Episodes

Pioneering music-sharing platform Napster faced a pivotal legal showdown on March 6th, 2001, when – despite the company’s defence that it was merely a tool for innocent purposes – US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the removal of all copyrighted material from the service. Napster’s legal troubles had begun with lawsuits from prominent artists […]

The famous ‘Che’ poster, entitled Guerrillero Heroico, taken by Alberto Korda at a mass funeral in Havana on 5th March, 1960. It went on to become one of the most reproduced photographs of all time. Korda snapped only two shots of Che Guevara that day – one portrait, one landscape – because he had actually

John Lennon’s controversial statement that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus was first published in the London Evening Standard on 4th March, 1966. The reporter, Maureen Cleave, documented the eccentricities of Lennon’s life and his dissatisfaction with fame and wealth; his musings on religion went almost completely unnoticed. That all changed months later, when

Mick Jagger, Madonna, and David Bowie were amongst the megastars who participated in the ‘I Want My MTV!’ campaign which debuted on 1st March, 1982; credited for getting music television to a sustainable number of cable providers and thereby kickstarting a whole genre: the music video.  Ad guru George Lois had come up with the

The strange behaviour of two young girls, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris, sparked the  infamous Salem Witch Trials on February 29th, 1692, when a Doctor pronounced that they were possessed by Satan. Accusations of witchcraft snowballed in the Puritan community, leading to a frenzy of trials and hangings. Suspicions fell upon those who deviated from

New Orleans witnessed its first modern Mardi Gras procession – kick-started by a group of students eager to revive the traditional masquerade, banned for six decades – on 27th February, 1827.  The city’s parades and revelry can trace their origins back to ancient pagan festivals and European traditions, cemented by the arrival of French-Canadian explorer

President Woodrow Wilson finally signed into law a bill establishing The Grand Canyon as the USA’s 15th National Park on this day in 1919. Although preservation orders had given the Canyon some protection prior to this moment, it had been 37 years since Benjamin Harrison had first attempted to enshrine its special status more specifically.

The Cato Street Conspiracy – a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Lord Liverpool and the entire Cabinet as they attended a private dinner party – was foiled on February 23rd, 1820.  Thwarted by an informant within their ranks, the conspirators were exposed, and either deported or executed. Arthur Thistlewood and his cohorts had planned a

Edwin Land unveiled the world’s first instant camera to the Optical Society of America on 21st February, 1947. Snapping a quick black-and-white selfie, Land astonished onlookers as the image emerged within 60 seconds. Despite its initial high price and complex development process, Polaroid cameras became a sensation, selling out on their first day of release

Departing from Puerto Rico with grand plans to establish a new colony, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León set out on his ill-fated second expedition to Florida on February 15th, 1521.  Ponce de León’s reputation as a conquistador preceded him, with tales of his brutal conquests in Hispaniola preceding his quest for new lands. Despite