Today In History with The Retrospectors

William Pitt the Younger was Prime Minister when he and opposition MP George Tierney fought a duel on Sunday, 27th May 1798 on London’s Putney Heath. 

Standing twelve paces apart, the two politicians prepared to exchange gunfire. Both men missed with their first shots. On the second round, Pitt deliberately fired away from his opponent, signalling that he considered honour satisfied without bloodshed. The seconds intervened, and the duel ended peacefully.

The fight had escalated from an argument in the House of Commons during a debate over naval recruitment. Tierney had questioned Pitt’s rush to expand the Royal Navy, while Pitt accused him of obstructing the defence of the country - a serious slight at a time when fears of French sympathies ran high. When Pitt refused to withdraw the remark, Tierney challenged him to a duel.

Even by the standards of the late eighteenth century, the affair felt faintly antiquated. Duelling still lingered among aristocrats and politicians as a ritual of honour, yet many Britons increasingly regarded it as incompatible with parliamentary government and the rule of law. Critics were appalled that the head of government would risk his life over a Commons dispute, particularly during wartime. Pitt’s ally William Wilberforce was horrified, while King George III reportedly reprimanded Pitt for putting personal honour ahead of duty to the country. Satirists, meanwhile, had a marvellous time portraying the pair as awkward amateurs more likely to wound their dignity than each other.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly attempt to unpick impenetrable eighteenth century cartoons of the incident; compare British duelling etiquette with the more theatrical “walk ten paces and turn” style popular on the Continent; and discover how, incredibly, Parliamentary duelling did not end with Pitt and Tierney…

Further Reading:

• ‘History of William Pitt 'The Younger' (GOV.UK): https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/william-pitt

• ‘William Pitt and the Great War - J. Holland Rose’ (DigiCat, 2022): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/William_Pitt_and_the_Great_War/IcmIEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=pitt+tierney+duel&pg=PT205&printsec=frontcover

• ‘A Brief Introduction to the Rules of Historical Pistol Duels’ (Skallagrim, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Toi3JY3LLUM

#UK #Politics #Strange #1700s

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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 2026.

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A coalition of Australian community groups came together on May 26th, 1998 for the country’s first “National Sorry Day”, an annual day of atonement for the social-engineering policy that ripped an estimated 50,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families between 1910 and the 1970s.

The first Sorry Day was marked with 300 events around the nation, and more than 1,000 people attended a ceremony in Parliament House, Canberra, but it took Australia’s government another decade to utter an official apology.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how in the Year 2000, skywriters turned the heavens into the biggest billboard of apology ever; speculate on whether Australia Day will be abolished due to its colonial associations; and discover that there is in fact one word that is harder to say than “sorry”… 

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the Stolen Generations, which may be distressing to some listeners. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that the episode also contains mentions of deceased people.

Further Reading:

• ‘From the Archives, 1998: Thousands say sorry, but not PM’ (The Age, 1998): https://www.theage.com.au/national/from-the-archives-1998-thousands-say-sorry-but-not-pm-20210521-p57tyr.html 

• ‘Peter Dutton says it was a 'mistake' walking out on the apology to the Stolen Generations’ (The Daily Mail, 2022): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10866871/Peter-Dutton-admits-mistake-boycotted-national-apology-Stolen-Generations.html 

• ‘This Is Why Australia Has “National Sorry Day”’ (Time, 2015): https://time.com/3890518/national-sorry-day/ 

• ‘Australia's first “Sorry Day” (1998)’ (ABC Australia, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OKsoqqXttE 

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Edit producer: Ollie Peart.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2023.
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Hands Across America, a human chain from New York to California was formed on 25th May, 1986, in an attempt to raise awareness and funds for domestic poverty.

The brainchild of advertising executive Jeffrey Nightingale and We Are the World producer Ken Kragen, the kooky concept gained traction once corporate sponsors Coca-Cola and Citibank jumped on board, McDonald’s turned placemats into promotion tools, and popstar Prince sponsored a mile of the chain. The event got a Super Bowl promo starring Lily Tomlin and Bill Cosby, but, in the end, raised less money than expected.

In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca sample the official Hands Across America anthem (but can’t bear to endure it all); consider the Regan’s involvement in the chain from the White House lawn; and explain why the event wasn’t truly as original as many people were led to believe…

Further Reading:

• ‘Hands Across America might have been the most Eighties thing to happen in the 1980s’ (The Washington Post, 2016): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/05/25/hands-across-america-might-have-been-the-most-eighties-thing-to-happen-in-the-1980s/

• ’Us: What Was Hands Across America, the Creepy Event That Inspired Jordan Peele?’ (Vanity Fair, 2019): https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/03/us-movie-hands-across-america

• ‘Bill Cosby for Hands Across America’ (1986): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-llI2voCn2Y

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 ❤️

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 2026.

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When Jerry Lee Lewis landed at Heathrow Airport for his first UK tour on 22nd May, 1958, he was met with a flurry of journalists eager for a scoop. Yet just one question brought everything to a halt: "Who are you?". 

A wide-eyed girl in Lewis's entourage answered: Myra Gale Brown, his wife. But she was only 13 years old. As if this wasn’t scandal enough… she was also his cousin, and their marriage was bigamous. The press exploded with these revelations, turning what was meant to be a triumphant tour into a public relations disaster.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly pore over the disturbing details of Lewis’s tumultuous private life; consider whether he was on the path to equalling Elvis’s stardom in the UK, had this matter not come to light; and fruitlessly search the singer’s interviews for a later sense of contrition… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Myra Williams talks about marriage at age 13 to Jerry Lee Lewis’ (Los Angeles Times, 2022): https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-10-29/jerry-lee-lewis-myra-brown-williams-marriage-13-cousin

• ‘Inside The Disturbing Marriage Of Jerry Lee Lewis To His 13-Year-Old Cousin’ (All That’s Interesting, 2022): https://allthatsinteresting.com/myra-gale-brown-jerry-lee-lewis

• ’Jerry Lee Lewis Interview with 13 year old wife’ (1958): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwbty1kRCG0

CONTENT WARNING: domestic abuse, violence, child sexual abuse.

We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.
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When Carl Wickman started America’s first bus company on 21st May, 1914, they weren’t a bus company, and they weren’t called Greyhound - they were a commuter service for miners in Hibbing, Minnesota.

But, despite their ‘dirty dog’ reputation (and the fact they’re now owned by a British conglomerate), the company is still seen as a cornerstone of American culture, and undoubtedly the most famous bus company in the world.

In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca consider the role of Hollywood in enshrining Greyhound’s exalted status in the popular imagination, speculate as to whether the development of highways killed the romance of inter-city travel, and reveal why, after the longest coach journey in the world, Father Christmas made Rebecca cry...

Further Reading:

• The ‘bus scene’ from It Happened One Night (1934): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvzgCo-As6A

• Mental Floss celebrate 100 years of Greyhound: 

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/54273/100-years-dirty-dog-history-greyhound

• ‘Facts and Figures’ from Greyhound’s official website:

https://news.greyhound.com/facts-figures

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 ❤️

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 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2021.

#1910s #Inventions #US
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