Today

The First Wimbledon Tennis Tournament

July 9, 1877. Spectators gather at the All England Club for the first Wimbledon Championship, marking the beginning of an annual sporting tradition.Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to Hist ... Show More

15m 42s

Yesterday

Con Man Soapy Smith is Shot Dead

July 8, 1898. Notorious confidence man Jefferson “Soapy” Smith is killed in a gunfight with a vigilante in the Alaskan boomtown of Skagway. This episode originally aired in 2024.Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of ... Show More

15m 35s

Jul 7

News of the World Shuts Down

July 7, 2011. A phone hacking scandal forces the closure of Rupert Murdoch’s long-running News of the World. This episode originally aired in 2023.Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to Histo ... Show More

16m 24s

Jun 2020

The Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo brought a generation of terrible warfare to a close, decisively ending the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. How did the Duke of Wellington defeat Napoleon? Why did Napoleon make a fatal blunder? And how did Waterloo shape convictions about Britain’s future rol ... Show More

18m 12s

May 2024

Napoleon's Hundred Days

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Napoleon Bonaparte's temporary return to power in France in 1815, following his escape from exile on Elba . He arrived with fewer than a thousand men, yet three weeks later he had displaced Louis XVIII and taken charge of an army as large as any th ... Show More

58m 56s

Jan 2025

The Rise of Napoleon

Napoleon Bonaparte is a household name; a rare example of someone who is as well remembered by his supporters as by his enemies. His life is rich with dramatic irony. He was a key figure in the creation of the First French Republic, yet became a self-appointed Emperor. Surrounded ... Show More

42m 5s

Feb 2025

The Battle of Valmy

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most consequential battles of recent centuries. On 20th September 1792 at Valmy, 120 miles to the east of Paris, the army of the French Revolution faced Prussians, Austrians and French royalists heading for Paris to free Louis XVI and re ... Show More

47m 43s

Nov 2024

CLASSIC: Napoleon Bonaparte Was Attacked by Bunnies -- And Lost

Born in Corsica, Napoleon Bonaparte rose from obscurity during the French Revolution, crowning himself Emperor of France in 1804. This brilliant, ruthless tactician changed the course of French history. Despite his meteoric rise and bloodied fall, Bonaparte still needed to grab l ... Show More

36m 21s

Mar 2021

Emperor Napoleon

Sophie (age 7) & Ellie (age 5) tell how Napoleon came to power and how his armies were victorious all over Europe.----more---- Napoleon sails to Egypt. He wins a great battle in the shadow of the Pyramids. But Nelson destroys the French fleet, stranding the French in Egypt. Napol ... Show More

9m 59s

Nov 2024

517. Nelson: The Hunt for Napoleon (Part 4)

In the wake of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797, Horatio Nelson, though a much acclaimed public hero for his bravery during the battle, is in the doldrums. Having led a harebrained attack on Tenerife, Nelson must now contend with the loss of his arm. Upon returning to Engla ... Show More

54 m

Aug 2019

Episode 55: The Promise

Napoleon marches against the Austrians yet again, with the future of his new regime hanging in the balance. What followed was one of the most dramatic and consequential campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars, culminating in the first great battle of the 19th century: Marengo. Learn mor ... Show More

51m 54s

Dec 2017

Episode Seventeen: A Nation in Arms

Napoleon finally reports to the regular army, just as France sinks deeper into chaos. The Jacobins come to power and launch The Reign of Terror. The army continues to transform. Napoleon finally achieves some success writing, and wins some powerful friends in the process. Learn m ... Show More

50m 18s

Napoleon Bonaparte Surrenders