Today In History with The Retrospectors

Katherine Switzer became the first woman to officially participate in the Boston Marathon on 19th April, 1967, when, disguised in a hooded sweatshirt and joggers, she ran under a race number she’d registered for without disclosing her first name. Her gender was revealed mid-race, prompting a bizarre fracas as co-director Jock Semple, known for his stringent adherence to trad

Milanese Princess Bona Sforza married the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund the Old, in Krakow Cathedral on 18th April, 1518 - making her the first Italian Queen of Poland, and one of the world’s most powerful women.There followed a 29-course wedding feast, a bawdy consummation ritual …and decades of resentment, as the Polish aristocracy came to terms with the influence she wo

A 335-year-long ‘war’ (in which not a single shot was fired) officially ended on 17th April, 1986, when the UK’s Dutch ambassador landed on the Isles of Scilly and declared an end to hostilities between the Netherlands and this tiny archipelago off the coast of Cornwall. The origins of this eccentric conflict date back to 1651, during the English Civil War, where the Dut

When ‘Roots: The Saga of an American Family’ made novelist Alex Haley an international sensation, he revisited Juffure, Gambia - the village where he claimed his 18th-century ancestor Kunta Kinte had been captured into slavery. On 16th April, 1977, he was welcomed ‘home’ as a hero by the villagers.But his hit novel had begun to attract criticism for blurring the line betwee

Tommy Cooper's unexpected death on stage at Her Majesty's Theatre on 15th April, 1984 remains one of the saddest and most surreal moments in UK comedy history. Known for his slapstick humour and botched magic tricks, family favourite Cooper collapsed mid-act due to a massive heart attack. The audience, initially assuming it was part of his act, roared with laughter as he

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin left Kazakhstan for space on 12th April, 1961 - the first human to venture beyond the confines of Earth's atmosphere. As the rocket roared into the sky, Gagarin's now-famous exclamation of "Poyekhali!" ("Let's go!") echoed through the cockpit.Despite the anticipation surrounding Gagarin's historic flight, the actual experience was relatively brief, la

Rerun: The first holiday camp in Britain, Butlin’s Skegness, opened to the public on 11th April, 1936 - although one member of the public, a certain Freda Monk from Nottingham, was so keen to attend that she arrived a day early. It cost 35 shillings per week to attend. South Africa-born Billy Butlin had created the camp after holidaying in Barry Island and feeling “sorry f

Bananas, the world’s favourite fruit, were first displayed in London on 10th April, 1633, in the shop window of botanist Thomas Johnson, editor for Gerard’s Herball.Despite societal taboos surrounding the banana's suggestive shape, its journey from obscurity to ubiquity was later propelled by Minor Cooper Keith, whose entrepreneurial endeavours in Costa Rica transformed the fru

Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles broke royal norms by having a modest civil ceremony at Windsor's Guildhall on 9th April, 2005. Against a turbulent backdrop of past scandals and public opinion, the couple's union marked a delicate dance toward Britain’s eventual acceptance of them as King and Queen.Queen Elizabeth did not attend the ceremony, for fear of compromising her

Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler’s bestseller ‘Nudge’ was released on 8th April, 2008, catapulting a new method of behavioural economics into the public psyche - and the hands of policymakers, including David Cameron and Barack Obama.The book challenged the notion of humans as rational decision-makers, and explained how companies, governments and individuals can ‘nudge’ p