Episodes

Windows 1.0 came out on 20th November, 1985, introducing graphical user interface to the masses for the first time. Well, that was the concept, anyway; in truth, users required mighty hardware by the standards of the time (TWO floppy drives!), and hardly anybody bought it. But it laid the template for what would, within a […]

After Mount Vesuvius erupted – and original hosts Rome pulled out – the British Olympic council sent a letter, dated 19th November, 1906, agreeing to host the fourth modern Olympic games. With just two years to go, the event was put together hastily, and on a paltry budget; a stadium erected at the White City

Switzerland’s most famous archer shot fruit off his own son’s head on 18th November, 1307. Or did he?  ‘Chronicon Helveticum’ by Aegidius Tschudi, from which the date comes, claims to be a serious historical account, but was written roughly 200 years later – and not published until nearly 200 years after that. And the myth bears remarkable

The bizarre, incoherent ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’ was broadcast only once, on 17th November, 1978. Despite CBS signing up the stars of the original movie – Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill, the plot swapped epic battles for a bizarre variety show filled with cameos from Harvey Korman, Bea Arthur, and Jefferson Starship. The

Westminer’s most famous landmark, Big Ben, bongggged for the first time on 13th November, 1856, outside the not-yet-finished House of Commons. Londoners gathered to hear what would become Britain’s most iconic sound; a spectacle so loud and unsettling that some spectators literally ran away.  But the first bell didn’t last long: after just eleven months

Jules Leotard first somersaulted off a trapeze at Cirque Napoléon in Paris on 12th November, 1859. His act inspired gymnasts and circus performers the world over – although Leotard is now best remembered as the inventor of the skin-tight outfits he wore on stage. Leotard had abandoned his studies as a lawyer to perfect his

Geoffrey Chaucer’s granddaughter Alice was first married at the age of 11. She was granted a license to marry her third husband on 11th November, 1430; and became defined by her three powerful unions with men she outlived. Having lost her first two husbands in the Hundred Years War, she then settled down with William

Big Bird, Oscar and Bert & Ernie were first introduced to America’s children on 10th November, 1969, when Sesame Street made its small-screen debut. Designed to resemble a real inner-city street, its set and multicultural cast including African Americans was a groundbreaking concept. Aiming to address educational inequality, its creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd

Real-time thriller ‘24’, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer, debuted on Fox on 6th November, 2001. The show’s use of split screens, constant tension, and ticking clocks became its signature style, and the nerve-shredding pilot went on to win an Emmy for series creators Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran. But, in a post-9/11 climate, its

The Mongols attempted to invade Japan on 5th November, 1274. Despite having a fleet of 900 ships, they failed – in part due to a ‘kamikaze’ typhoon that whooshed their boats back to Korea. Then they tried again – and failed again. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how a gunpowder-armed Army was