Today In History with The Retrospectors

The ‘mock’ battle of Manila took place on 13th August, 1898, when the Spanish Army attempted to save face by staging a low-impact fight with the Americans, handing over the territory of the Philippines without seeming weak.The pseudo engagement aimed for a bloodless resolution, but unintentional shots fired from both sides disrupted the facade. However, the stratagem effectively terminated the Spanish-American war, 106 days after its commencement - and (temporarily) prevented Filipinos from regaining control of their nation.In this episode, The Retrospectors expose the racism underpinning both side’s thinking; reveal what Mark Twain thought of U.S. expansionism; and explain why, due to events in Washington, the battle turned out to be entirely unnecessary… Further Reading:• ‘The Spanish-American War in the Philippines and the Battle for Manila’ (PBS American Experience): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/macarthur-spanish-american-war-philippines-and-battle-for-manila/• ‘Struggle for Freedom - By Cecilio D. Duka (Rex Book Store, 2008): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Struggle_for_Freedom_2008_Ed/4wk8yqCEmJUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=mock+manila+1898&pg=PA164&printsec=frontcover• ‘The Spanish-American War’ (NBC News Learn, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZMcRzvxTMgThis 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

Isaac Singer's iteration of a mechanised sewing machine received US Patent Number 8294 on 12th August, 1851. By refining an existing design by Elias Howe, and improving it with a straight-line shuttle and straight needle, Singer’s prototype produced 900 stitches a minute, compared to 40 stitches by hand, drastically reducing the time it took to make garments; a beacon of efficiency that slashed production time from hours to mere minutes.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore the racier chapters of Singer’s private life; marvel at his Steve Jobs-level business acumen; and explain how he turned his initially business-to-business product into a hitherto unprecedented multinational corporation…Further Reading:• ’How Singer Won the Sewing Machine War’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2015): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-singer-won-sewing-machine-war-180955919/• ‘Business: Red S’ (TIME, 1929): https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,737940,00.html• ‘How the Sewing Machine Changed Daily Life’ (Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3kh2CDAccUThis 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

Rerun: Black Rock - a 200-yard strip of pebbly beach in Brighton - was first set aside for naked bathers on 9th August, 1979. It came after a campaign by the Central Council For British Naturism, who had previously petitioned 140 local authorities.When Conservative councillor Eileen Jakes responded positively to the call, she was accused of pandering to weirdos and perverts. Fellow councillor John Blackman said the beach would facilitate a "flagrant exhibition of mammary glands".In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion consider whether the concerns about the beach concealed latent homophobia; compare their experiences of shedding their own clothes in public; and reveal which nations are most prone to getting naked...Content warning: sexual references, crude comedy.Further Reading:• ‘Britain’s First Nudist Beach’ on BBC World Service ‘Witness History’ (2011):https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p00j84cs• ‘Gay Nude Beach in Brighton, England UK’ (Pink Planet, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4vlklRT-oI• ‘Naked as nature - if not weather - intended’ (The Guardian, 2 April 1980): https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/apr/02/archive-1980-naturist-brighton-beach?INTCMP=SRCH‘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

Iain MacMillan, a legendary photographer, reflects on capturing the iconic shot of The Beatles on Abbey Road in 1969. He shares how the photo nearly took place in Nepal instead of London. The conversation dives into the infamous 'Paul Is Dead' conspiracy surrounding the album cover. Listeners are treated to amusing anecdotes about tourists trying to replicate the famous image and the quirky charm of the casual photo shoot, making the zebra crossing a cultural landmark with a live feed for fans.

Jonathan Jackson, teenage brother of imprisoned black power activist George Jackson, entered the Marin County Courthouse concealing three guns under his raincoat on 7th August, 1970. In the middle of a trial, he took Judge Harold Haley hostage in a bid to secure his brother's release.The previous year had seen a landmark incident at San Quentin Correctional Facility, when three black inmates were shot dead by white prison guards. George Jackson, Jonathan’s brother, had become a prominent figure, founding a Marxist revolutionary group within the prison and campaigning for justice for the ‘Soledad Brothers’. This context made the courtroom siege an explosive event in the fight against systemic racism.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly detail the brief but deadly shootout that followed in the court’s parking lot; discover why the police opened fire, despite the high-profile hostages; and consider how George Jackson later smuggled a gun into prison…CONTENT WARNING: violence, murder, racism.Further Reading:• ’Marin County Courtroom Shootout’ (Bay Area Television Archive, 1970):https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/190039• ‘Bloody Breakout at San Rafael’ (LIFE, 1970): https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=t1UEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31&dq=harold+haley+james+mcclain&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEnYX1q9aGAxWGWEEAHYg8DBoQuwV6BAgEEAY#v=onepage&q=harold%20haley%20james%20mcclain&f=false• ‘San Quentin's Bloodiest Riot | The Story of George Jackson’ (19XX, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzDoYNd5xjk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Addams Family debuted as a one-panel cartoon in The New Yorker on 6th August, 1938. Created by Charles Addams, the family (who for decades were essentially archetypes, without character names) were a satirical inversion of the ideal postwar American middle-class nuclear family, delighting in the macabre, and seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the Addamses finally got their TV names; consider the on-screen rivalry between their show and the similarly-themed The Munsters; and recall MC Hammer’s SEMINAL interpretation of their iconic theme tune… Further Reading:• ‘Charles Addams Cartoons Are Far Darker Than The Addams Family Films’ (Den of Geek, 2021): https://www.denofgeek.com/culture/charles-addams-cartoons-darker-than-the-addams-family/• ‘Charles Addams’ (The New Yorker, 2010); https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/bob-mankoff/charles-addams• ‘The Addams Family: Wednesday Leaves Home’ (MGM, 1964): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxZgUp-E0fo&list=PLwwhtOnMyjuxQy81h7uJMCdsR-bS-uVaD&index=5This 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

Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist Party, was founded on 5th August, 1925, with a principal mission to revive the Welsh language.Despite boasting a history of over 1,400 years - evolving from the Celtic language spoken by ancient Britons - Welsh was on the decline in the 20th century, following significant suppression dating back to the 1536 Act of Union that banned Welsh in legal and public spheres.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how protests over an RAF training camp in Gwynedd altered Plaid’s fortunes; discover the punishments dolled out to Victorian schoolchildren who dared to speak their native language; and - inevitably - have a crack at pronouncing Wales’s longest place-name…Further Reading:• ‘A Profile of Plaid Cymru - All you need to know’ (Politics.co.uk):https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/plaid-cymru/• ‘Why the Welsh language deserves respect not ridicule’ (Metro, 2021): https://metro.co.uk/2021/02/15/disrespect-for-the-welsh-language-in-the-uk-needs-to-stop-14048261/• ‘Now You're Talking’ (S4C, 1990): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6anFdal3CgQ&list=PLt6NoCieiwOy9hr_tRT5b6Ag2nZcNtpJ3Love 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

Rerun: William II, son of William The Conqueror, took a hunting trip to the New Forest on 2nd August, 1100 - and was shot dead by an arrow, which punctured his lung. But, whodunnit? Chroniclers laid the blame at the door of Walter Tirel, who quickly fled to France. But could it have really been fratricide, orchestrated by William’s younger brother Henry?In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and Arion weigh up the suspects; review William’s ‘addiction to sodomy’, and unearth other undignified Royal deaths from history...Further Reading:• ‘Horrible Histories’ do William’s death (BBC, 2011): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DalHBbf7f8• William’s biography at Historic UK: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/William-Rufus/• The Death of William II (Reading Museum, 2017): https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/blog/death-william-ii‘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

Rerun: Chubby Checker's "The Twist", the most popular single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, was released on 1st August, 1960.It was just a cover version of a B-side which had already been released by its writer, Hank Ballard - but after it appeared on The Dick Clark Show, the world slowly became obsessed with the catchy tune and simple lyrics, and the suggestive dance that inspired it.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly tell the bizarre story of how Checker was selected to perform the version that sold millions of copies; revisit other 60’s dance crazes the turkey trot, bunny hug, and the grizzly bear; and explain how the song reached No.1 again two years later, thanks to a completely different audience getting hold of the trend… Further Reading:• ‘The Twist: A Worldwide Dance Craze in the 1960s’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-twist-dance-craze-1779369• ‘‘The Twist’ top song of Billboard Hot 100 era’ (NBC Today, 2008): https://www.today.com/popculture/twist-top-song-billboard-hot-100-era-1C9421254• ‘Chubby Checker performs ‘The Twist’ & ‘Let's Twist Again’ on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’’ (CBS, 1961):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDGprGUreOc‘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

Nine year-old ‘Little Hugh’ went missing in Lincoln on 31st July, 1255. A popular narrative emerged that local Jews (in fact gathering for a wedding) had kidnapped, tortured, and crucified him, perhaps even eating his blood; an antisemitic myth that persisted for centuries, only called out by the Church of England in 1955.A local Jewish man called Copin confessed to the crime (after being tortured), claiming to  annually sacrifice Christian children. He was executed and over ninety other Jews were arrested. However, behind-the-scenes negotiations, possibly involving friars and the king’s brother Richard of Cornwall, saw most Jews quietly released by May 1256, suggesting an awareness of the falsehoods fueling the hysteria.In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why it was often in the population’s financial interest to perpetuate the ‘blood libel’; consider how the legacy of ‘Little Hugh’ has morphed into modern conspiracy theories like QAnon; and reveal how one enterprising Lincoln resident tried to cash in on Little Hugh tourism in the 1920s…Further Reading: ‘Religion: The Legend of Little Hugh’ (TIME, 1959) https://time.com/archive/6827883/religion-the-legend-of-little-hugh/ ‘Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln revisited | Bat-Zion Susskind-Sacks’ (Times Of Israel, 2016): https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/little-saint-hugh-of-lincoln-revisited/ ‘780. Little Sir Hugh (Child 155) - (Traditional)’ (Raymond Crooke, 2009): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXUL3h5Q5lY Love 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