Podcasts

Orgies, drinking songs, and – perhaps most damagingly of all – Paganism were rumoured tools of the colonist Thomas Morton when he established Merrymount, New England. It wasn’t long before he was deported back to Britain by the Puritans on 9th June, 1628. It was his sympathy for the locals which had really done for him. […]

Sam Panopoulos, creator of the Hawaiian pizza, died on 8th June, 2017 at the age of 83. Originally Greek, he moved to Ontario, Canada at the age of 20 and opened a restaurant where he experimented with toppings far beyond the typical ‘60s triumvirate of mushroom/bacon/pepperoni. Alongside a Chinese-American chef, he kick-started an international appetite

Edgy, gritty and sexy, the Broadway production of ‘Grease’ opened at the Broadhurst Theatre on 7th June, 1972, beginning what would become a record-breaking eight-year run.  Despite NOT featuring some of the most well-known hits from the movie – including ‘Grease Is The Word’, ‘You’re The One That I Want’ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’

‘The Annoying Thing’ is how the begenitaled amphibian animated by Erik Wernquist was first described; but by the time he released his first single ‘Axel F’ he was universally known as The Crazy Frog, and beat Coldplay’s ‘Speed of Sound’ to UK #1 on 4th June, 2005. The tale of how this possibly could have

Radical playwright Valerie Solanas, author of the SCUM Manifesto (for the ‘Society of Cutting Up Men’) attempted to assassinate pop artist Andy Warhol at The Factory on 3rd June, 1968. As a result, Warhol wore a corset for the rest of his life; security had to be introduced at the previously open-door environment of The

The ‘Battle of Santiago’ was the name given to the shambolic and brutal World Cup Final between Chile and Italy on 2nd June, 1962. Featuring drop-kicks, punching and nose-breaking, the incendiary footage of the match was introduced by the BBC’s David Coleman as “the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in

‘Cafe coronaries’ were a fact of life until The Journal of Emergency Medicine published details of The Heimlich Manoeuvre on June 1, 1974. In so doing, they made a household name of thoracic surgeon Henry Heimlich, and saved countless diners from choking in restaurants.  In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca examine whether Heimlich’s notoriety

John Harvey Kellogg believed his corn flakes had a future as a sexual suppressant when he filed a patent for “Flaked Cereals and Process of Preparing Same” on 31st May, 1895. What the Seventh Day Adventist and eugenicist hadn’t counted on was his brother Will – who combined his discovery with sugar; effectively creating the

Before ‘Tomb Raider’, before ‘Mortal Kombat’, before ‘Street Fighter’, there was something even WORSE. ‘Super Mario Bros’ – which opened in the United States on 28th May, 1993 – was such a critical and commercial failure that for years afterwards Nintendo kept their franchises out of Hollywood hands. Relocating the action to ‘Dinohattan’, the film

Microwave cookery was first demonstrated by Ross Kilgore of Westinghouse at the Chicago World’s Fair, which opened on 27th May, 1933. But the event was deemed to be a side-show of little scientific significance, and was forgotten until microwaves were ‘discovered’ two decades later. Incredibly also on display at the Chicago World’s Fair were incubated