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Bring Me The Head of Oliver Cromwell
Episode 1286
Revolutionary leader Oliver Cromwell was executed on 30th January, 1661 - despite having been dead for more than two years. His body was exhumed from…
6 months ago
Desert Island Discs' First Castaway
Episode 1285
The BBC broadcast the first ever edition of Roy Plomley’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ - the world’s longest-running interview programme - on 29th January, …
6 months ago
Lego Shifts To Plastic
Episode 1284
Stud-and-tube bricks, which paved the way for Lego to become one of the most successful companies in Denmark, were patented on 28th January, 1958. Bu…
6 months ago
Let's Embalm Lenin
Episode 1283
The corpse of Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union, was placed on display in Moscow's Red Square on 27th January, 1924 - where, astonishingly,…
6 months ago
There's A Baby In The Post
Episode 1282
The U.S. Postal Service permitted parcel delivery for packages under 11 pounds in 1913 - parameters which were pushed to their limits on 26th January…
6 months ago
The Elephants of War
Elephants have played a surprisingly important role on the battlefield, even before the birth of Christ; notably in 5th Century BCE India, and durin…
6 months, 1 week ago
Unmasking New York's 'Mad Bomber'
Episode 1279
George Metesky’s campaign of terror as ‘the Mad Bomber of New York’ ended abruptly on 22nd January, 1957. Between 1940 and 1956, he had planted at le…
6 months, 1 week ago
The Chastity Belt and the Frenchman
Episode 1278
Henri Littière and his adulterous wife Suzanne thought they’d come up with a novel way to combat her philandering - by commissioning a custom-made ch…
6 months, 1 week ago
Lalli and the Axe
Episode 1277
According to Finnish legend, a peasant farmer named Lalli murdered the Christian missionary Bishop Henry on the ice of lake Köyliönjärvi on January 2…
6 months, 1 week ago
Britain's Last Witch
Celebrated medium Helen Duncan was arrested on 19th January, 1944, when, midway through one of her séances, an undercover policeman dramatically reve…
6 months, 1 week ago