Today In History with The Retrospectors The Retrospectors

The first ‘spam’ email, sent to ARPANET users on behalf of the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), landed in Inboxes on 3rd May, 1978.
Marketer Gary Thuerk was responsible for the idea - but his execution was flawed, as he inadvertently filled the body of his message with email addresses, overflowing from the To and CC fields. Recipients weren't amused. Some grumbled, others chuckled, but all felt the intrusion... 
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether this e-marketing stumble truly qualifies as ‘spam’ in the modern sense; trace the origins of the Monty Python-derived term for unsolicited email; and marvel at the available storage space in the early days of the internet…
 
Further Reading:
• ‘Happy spamiversary! Spam reaches 30’ (New Scientist, 2008): https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13777-happy-spamiversary-spam-reaches-30/
• ‘America is Uncle Spam’ (Financial Times, 2018): ​​https://www.ft.com/content/59014392-4947-11e8-8c77-ff51caedcde6
• ‘Database: How to send an 'E mail'’ (Thames TV, 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szdbKz5CyhA
We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!
Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.
Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Accessible and rigorous, the King James Bible was published on 2nd May, 1611, at the behest of the Monarch after which it was named - and perhaps even he would be surprised at the book’s extraordinary success.
Advancements in printing technology made copies affordable, the expansion of English colonialism propagated it across the word, and its poetic imagery captured the imagination of churchgoers, who felt as though they were listening to God. But, there was an embarrassing typo!
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the book’s authors were wise to a) name it after the King, and b) keep their footnotes to a minimum; elucidate the difference between ‘interpretation’ and ‘translation’; and reveal the common phrases still in use today which most people don’t even realise originate in this book…
Further Reading:
• ‘Who Wrote The Bible, And When? The History Of The Book’ (HistoryExtra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/history-bible-origins-who-wrote-when-how-reliable-historical-record/
• ‘King James Bible: How and Why the Translation Came to Be’ (TIME, 2017): https://time.com/4821911/king-james-bible-history/
• ‘Adam Nicolson: The King James Bible’ (National Geographic, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5A9d52v94
Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!
Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.
Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eleven year-old Johnny Clem formally became part of the Union Army on 1st May, 1863 - though he had already been participating as a Drummer Boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry in the American Civil War for two years.
Clem's youthful determination and bravery propelled him into the spotlight of national fame - but he was far from the only child soldier in this tumultuous American era.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly peruse Clem’s memoir, ‘From Nursery To Battlefield’; reveal how President Ulysses S. Grant personally intervened to assist Clem’s further career; and consider how Clem’s image was used for powerful propagandistic purposes… 
Further Reading:
• ‘The Boys of War’ (The New York Times, 2011): https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/the-boys-of-war/?searchResultPosition=3
• ‘Why the Union Army Had So Many Boy Soldiers’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2023): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-the-union-army-had-so-many-boy-soldiers-180981458/
• ‘Early Accounts of Drummer Boy Johnny Clem’ (Life on the Civil War Research Trail, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k2dDVnSO2U
Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!
Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.
Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rerun: The advertising industry underwent a minor revolution on 30th April 1952 when Mr Potato Head starred in the first ever nationally televised ad campaign for a toy, unleashing the demon force of kiddie pester power on an unsuspecting world.
Unlike regular toy dolls, a Mr Potato Head wasn’t self-explanatory, so toy company Hasbro decided it was worth investing in TV ads for the product. The marketing decision is credited with helping sell more than a million Mr Potato Heads in the toy’s debut year. 
In this week’s Sunday episode, exclusively for members of 🌴 CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Mr Potato Head’s inventor George Lerner initially had trouble getting toy companies interested in his idea; discuss the pros and cons of using real fruit and vegetables as toys; and reveal the names of the entire Potato family… 
Further Reading:
• ‘The first Mr. Potato Head commercial hit the airwaves on this day in 1952’ (Boing Boing, 2022): https://boingboing.net/2022/04/30/the-first-mr-potato-head-commercial-hit-the-airwaves-on-this-day-in-1952.html 
• ‘Toy Story: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head’ (Screen Rant, 2020): https://screenrant.com/toy-story-pixar-unknown-facts-mr-potato-head/#mrs-potato-head-followed-in-1953 
• ‘Vintage Original Mr and Mrs Potato Head commercial 1960's’ (Sky News, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICGrjmJouWA
This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
 
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors
 
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Mark Roget waited until retirement to compile his personal collection of synonyms into a book for publication: the first edition of Roget’s Theasurus, released on 29th April, 1852. 
Despite initial scepticism from critics, who couldn't grasp its practical brilliance, the public embraced the new format - despite its unconventional organisation, in which synonyms were categorised by conceptual threads, rather than in alphabetical order.
In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca explain how Roget drew inspiration from the systematic brilliance of Carl Linnaeus; discover literary references to the book in J.M. Barrie and Sylvia Plath; and question whether Roget’s work was an entirely positive development for journalism…
Further Reading:
• ‘Roget and His Thesaurus’ (The Saturday Evening Post, 2023): https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/01/roget-and-his-thesaurus/
• ‘Peter Mark Roget, the Keeper (See: Steward, Caretaker) of Synonyms’ (The New York Times, 2008): https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/books/18book.html
• ’Eulogy at a Roget's Thesaurus Funeral - Johnny Carson’ (NBC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYzLJiSZzM
Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY!
Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast.
Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why was Roget the right man to bring the world the Thesaurus - and why does it particularly lend itself to the English language? The Retrospectors reveal all, in this bonus FOUR MINUTES of content, exclusively for our 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴supporters on Apple Podcasts and Patreon - if they can manage to actually pronounce the word ‘thesaurus’, that is!