Episodes

George W. Bush’s controversial State of the Union address from 29th January, 2002 – saw the introduction of the phrase ‘the Axis of Evil’.  Speechwriter David Frum had initially grouped Iraq, Iran and North Korea together as an ‘Axis of Hatred’ – but Bush himself chose to replace the word ‘hatred’ with ‘evil’, a choice […]

French artist Yves Klein concluded his artwork “Zone de Sensibilité Picturale Immatérielle” on 26th January 1962 – by throwing half the gold he received for the artwork into the Seine, and burning the ownership receipt. This conceptual performance, forgotten for decades, is now often credited by art critics for presaging the world of NFTs and

Rerun: The California Gold Rush was ignited by James Marshall’s discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill on January 24th, 1848. The news led to a lawless and chaotic surge of wannabe prospectors heading to the State, enduring perilous journeys to do so. Over 300,000 people arrived in just seven years, transforming a region previously inhabited

Elephants have played a surprisingly important role on the battlefield, even before the birth of Christ; notably in 5th Century BCE India, and during the Punic Wars in Africa.  But on 23rd January, 971, the Southern Han division of the Chinese military retired their famous elephant corps forever – after facing a massive aerial assault

When tennis fans learned that their idol, multiple Grand Slam winner Bjorn Borg, might be about to retire from the professional game, at the age of only 26.  Why did the Swedish star, whose young female fanbase were sometimes called the ‘Borgasm’ by the tabloids, rest his racket at the height of his powers? It

When Lucille Ball’s character gave birth on “I Love Lucy” on 19th January 1953, 44 million people tuned in: an astonishing 72% of TV-owning Americans, surpassing the number who watched President Eisenhower’s inauguration the following day. The episode, ‘Lucy Goes To The Hospital’, almost didn’t make it to TV due to the strict morality codes

Heavily influenced by the Church, Article 43 of the Irish Constitution forbade divorce – a law that stood until 17th January, 1997, when a Judge granted a terminally ill husband the right to divorce the woman from whom he’d already separated so that he could marry his current partner.  This followed a contentious referendum in

It had a budget of just $1 million, a lead actor wearing a toupee, and the baddie in the first draft of the script was a monkey. But the first James Bond film, ‘Dr. No’, which began shooting in Jamaica on 16th January, 1962, kicked off a phenomenally successful franchise that’s still a staple of

Rerun : Wikipedia launched with the cheery words “Hello World!” on 15th January, 2001. The project arrived almost by accident, as the side-project of a more serious effort by tech entrepreneur Jimmy Wales to create an online encyclopedia called Nupedia. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why before Wikipedia came about Wales briefly

When Berry Gordy, Jr. founded Tamla Records in Detroit on 12th January, 1959, he reshaped popular music forever. With an iconic artist roster that included The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and The Jackson 5, Motown’s ability to identify and nurture talent – inspired by the principles of a car production line – were unprecedented. Gordy’s journey,