Episodes

Rerun: During the Siege of Malaga, on 7th May 1487, Queen Isabella of Spain commissioned bespoke bed-wagons to transport injured soldiers from the battlefield to specially-erected tent hospitals, the world’s earliest ambulance. Despite this innovation, it was hundreds of years before the concept – and the word ‘ambulance’ – gained common currency worldwide, notably thanks […]

The first ‘spam’ email, sent to ARPANET users on behalf of the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), landed in Inboxes on 3rd May, 1978. Marketer Gary Thuerk was responsible for the idea – but his execution was flawed, as he inadvertently filled the body of his message with email addresses, overflowing from the To and CC

Accessible and rigorous, the King James Bible was published on 2nd May, 1611, at the behest of the Monarch after which it was named – and perhaps even he would be surprised at the book’s extraordinary success. Advancements in printing technology made copies affordable, the expansion of English colonialism propagated it across the word, and

Eleven year-old Johnny Clem formally became part of the Union Army on 1st May, 1863 – though he had already been participating as a Drummer Boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry in the American Civil War for two years. Clem’s youthful determination and bravery propelled him into the spotlight of national fame – but he

Rerun: The advertising industry underwent a minor revolution on 30th April 1952 when Mr Potato Head starred in the first ever nationally televised ad campaign for a toy, unleashing the demon force of kiddie pester power on an unsuspecting world. Unlike regular toy dolls, a Mr Potato Head wasn’t self-explanatory, so toy company Hasbro decided

Peter Mark Roget waited until retirement to compile his personal collection of synonyms into a book for publication: the first edition of Roget’s Theasurus, released on 29th April, 1852.  Despite initial scepticism from critics, who couldn’t grasp its practical brilliance, the public embraced the new format – despite its unconventional organisation, in which synonyms were

The Italian poet Petrarch hiked up Mont Ventoux in Provence on 26th April, 1332 – an event claimed for centuries to be the first time mountaineering for pleasure had been attempted.  His celebrated letter to Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro was the source, revealing Petrarch’s contemplations on spirituality and the human condition amidst the breathtaking

Two-time Oscar winner Jane Fonda expanded her repertoire beyond acting and activism into exercise videos on 24th April, 1982, with the release of her bestselling aerobics VHS, “Workout.”  What seemed like a small venture at the time swiftly captivated the nation, revolutionising fitness trends and catapulting household VCR ownership. Extraordinarily, all profits from the enterprise

On 23 April 2005, software engineer Jawed Karim posted an 18-second clip of himself standing in front of some elephants at the San Diego Zoo – a video which is largely unremarkable, except for the fact it was the first ever clip uploaded to the site Karim cofounded: YouTube. The video has since received 260

Extracts from Adolf Hitler’s long-lost diaries were brought to the world’s attention on 22nd April, 1983, provoking an international sensation – until they were quickly exposed for being a hoax.  Respected World War Two historian Hugh Trevor Roper had authenticated the diaries, leading Rupert Murdoch to personally negotiate a $1.2 million serialisation in The Sunday