Podcast Episodes
Back to Search7th April 1498: Savonarola takes part in a failed trial by fire that was intended to test his holiness
The belief was that God would intervene to protect Savonarola from the flames, but he and his opponents squabbled for so long that a rainstorm eventu…
5 months, 2 weeks ago
6th April 1896: The first modern Olympic Games open in Athens.
The 1896 Summer Olympics laid down many traditions including the first competitive marathon ...
5 months, 2 weeks ago
5th April 1958: Ripple Rock underwater mountain destroyed in one of the largest ever non-nuclear explosions
The blast, which was broadcast live on television, broke apart the submerged peaks of the Ripple Rock underwater mountain, sending 635,000 metric ton…
5 months, 2 weeks ago
4th April 1968: Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee at the age of 39
King was standing on the balcony outside his room at the Lorrain Motel in Memphis when he was hit by a single bullet that shattered his jaw and sever…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
3rd April 1860: The first Pony Express service goes into operation
The first Pony Express service left the American city of St Joseph in Missouri destined for Sacramento in ...
5 months, 3 weeks ago
2nd April 1968: Science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey receives its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
The release of 2001: A Space Odyssey marked an important moment in the development of cinematic science fiction, combining large-scale visual effects…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
1st April 1924: Adolf Hitler found guilty of treason for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch and sentenced to five years in jail
Hitler’s detention provided him with the opportunity to write Mein Kampf, his blueprint for power, and to rethink the tactics he would use to take th…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
31st March 1905: Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany lands in Morocco where his speech prompts the First Moroccan Crisis
The Kaiser’s speech in Tangier was a direct challenge to the French Foreign Minister, Théophile Delcassé, who had previously secured wide European su…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
30th March 1981: Attempted assassination of US President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C.
One bullet struck Reagan’s press secretary, James Brady, another wounded District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delahanty, and a third struck Sec…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
29th March 1974: Discovery of the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, China
The Terracotta Army was discovered in Shaanxi province, ...
5 months, 3 weeks ago