Episodes
Laughter, Uncanned
RETRO
‘The Hank McCune Show’ – an otherwise unremarkable footnote in American TV history – became the first single-camera sitcom to deploy a pre-recorded laugh track (aka ‘canned laughter’) on 9th September, 1950. The giggles and applause came courtesy of Charlie Douglass, who made a career of capturing audience reaction in his ‘laff box’, and then …
Apple’s $100m U2 Fail
RETRO
When U2’s new album, Songs Of Innocence, was rumoured to be bundled in with the iPhone 6 on 8th September, 2014, the band’s official spokespeople denied any involvement with Apple’s product launch. But the following day, U2 did indeed turn up at Tim Cook’s keynote – with an initiative to ‘gift’ the album, for free, …
The Umbrella Assassin
RETRO
Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was shot by a poisoned pellet whilst walking on Waterloo Bridge on 7th September, 1978. Four days later, he was dead. He thought the bullet – believed to be filled with ricin – had emanated from the umbrella of a Soviet secret agent, and the British press labelled his assassination the …
The Self Service Revolution
RETRO
Clarence Saunders opened the world’s first self-service supermarket, ‘Piggly Wiggly’, in Memphis, Tennessee on 6th September, 1916. Calculating that the revenues gained through impulse purchases would outweigh those lost from shoplifting, Saunders’ concept forever changed the world of shopping for groceries – but his business acumen did not last. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and …
Becoming Frederick Douglass
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 …
Queen of the Cuban Sea
RETRO
Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad was 64 years old when she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage for protection on 2nd September, 2013. Nyad completed the 110-mile swim from Havana to Key West in approximately 53 hours. It was her fifth attempt to swim through …
Nokia’s Beloved Brick
RETRO
The Nokia 3310 – featuring Snake II, pop-on/off covers, and a discreetly concealed antenna – was launched on 1st September, 2000 at a boardsports event in Dusseldorf, Germany. Popularly nicknamed ‘the brick’, the handset went on to shift 126 million units— more than 20 times as many as the first-generation iPhone. In this episode, Olly, …
I Say, Boy, It’s Foghorn Leghorn
RETRO
A giant chicken with the mannerisms of a wise-crackin’ Southern gentleman, Foghorn Leghorn first appeared in the Looney Tunes short ‘Walky Talky Hawky’ on 31st August, 1946. Directed by Robert McKimson and voiced by Mel Blanc, the character – who was inspired in part by popular radio character ‘Senator Claghorn’ from The Fred Allen Show …
The Birth of Ladybird Books
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 Andrersen’s Fairy Tales’ and ‘Tiny Tots Travels’ – didn’t look at all like the classic Ladybird books we think of today – but were the …
Colin The Caterpillar – A Cultural Odyssey
RETRO
Equally beloved at office boardrooms and toddler birthday parties, Colin the Caterpillar – a £7 swiss roll cake with white and milk chocolate and buttercream – was launched at an unsuspecting public by Marks and Spencer on 26th August, 1990.At the product development stage, he was going to be a fish – even though fishcake …