Rerun: Chinaâs greatest naval explorer, Zheng He, set sail on the first of seven epic voyages on 11th July, 1405. He led a fleet of 255 ships, with an estimated 28,000 people on board.
A eunuch, and a Muslim, he had risen through the ranks to become a right-hand man of the Emperor, and his prowess at sea vastly bettered the likes of his European contemporari ... Show More
Yesterday
How To Brew Beer in Bavaria đť
Duke Wilhelm IV issued what later became known as the Reinheitsgebot - the decree setting out that Bavarian beer should be made using only water, barley and hops - on 23rd April, 1516. Although the famous âpurityâ clause occupies only a small part of the original document, the la ... Show More
13m 50s
Apr 22
The 'Hitler Diaries' Hoax
Extracts from Adolf Hitler's long-lost diaries were brought to the worldâs attention on 22nd April, 1983, provoking an international sensation - until they were quickly exposed for being a hoax. Respected World War Two historian Hugh Trevor Roper had authenticated the diaries, le ... Show More
12m 37s
Apr 2024
AndrĂŠs ResĂŠndez, "Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery" (Mariner Books, 2022)
The Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the Atlantic, and while humans have been traversing its current-driven maritime highways for thousands of years, its sheer scale proved an obstacle to early European imperial powers. Enter Lope Martin, a forgotten Afro-Portuguese ship pilot ... Show More
1h 8m
Jun 2025
The First Emperor of China
In the third century BC, China was a land fractured by war - a patchwork of rival kingdoms struggling for dominance. Out of this chaos rose a single, extraordinary figure who would reshape the course of history: Chin Shrr Hwong, the First Emperor of China. His achievements were m ... Show More
58m 24s
Aug 2025
#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon
As both the Qianlong Emperor's extensive reign and the Eighteenth Century itself comes to a close, the Qing Empire faces - in spite of its outward posturing of timeless grandeur and invulnerability - an ever more uncertain future. By this time his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, ... Show More
41m 15s