Episodes

The ‘Great Stink’ – when the stench of untreated human and industrial waste was amplified by a particularly hot Summer – reached a peak on 15th July, 1858, when members of Parliament lead by Benjamin Disraeli rushed through an emergency cleanup bill, kickstarting a transformative revamp of London’s sewage system. Prior to this, waste from […]

Rerun: ‘Disco Demolition Night’, the brainchild of 24 year-old shock jock Steve Dahl, caused mass hysteria at Comiskey Park, Chicago on 12th July, 1979 – causing a pitch invasion that lead to 39 arrests. Intended as a promotional event for a Tigers vs White Sox doubleheader, attendees were lured with discounted admission if they turned

The Scopes Monkey Trial – one of the most famous show trials in U.S. history – began in Dayton, Tennessee on 10th July, 1925.  Though it centred on John T. Scopes – a high school teacher put on trial for teaching evolution – he was actually a substitute teacher who may never have really taught

Mozart’s grand tour of Western Europe, began on 9th July 1763, when the boy wonder was just 7 years old. Taking in Germany, France, and England, Wolfgang and his sister Maria Anna played for Royal families, leading musicians, and even wowed the crowd in a pub, the Swan and Hoop in Moorgate. In this episode,

When North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung died unexpectedly of a heart attack on 8th July, 1994, his nation went into ten days of mourning, reflecting the deep-seated personality cult he’d cultivated over his 40-year rule. Kim’s passing marked the end of a generation of Marxist revolutionaries in the region, creating uncertainty about whether his successors

Rerun: Swimwear never made more of a splash than when designer Louis Réard unveiled his daring new two-piece at the Piscine Molitor in Paris on July 5th, 1946. Showgirl Micheline Bernardini modelled the new attire, named after US nuclear testing site Bikini Atoll. Really. Eleven years later, Modern Girl magazine still considered it ‘inconceivable that

Captain Joshua Slocum set sail from Nova Scotia in The Spray, his revamped oyster sloop, on 3rd July, 1898: the first solo circumnavigation of the world.  Sailing alone for no reason other than pleasure was considered a fool’s errand at the time, but, motivated by the death of his beloved first wife, Virginia, Slocum sought

Generra Sportswear, the Seattle-based company that distributed Hypercolor – the T-shirts that changed colour with heat – and declared bankruptcy on 2nd July, 1992. In a brief three-month span, between February and May 1991, the company sold a whopping $50 million worth of heat-sensitive T-shirts, shorts, pants, sweatshirts and tights, using the ‘Global Hypercolor’ brand

The real-life ‘Shark Week’ that inspired Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws kicked off with the shocking mauling of 23 year-old Charles Vansant off the coast of Beach Haven on 1st July, 1916.  At first, the public refused to believe that a shark could be responsible.But five days later, another attack occurred at Spring Lake, claiming the

Rerun: The first modern dog show took place in Newcastle on 28th June, 1859. Essentially a sideshow to the annual exhibition of cattle, it featured just 23 pointers and 27 setters. The owners of the champion breeds won a gun. Allegations of inbreeding and nepotism plagued the contest from the very beginning; controversies which eventually