History & Military History
World wars, the Cold War, ancient and medieval history, military technology, Dutch history and the past behind today’s news.
About this list
This reading list brings together items from the sources selected for History & Military History. Open each item at its original source for the complete article, episode or video. This is a selection of current coverage, not a complete archive.
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510 – Exchequers and ExBalancers: Part One
We are about to do something a little unusual for the BHP. We’re going to muddy the timeline. Now, normally we stick to the chronological timeline. We live the story as it unfolds. But the birth of the Exchequer presents us with a bit of a headache because it’s being built right now in the […] The post 510 – Exchequers and ExBalancers: Part One first appeared on The British History Podcast.
The Battle of Lepanto
October 7, 1571. The Ottoman Empire and the Holy League face off in the last great naval battle before the Age of Sail. This episode originally aired in 2025. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
The mirrors that lit up a dark Norwegian town
In October 2013, people in the small Norwegian town of Rjukan experienced winter sunshine for the first time in history.
The Gold Rush Created Get Rich Quick Schemes and ‘Move Fast and Break Things’
On the morning of January 24, 1848, a carpenter named James Marshall climbed into a ditch beside a half-finished sawmill in the Sierra Nevada foothills, stooped down, and found gold. He crawled out clutching his hat to his chest like a hurt child, showed the men a teaspoon of yellow flakes, and said “I have found it.” Within a year, fifty thousand people from all six continents were racing to California.
The Thammasat University Massacre
October 6, 1976. Thai police and right-wing mobs violently suppress student protests at a Bangkok university. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
Egypt’s President Sadat is assassinated
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel, two years later he was assassinated.
The Disastrous Flight of R101
October 5, 1930. British airship R101 crashes in France on its first overseas flight, killing 48 people. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
The Peruvian pilots who secretly delivered fighter jets during the Falklands War
In June 1982, 10 Peruvian pilots were tasked with a secret mission: deliver fighter jets to Argentina as it battled the UK over the Falkland Islands.
Saturday Matinee: The Untitled History Podcast
On today’s Saturday Matinee, we take a look at the history and cultural impact of the second best selling comic series: Asterix the Gaul. Link to The Untitled History Podcast: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/the-untitled-history-podcast Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
The first Rubik's Cube world champion
On 5 June 1982, a teenage refugee from Vietnam became the first Rubik's Cube world champion. Representing the United States, 16-year-old Minh Thai took on contestants from 18 other countries at the championship in Hungary.
509 – Court Costs
King Henry’s Court was huge. And that makes sense. His predecessor, King Rufus, was a party animal and, as such, his Court had swollen into a massive, roving scene where anyone who wanted power… or just free wine… crowded in through the doors. The post 509 – Court Costs first appeared on The British History Podcast.
The Premiere of The Bridge on the River Kwai
October 2, 1957. After a hot debate between filmmakers and the British military, the film The Bridge on the River Kwai makes waves. Based on the construction of the Burma Railway, former POWs and war artists lament the film’s inaccurate portrayal of events. 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 Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
Boer War: Siege of Ladysmith
The Siege of Ladysmith was a key moment in the Boer War, also known as the South African War. In 1899, British troops and civilians were trapped in the besieged South African town for 118 days. Using a BBC archive recording, James Dalton, a British Army bandsman with the Gordon Highlanders, recalls shelling, hunger, disease and the dramatic relief of Ladysmith. Produced by Helen Ledwick in collaboration with BBC Archives.
the memory palace
This episode was originally released in April of 2018.The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly support this show, you can make a donation at Radiotopia.fm/donate. Music We hear Ferris Wheel by Gabor Szabo from one of his better late sixties records. Herman’s Malt from Jeff Russo’s score to Fargo Season 2. David Goes Hunting from Larry Groupe’s score to Straw Dogs.
Every Fight in American History Was Also a Fight Over Who Gets to Eat Good Bread
Early America’s most important invention wasn’t Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod, or the cotton gin. It was the world’s first fully automated flour mill, built by Oliver Evans in the 1780s. Evans’s mill used a conveyor-belt grain elevator, leather straps, wheels, and Archimedean screws to process wheat from raw grain to finished flour without human hands touching it.
The Nuremberg Trial Verdicts
October 1, 1946. In the aftermath of World War Two, Nazi leaders are found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1947, a missing goat led to the chance discovery of the first Dead Sea Scrolls. These ancient Jewish manuscripts became one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century.
Mozart’s Last Opera
September 30, 1791. Mozart’s masterpiece, The Magic Flute, opens in Vienna. This episode originally aired in 2025. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser. Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.
The contraceptive pill gets legalised in Japan
After decades of campaigning in Japan, the pill was finally legalised in 1999. In contrast, the male impotency drug Viagra was approved for use in just six months, and legalised before the contraceptive pill for women. Politician Yoriko Madoka pushed hard for the right to take the pill and told Rebecca Kesby that sexism and male dominance in parliament is why it took so long.
Romans Quarried Marble, Cathars Hid in Caves, and Nazis Built Tank Turrets in These Same Mountains
The Pyrenees stretch 270 miles from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, separating France from Spain, and most people think of them as a natural barrier: remote, barren, and largely untouched. They would be wrong. These mountains sit at the edge of where early humans were supposed to have settled, yet a cave above the village of Tautavel contains the oldest human face ever found in Europe, a skull 450,000 years old, with sixteen feet of unexcavated sediment below it that may hold remains older still.
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