Best HistoryPod Podcasts (2025)

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23rd June 1757: British East India Company troops defeat the Nawab of Bengal in the Battle of Plassey

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The two armies met near the village of Palashi, on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, in present-day West Bengal. Despite commanding an estimated 50,000 troops, his army was ineffective so the Nawab fled the battlefield and was later captured and ...By Scott Allsop

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22nd June 1942: The words of the Pledge of Allegiance formally adopted by Congress

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Congress formally recognized the Pledge when it was included in the U.S. Flag ...By Scott Allsop

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21st June 1675: Foundation stone laid for the new St Paul’s Cathedral in London following the Great Fire of London

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St Paul’s Cathedral was completed in 1710, and was the first cathedral in England to be completed under the direction of a single ...By Scott Allsop

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20th June 1948: The Western Allies introduce the Deutsche Mark in the three western zones of occupied Germany

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The introduction of the Deutsch Mark sought to stabilise the German economy and curb widespread inflation and black-market activity in the aftermath of the Second World War, but caused concern in the Soviet Union which implemented its own currency reform in the eastern zone and soon after began the Berlin ...…

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19th June 1949: The first NASCAR ‘Strictly Stock’ race takes place at Charlotte Speedway

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The first NASCAR race took place at the Charlotte Speedway in North ...By Scott Allsop

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18th June 1984: The Battle of Orgreave takes place between miners and police officers during the UK miners’ strike

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Tensions escalated throughout the day, with reports indicating that initial pushing and shouting developed into running battles between the two ...By Scott Allsop

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17th June 1631: Mumtaz Mahal’s death prompts construction of the Taj Mahal

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The death of Mumtaz Mahal, the chief consort of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, prompted her husband to construct the Taj ...By Scott Allsop

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16th June 1963: Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space on board Vostock 6

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Over the course of nearly three days, Valentina Tereshkova orbited the Earth 48 times on board Vostock 6, maintaining radio contact with Bykovsky using the call sign "Chaika," meaning "Seagull" in ...By Scott Allsop

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15th June 1970: Trial of Charles Manson begins in Los Angeles, California, for conspiracy to commit murder

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The trial lasted over nine months, making it the longest murder trial in U.S. history at that time. In January 1971, Manson and three of his followers were found ...By Scott Allsop

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14th June 1777: Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Resolution and adopts the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States

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The design of the flag of the United States has changed numerous times during its history to reflect the admission of more states into the ...By Scott Allsop

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13th June 313: The Edict of Milan formally ends the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

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Although the emperor Galerius had previously issued an Edict of Toleration towards Christians, the Edict of Milan went further by establishing religious freedom throughout the empire and granting Christians the right to practice their religion without interference or ...By Scott Allsop

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12th June 1942: Anne Frank receives her famous diary as a thirteenth birthday present from her father

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Over three volumes Anne Frank recorded the relationships between the Frank family, the Van Pels family, and her father’s friend Fritz Pfeffer with whom they shared a confined hiding place in the 'Secret Annexe' above her father's warehouse ...By Scott Allsop

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11th June 1963: Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself to death to protest again the government of Ngô Đình Diệm

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Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to death at a busy crossroads in ...By Scott Allsop

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10th June 1829: The first Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race takes place at Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire

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The idea for the race came from two students, Charles Merivale of Cambridge and Charles Wordsworth of Oxford, who proposed a race between their two universities. It took place over approximately 2¼ miles of the River Thames from Hambleden Lock to Henley ...By Scott Allsop

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9th June 68: Emperor Nero commits suicide

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Nero, the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, committed ...By Scott Allsop

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8th June 1968: James Earl Ray arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport in connection with the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

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Ray arrived in London in late May 1968 and, on 8 June, went to Heathrow Airport where he was detained after attempting to board a flight to Brussels using a false Canadian ...By Scott Allsop

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7th June 1832: The Great Reform Act becomes law, significantly changing the electoral system of the UK

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Officially known as the Representation of the People Act 1832, the Great Reform Act was introduced to improve the outdated and unrepresentative electoral system in England and Wales by eliminating rotten boroughs, creating new constituencies to represent industrial towns, and standardising voting ...…

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6th June 1822: ‘Father of Gastric Physiology’ William Beaumont first treats Alexis St Martin

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Alexis St. Martin, who had been shot in the stomach, was first treated by US Army surgeon William Beaumont who became known as the ‘Father of Gastric ...By Scott Allsop

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5th June 1963: John Profumo, the British Secretary of State for War, resigns following a political scandal caused by his extramarital affair

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The Profumo affair was one of the defining political scandals of post-war Britain, damaging the credibility of the Conservative government of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and was seen as contributing to the erosion of public trust in ...By Scott Allsop

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4th June 1411: King Charles VI of France grants the exclusive right to ripen Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon

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The royal charter marked one of the earliest recorded examples of legal protection for a specific regional food product in Europe by ensuring that only cheese matured in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon could bear the name "Roquefort," preventing producers in other regions from marketing similar cheeses under the same ...…

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3rd June 1956: Rock and Roll music banned in the Californian city of Santa Cruz

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Authorities in the Californian city of Santa Cruz banned rock and roll music at public ...By Scott Allsop

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2nd June 1896: Guglielmo Marconi files a patent application for his system of wireless telegraphy

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Marconi filed a patent application in London for a spark-gap transmitter that generated radio waves and a coherer as a receiver to detect the signals, which was the first patent for a communication system based on radio ...By Scott Allsop

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1st June 1946: Ion Antonescu, the former Prime Minister of Romania, executed by firing squad

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Beginning in May 1946, Ion Antonescu's trial was overseen by the People’s Tribunal in Bucharest that found him guilty of war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to death by firing ...By Scott Allsop

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31st May 1916: Battle of Jutland begins in the North Sea, marking the largest naval battle of the First World War

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While the British lost 14 ships and over 6,000 personnel, compared to Germany’s 11 ships and 2,500 personnel, the strategic outcome of the Battle of Jutland favoured ...By Scott Allsop

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30th May 1899: Female bandit Pearl Hart and her partner, Joe Boot, commit one of the last recorded stagecoach robberies

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Pearl Hart became a celebrity and acquired the nickname ‘Bandit ...By Scott Allsop

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29th May 1660: Charles II restored to the English throne, marking the end of over a decade of republican rule

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Charles arrived in Dover on 25 May and entered London on 29 May, which was also his 30th birthday. He was welcomed with public celebrations and a general sense of relief, and was formally crowned at Westminster Abbey the following ...By Scott Allsop

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28th May 1754: Battle of Jumonville Glen in Pennsylvania marks the beginning of the French and Indian War

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While precise details are unclear, it’s known that the engagement lasted only about 15 minutes. Around a quarter of the French soldiers were killed, including their commander, Joseph Coulon de ...By Scott Allsop

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27th May 1703: The foundation of St Petersburg by Tsar Peter the Great

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In 1703 Peter’s forces captured Swedish possessions at the mouth of the Neva river, and it was here that he laid the foundation stone for the Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy ...By Scott Allsop

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26th May 1923: First 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race begins, establishing the endurance racing format

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The first race began at 4 p.m. on 26 May 1923 and concluded at the same time on the following day. Taking place on public roads closed for the occasion, the circuit of just over 17 kilometres included long straights, village roads, and tight ...By Scott Allsop

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25th May 1977: The first Star Wars film is released in cinemas

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The first instalment of the Star Wars film series was released in cinemas in the United States of ...By Scott Allsop

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24th May 1943: Josef Mengele, the Nazi Angel of Death, transferred to Auschwitz

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Josef Mengele, the Nazi ‘Angel Of Death’, was transferred to begin work at Auschwitz concentration ...By Scott Allsop

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23rd May 1949: West Germany formally established, otherwise known as the Federal Republic of Germany

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West Germany was a federal parliamentary republic with a Chancellor as head of government and a President who held a largely ceremonial ...By Scott Allsop

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22nd May 1849: Abraham Lincoln becomes the first and only President to be awarded a patent

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Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for his invention to lift boats over shoals and other obstructions in a ...By Scott Allsop

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21st May 1927 and 1932: Charles Lindbergh makes the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic, followed five years later by Emilia Earhart as the first woman

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The very first non-stop transatlantic flight had occurred in 1919 when John Alcock and Arthur Whiten Brown flew a modified Vickers Vimy bomber aircraft from Newfoundland to Ireland in just under 16 ...By Scott Allsop

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20th May 1882: Establishment of the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

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Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy formed the Triple ...By Scott Allsop

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19th May 1922: Young Pioneer organisation formally established in the USSR

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Officially known as the Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organisation in honour of the recently deceased Bolshevik leader, the Young Pioneers were modelled in part on scouting organisations, but with a strong political and ideological framework aligned with the principles of the Communist ...By Scott Allsop

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18th May 1848: The Frankfurt Parliament opens at St. Paul’s Church as the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany

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The Parliament sought to draft a constitution to unify the independent German states into a single nation governed by liberal principles, but faced significant challenges from the outset and was dissolved by force in June ...By Scott Allsop

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17th May 1756: The Seven Years’ War begins, when Great Britain formally declares war on France

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The Seven Years’ War is widely regarded as the first truly global conflict as the declaration of war marked the start of full-scale hostilities between the major European powers and their colonies across the ...By Scott Allsop

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16th May 1960: The first laser was successfully operated by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California

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The device constructed by Maiman used a small rod of synthetic ruby crystal, surrounded by a helical flash lamp that provided the necessary energy to excite the atoms within the ruby, and is often seen as the start of the 'laser ...By Scott Allsop

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15th May 1940: The first McDonald’s restaurant opened in San Bernadino, California

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Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, ...By Scott Allsop

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14th May 1878: The last witchcraft trial in the United States was held in Salem, Massachusetts

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Lucretia Brown was a member of the Christian Science religion and alleged that a man named Daniel Spofford had used his "mesmeric" mental powers to harm her, asking the court to prevent Spofford from exercising control over her through his mental ...By Scott Allsop

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13th May 1861: Queen Victoria issues a “Proclamation of Neutrality” concerning the American Civil War

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Britain's declaration of neutrality recognised the Union and the Confederacy as belligerents, allowing the Confederacy to contract for supplies and commission warships, but it fell short of recognising the Confederacy as a sovereign nation. This protected British interests by avoiding entanglement in the conflict while maintaining the country’s rig…

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12th May 1846: The Donner Party begin their ill-fated journey to California

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The Donner Party departed Independence, Missouri on their ill-fated journey to ...By Scott Allsop

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11th May 1997: IBM’s chess computer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov to become the first computer to defeat a reigning world chess champion under tournament conditions

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Ranked as the 259th most powerful computer in the world, Deep Blue was able to evaluate 200 million separate chess positions per ...By Scott Allsop

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10th May 1869: The ‘Golden Spike’ completes the first transcontinental railroad in the United States at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory

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The ‘Golden Spike’ symbolised the joining of the Central Pacific Railroad, which had built eastward from California, and the Union Pacific Railroad, which had built westward from Nebraska to form a continuous rail link between the east and west coasts of the ...By Scott Allsop

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9th May 1671: Colonel Thomas Blood attempts to steal the Crown Jewels

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Colonel Thomas Blood attempted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of ...By Scott Allsop

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8th May 1950: The Tollund Man, who lived in the 5th century BC, discovered in a peat bog near Silkeborg in Denmark

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The Tollund Man was remarkably well-preserved thanks to the cold, acidic, and low oxygen conditions of the peat bog, which slowed ...By Scott Allsop

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7th May 1794: Cult of the Supreme Being formally announced by Robespierre in a meeting of the National Convention

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The Cult of the Supreme Being recognised that God had created the universe, but that He did not interfere or intervene in its operation. Therefore it taught that humans were responsible for their own actions and ...By Scott Allsop

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6th May 1983: The Hitler Diaries proven to be forgeries

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West Germany’s Federal Archives revealed that forensic tests proved the Hitler Diaries were ...By Scott Allsop

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5th May 1789: The Estates General meets at Versailles, near Paris, for the first time in 175 years

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When the Estates General opened on 5 May many hoped that it would provide a platform for reform, but in practice it acted as a precursor to the French ...By Scott Allsop