Today In History with The Retrospectors

Rerun: James Christie held his first auction on 5th December, 1766 - billed as a sale of “genuine household furniture, jewels, plate, firearms, china and a large quantity of madeira and high flavoured claret” belonging to a “Noble Personage (deceased)”. His auction-house, Christie’s, went on to become one of the world’s leading dealers of fine art. But it took Christie many years to exploit this opportunity, which he accomplished partly by leveraging well-connected friends. His milieu included Richard Tattersall, Thomas Chipperfield, Thomas Gainsborough, Horace Walpole, Joshua Reynolds and David Garrick - a ‘Who’s Who’ of 18th century London once known as ‘Christie's Fraternity of Godparents’. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Christie innovated public viewings, product placement and sales technique; connect the dots between the French Revolution and Christie’s biggest successes; and reveal how much it costs to buy a two-headed taxidermied lamb…  Further Reading: • ‘James Christie: the eloquent auctioneer’ (Royal Academy of Arts, 2016): https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/james-christie-eloquent-auctioneer • ‘Mr Christie, before Christie’s… His early days’ (Artprice, 2021): https://www.artprice.com/artmarketinsight/mr-christie-before-christies-his-early-days • ‘Welcome to Christie’s’ (Christies, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ2kq20kK5U ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Each Thursday and Friday we repeat stories from our archive of 800+ episodes, so we can maintain the quality of our independent podcast and bring you fresh, free content every Monday-Wednesday…  … But 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴members get an additional full-length episode each Sunday! Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 245 million years old fossil named Nyasasaurus parringtoni was officially determined the earliest known dinosaur on 4th December, 2012; meaning dinosaurs had roamed the Earth at least 10 million years earlier than the previously believed "dawn of the dinosaurs." Unearthed in Tanzania in the 1930s and mostly ignored for decades, the fossil’s story was brought to light through meticulous analysis by paleontologists in collaboration with museums. The dating of the Nyasasaurus also bridged the gap between early archosaurs (dinosaur ancestors) and true dinosaurs, with characteristics such as rapid bone growth and distinct sacral vertebrae. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether a T-Rex the size of a labrador retriever would remain terrifying; consider what else might be hiding in the depths of the Natural History Museum’s ‘boring bits’; and attempt to summarise the pre-dinosaur history of Planet Earth in sixty seconds… Further Reading: • ’The Earliest Known Dino?’ (Science, 2012): https://www.science.org/content/article/earliest-known-dino • ‘Scientists Discover Oldest Known Dinosaur’ (Smithsonian, 2012): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-discover-oldest-known-dinosaur-152807497/ • World's Oldest Known Dinosaur Identified (Slate, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlhkP8kKMBQ Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Renowned detective novelist Agatha Christie found herself at the centre of a real-life mystery: when she mysteriously disappeared for 11 days, from 3rd December, 1926.  Shortly after learning of her husband's infidelity, Christie had driven away from the family home, abandoning her car near a quarry. There was a massive manhunt as theories circulated in the newspapers, including murder, suicide, or intentional disappearance. Eventually she was spotted in a spa hotel in Harrogate, living under an assumed identity. In this episode, The Retrospectors investigate what Christie got up to during her mental fugue; consider whether this event triggered the trend for amateur sleuths joyriding on real-life crimes; and reveal how the novelist’s most detailed description of the event occurs not in her autobiography, but in a novel she wrote under a pseudonym… CONTENT WARNING: attempted suicide, post-traumatic mental illness. Further Reading: • ‘When the World’s Most Famous Mystery Writer Vanished’ (The New York Times, 2019): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/books/agatha-christie-vanished-11-days-1926.html • ‘‘I just wanted my life to end’: the mystery of Agatha Christie’s disappearance’ (The Guardian, 2022): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/27/mystery-of-agatha-christie-disappearance • ‘The Mysterious Disappearance of Agatha Christie’ (Ireland A.M., 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yd2o4XFKIk This episode first premiered in 2023, for members of 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 - where you can also DITCH THE ADS and get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 100 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!   We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/retrospectors   The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Enron—the seventh-largest company in the U.S.—filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 2nd December, 2001, marking the dramatic end of a business empire once hailed as unstoppable.  What once looked like a financial juggernaut turned out to be a house of cards built on illusory profits, market manipulation, and sheer audacity. “Creative” accounting, including mark-to-market practices, had inflated their profits by booking future revenues as current earnings.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Enron emerged from a gas trading company to a dodgy corporate monolith; uncover the shady partnerships run by CFO Andrew Fastow; and reveal exactly what went wrong with the company’s beleaguered Indian power plant project…  Further Reading: • ‘The collapse of Enron and the dark side of business’ (BBC News, 2021): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58026162 • ’Former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow: ‘You can follow all the rules and still commit fraud’’ (The Irish Times, 2016): https://www.irishtimes.com/business/companies/former-enron-cfo-andrew-fastow-you-can-follow-all-the-rules-and-still-commit-fraud-1.2485821 • ‘Collapse of Enron (2001) | A Day That Shook the World’ (British Pathé, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z9Z2i3qfiw  Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices