Episodes

Secretive Catholic sect Opus Dei was founded on 2nd October, 1928 by the young, energetic priest Jose Maria Escriva, who believed his divine mission was to inject religious fervour into everyday life, with holiness achieved not via clergy, but from the daily work of laypeople.  The faith grew rapidly in Spain, especially during the Franco […]

Tobe Hooper’s legendary low-budget horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, first screened in Austin on 1st October, 1974. The movie was an international sensation – making £21.9 million from its £100,000 budget in its first year – although not in the UK, where it was not screened nationally for 25 years, due to the BBFC’s

How did tea become Britain’s national drink? Its story begins in China, where it was first popularised during the Han and Tang dynasties – but it first made its mark in London’s coffee houses on 30th September, 1658, when it was advertised to the public in a ‘newsbook’, marketing the exotic beverage as “an excellent

Journalists, exhibitors and producers packed the Ambassador Hotel Theater, Los Angeles on 27th September, 1922 – to see the first ever paid-for screening of a 3-D film, ‘The Power Of Love’. Using an anaglyph system (meaning the 3-D glasses had two tinted lenses; one red, one green), viewers were told they could select a happy

Billy Graham’s Los Angeles Crusade started modestly on 25th September, 1949. But after newspaper giant William Randolph Hearst told his editors to “puff Graham”, the nightly revival meetings exploded in popularity, becoming a ‘sin-smashing sensation’, and Graham soon became America’s favourite preacher. His style was perfect for the Hollywood backdrop. At just 30 years old,

The ‘Austenmania’ craze of the mid-90s kicked off with the BBC’s production of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which first aired on 24th September, 1995. Now primarily remembered for Colin Firth’s ‘wet shirt’ scene, Andrew Davies’s ‘sexed up’ adaptation also starred Firth’s real-life squeeze Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, and was the first serialisation of the novel

The most extravagant feast of the Middle Ages took place at the London home of the Bishop of Durham on September 23rd, 1387, in honour of King Richard II.  The banquet featured dishes like broth, venison, roasted swan, and boar-heads… and  12,000 eggs.  At just 20 years old, Richard had already developed a reputation for

Rerun: Henry Winkler, an accomplished water-skier, had asked the producers of ‘Happy Days’ if he could showcase his skills on the sitcom. On 20th September, 1977 his wish came true – in a shark-jumping sequence so absurd it would forever be linked with the irreversible artistic decline of long-running TV series. To ‘Jump the Shark’

The first Paralympic Games – hosting 400 athletes from 23 countries – took place in Rome on 18th September, 1960.  But it was only known by this name retrospectively: the day it took place, this festival of disabled sport was called The Ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games. Sprung from a competition held at a

Mary, ‘King’ of Hungary, was coronated today in history, on 17th September, 1382.  The Hungarian nobility had never had a female monarch, and did not recognize the possibility of one in law, so decided to crown her as if she was male – but that was by no means the end of her problems. Before