Episodes
The Man Who Bought Stonehenge
Barrister Cecil Chubb attended a Salisbury auction on September 21st, 1915 intending to buy curtains or chairs, but impulsively bought… Stonehenge. Yes, that Stonehenge. Built by Neolithic and Bronze Age communities for purposes still debated today – ceremonial? religious? – for centuries the site had been treated less like a sacred monument and more like
The Man Who Bought Stonehenge Read More »
RETRO
Barrister Cecil Chubb attended a Salisbury auction on September 21st, 1915 intending to buy curtains or chairs, but impulsively bought… Stonehenge. Yes, that Stonehenge. Built by Neolithic and Bronze Age communities for purposes still debated today – ceremonial? religious? – for centuries the site had been treated less like a sacred monument and more like
The Bermuda Triangle Theory
Why were multiple ships and planes lost in the section of the Atlantic between Miami, Puerto Rico and Bermuda? Journalist Edward van Winkle-Jones first floated the idea of ‘the Bermuda Triangle’ – although he didn’t call it that – in an article for the Miami Herald on 17th September, 1950. The speculation that ensued inspired
The Bermuda Triangle Theory Read More »
RETRO
Why were multiple ships and planes lost in the section of the Atlantic between Miami, Puerto Rico and Bermuda? Journalist Edward van Winkle-Jones first floated the idea of ‘the Bermuda Triangle’ – although he didn’t call it that – in an article for the Miami Herald on 17th September, 1950. The speculation that ensued inspired
New York’s First Terror Attack
The Wall Street bomb, outside JP Morgan’s headquarters, killed 38 people and seriously injured 143 more on 16th September, 1920. It was the biggest terror attack in New York City until 9/11. The blast shattered windows, overturned vehicles and sent fragments of metal and glass flying through nearby buildings. J.P. Morgan himself was safely on
New York’s First Terror Attack Read More »
RETRO
The Wall Street bomb, outside JP Morgan’s headquarters, killed 38 people and seriously injured 143 more on 16th September, 1920. It was the biggest terror attack in New York City until 9/11. The blast shattered windows, overturned vehicles and sent fragments of metal and glass flying through nearby buildings. J.P. Morgan himself was safely on
Pop-Tarts: So Hot, They’re Cool!
Kellogg’s launched their space-age convenience food, Pop-Tarts, on 14th September, 1964. In a cheeky bit of corporate one-upmanship, the cereals company had beaten their arch-rivals, Post, to supermarket shelves: Post’s product “Country Squares” was actually announced first, but couldn’t gain ground on Kellogg’s copycat product. Culturally, Pop-Tarts arrived at just the right moment. Women were
Pop-Tarts: So Hot, They’re Cool! Read More »
RETRO
Kellogg’s launched their space-age convenience food, Pop-Tarts, on 14th September, 1964. In a cheeky bit of corporate one-upmanship, the cereals company had beaten their arch-rivals, Post, to supermarket shelves: Post’s product “Country Squares” was actually announced first, but couldn’t gain ground on Kellogg’s copycat product. Culturally, Pop-Tarts arrived at just the right moment. Women were
The 19th Century Drunk Driver
London cab driver George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building on 10th September, 1897. He was fined 20 shillings (around £130 in today’s money) – but was not banned from the road. The vehicle he was driving only had a top speed of 12
The 19th Century Drunk Driver Read More »
RETRO
London cab driver George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building on 10th September, 1897. He was fined 20 shillings (around £130 in today’s money) – but was not banned from the road. The vehicle he was driving only had a top speed of 12
Why Nobody Liked ‘Joey’
‘Friends’ spin-off ‘Joey’ premiered on NBC on 9th September, 2004. 18.6 million Americans tuned in to watch Matt LeBlanc’s next chapter as Joey Tribbiani, now relocated to Los Angeles, alongside his sister Gina and her teenage son Michael. But the audience steadily melted away, and NBC shunted the second season around before putting the show
Why Nobody Liked ‘Joey’ Read More »
RETRO
‘Friends’ spin-off ‘Joey’ premiered on NBC on 9th September, 2004. 18.6 million Americans tuned in to watch Matt LeBlanc’s next chapter as Joey Tribbiani, now relocated to Los Angeles, alongside his sister Gina and her teenage son Michael. But the audience steadily melted away, and NBC shunted the second season around before putting the show
The One Man Submarine
America’s first attempt at submarine warfare set sail – or rather, sank – off the coast of New York on 7th September, 1776. ‘The Turtle’ was the brainchild of David Bushnell, a former Yale student who built a wooden, barrel-shaped craft secretly equipped to drill a hole in a British warship, and attach an explosive
The One Man Submarine Read More »
RETRO
America’s first attempt at submarine warfare set sail – or rather, sank – off the coast of New York on 7th September, 1776. ‘The Turtle’ was the brainchild of David Bushnell, a former Yale student who built a wooden, barrel-shaped craft secretly equipped to drill a hole in a British warship, and attach an explosive
Becoming Frederick Douglass
Posing as a sailor, with a borrowed ‘Protection Pass’ in his pocket, Frederick Douglass boarded a train from Baltimore to Philadelphia on 3rd September, 1838 – and escaped the slavery into which he had been born. To formalise the process, he had to dodge slave-catchers, change his name and pay for his freedom. He then
Becoming Frederick Douglass Read More »
RETRO
Posing as a sailor, with a borrowed ‘Protection Pass’ in his pocket, Frederick Douglass boarded a train from Baltimore to Philadelphia on 3rd September, 1838 – and escaped the slavery into which he had been born. To formalise the process, he had to dodge slave-catchers, change his name and pay for his freedom. He then
America’s First Bank Robbery
The Bank of Pennsylvania opened to discover that an astonishing $162,821 (around $3 million today) had vanished without a trace on 31st August, 1798. With no smashed windows, and no blown-apart safes, suspicion naturally fell on someone with inside knowledge. But Suspect #1 in America’s first bank robbery – Patrick Lyon, a highly respected blacksmith
America’s First Bank Robbery Read More »
RETRO
The Bank of Pennsylvania opened to discover that an astonishing $162,821 (around $3 million today) had vanished without a trace on 31st August, 1798. With no smashed windows, and no blown-apart safes, suspicion naturally fell on someone with inside knowledge. But Suspect #1 in America’s first bank robbery – Patrick Lyon, a highly respected blacksmith
The Birth of Ladybird Books
The British Museum Library registered the legal deposit of the first ever ‘Ladybird Series’ titles, from publishers Wills & Hepworth (later ‘Ladybird’) on 27th August, 1914. The books – ‘Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales’ and ‘Tiny Tots Travels’ – didn’t look at all like the classic Ladybird books we think of today – but were the
The Birth of Ladybird Books Read More »
RETRO
The British Museum Library registered the legal deposit of the first ever ‘Ladybird Series’ titles, from publishers Wills & Hepworth (later ‘Ladybird’) on 27th August, 1914. The books – ‘Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales’ and ‘Tiny Tots Travels’ – didn’t look at all like the classic Ladybird books we think of today – but were the