Podcast Episodes
Back to Search11th December 1936: King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom announces his abdication in a worldwide radio broadcast
King Edward VIII Edward abdicated in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and became known as the Duke of ...
7 months, 2 weeks ago
10th December 1948: Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris
Drafted in the aftermath of the Second World War and the revelations of mass atrocities committed by totalitarian regimes, the declaration aimed to p…
7 months, 2 weeks ago
9th December 1921: Lead identified as a fuel additive to reduce engine knocking in automobiles
Thomas Midgeley Jr. discovered that adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline reduced knocking in automobile ...
7 months, 3 weeks ago
8th December 1980: John Lennon murdered outside his New York apartment block by Mark David Chapman
As Lennon walked from his limousine to the Dakota building’s front entrance, Mark David Chapman fired five rounds at his back, of which four hit ...
7 months, 3 weeks ago
7th December 1995: NASA’s Galileo spacecraft becomes the first to enter orbit around Jupiter
Galileo’s arrival at Jupiter on 7 December 1995 demonstrated the feasibility of long-duration operations in the outer Solar System and produced findi…
7 months, 3 weeks ago
6th December 1956: The ‘Blood in the Water’ Olympic water polo match between the USSR and Hungary
The match was a semi-final at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympic Games and became famous as a result of the violence that ran throughout the ...
7 months, 3 weeks ago
5th December 1934: The Walwal Incident lays the foundations for the Abyssinia Crisis
Over 150 soldiers from both sides died in a two-day skirmish that began on 5 December, and whose origins continue to be ...
7 months, 3 weeks ago
4th December 1676: Battle of Lund fought between Denmark–Norway and Sweden, one of the bloodiest battles in Scandinavia
Casualty estimates indicate that nearly half of all soldiers engaged were killed or wounded, making the Battle of Lund one of the bloodiest engagemen…
7 months, 3 weeks ago
3rd December 1910: The world’s first neon light was turned on for the public at the Paris Motor Show
Frenchman Georges Claude’s neon lighting at the Paris Motor Show was used to light the front of the large exhibition space at the Grand Palais with r…
7 months, 3 weeks ago
2nd December 1804: Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor of the French was a lavish affair that referenced various elements of Carolingian tradition, the ancien régime, and …
7 months, 4 weeks ago