Today In History with The Retrospectors

The ‘Austenmania’ craze of the mid-90s kicked off with the BBC’s production of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which first aired on 24th September, 1995.Now primarily remembered for Colin Firth’s ‘wet shirt’ scene, Andrew Davies’s ‘sexed up’ adaptation also starred Firth’s real-life squeeze Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, and was the first serialisation of the novel to be filmed on location, with picturesque country estates providing a ‘property porn’ backdrop to the plot’s central romance.In this episode, the Retrospectors reveal how Firth later tried to distance himself from the fetishisation of his role as Mr Darcy; explain the part rat urine played in filming the iconic bathing scene; and discover how this sensationally popular miniseries sparked interest in erotic adaptations of Austen's work…Further Reading:‘Pride and Prejudice at 20: The scene that changed everything’ (BBC Culture, 2015): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150922-pride-and-prejudice-at-20-the-scene-that-changed-everything‘Books, Bras and Bridget Jones: reading adaptations of Pride and Prejudice - by Olivia Murphy’ (University of Sydney): https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229392346.pdf‘The Lake Scene (Colin Firth Strips Off)’ (BBC, 1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrALove the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The most extravagant feast of the Middle Ages took place at the London home of the Bishop of Durham on September 23rd, 1387, in honour of King Richard II. The banquet featured dishes like broth, venison, roasted swan, and boar-heads… and  12,000 eggs. At just 20 years old, Richard had already developed a reputation for extravagant tastes, employing 2,000 cooks to feed his court. But, despite the abundant and luxurious menu, the atmosphere at the feast was likely solemn, given the churchy setting and the era's rigid rules of etiquette. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the cooks roasted birds in increasingly extravagant styles, yet served spices NEAT; discover how to make a "subtlety"; and dip into the rulebook for the carvers trained in the fine art of slicing and presenting food fit for a King…Further Reading:• ‘King Richard's Feast Of 1387’ (OAKDEN): https://oakden.co.uk/king-richard-second-feast-1387/• ’Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery’ (1990): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Oxford_Symposium_on_Food_Cookery_1990/XseXnb98h90C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=23rd+September+1387&pg=PA138&printsec=frontcover• ‘How To Prepare A Traditional Medieval Feast | Let's Cook History’ (Chronicle, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkqQ5iGATrkLove the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️To get an exclusive NordVPN deal, head to https://nordvpn.com/retrospectors to get an extra 4 months on the 2-year plan. There’s no risk with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dive into the iconic moment when Fonzie jumped a shark on *Happy Days*, a scene that became synonymous with the decline of television quality. Discover how this absurd stunt transformed Fonzie into the show's main attraction and laid the groundwork for the phrase 'jump the shark.' The hosts also explore how this moment plays into broader TV tropes and the evolution of storytelling, contrasting it with shows that improved over time. Plus, the unexpected connection to Robin Williams and the cultural impact of quirky idioms are discussed!

Rerun: Powered by steam engines, and positioned on 60ft poles along the seafront, the Blackpool illuminations were first shown to adoring public on 19th September, 1879.70,000 people came to see eight arc lamps, positioned 320 yards apart. Between them they provided illumination equal to 48,000 candles: an incredible spectacle considering it would still be another year before Thomas Edison patented the modern commercial lightbulb. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall some of the weirder celebrities who have been roped into performing the iconic switching-on ceremony in the Lancashire town; reveal the connection between the Walt Disney Company and this Northern institution; and explain how the resort initially developed its three piers to segregate the middle-classes from the ‘Kiss Me Quick’ day-trippers… Further Reading:• ‘Blackpool Illuminations celebrates its centenary’ (The Guardian, 2012): https://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2012/aug/31/blackpool-illuminations-centenary-100-years-lights• ‘Cities of Light: Two Centuries of Urban Illumination - Eds. Dietrich Neumann, Margaret Maile Petty, Sandy Isenstadt’ (Taylor & Francis, 2014):https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Cities_of_Light/iHLfBQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=blackpool+illuminations&pg=PA58&printsec=frontcover• ‘Vintage Blackpool Illuminations’ (AshBlackpoolFan, 2020):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X5wkeF34pQ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday… … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️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 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first Paralympic Games - hosting 400 athletes from 23 countries - took place in Rome on 18th September, 1960. But it was only known by this name retrospectively: the day it took place, this festival of disabled sport was called The Ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games.Sprung from a competition held at a hospital in Buckinghamshire, and pioneered by German-Jewish neurosurgeon Dr. Ludwig Guttman, the Games began as part of a physiotherapy programme for soldiers and civilians with spinal cord injuries. As the Stoke Mandeville Games expanded, so did the variety of sports and the level of competition.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal Russia’s initial refusal to participate; uncover the controversial use of performance-enhancing drugs; and celebrate Dr. Guttman’s vision of what was possible for athletes with disabilities...Further Reading:• Paralympians still hold a flame for Stoke Mandeville pioneer (The Times, 2023): https://www.thetimes.com/sport/cricket/article/paralympians-still-hold-a-flame-for-stoke-mandeville-pioneer-653kbqjx5• ‘Celebrating 60 years since Rome 1960 - the first Paralympic Games!’ (Paralympic Games, 2020): https://www.paralympic.org/feature/celebrating-60-years-rome-1960-first-paralympic-games• ’How the Paralympics Began’ (The Retrospectors, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1cA22GsmBELove the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mary, ‘King’ of Hungary, was coronated today in history, on 17th September, 1382. The Hungarian nobility had never had a female monarch, and did not recognize the possibility of one in law, so decided to crown her as if she was male - but that was by no means the end of her problems. Before long, Charles of Naples was leading a rebellion to overthrow the child monarch.In this episode, The Retrospectors rank the numerous poor decisions of Mary’s mother, the Queen Regent Elizabeth; unearth the impressive linguistic leg-work put in by Mary’s future husband, Sigismund of Luxembourg; and explain how Mary’s father Louis’ best laid plans unraveled so dramatically…Further Reading:• ‘A concise history of Hungary - By Miklós Molnár’ (Cambridge University Press, 2001): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Concise_History_of_Hungary/y0g4YEp7ZrsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mary+sigismund&pg=PA56&printsec=frontcover• ’Outlines of Medieval History - By Charles William Previté-Orton’ (1916):https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4PXDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA481&dq=mary+sigismund&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjS2enHt6WBAxVUQkEAHeTwC2AQ6AF6BAgLEAI• ‘Queen Mary of Hungary by Leoni, 1553 - 1564’ (American Friends of the Prado Museum, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaagl1xhbLAThis episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! 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: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The largest land rush in history kicked off on 16th September, 1893 - on Oklahoma's Cherokee Strip. Tens of thousands of people—horseback riders, wagons, and even a passenger train—waited for a cannon’s boom to initiate a mad race for land.The term "Boomer" became synonymous with those waiting for that cannon's boom to charge in, while "Sooners" were the sneaky folks who snuck into the land early to claim it before the rush began. Officers were tasked with clearing out the opportunistic Sooners, but it wasn’t an easy job. With everyone trying to stake their claims in chaos, tensions ran high, and skirmishes sometimes broke out between claimants, creating a dangerous situation for those trying to ‘play fair’ - and the Native American tribes who had already been relocated there once already.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Oklahoma, previously considered arid land unsuited for farming, had suddenly become a hot commodity; reveal what happened when fights for land turned ugly; and, as settlers carved out their fortunes, investigate how long it took for the Cherokee tribes to receive their payment….Further Reading:• ’CHEROKEE OUTLET OPENING’ (The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture): https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CH021• ‘Cherokee Strip Land Rush - By Jay M. Price’ (Arcadia Publisher, 2006): https://books.google.com/books/about/Cherokee_Strip_Land_Rush.html?id=ikXycrCcTvAC• ’Cherokee Outlet Land Run’ (Olahoma Council Social Studies):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyhlU-Zt9YY&t=133sLove the show? Support us! Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kanye West, the infamous rapper known for his bold antics, joins country star Taylor Swift, who faced one of pop culture's most shocking interruptions. Beyoncé, the artist at the center of the original controversy, adds her perspective. They dive into the lasting impact of the 2009 VMAs moment, discussing its effects on their careers and the music industry. The conversation highlights the evolution of female empowerment in music, the racial dynamics at play, and how this incident shaped celebrity culture and social media's role in public feuds.

Dive into the absurd launch of an iconic sitcom that blended humor and catchy tunes! Discover the unconventional casting and how four actors became pop sensations without prior experience. Learn about the creative process that merged reality with fiction, reflecting the spirit of the 1960s counterculture. Explore the tension within the band and how their journey shifted from a TV project to a cultural phenomenon. Uncover the legacy that still resonates, despite internal conflicts and a controversial film that altered their path.

Captain Peter Warner stumbles upon six Tongan boys—Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke, and Mano—who survived 15 months on Atta Island after a storm sank their escape boat. They relied on teamwork, creativity, and resourcefulness to thrive in the wild, crafting tools and building a community, defying the chaos depicted in 'Lord of the Flies.' Their incredible journey highlights the resilience of youth as they navigate survival challenges and eventually reintegrate into society, all while maintaining their well-built physiques.