The Italian poet Petrarch hiked up Mont Ventoux in Provence on 26th April, 1332 - an event claimed for centuries to be the first time mountaineering for pleasure had been attempted. 
His celebrated letter to Dionigi di Borgo San Sepolcro was the source, revealing Petrarch's contemplations on spirituality and the human condition amidst the breathtaking views. However, debate persists over the letter's authenticity and whether Petrarch's climb was literal or allegorical.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how, centuries later, Romantic poets revived Petrarch's tale, interpreting his ascent as a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment and intellectual curiosity; consider how mountaineering in its present form evolved into a mainstream leisure activity; and reveal that climbing Mont Ventoux has become a competitive sport...
Further Reading: • ‘The Fig and the Laurel: Petrarch’s Search for Self-Knowledge’ (The London Magazine): https://thelondonmagazine.org/article/the-fig-and-the-laurel-petrarchs-search-for-self-knowledge/ • ‘In Provence, Honoring a Poet at 6,263 Feet’ (The New York Times, 2006): https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/30/travel/30explorer.html • ‘GW1 - Petrarch: "Ascent of Mount Ventoux"’ (Douglas Parker, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRhdr55jsRw
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The First Mountaineer

Ten minute daily episodes bringing you curious moments from this day in history, with Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina and Arion McNicoll: The Retrospectors. It's history, but not as you know it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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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
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Cocaine + Caffeine = Coca-Cola

Rerun: During the Siege of Malaga, on 7th May 1487, Queen Isabella of Spain commissioned bespoke bed-wagons to transport injured soldiers from the battlefield to specially-erected tent hospitals, the world's earliest ambulance.
Despite this innovation, it was hundreds of years before the concept - and the word ‘ambulance’ - gained common currency worldwide, notably thanks to the American Civil War.
In this episode, The Retrospectors consider the propagandic purpose of transporting the wounded; evaluate the hearse-like designs of the first motorised ambulances; and reveal why ambulances were feared and ridiculed by those who had to use them… 
Further Reading: History of the Ambulance (Liverpool Medical Institution): https://www.lmi.org.uk/history-of-the-ambulance ‘The Ambulance: A History - By Ryan Corbett Bell’ (McFarlane and Company, 2009): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Ambulance/-YtlthqHmHsC?hl=en&gbpv;=1&dq;=ambulance+malaga+1487&printsec;=frontcover ‘Earliest Life Saving Ambulances in History’ (Faramel, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSafOiyWvu8
This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 

The Earliest Ambulance

The first ‘spam’ email, sent to ARPANET users on behalf of the Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), landed in Inboxes on 3rd May, 1978.
Marketer Gary Thuerk was responsible for the idea - but his execution was flawed, as he inadvertently filled the body of his message with email addresses, overflowing from the To and CC fields. Recipients weren't amused. Some grumbled, others chuckled, but all felt the intrusion... 
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether this e-marketing stumble truly qualifies as ‘spam’ in the modern sense; trace the origins of the Monty Python-derived term for unsolicited email; and marvel at the available storage space in the early days of the internet…   Further Reading: • ‘Happy spamiversary! Spam reaches 30’ (New Scientist, 2008): https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13777-happy-spamiversary-spam-reaches-30/ • ‘America is Uncle Spam’ (Financial Times, 2018): ​​https://www.ft.com/content/59014392-4947-11e8-8c77-ff51caedcde6 • ‘Database: How to send an 'E mail'’ (Thames TV, 1984): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szdbKz5CyhA
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Sending Out Spam

Accessible and rigorous, the King James Bible was published on 2nd May, 1611, at the behest of the Monarch after which it was named - and perhaps even he would be surprised at the book’s extraordinary success.
Advancements in printing technology made copies affordable, the expansion of English colonialism propagated it across the word, and its poetic imagery captured the imagination of churchgoers, who felt as though they were listening to God. But, there was an embarrassing typo!
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the book’s authors were wise to a) name it after the King, and b) keep their footnotes to a minimum; elucidate the difference between ‘interpretation’ and ‘translation’; and reveal the common phrases still in use today which most people don’t even realise originate in this book…
Further Reading: • ‘Who Wrote The Bible, And When? The History Of The Book’ (HistoryExtra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/history-bible-origins-who-wrote-when-how-reliable-historical-record/ • ‘King James Bible: How and Why the Translation Came to Be’ (TIME, 2017): https://time.com/4821911/king-james-bible-history/ • ‘Adam Nicolson: The King James Bible’ (National Geographic, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx5A9d52v94
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Creating The King James Bible

Eleven year-old Johnny Clem formally became part of the Union Army on 1st May, 1863 - though he had already been participating as a Drummer Boy for the 22nd Michigan Infantry in the American Civil War for two years.
Clem's youthful determination and bravery propelled him into the spotlight of national fame - but he was far from the only child soldier in this tumultuous American era.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly peruse Clem’s memoir, ‘From Nursery To Battlefield’; reveal how President Ulysses S. Grant personally intervened to assist Clem’s further career; and consider how Clem’s image was used for powerful propagandistic purposes… 
Further Reading: • ‘The Boys of War’ (The New York Times, 2011): https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/the-boys-of-war/?searchResultPosition=3 • ‘Why the Union Army Had So Many Boy Soldiers’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2023): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-the-union-army-had-so-many-boy-soldiers-180981458/ • ‘Early Accounts of Drummer Boy Johnny Clem’ (Life on the Civil War Research Trail, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k2dDVnSO2U
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The First Mountaineer

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