Today In History with The Retrospectors The Retrospectors

Rerun: Gun totin’, horse ridin’ spectacular ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West’ opened in Omaha, Nebraska on 17th May, 1883 - the start of a multi-decade run.
With a cast of hundreds, including Calamity Jane, Sitting Bull, and Annie ‘Get Your Gun’ Oakley, it toured the world - and forever shaped the way cowboys and Indians were represented in popular culture. 
In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion reveal the little-known indoor version of the show, consider the role of Native Americans in the ensemble, and explain why the Cossacks in the cast weren’t so popular when they returned home to Georgia…  
Further reading:
• Footage from Buffalo Bill's show - from the McCracken Research Library, Wyoming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3meHAqxuDI
• William F. Cody profiled at the University of Sheffield’s 
National Fairground and Circus Archive:
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfca/researchandarticles/buffalobill
• ‘Ten Things You May Not Know About Annie Oakley’, from History: 
https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-annie-oakley
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’
Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday… 
… But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️
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: Emma Corsham.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.



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Rerun: The future Queen of France was accompanied by 57 carriages, 117 footmen and 376 horses on her journey from Austria to Versailles - but remarkably took only three hours to do her hair and makeup when she tied the knot with Louis-Auguste on 16th May, 1770.
Only 15 at the time, Louis was perceived - even by his closest friends and family - to be timid, unforthcoming and bookish. In a further bad omen, their wedding firework display was postponed due to a storm - and when it finally happened, there was a massive riot that resulted in the crowds being trampled to death. 
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Arion replay the ‘bedding ceremony’ in excruciating detail; explain exactly what went wrong between the sheets; and consider whether the roots of MArie Antoinette’s legendary profligacy can be traced back to her wedding day… 
CONTENT WARNING: Graphic description of sexual intercourse. (Albeit one written in the 1770s, by a Roman Emperor. But, still: you *probably* won’t want to listen along with the kids.)
Further Reading:
• ‘Marriage of the Dauphin Louis and Marie-Antoinette’ (Palace of Versailles): https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/marriage-dauphin-louis-and-marie-antoinette
• ‘French dauphin, Louis, marries Marie Antoinette’ (HISTORY, 2010):
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/louis-marries-marie-antoinette
• ‘“Marie Antoinette”: Wedding scene’ (Sony Pictures, 2006):
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftWA5LLAyoo
‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’
Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday… 
… But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️
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: Emma Corsham.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.



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

George III narrowly dodged a bullet for the SECOND time in one day on 15th May, 1800, as he attended a performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.  
The assassination attempt came from James Hadfield, a clinically insane former soldier, who rose from the pit and fired a pistol at the King, causing uproar in the audience. Despite the danger, George remained composed, even using his opera glasses to survey the disarray.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal how the leading playwright of the era swiftly calmed nerves with some poetic ingenuity; explain why George III remained popular in this era, despite the repeated attempts on his life; and marvel at how, amidst apparent danger everywhere, the Show really did Go On…
Further Reading:
‘The Theatre Royal and The Case of Two Mad King Georges’ (The National Archives, 2013): https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/the-theatre-royal-and-the-case-of-two-mad-king-georges/‘James Hadfield: His Attempt on King George III’s Life’ (Geri Walton, 2021): https://www.geriwalton.com/james-hadfield-his-attempt-on-king-george-iiis-life/#_ftn1‘The Madness of King George’ (Channel Four Films, 1994): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8lJ8XzX_GMLove the show? Support us! 
Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 
… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 
Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️
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.



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The trial of James Hadfield, who had attempted to kill George III, revealed the complexities of insanity defence in the 19th century.

His barrister argued he was not fully accountable due to transient madness, highlighting class disparities in justice, and the king's own history of mental illness - as Arion, Olly and Rebecca discuss, in this bonus four-and-a-half minutes of extra content, exclusively for 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴supporters on Apple Podcasts and Patreon. Thanks for supporting the show!

Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it.
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie Peart
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.

The two minute silence can be traced back to 14th May, 1918, when it was first observed in Cape Town, South Africa. 
Repeated daily for a year, and initiated by the firing of the noon day gun on Signal Hill, the ‘Two Minute Silent Pause of Remembrance’, as it was known, was instituted by Cape Town Mayor Sir Harry Hands and councillor Robert Rutherford Brydone, both of whom had lost sons at the Front.
In this episode, The Retrospectors consider the optimum length for a silence (three minutes was, apparently, simply too long); explain how the tradition became adopted at the UK’s Armistice Day; and reveal the worst place to hold a two-minute silence for Ukraine…
 
Further Reading:
• ‘The Scot who began the two-minute silence’ (BBC News, 2018): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-46124328
• ‘The two-minute silence: remembrance of the Glorious Dead’ (United Kingdom Government, 2015): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-two-minute-silence-remembrance-of-the-glorious-dead
• ‘Two Minutes' Silence To Honour War Dead’ (Sky News, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahaB53lT2ak
Love the show? Support us! 
Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 
… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 
Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️
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.



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Disdain for bad table manners reportedly led 17th Century Machiavelli Cardinal Richelieu to insist that knives should be flattened at his table on 13th May, 1637 - revolutionising dining etiquette.
While some Mediaeval habits such as spitting and urinating at the table had largely disappeared by this era, finger-licking and the use of knives as toothpicks had persisted, and Richelieu’s irritation with such behaviours supposedly spurred him to action (although: it was probably *also* convenient for the baddie from ‘The Three Musketeers’ not to have a load of sharp knives in his guests’ pockets…)
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace the evolution of dining customs, from communal bowls to individual plates and utensils; question whether the polite use of toothpicks at the table has actually ever been solved; and explain why a Royal edict in 1699 popularised the table knife across France…
Further Reading:
• ‘Rhodri Marsden's interesting objects: The table knife’ (The Independent, 2015): https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/rhodri-marsden-s-interesting-objects-the-table-knife-10229114.html
• ‘Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things’ (Chartwell Books, 2016): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Panati_s_Extraordinary_Origins_of_Everyd/utroDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=knife+%2B+richelieu&pg=PA80&printsec=frontcover
• ‘How To Sharpen A Knife’ (Gordon Ramsay, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBn1i9YqN1k
Love the show? Support us! 
Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 
… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 
Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️
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.