Episodes

Promenades Aériennes, the world’s first modern rollercoaster, opened in Paris on 8th July, 1817. Thrillseekers climbed a towering wooden structure before being sent gliding back down on wheeled carriages attached securely to rails; modest by modern standards, yes, but introducing many of the key features that still define coasters today. Visitors faced a lengthy climb […]

The Quarrymen took to the stage at a parish fête near Liverpool on 6th July, 1957: the event that first brought together the brains behind the Beatles, teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney. John oozed cool with his swagger, sideburns, and low slung guitar. Paul, watching in awe, was struck by Lennon’s confidence and his

Airships had flown since the 1850s, but the first rigid airship to comfortably carry passengers – the Zeppelin – had its maiden voyage at Lake Constance on 2nd July, 1900. The passion project of German aristocrat Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the ‘golden age’ craft were freezing cold on-board, and precarious: the majority of them eventually

Around sixty cyclists set off from a café in Montgeron, just outside Paris, on 1st July, 1903: the start of the first ever Tour de France.  The event began as a circulation-boosting scheme by newspaper L’Auto; struggling to compete with its rival Le Vélo, they launched the race as a publicity exercise. But the challenge

After nearly three decades of development, A.I. Artificial Intelligence finally had a theatrical release on 29th June, 2001. Written and directed by Steven Spielberg – following the death of his friend Stanley Kubrick – it promised to be a cinematic masterpiece. But many critics saw it as akin to a custody battle between two very

The fork had only recently received Royal approval in Britain when it was gifted to the Governor of Massachusetts, John Winthrop, on 25th June, 1633. It took centuries for Americans to feel comfortable with this new way of eating, but in Italy it was already gaining ground, as Englishman Thomas Coryat observed in 1611, noting:

Anne of Cleves was dumped by her profligate husband Henry VIII on 24th June, 1540, when she was summoned to Richmond Palace and asked to accept an annulment from her tyrannical spouse. In return for her compliance, she received substantial estates, including Richmond Palace itself, and Hever Castle, along with a generous income that made

Sea Captain Hanson Gregory claimed to have first cut a hole in a donut on 22nd June, 1847, sparking an American tradition: the nation now consumes ten billion donuts per year. But Americans munched on Dutch “oily cakes” for decades prior to that, and the corporate intervention of Dunkin’ Donuts – founded in Gregory’s hometown

Designed by Imagineers, and located on the outskirts of Walt Disney World, the town of Celebration, Florida welcomed its first residents on 18th June, 1996. Over 5,000 families had applied to be amongst the first ever homeowners to reside, full-time, in the grounds of a theme park. Conceptually, the town was a mash-up of the

O.J. Simpson, wanted for questioning over the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, was followed by both the LAPD and the world’s news cameras on 17th June, 1994, as he sat creeping along the motorway, holding a gun to his head, in a white Ford Bronco driven by his