Today In History with The Retrospectors

Tenji blocks (点字ブロック) - small raised shapes in the pavement to assist visually impaired people in crossing the road - were first installed near the Okayama School for the Blind in Japan on March 18th, 1967. 

Designed by Seiichi Miyake (三宅精一), the innovation gained traction in urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka, gradually spreading nationwide, particularly in bustling cities where safety for visually impaired individuals was paramount. But Miyake died before witnessing the global implementation of his invention.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why frosted-up number plates play their part in the Tenji design story; consider future enhancements, such as embedding QR codes into pavements; and reveal why retrofitting wasn’t always a straightforward solution… 

Further Reading:

• ‘How Japanese Inventor of Tenji Blocks Changed the Lives of Millions Around the World’ (JAPAN Forward, 2019): https://japan-forward.com/how-japanese-inventor-of-tenji-blocks-changed-the-lives-of-millions-around-the-world/

• ‘Seiichi Miyake: His tactile blocks impacted railway platforms and streets’ (CNN, 2019): https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/18/world/seiichi-miyake-tactile-blocks-impact-trnd/index.html

• ‘Tactile paving slab | Object in Focus’ (V&A, 2020):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKMm-hccQqc

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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 2024.

#Design #Japan #Disability #60s
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The first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland, as many people might expect, but in Spanish Florida, on March 17, 1601. It wasn’t until about 100 years later that the world famous parades got going in Boston and New York City.

Historian J. Michael Francis made the discovery of this unexpectedly early celebration of Ireland’s patron saint while investigating the Spanish imperial history of the Floridian city of St. Augustine. 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why for around 50 years up until the 1970s all pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day; discuss what gunpowder had to do with the first St. Patrick’s Day parade; and reveal where corned beef and cabbage really come from… 

 Further Reading:

• ‘Where the first St. Patrick's Day parade REALLY took place’ (Daily Mail, 2018): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5511205/First-St-Paddys-parade-took-place-FLORIDA-century-NYs.html 

• ‘First St. Patrick’s Day parade’ (History.com, 2010): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-st-patricks-day-parade 

• ‘A Brief History of St. Patrick's Day’ (ABC News, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40BlVzjxu-I 

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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.

#1600s #US #Strange

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Over 200 people were burned at the stake on 16th March, 1244, throwing themselves on to the pyre in their refusal to accept the Catholic church.

These ‘Cathars’ reportedly followed a radical dualist belief system, seeing the material world as the creation of an evil force, with salvation lying in renouncing earthly pleasures. After years of persecution, on this day they found themselves trapped in Montségur Castle, perched atop a dramatic limestone peak.

But many historians now believe the Cathars, as a distinct heretical movement, never actually existed. The term “Cathar” wasn’t even used at the time. Instead, the Church may have lumped various groups together under the label of heresy, as an excuse for persecution and territorial control. Much like the "War on Terror" centuries later, branding a broad, nebulous enemy gave the authorities free rein to wage war against anyone they considered a threat…

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly visit “Cathar Country,”; consider if putting women in positions of power put the Cathars under threat; and discover the chilling words of commander Arnold Amalric, who told his soldiers to kill everyone, because “God will know His own”...

Further Reading:

• ‘Your Guide To The Cathars And The Albigensian Crusade’ (BBC History Magazine, 2017): https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/who-were-cathars-what-was-catharism-what-religion-albesignian-crusade/

• ‘Consolation for the Cathars’ (The Irish Times, 2002): https://www.irishtimes.com/news/consolation-for-the-cathars-1.1127552

• ‘Cathar Massacre Unveiled - Medieval Dead - S02 EP06’ (Banijay History, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbKZwjIDGIA

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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.

#Medieval #France #Catholic #War
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The Guatemalan island of Flores, once known as Nojpetén, witnessed the final clash between Spanish conquistadors and the last independent Maya kingdom on March 13th, 1697. 

The Itza warriors, equipped with ornate spears and swords, fought valiantly to defend their homeland; but Spanish firepower ultimately overwhelmed them, leading to heavy casualties and the retreat of many defenders. 

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the fall of Nojpetén marked the end of an era for the Maya people, but not their actual end; consider how foreign diseases like smallpox and typhoid were imported by the Spanish; and reveal how many languages still spoken today stem from this ancient civilisation… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Who were the Maya? Decoding the ancient civilization's secrets’ (National Geographic, 2022): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/who-were-the-maya

• ‘Ancient History in depth: The Fall of the Mayan Civilisation’ (BBC History, 2011): https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/cultures/maya_01.shtml

‘The Maya People’ (SmithsonianNMAI, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86F10IrvVus

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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What is Australia’s capital city? Not Sydney. Nor Melbourne. It’s Canberra: so named at an official ceremony on 12th March, 1913 - when the site was little more than grazing land for sheep.

But for this newly-federated nation, Canberra’s remote, inland location was a deliberate compromise to offset the rivalry between the country’s two largest cities. Sydney had long been the principal colonial centre, but Melbourne’s rapid expansion during the nineteenth-century gold rush made it an equally powerful contender. To avoid favouring either, Parliament decided their new capital was to be located in New South Wales, but at least one hundred miles from Sydney, and not on the coast. 

Designing was entrusted to the winner of an international planning competition, the American architect Walter Burley Griffin. His plan emphasised grand geometry, sweeping avenues, and harmony with the surrounding landscape, producing a city organised around lakes, vistas, and circular roadways. But development proceeded slowly, especially after the disruptions of two world wars.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider why the town has never quite won the heart of most Australians; compare its construction to that other purpose-built capital, Washington DC; and reveal how the sex industry revived one of its suburbs…

Further Reading:

• ‘Founding of Canberra’ (National Museum of Australia): https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/founding-of-canberra

• ‘Marion Mahony Griffin: architect, environmentalist, visionary’ (MHNSW, 2022): https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/marion-mahony-griffin-architect-environmentalist-visionary/

• ‘Tony Robinson's Time Walks | S2E4 | Canberra’ (Time Walks, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kww18KmF4fc

#Architecture #Design #Australia #1910s

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.

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