three hours.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the success of the 747 killed off supersonic flight; consider how Britain blew its chance to create 'the British Airbus'; and reveal why Pepsi’s blue paint-job for Air France could have proven truly explosive…

Further Reading:

• ‘Concorde and supersonic travel: The days when the sun rose in the west’ (The Independent, 2013): https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/concorde-and-supersonic-travel-the-days-when-the-sun-rose-in-the-west-8888836.html

• ‘Concorde’s first British test flight, 50 years on’ (History of government, gov.uk 2019): https://history.blog.gov.uk/2019/04/09/concordes-first-british-test-flight-50-years-on/

• ‘Anglo-French Airliner Model Concorde’ (British Pathé, 1962): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfPiPC6O7qs

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.

#60s #Technology #Inventions #Politics #UK #France

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Signal-Jamming Aliens Nov 26, 2021

Show notes

Your TV signal wobbles. An alien voice (albeit one with a Southern English accent...) seizes control of your set. And, instead of newsreader Andrew Gardner reporting on the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army, you hear a voice claiming to be ‘Vrillon’, of Ashtar Galactic Command, with a message for humanity.

Such was the experience for viewers attempting to watch the ITV Evening News on Southern TV on 26th November, 1977 - an incident which became infamous in the ‘signal-jamming’ pantheon of the twentieth-century. Nobody has ever claimed responsibility.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly compare ‘Vrillon’ to its US counterpart, the ‘Max Headroom’ incident; unpick the idea that the broadcast was part of the Raelian movement; and explain how Twitter ruined signal-jamming pranks forever...

Further Reading:

• ‘Alien Vrillon Interruption 1977’ (RECREATION by RukiTheDreamer, YouTube 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNriwaMTQE

• ‘Vrillon: the alien voice hoax that became a legend’ (The Independent, 2017): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/vrillon-hacking-alien-voice-seventies-extra-terrestrial-hoax-unexplained-mysteries-a8069926.html

• ‘Five Of The Eeriest Interruptions In Broadcast History’ (Neatorama, 2015): https://www.neatorama.com/2015/11/30/Five-Of-The-Eeriest-Interruptions-In-Broadcast-History/

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: Emma Corsham.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.

#70s #TV #Strange #UK

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Elizabeth of Russia's Bloodless Coup Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

Wearing an armoured breastplate, clasping a silver cross and seizing an Army spontoon, 31 year old Elizabeth Petrovna appeared at the HQ of the elite Preobrazhensky Regiment guards in St. Petersburg on 25th November, 1741 - intent on over-throwing Tzar Ivan VI (a baby), and seizing the Russian throne for herself.

Although she was the daughter of Peter The Great, she was also illegitimate, and overlooked in the line of succession. But her coup was bloodless, and she oversaw a productive cultural period for the dynasty - including her role in selecting Catherine The Great.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall Elizabeth’s fondness for food, fashion and f***ing; posit that her husband Alexis Razumovsky was a bit like Dolly Parton’s beauCarl Dean; and explain why, if you’re staging a coup, you should always slit your drums…

Further Reading:

• ‘Elizabeth I, Empress of All Russia’ (Unofficial Royalty, 2018): http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/empress-elizabeth-i-of-russia/

• ‘Decadent Facts About Empress Elizabeth Of Russia, The Last Romanov’ (Factinate): https://www.factinate.com/people/empress-elizabeth/

• ‘St Petersburg Palaces of the Romanovs’ (RT, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3LRMZfmAsU

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.

#1700s #Royals #Food #Russia

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The Lucy Fossil - No Homo Nov 24, 2021

Show notes

It took over three million years to find her. But palaeontologists Donald Johanson and Tom Gray uncovered the remains of ‘the Lucy Fossil’ - a previously undiscovered species of pre-human - in Hadar, Ethiopia on 24th November, 1974.

Despite the find’s massive significance, the event was not greeted with untrammelled joy by all their rival fossil hunters. Some - who had wanted to claim such a discovery for themselves - began publicly disputing that Lucy was indeed a missing link in the evolution of humankind.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how Lucy received her rock n’ roll name; explain how her tiny brain but upright walking turned previous scientific thinking on its head; and consider whether, actually, “Captain Caveman was quite accurate”...

Further Reading:

• ‘Nov. 24, 1974: Humanity, Meet Lucy. She's Your Mom’ (WIRED, 2009): https://www.wired.com/2009/11/1124lucy-discovered/

• ‘Lucy and the Leakeys’ (Khan Academy): https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/big-history-project/early-humans/how-ancestors-evolved/a/lucy-and-the-leakeys

• ‘Donald Johanson: Discovering the Fossil “Lucy”’ (Freedom From Religion Foundation, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AX4eqqBcIM

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. image by Daderot [CC0 1.0],

#70s #Discoveries #Science #Ethiopia

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The Tamagotchi Effect Nov 23, 2021

Show notes

With cutesy graphics and a female-focussed origin story, Tamagotchi was positioned as a ‘nurturing toy’ for Japanese girls when Bandai launched the brand on 23rd November, 1996. But the gadget's massive popularity soon transcended gender and nationality - shifting 40 million units globally in just three years.

Users had to check in regularly with their virtual pets, which buzzed when they were hungry or needed attention. Otherwise, neglectful owners would witness their Tamagotchi transition into virtual TOMBSTONES.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how a stay-at-home tortoise inspired the concept; explain how the U.S. release of the toy was less brutal than its Japanese precursor; and wonder if now, with our pathetic attachments to Alexa and Siri, we are finally experiencing what 90s psychologists termed ‘The Tamagotchi Effect’...

Further Reading:

• ‘A Brief History of the Tamagotchi’ (Mental Floss, 2021): https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/642373/tamagotchi-history

• ‘The Tamagotchi Effect: How Digital Pets Shaped The Way We Use Technology’ (Digital Trends, 2019): https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/how-tamagotchi-shaped-tech/

• Tamagotchi TV commercial from the 1990s (United States): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAahOV63_wA

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.

#90s #Games #Japan

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Star Trek's Interracial Kiss Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) embraced and kissed on "Plato’s Stepchildren"; an episode of ‘Star Trek’ broadcast on 22nd November, 1968 - just a year after the Supreme Court declared interracial marriage to be legal.

However, despite popular belief that this was TV’s first interracial kiss, it wasn’t. It wasn’t even the first interracial kiss on TV featuring William Shatner…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly examine just how slowly attitudes to ‘mixed marriage’ were shifting in the United States; compare this iconic Trekkie moment to homoerotic frat-boy YouTube videos; and reveal how the actors concerned deliberately sabotaged ‘the wide’ so their kiss would be screened coast-to-coast…

Further Reading:

• Kirk and Uhura kiss on ‘Star Trek’ (Paramount Television, 1968): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lThvEsP5-9Y

• ‘'Star Trek's' interracial kiss 50 years ago boldly went where none had gone before’ (NBC News, 2018):

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/star-trek-s-interracial-kiss-50-years-ago-went-boldly-n941181

• ‘Nichelle Nichols on filming the first interracial kiss on American television’ (Archive of American Television, 2010):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKKkGhEDoU

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.

#60s #TV #White #Black #US

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London's First Olympics Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

After Mount Vesuvius erupted - and original hosts Rome pulled out - the British Olympic council sent a letter, dated 19th November, 1906, agreeing to host the fourth modern Olympic games.

With just two years to go, the event was put together hastily, and on a paltry budget; a stadium erected at the White City home of the Franco-British exhibition, and the chosen events ones that British athletes excelled at, including polo, lacrosse, tug of war, deer-shooting, and duelling.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal what a ‘flip-flap’ was; consider the calculation done to establish the length of the modern-day marathon; and establish how a small swig of champagne contributed to one of the Games' greatest ever controversies...

Further Reading:

‘The 08 Olympics... 1908, that is’ (BBC News Magazine, 2008): http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7544392.stm
‘Why Is a Marathon 26.2 Miles?’ (HISTORY, 2014): https://www.history.com/news/why-is-a-marathon-26-2-miles

• ‘The 1908 London Olympics - extracts from surviving footage of Track & Field and Marathon events’ (BFI, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IqE2KEqZJI

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: Emma Corsham.

#1900s #Sport #UK

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William Tell's Apple Adventures Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

Switzerland’s most famous archer shot fruit off his own son’s head on 18th November, 1307. Or did he?

‘Chronicon Helveticum’ by Aegidius Tschudi, from which the date comes, claims to be a serious historical account, but was written roughly 200 years later - and not published until nearly 200 years after that. And the myth bears remarkable similarities with the Danish folklore of Palnatoki, recorded in print centuries earlier.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recount the improbable beats of Tschudi’s tale; consider the small casting pool for 1950s swashbucklers; and marvel at how the story has come to represent the (genuine) Swiss resistance of the Habsburg army…

Further Reading:

• ‘A Brief History of the Legend of William Tell’ (The Culture Trip, 2017): https://theculturetrip.com/europe/switzerland/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-legend-of-william-tell/

• ‘Shooting an apple off one's child's head’ (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_an_apple_off_one%27s_child%27s_head#Palnatoki

• ‘The Adventures of William Tell: Opening Theme’ (ITC, 1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcfykK8Iw7w

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.

#1300s #Person #Arts #Strange #Switzerland

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