Today In History with The Retrospectors

Latest Episodes:

The Day The (Rave) Music Died Nov 03, 2021

Show notes

Attending or producing raves was made illegal in Britain with the passing of the Criminal Justice Act on 3rd November, 1994. The government even legislated against electronic dance music, “wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”

These unprecedented restrictions were partly in reaction to the moral panic caused after a 'free party' at Castlemorton Common attracted 30,000-40,000 attendees, and the ire of the tabloid press.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the provenance of ‘revellers’ in the raver’s lexicon; explain why the creation of the M25 lead directly to the Act; and confess just how many illegal parties they’ve (inadvertently) attended…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 becomes law’ (The Guardian, 2011): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/15/criminal-justice-public-order-act

• Police clash with ravers at Castlemorton (BBC News West, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOySsljl54E

• ‘Why did raves become illegal?’ (BBC Newsbeat, 2020): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-53170021

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 #Music #Politics #Crime #UK

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

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

The First Cheerleader Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

Johnny Campbell, a medical student from the University Of Minnesota, spurred on his alma mater’s struggling football team by leading spectators in a rousing cheer on 2nd November, 1898 - and, in so doing, became the world’s first recognised cheerleader.

Even though the sport now features predominantly female participants these days, the first women cheerleaders weren't recorded until 1923. Indeed, four men who would later become U.S. President cheered on their teams at College: Dwight D Eisenhower, Franklin D Roosevelt, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the ‘grandfather of cheerleading’, who patented pom-poms; explain how the Dallas Cowboys played a pivotal role in the perception of modern cheerleading; and consider the most comical cheerleading names in the canon…

Further Reading:

• ‘Almanac: The 1st cheerleader’ (CBS News, 2014): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/almanac-the-1st-cheerleader/

• A Not-So-Brief and Extremely Sordid History of Cheerleading – Mother Jones (Mother Jones, 2014): https://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/12/cheerleader-history-timeline/

• ‘Top 10 Most Watched Cheerleading Routines EVER on YouTube’ (The Cheer Buzz, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgH-Esw6GpI

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 #Person #US

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

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

We ❤️Emoji Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

The first ever emoji set, including the earliest incarnations of 🍷, ❤️, and 💩, was released in Japan on 1st November, 1997. But the only users could send and receive them were owners of a now-forgotten ‘SkyWalker’ handset made by J-Phone. ☹️

Emoji didn’t truly transform written communication in the West until some fourteen years later, when emoji keyboards came by default on iPhone (Android users, incredibly, had to wait until 2013 🤯).

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss how unloved 1990s font Wingdings paved the way for graphical communication; ponder whether emojis can be used in legal contracts; and reveal how an obscure internal bulletin board at a University helped to create the smiley, and its opposite, ‘the frowny’...

There are NINE MINUTES more of emoji-based bantz available exclusively to our Patreon subscribers*. What was the OED's Word of the Year, 2015? What are our team's most-used emojis? And does 🙏 represent high-fives, or prayers? Find out now at https://patreon.com/Retrospectors (*top two tiers).

Further Reading:

• ‘Correcting the Record on the First Emoji Set’ (emojipedia, 2019): https://blog.emojipedia.org/correcting-the-record-on-the-first-emoji-set/

• ‘History of Emoticons and Emoji’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/emoticons-and-emoji-1991412

• ‘A Brief History of Emoji’(The Open University, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tTXLuZHYf4

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 #Technology #Inventions #Japan

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

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

The M25 - Britain’s Biggest Carpark Oct 29, 2021

Show notes

Margaret Thatcher finally opened London’s first ring road - construction on which had begun in the 1970s - on 29th October, 1986, declaring: "I can't stand those who carp and criticise when they ought to be congratulating Britain on a magnificent achievement and beating the drum for Britain all over the world".

A 58-page commemorative booklet was issued for enthusiasts, and coach trips were organised so that car-less punters could complete a circuit of the new motorway. But public enthusiasm for the project was short-lived when it lead to increased congestion and seemingly endless proposals for expansion.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly dig into the long history of plans for the capital’s ring roads; explain why the M25 managed to bring Epping's combine harvesters to Parliament Square; and consider how Britain’s most hated motorway remains an existential threat to London's ‘green belt’ countryside……

Enjoy this episode? There’s SIX MINUTES MORE of M25 chat over on our Patreon - in which the team discuss Chris Rea's inspiration for 'The Road To Hell', the logistics of a motorway-based honeymoon, and reveal which settlement of Greater London is technically located *outside* the M25: https://patreon.com/Retrospectors (top two tiers only).

Further Reading

• ‘M25 Opening - Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’ (Thames News, 1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkTqf9IJtm4

• ‘M25 comes full circle’ (The Guardian, 2011): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/28/m25-london-orbital-margaret-thatcher-25?newsfeed=true

• ‘The M25: We're on the road to nowhere’ (The Independent, 2011): https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/the-m25-we-re-on-the-road-to-nowhere-420365.html

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.

#80s #Politics #Inventions #Mistakes #UK

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

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

Jane Austen and the Profligate Prince Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

George IV’s impressive Library included all the novels of Jane Austen, for whom he had a particular fondness. But what was not known (until a receipt was discovered in the Royal Archives in 2018) was that the Prince Regent had almost certainly been Austen’s very first customer - buying a copy of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ for 15 shillings on 28th October, 1811.

His admiration for the anonymous 35 year-old author’s work lead to an awkward moment later in her career, when she felt obligated to dedicate ‘Emma’ to His Royal Highness - a task she clearly wished to avoid.

In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca explain why Austen detested her royal patron; reveal the dry first draft of her dedication to him; and consider how the famously promiscuous, indulgent monarch could have so badly misread Austen’s manifesto for moderation…

Further Reading

• ‘One of Jane Austen's earliest buyers revealed as Prince Regent – who she 'hated'’ (The Guardian, 2018): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/25/jane-austen-buyer-hated-prince-regent-sense-and-sensibility

• ‘Jane Austen’s First Buyer? Probably a Prince She Hated’ (The New York Times, 2018):

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/books/jane-austen-prince-regent.html

• ‘JANE AUSTEN, PRINCE REGENT & SANDITON’ - excerpt from “Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency” (BBC, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzrlpIjwKv0

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 #Royals #Person #Arts #Discoveries #UK

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

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

The Man Who Saved The World Oct 27, 2021

Show notes

Soviet naval officer Vasili Arkhipov lacks the name recognition of Castro, Kruschev and Kennedy - but his actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis probably prevented World War Three from erupting on 27th October, 1962.

On-board a sweltering Russian submarine, he talked Captain Valentin Savitsky down from firing a nuclear torpedo at the United States Navy, whom - Savitsky falsely believed - were attacking his boat.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly speculate how Arkhipov stopped Savitsky from firing his ‘special weapon’; explain why his heroic story was untold until the ‘90s; and reveal where Jimmy Carter kept his nuclear codes…

Further Reading

• How Vasili Arkhipov Literally Saved The World From Nuclear War (All That’s Interesting, 2018): https://allthatsinteresting.com/vasili-arkhipov

• ‘9 Times the World Was at the Brink of Nuclear War — and Pulled Back’ (Business Insider, 2018): https://www.businessinsider.com/when-nuclear-war-almost-happened-2018-4?r=US&IR=T#:~:text=The%20Cuban%20Missile%20Crisis%20is%20perhaps%20the%20closest,DEFCON%203%2C%20two%20steps%20away%20from%20nuclear%20war

• ‘Arkhipov family awarded Future of Life award’ (University of Cambridge, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziFzn8LN6l0 \

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 #Person #Politics #Russia

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

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

Making ‘Under Pressure’ Oct 26, 2021

Show notes

When Queen and David Bowie met in Switzerland to record their iconic collaboration ‘Under Pressure’ on 26th October, 1981, *quite a lot* of drugs and wine were taken - to the extent that nobody can recall exactly how the iconic pop song came to be formed.

What we do know is that Freddie Mercury never performed the monster hit live with Bowie, nor turned up to appear in the video, and that the precise authorship of the instantly recognisable bassline remains hard to establish.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly probe into Bowie’s tax affairs; relate Brian May’s account of Mercury’s vocal-booth improv; and ask why Jedward and Vanilla Ice appear to have stolen a march on this seminal track…

Further Reading:

• ‘Feel Like’ (1981), the demo Queen recorded before Bowie turned up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-hKRR5FZ78

• ‘Under Pressure’ (1981) - David Bowie and Queen, Official Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I

• ‘Inside David Bowie and Queen’s 'Tense' Recording Session for "Under Pressure"’ (Biography, 2020): https://www.biography.com/news/david-bowie-queen-under-pressure-recording-session

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.

#80s #Music #Strange #Person #UK #Switzerland

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

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

How To Bribe A Senator Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

The ‘Teapot Dome scandal’ reached its climax when Senator Albert Fall was found guilty of bribery, fined $100,000 and sent to jail on 25th October, 1929.

During the Presidency of Warren G Harding, Fall had been offering private companies the chance to drill for oil on state land, without competitive bidding, in return for bags cash. And some farm animals.

In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca reveal the unheroic role of newspapers in suppressing the scandal; pick apart the realism of ‘There Will Be Blood’; and ask whether American politics has ever lost its penchant for ‘kickbacks’...

Further Reading:

• ‘Secretary Fall resigns in Teapot Dome scandal’ (HISTORY, 2020): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/secretary-fall-resigns-in-teapot-dome-scandal

• ‘History Brief: The Ohio Gang and the Teapot Dome Scandal’ (Reading Through History, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjL-uE4lSvI

• ‘The Mystery Behind the Greystone Mansion Murder-Suicide’ (Scare Street, 2019): https://scarestreet.com/greystone-mansion/

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.

#20s #Politics #Crime #Person #US

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

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

Not The End Of The World Oct 22, 2021

Show notes

Jesus failed to show up on the day that came to be known as ‘The Great Disappointment’ - 22nd October, 1844. It was an embarrassment for the New England preacher, William Miller, who had prophesied Christ’s return; and devastating for his 100,000+ followers in North America alone.

Miller had calculated the end of the world via an idiosyncratic interpretation of Daniel 8:14 (“And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundreddays; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed”).

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how the Millerites processed their monumental anti-climax; reveal what Ralph Waldo Emerson made of it all; and wonder whether Miller’s flexibility in the face of contrary evidence has parallels in the modern-day QAnon movement…

Further Reading:

• ‘William Miller Convinced Thousands of Millerites the End Was Near’ (New England Historical Society, 2020): https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/william-miller-convinced-thousands-millerites-world-end/

• ‘The Great Disappointment’ (Grace Communion International): https://www.gci.org/articles/the-great-disappointment/

• ‘William Miller Predicted Christ’s Return in 1844. Here's What Happened After His Prophecy Failed’ (History Unplugged, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkYj9DOyz5k

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.

#1800s #Religion #Mistakes #US

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

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

Madonna's Naked Photos Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

Berated by the tabloids as exhibitionist pornography, Madonna’s coffee table book, ‘Sex’, quickly sold out upon its release on 21st October, 1992.

Influenced by artists Robert Mapplethorpe and Cindy Sherman, the book included images of full-frontal nudity, simulated gay sex, mixed race couples, threesomes and trans imagery. Madonna vigorously defended it, in a series of interviews, as a portrayal of female sexuality.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask if Madonna was fighting an uphill battle to be taken seriously; debate whether the book was art, a smutty publicity stunt… or both; and consider whether a particularly sensational spread involving a canine companion was taken out of context...

Content Warning: discussion of erotic imagery, including abusive sexual fantasies

Further Reading:

• ‘How Madonna Turned Controversy Into a Best-Selling Book’ (Entertainment Tonight, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILybauhbA00

• ‘25 Years Later, Madonna's 'Sex' Book Is Still Pop's Most Radical Moment’ (HuffPost, 2017): https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/madonna-sex-book-25th-anniversary_n_59e9f8f1e4b0f9d35bca11e6

• ‘Madonna's 'Erotica,' 'Sex': Misunderstood Masterpieces’ (Rolling Stone, 2017): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/madonnas-erotica-sex-why-musical-masterpiece-defiant-book-still-matter-200685/

There are FIVE MINUTES MORE - in which the team consider eBay resale value, spontaneous nudie snaps, and the role of Madge's boyfriend of the time, Vanilla Ice - available exclusively to our show's supporters. Join us via Patreon*, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, to hear it - and more bonus material ever single week!

*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.

#90s #Person #Arts #Music #White #US

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

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