Today In History with The Retrospectors

38

Curious, funny, surprising daily history - with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll.From the invention of the Game Boy to the Mancunian beer-poisoning of 1900, from Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain to America's Nazi summer schools... each day we uncover an unexpected story for the ages. In just ten minutes!Best Daily Podcast (British Podcast Awards 2023 nominee).Get early access and ad-free listening at Patreon.com/Retrospectors or subscribe on Apple Podcasts.

Recent Episodes
  • Marion Donovan: Housewife Inventor
    Jun 12, 2025 – 12:51
  • The Second Mrs McCartney
    Jun 11, 2025 – 12:41
  • The Very First 'Boat Race'
    Jun 10, 2025 – 11:49
  • Meet Donald Duck
    Jun 9, 2025 – 11:33
  • Digging Up Josef Mengele
    Jun 6, 2025 – 12:43
  • So I Acquitted An Axe Murderer
    Jun 5, 2025 – 12:34
  • The 'Ten Cent Beer Night' Riot
    Jun 4, 2025 – 12:36
  • The Woman Who Shot Andy Warhol
    Jun 3, 2025 – 11:07
  • When UEFA Banned England
    Jun 2, 2025 – 12:03
  • The Peasants Are Revolting
    May 30, 2025 – 13:07
  • The First Bank Holiday
    May 29, 2025 – 12:58
  • Here Comes The Spanish Armada
    May 28, 2025 – 12:24
  • Fan-Dancing, Dwarfism and Microwaves
    May 27, 2025 – 11:56
  • Exposing Italy's Puppet Masters
    May 26, 2025 – 12:38
  • Captain Kidd: Pirate or Privateer?
    May 23, 2025 – 12:03
  • Introducing Pac-Man
    May 22, 2025 – 12:09
  • Ed Miliband’s ‘Bacon Sandwich’ Moment
    May 21, 2025 – 12:05
  • The Accidental Vibrator
    May 20, 2025 – 11:30
  • Harold Pinter vs The Critics
    May 19, 2025 – 12:13
  • Beau Brummell: Dandy on the Run
    May 16, 2025 – 12:55
  • Launch of the Sky Girls
    May 15, 2025 – 12:11
  • Death By Sex
    May 14, 2025 – 12:19
  • The $8billion 'Kill Switch'
    May 13, 2025 – 12:14
  • The Real Winnie The Pooh
    May 12, 2025 – 12:00
  • Victory Day For Housewives
    May 9, 2025 – 12:28
  • What You Didn't Know About VE Day
    May 8, 2025 – 14:58
  • Hanging Lord Haw Haw
    May 7, 2025 – 12:38
  • Never In The Field Of Human Conflict
    May 6, 2025 – 12:24
  • World War Two's Weirdest Battle
    May 5, 2025 – 12:53
  • The Shapes in the Sky
    May 2, 2025 – 11:08
  • Are You A Frequent Flyer?
    May 1, 2025 – 12:43
  • Land Rover's Rugged Beginnings
    Apr 30, 2025 – 12:10
  • The Swedish Meatballs Controversy
    Apr 29, 2025 – 11:12
  • Mutiny On The Bounty
    Apr 28, 2025 – 12:53
  • Lisztomania!
    Apr 25, 2025 – 12:02
  • The Last Ming Emperor
    Apr 24, 2025 – 12:04
  • The 'New Coke' Debacle
    Apr 23, 2025 – 13:01
  • The Man Who Cycled The World
    Apr 22, 2025 – 11:54
  • Game Boy: Game Changer
    Apr 21, 2025 – 11:26
  • It's Superman!
    Apr 18, 2025 – 11:49
  • Let's Buy London Bridge
    Apr 17, 2025 – 12:03
  • Ancient Egypt's Napoleon
    Apr 16, 2025 – 12:53
  • The First Casino Royale
    Apr 15, 2025 – 12:03
  • When Presidents Play Ball ⚾
    Apr 14, 2025 – 12:06
  • Stealing The Stone of Destiny
    Apr 11, 2025 – 11:52
  • The Birth of Copyright
    Apr 10, 2025 – 11:43
  • The Speeding President
    Apr 9, 2025 – 11:34
  • Venus, Reborn
    Apr 8, 2025 – 11:55
  • When Wham! Went To China
    Apr 7, 2025 – 11:51
  • Give Peace A Brand
    Apr 4, 2025 – 12:01
Recent Reviews
  • corgirulz
    So good!
    I can’t wait until may 6. It’s my birth day and nothing interesting happens then really that I know of. On June 14, my younger sisters birthday, it says a bunch of cattle gathered around a meteorite. Why does she get that? Lucky. Also someday, when I grow up, I’m gonna have my own podcast. Maybe. 77%. Ok 25% sure but still. Ok let’s be real it like 15%
  • Xbound24
    Surprised to see some of the poor reviews
    I love this quick, fast-paced history blip every morning. I get to learn something new and it fits in great for my short commute. I like the lightheartedness of it and the broad variety of topics. There’s clearly a good bit of effort gone in to such a short little podcast which I appreciate as well. Even the topics that make my eyes glaze over (British history…I’m SORRY) are bright and fun and, barring all that, only ten minutes! Consistently fun, definitely one of my favorite podcasts. Surprised it doesn’t have more reviews!
  • pop1pee
    false information
    What bothers me most is when someone comes to talk about history without full knowledge and distorts it with his wrong words. Christians have designated Sunday as a holy day since the first century because it is the day on which Christ rose from the dead, not the Emperor Constantine, who designated it for Christians.
  • iampatmann
    Such a great show
    The show is fun and informative. One of my favorite podcasts. Rebecca and Arion do a great job of researching every day’s topics. Olly also usually has a fact or two as well, but he clearly is there for his entertainment skills, not his research or analytic skills. A helpful hint for listeners is if Olly starts a statement with, “Obviously…” or, “Of course…” the rest of what comes next is likely going to be based on a misunderstanding of the topic, a misunderstanding of the context surrounding the topic, or a failure to listen to what his cohosts have already said.
  • His Story Nut
    Great Today in History Podcast
    if you like History you will love this podcast. I find the content interesting even though it it produced in the U.K. and I am not produced in the U.K. ;-)
  • Coachlacrosse
    not what I expected
    I thought this was going to be as good as History Daily. With in the span of 10 minutes on the Last Queen of Hawaii I knew i was going to have to unsubscribe. Listening to 3 British acents tell me how bad America was not enjoyable. Also the Rip on Fox news is pretty ridicoulous considering all the other cable "news" supports socialism communism. Hearing their political views would really make me question their "truth" of the history they are reporting.
  • Unkle Bubba
    Better check your continuity
    I was looking forward to an August 30, 2022 show and it was some thing from 2007? Somebody’s not doing their job.
  • lexiloolove
    Funny, fast & informative!
    Great podcast to start the day with, highly recommend!
  • KateMutch
    Love this show!
    The trio create a show full of historical facts that are often obscure and always interesting. They have great chemistry. I always look forward to this and five days a week start my day with it. Am an American listener. Highly recommend it.
  • jim from Guam
    Olly Mann keeping us informed!
    As a devoted lister of Answer Me This (which will always be missed!) and The Modern Mann (of which I am an official Mannbassidor!), I was definitely going to try Olly’s latest endeavor; but after not having it in my daily pod-feed for a week now at the end of the year, I realize just how much I enjoy the show and look forward to hearing it! With interesting topics chosen to discuss “on this day in history” and witty banter of the hosts, this is a daily dose of fun!
  • Nmgg754
    Great new show!
    Love this! I came as a long time listener of Answer me This, and am really enjoying it. Give it a listen! **Request in case they read their reviews— can you put out a weekly episode of all that week’s episodes in one download? Even if you have to increase the ads, it would be so nice.
  • pfm
    Love the show, but…
    I love everything about this show BUT they use the word ‘theory’ when they are talking about an hypothesis.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.