John Edmonstone was born into slavery in the former Dutch colony of Demerara in the late 1700s but died a free man in Scotland having taught one of the greatest men in the history of science, Charles Darwin, the skill of taxidermy. 

We speak to Dr Angelina Osborne, independent researcher and heritage consultant and co-author of the upcoming book, 100 Great Black Britons about Edmonstone's life and his remarkable journey from the coastal jungles of Demerara to the cobbles of Edinburgh's old town.

And to understand the art taxidermy and the skills that Edmonstone imparted to his pupil, we also talked to Tannis Davidson, curator at UCL's Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy who explains the importance of taxidermy to zoologists like Darwin and why her favourite specimen in the museum isn’t some exotic creature but a taxidermy chicken.

Sky HISTORY's Not What You Thought You Knew is presented by Dr Fern Riddell, produced by Kim Sergeant, Peter Ross and series produced by Sam Pearson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A well-known celebrity in her day, we have somewhat struggled to appreciate the incredible weight of what Mary Anning's discoveries of ancient marine reptiles meant at the time for a burgeoning science.

We speak to Dr Aubrey Roberts, a palaeontologist at the University of Oslo, Norway, and affiliated with the London Natural History Museum, and Dr Rebekah Higgitt, a historian of science and senior lecturer at the Centre for the History of the Sciences at the University of Kent, about Mary Anning: who she was, the discoveries she made and her long-lasting legacy in the field of palaeontology.

Sky HISTORY's Not What You Thought You Knew is presented by Dr Fern Riddell, produced by Kim Sergeant, Peter Ross and series produced by Sam Pearson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aphra Behn, one of the first women in England to make her living as a writer, also just so happened to be one of the country's first female spies.

To discover more about the world of female spies, Dr Fern Riddell speaks with Dr Nadine Akkerman, Senior Lecturer at Leiden University whose book Invisible Agents is the first study of early modern female spies. As Fern finds out, espionage and fiction are more closely linked than you think. But why has the important role of female spies played in history been largely forgotten? For that answer we need to head to archives. To give a modern-day perspective on women in espionage, Fern talks to Dr Elizabeth Bruton, curator of the Science Museum's new exhibition, Top Secret. The exhibition features one daring story of a UK-based spy ring whose female members, played an integral role in passing on military secrets to the Russians.

Sky HISTORY's Not What You Thought You Knew is presented by Dr Fern Riddell, produced by Kim Sergeant, Peter Ross and series produced by Sam Pearson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this year, analysis on the remains of eight sailors who drowned on the Mary Rose yielded some astonishing results for our perception of the people of Tudor England.

In speaking to Dr Alex Hildred and Dr Onyeka Nubia, we’ll hear that while the study helps to paint a new picture of the historic population of southern port towns we now know that this wasn’t unique.

Sky HISTORY's Not What You Thought You Knew is presented by Dr Fern Riddell, produced by Kim Sergeant, Peter Ross and series produced by Sam Pearson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted by historian, author and broadcaster Dr Fern Riddell, Not What You Thought You Knew explores some under-celebrated characters from history and reveals not just their incredible story but also why they’re so important for our view of what the past looked like.

Sky HISTORY's Not What You Thought You Knew is presented by Dr Fern Riddell, produced by Kim Sergeant, Peter Ross and series produced by Sam Pearson.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.