Today In History with The Retrospectors

Captain Peter Warner and his crew made a startling discovery as they sailed past the uninhabited island of Atta in the Pacific on 11th September, 1966: six naked, shaggy-haired teenage boys, who had been stranded there for fifteen months.

Sione, Stephen, Kolo, David, Luke, and Mano had escaped from their boarding school in Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, having "borrowed" a boat and embarked on a spontaneous adventure that went horribly wrong when a storm left them adrift at sea.

For eight days, they battled the elements, surviving on coconuts, bananas, and rainwater before they spotted Atta. With their boat breaking apart, they used makeshift buoyancy aids to swim to the island, beginning their remarkable tale of survival.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the boys’ ingenuity, faith and resilience had kept them alive; reveal the extraordinary lives they went on to have afterwards; and marvel at their well-maintained muscles…

Further Reading:

• ‘The Miraculous Survival of 6 Tongan Boys in 1965’ (People, 2020): https://people.com/human-interest/inside-real-life-lord-of-the-flies-survival-of-6-tongan-boys-54-years-ago/

• ’The real Lord of the Flies: what happened when six boys were shipwrecked for 15 months’ (The Guardian, 2020): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/09/the-real-lord-of-the-flies-what-happened-when-six-boys-were-shipwrecked-for-15-months

• ‘The real-life 'Lord of the Flies'’ (ABC News, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDz-331V-pY

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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.
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London cab driver George Smith became the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his cab into a building on 10th September, 1897. He was fined 20 shillings (around £130 in today's money) - but was not banned from the road.

The vehicle he was driving only had a top speed of 12 mph, but, unfortunately for him, the building he crashed into was the home of celebrated actor Sir Henry Irving - which might be why he was the first person charged with a law that had technically been on the books since 1872.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the role of shame in declining drink-driving convictions; explain what the ‘Drunkometer’ was; and question whether Smith should be forgiven for his ‘Cheeky Thursday’...

Further Reading:

• ‘First Drunk Driving Arrest’ (HISTORY, 2020): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-drunk-driving-arrest

• Fifty Years Of Anti-Drink Driving Ads (Sky News, 2014): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW2dWqTkDBM

• ‘14 of the most ridiculous and hilarious excuses heard in court for drink and drug driving’ (Somerset Live, 2019): https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/14-most-ridiculous-hilarious-excuses-3406709

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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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2021.

#1800s #Person #Crime #Technology #Politics #UK
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‘Friends’ spin-off ‘Joey’ premiered on NBC on 9th September, 2004. 18.6 million Americans tuned in to watch Matt LeBlanc’s next chapter as Joey Tribbiani, now relocated to Los Angeles, alongside his sister Gina and her teenage son Michael.

But the audience steadily melted away, and NBC shunted the second season around before putting the show on hiatus, before cancelling it.

In today’s episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the delicate dance of trying to spin off a character from a massively successful ensemble comedy; discover that LeBlanc had not been executives’ first choice from the Friends cast to ‘do a Frasier’; and assess whether ‘Gunther and Janice’ would have made a more compelling sitcom…

Further Reading:

• ‘'Joey' could use a hug’ (Los Angeles Times, 2004): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-sep-09-wk-brown9-story.html

• ‘Remembering 'Joey,' 15 Years After the Maligned 'Friends' Spinoff Ended’ (TV Insider, 2021): https://www.tvinsider.com/1010497/joey-friends-spinoff-what-went-wrong/

• ‘JOEY • Pilot’ (NBC, 2004): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7IciEO6kfw

#TV #2000s #Mistakes #Hollywood

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Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…

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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 2026
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The last known Tasmanian tiger to be held in captivity was found dead at Hobart’s Beaumaris zoo on 8th September, 1936.

The critically endangered marsupial was accidentally locked out of its shelter overnight and succumbed to the frigid temperatures. With the animal’s death, a species that had once roamed across Australia for thousands of years went out with a whisper.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss why 19th- and 20th-century Australians hunted Tasmanian tigers with such enthusiasm; explain why Thylacines had been in decline for about 3,500 years anyway; and look into how close scientists now are to bringing the “dog-headed pouched one” back from extinction…

Further Reading:

• ‘The history of the Thylacine’ (The Zoological Society London, 2016): https://www.zsl.org/news-and-events/feature/history-of-the-thylacine

• ‘Tasmanian tiger: Remains of last thylacine found in cupboard after 85 years’ (BBC, 2022): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-63855426

• ‘Last of their kind: Caring for the Tasmanian Tiger collection’ (Museums Victoria; 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykb66UCOMOY&t=9s

• ‘Tasmanian Tiger in Colour’ (NFSA Films, 2022) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gt0X-27GXM

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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2023.

#1930s #Nature #Australia #Sad
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America’s first attempt at submarine warfare set sail - or rather, sank - off the coast of New York on 7th September, 1776.

‘The Turtle’ was the brainchild of David Bushnell, a former Yale student who built a wooden, barrel-shaped craft secretly equipped to drill a hole in a British warship, and attach an explosive charge.

The vessel had ballast tanks, a hand-cranked propeller, and a snorkel for air - giving the operator about 30 minutes of breathing time. For lighting, candles were too risky, so Bushnell used glow-in-the-dark fungus, which, unfortunately, stopped glowing in cold water.

When the mission came, the Turtle’s pilot, infantryman Ezra Lee, paddled out to attack HMS Eagle. After exhausting hand-cranking through tidal currents, he managed to reach the ship, only to hit reinforced copper when he tried drilling into its hull. With the fuse already burning, he had no choice but to release the mine into the harbour, and row like mad…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why this farcical flop was still seen by some as a psychological victory; reveal what George Washington made of the whole madcap enterprise; and marvel at how from such clumsy beginnings grew one of the world’s most fearsome naval technologies…

Further Reading:

• ‘David Bushnell’s Turtle: The World's First Submarine’ (Warfare History Network, 2006): https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/david-bushnells-turtle-the-worlds-first-submarine/

• ‘World’s first submarine attack | September 7, 1776’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-7/worlds-first-submarine-attack

• ‘Meet the First Submarine Used in Combat’ (Science Channel, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZTqDjMwejo

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 2026.

#1700s #NewYork #Revolution #Military #Inventions
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