While 'Cool Runnings' is full of good vibes and nostalgia, the real story of the Jamaican bobsled team is very different.
In this episode, Arion Rebecca and Olly dig into what really happened on that fateful day in 1988.
#winterolympics #bobsled #olympic #podcast #history
🎧 More in today's episode 👇
pod.link/retrospector...
White residents shouted racist abuse at him.
He went to the Blue Gates pub, where a ‘colour bar’ restricted service to non-white customers. After being denied service, he remarked that Smethwick felt “worse than America”.
Having been refused entry to France, Malcolm X had been speaking at the LSE when he was invited by Avtar Singh Jouhl of the Indian Workers’ Association to come to Smethwick’s Marshall Street, a residential road which had become a flashpoint for informal housing segregation.
... Following a wave of immigration to the town and the toxic politics of the 1964 general election, in which Conservative candidate Peter Griffiths refused to condemn racist posters circulated by the far-right.
61 years ago today, Malcolm X came to #Smethwick.
The industrial suburb of Birmingham had recently gained a grim reputation as ‘the most racist town in Britain’... 🧵
Chill start to the year?
Summarising the Dreyfus Affair in ten minutes.
366 blue capsules. One giant glass bowl. A live TV broadcast that decided the fate of thousands. 🇺🇸🇻🇳
On Dec 1st, 1969, the Vietnam Draft Lottery took place. It was intended to be fair, but it ended up looking like a dystopian nightmare.
Would you have been drafted?
#vietnamwar #history #podcast
Is this the worst thing on TV? The bizarre, incoherent ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’ was broadcast only once, on 17th November, 1978.
#StarWars #SciFi #HarrisonFord #TV #Podcast #History
On November 10th, 1969, iconic characters like Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, and Bert & Ernie made their debut.
Death, bullying, racism were all covered on Sesame Street.
7 million children watched daily and early studies showed that viewers scored higher on educational tests.
Happy 75th birthday, 'Peanuts'🎂!
October 2nd, 1950 was the debut of Charles Schulz's iconic comic strip.
Today, we dig into how Schulz's unique approach set the standard for comics for decades to come👇
A mugshot of Carlos the Jackal.
On this day in history: Carlos the Jackal is caught in Khartoum, convalescing following surgery to increase his sperm count.
Caught because an agent recognised not him, but his bodyguard.
(Excellently covered by @theretrospectors.bsky.social)
#historysky #onthisday #history
The world's most infamous wanted terrorist - Carlos the Jackal - was sedated and kidnapped by French intelligence agents in Khartoum, Sudan, on this day in 1994.
We tell the tale, in 10 minutes, wherever you get podcasts. Or click here to listen now:
And while you're at it, why not catch up on yesterday's episode, all about the 1894 Paris–Rouen "horseless carrriage race" - the world's first motor race.
We have an amazing episode for you today, all about the "gay scene" in 18th century London, where "molly houses" like Mother Clap’s offered refuge, community and sanctuary from puritanical morality laws.
Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/3ZIH...
One of the most explosive events in sporting history took place on this day in 1910, when Black heavyweight Jack Johnson took on the "Great White Hope", Jim Jeffries.
In today's episode, we explore the fight so controversial that cinemas were banned from screening the footage:
And while you're at it, why not catch up on yesterday's episode - all about the day Soviet ballet star Rudolf Nureyev made a desperate break for freedom at a Paris airport:
The Statue of Liberty first arrived in the US #onthisday in 1885 - packed into 214 crates.
In today's episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly delve into history of "Lady Liberty", a beloved but complex symbol of America's past, present and future:
And while you're at it, why not catch up on yesterday's episode, in which - hoo, boy!! - we delve into the history of Donald Duck.
The first Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race took place #onthisday in 1829 - and it all began as a light-hearted bet between two pals.
In today's episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly race through almost 200 years of boating escapades in just 10 minutes:
#OnThisDay in 1985, Brazilian police dug up the grave of one "Wolfgang Gerhard", on the suspicion - later confirmed - that he was actually notorious Auschwitz "Angel of Death" Josef Mengele.
In today's episode, Mengele's escape from Nazi Germany and 20 years on the run in South America:
Radical feminist playwright Valerie Solanas attempted to assassinate pop artist Andy Warhol at the Factory #onthisday in 1968.
In today's episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how these two figures of 1960s counter-cultural ended up face-to-face at opposite ends of a gun:
And on Tuesday, we talked about the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, where wowed Americans flocked to see babies in incubators, racy fan-dancing... and a miraculous new technology called the "microwave".
Listen here:
And while you're at it, why not catch up on yesterday's episode - a 10-minute gallop through everything you didn't know about the Spanish Armada:
The "bank holiday" was born on this day in 1871, thanks to an eccentric liberal MP called Sir John Lubbock - or, as grateful workers would brand him, "Saint Lubbock".
Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain all - including Lubbock's less successful project: teaching his poodle to read.
Listen now:
When Hitachi launched their ‘personal massager’ #onthisday in 1968, they had no idea that they were about to go, um, down in sex toy history....
Arion, Rebecca and Olly tell all, in ten minutes:
In today's episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly track the highs and lows of iconic dandy Beau Brummell - who fled to France #onthisday in 1816 to escape his eye-watering debts.
🎧👇
Ellen Church became the first ever air stewardess #onthisday in 1930.
A licensed airplane pilot, when she was informed airlines would not hire a female pilot, she invented a whole new job.
We tell the remarkable story of the first air stewardesses:
‘WannaCry’, the biggest cyberattack the world has ever seen, was stopped in its tracks #onthisday in 2017 - by a 22-year-old British blogger who found a 'kill switch'.
Arion, Rebecca and Olly tell the tale, in 10 minutes:
