Today In History with The Retrospectors

Pope John Paul II was shot in St. Peter’s Square on 13th May 1981, in front of thousands of pilgrims attending his weekly general audience. Struck multiple times at close range, he collapsed in his Fiat Popemobile, as panic swept through the square.

The gunman was Mehmet Ali Ağca, a 23-year-old Turkish national with a history of political violence (an accomplice was reportedly meant to have triggered an explosion to aid his escape, but this plan failed). Ağca was immediately overpowered by bystanders, including security personnel and a nun, while the Pope was rushed to hospital, where he underwent hours of emergency surgery after life-threatening internal injuries and massive blood loss.

Prior to the attack, Ağca had escaped from prison in Turkey, where he had been convicted of murdering journalist Abdi İpekçi. He left behind threats explicitly targeting the Pope, yet after his arrest offered shifting and often conflicting explanations for his actions - variously blaming Western imperialism, the Soviet Union, or other global actors. 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the likelihood the attack was ordered by an extremist group such as the Grey Wolves; marvel at the Pope’s response, including  visiting Ağca in prison and persuading the Italian President to pardon him; and explain how the date of the attempted assasination coinciding with the earlier Our Lady of Fátima apparitions added a divine dimension to the story… 

Further Reading:

• ‘May 13, 1981: Pope John Paul II shot in St. Peter's square’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-this-day-may-13-1981-pope-john-paul-ii-shot-in-st-peters-square/

• ‘Mehmet Ali Ağca, The Man Who Tried To Kill Pope John Paul II’ (All That’s Interesting, 2026): https://allthatsinteresting.com/mehmet-ali-agca

• ‘On this day: Pope John Paul II shot outside the Vatican’ (CBS News, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26JPN4Qh7gs

#Catholic #80s #Shocking #ColdWar

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.
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Richard the Lionheart was a bachelor into his thirties, but finally got hitched on May 12th, 1191, at the Chapel of St. George at Limassol, Cyprus. His Bride? Berengaria of Navarre, daughter of King Sancho VI - a key ally in extending his Kingdom across Europe. 

Sure, he may have already slept with her brother, but hey, that’s less awkward than marrying his original betrothed princess, his father’s mistress. The marriage was indifferent and potentially unconsummated; Berengaria becoming the only English Queen in history never to set foot in England.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the happy couple came to be wed in Cyprus in the first place; investigate whether it really is sacrilegious to get married over Lent; and consider historians’ claims that Richard’s proclivity for sharing a bed with the King of France was purely symbolic...

Further Reading:

• 8 Surprising Facts About Medieval King Richard the Lionheart (HistoryExtra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/8-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-richard-the-lionheart/

• ‘Berengaria of Navarre: Queen Consort to Richard I’ (ThoughtCo, 2020): https://www.thoughtco.com/berengaria-of-navarre-3529619

• ‘LGBTQ Kings & Queen of England’ (History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eeJqrJ84Xs

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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.

This episode originally aired in 2023.

#Royals #1100s #Cyprus #LGBT
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With big hair, big drama, and even bigger shoulder pads, Aaron Spelling’s primetime soap-opera ‘Dynasty’ defined the 1980s. But, by May 11th, 1989, the show’s popularity was waning - and, even though the showrunners didn’t know it, ABC broadcast what was to be its final episode.

The nine-season saga chronicled the jaw-dropping lives of the fabulously wealthy Carringtons. Known for its ludicrously dramatic storylines — from amnesia to surprise murders — the show wrapped up in spectacularly unresolved fashion, with gunshots, people falling off balconies, and characters locked in bank vaults.

Created as a glitzy response to Dallas, Dynasty began modestly, but all that changed with the arrival of Joan Collins as the delightfully vicious Alexis Carrington. Her catfights with her rival Krystle — often conducted in designer gowns and usually ending in ponds or fountains — became the stuff of television legend.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly uncover the show’s weekly wardrobe budget; revisit a shocking terrorist storyline; and reveal which famous executive was responsible for the series’ demise…

Further Reading:

• ‘End of the reign for ''Dynasty'’ (Entertainment Weekly, 1997): https://ew.com/article/1997/05/09/end-reign-dynasty/

• ‘Return to 'Dynasty' : Those Loose Ends? They're Tying Them Up Now’ (Los Angeles Times, 1991): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-16-ca-2527-story.html

• ’Dynasty’ (ABC, 1989): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK1f4KtCwzk

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 2025.
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John Pemberton launched Coca-Cola from a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on 8th May, 1886. Legend has it that a serendipitous mishap had led to the addition of carbonated water, transforming the medicinal tonic into a fizzy beverage that would capture the public's imagination.

But in fact, Pemberton's original formula - Pemberton's French Wine Coca - had already been attracting a following; but it had to be relaunched to the market in a non-alcoholic formula, because it boasted wine among its ingredients, at the onset of temperance legislation in Atlanta. Nobody seemed bothered that it contained cocaine, however...

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Coke’s origins lay in curing morphine addiction; consider how strategic marketing, aggressive advertising, and a stroke of luck in a bottling deal pushed Coca-Cola’s proliferation across the globe; and reveal why their iconic logo is written in handwritten script… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Vin Mariani: The Cocaine Wine Beloved by Popes and Presidents’ (Mental Floss, 2021): ⁠https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/644226/vin-mariani-cocaine-wine-history⁠

• ’John Pemberton And The Quiet Tragedy Behind Coca-Cola's Invention’ (All That’s Interesting, 2017): ⁠https://allthatsinteresting.com/john-pemberton⁠

• ‘John Pemberton and the invention of Coca-Cola (The Coca-Cola Company, 2017): ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxrIgUGfJ8c⁠

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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The theft of Edvard Munch’s iconic painting ‘The Scream’ sullied the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer - but, on 7th May, 1994, the iconic work was recovered.

The painting, which has been stolen multiple times, was returned on this occasion thanks to the involvement of Britain’s Metropolitan Police - and the comic ineptitude of the thieves.

In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion explore the bizarre career of professional footballer turned art thief Pal Enger; consider what Munch had in common with modern-day artists like Damien Hirst; and reveal whether Macaulay Culkin’s ‘scream’ on the poster for Home Alone was a deliberate tribute...

Further reading:

• When ‘The Scream’ was stolen AGAIN - in 2005: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/jun/13/art.arttheft

• Conservator Gry Landro talks about what happened to the painting after the robbery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm45OPVxoCc

• The Athletic profiles Pal Enger: https://theathletic.co.uk/2445693/2021/03/16/the-footballer-turned-art-thief-who-stole-the-scream/

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 2021.

#90s #Arts #Crime #UK
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