The Peasants Are Revolting
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The most significant rebellion of the Medieval era, the so-called Peasant’s Revolt, kicked off in Brentwood, Essex on 30th May, 1381, when tax collector John Bampton attempted to collect unpaid poll tax. The protest triggered a violent confrontation, rapidly spreading across the south-east of the country. Within a month, the rebels were marching towards London, …
When Australia Said Sorry
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A coalition of Australian community groups came together on May 26th, 1998 for the country’s first “National Sorry Day”, an annual day of atonement for the social-engineering policy that ripped an estimated 50,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families between 1910 and the 1970s. The first Sorry Day was marked with 300 …
Shakespeare Unbanned
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Rerun. Chinese citizens were once again able to read and perform the works of William Shakespeare on 25th May, 1977. Chiang Ching, Chairman Mao’s wife, had instituted the ban eleven years earlier – amidst concerns that the Bard’s works could be reinterpreted to undermine the Party’s rule and ideology. In this episode, Rebecca, Olly and …
Sugar, Sugar and the Cartoon Band
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The biggest hit of 1969, bubblegum pop song “Sugar, Sugar” was released on 24th May. The songwriters, Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, had a strong pedigree in penning 60s anthems. But the band itself was fictional – simply studio musicians providing a soundtrack to the Saturday morning TV cartoon ‘The Archie Show’, inspired by the …
Captain Kidd: Pirate or Privateer?
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Hanged for piracy and murder, sea captain William Kidd was executed in Wapping on 23rd May, 1701. From the gallows he proclaimed to the large assembled crowd that he was innocent of the crimes, as he was a licensed privateer. The vessel he’d captured, the Quedagh Merchant, was indeed sailing under a ‘French pass’ – …
Introducing Pac-Man
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Namco’s ground-breaking arcade game Pac-Man had its first focus test in a Tokyo cinema foyer on May 22nd, 1980. Created by 24 year-old Toru Iwatani, it was originally called ‘Puck-Man’ and designed to appeal to women as well as men. Each of the ghosts – Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde – was programmed to have …
We Want YOU 🫵 to Support Our Podcast!
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It’s our birthday 🥳! Our show is now TWO years old, with over 600 episodes in the bank – but we want to keep making even more. And we need your help to do that. If you enjoy our daily, independent podcast, please please support the show and help us keep the lights on! For …
Fox’s ‘Glee’ Gambit
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Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s musical comedy-drama ‘Glee’ was first screened on Fox on May 19th, 2009. In a strategy to whip up excitement before the season premiere in the Autumn, the network showed the pilot in a plum post-‘American Idol’ slot, and then besieged websites and social networks with advertisements over the Summer. The …
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Dracula! Live on Stage!
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Bram Stoker’s Dracula was first introduced to the world NOT via his canonical novel, but rather in the pages of a seldom-performed – and by all accounts appalling – play-reading at London’s Lyceum Theatre on 18th May, 1897. The stage version was not intended to reach a mass audience; but was rather a clever wheeze …
Louie, Louie and the FBI
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The supposedly pornographic lyrics of garageband classic “Louie Louie” by the Kingsmen were, improbably, thoroughly investigated by the FBI, who reached a conclusion on May 17th, 1965, when the FBI Laboratory declared the lyrics to be “officially unintelligible”. The FBI had spent two years analyzing the song, consulting outraged parents, and playing it at different …