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Apr 2025
12m 6s

When Presidents Play Ball ⚾

The Retrospectors
About this episode
President William Howard Taft became the first Commander-in-Chief to throw the ceremonial first pitch on 14th April, 1910. Taft's participation cemented baseball as the quintessential American sport, in a period when it was still shedding its dodgy image. The game’s enduring popularity ensured that the tradition persisted for over a century, with each pre ... Show More
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Today
Shutting Down Napster
Pioneering music-sharing platform Napster faced a pivotal legal showdown on March 6th, 2001, when - despite the company’s defence that it was merely a tool for innocent purposes - US District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the removal of all copyrighted material from the servic ... Show More
11m 19s
Yesterday
Hula Hoop Mania!
The hip-swivelling Hula Hoop craze swept through America within months of its 1958 debut - yet Wham-O didn’t receive a patent for it until 5th March, 1963. The toy had first come to the attention of Arthur K. 'Spud' Melin, the company’s co-founder, when Australian swimsuit model ... Show More
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Mar 4
John Lennon's Jesus Controversy
John Lennon's controversial statement that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus was first published in the London Evening Standard on 4th March, 1966. The reporter, Maureen Cleave, documented the eccentricities of Lennon's life and his dissatisfaction with fame and wealth; hi ... Show More
12m 39s
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