Dan Snow's History Hit

The Battle of Midway

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On the 4th of June 1942, the US Navy took on the might of Japan's Imperial Navy in the battle of Midway. It was America's Trafalgar! At the end of the...

D-Day Heroes: The Green Howards

06 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

There was only one Victoria Cross awarded on the 6th June 1944, D-Day. It went to Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the 6th Battalion of the Gr...

The Veteran Searching for his D-Day Shipwreck

05 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Patrick Thomas, a young Royal Navy telegraphist, boarded the craft in Portsmouth. The boat was part of the first wave on Sword...

Elvis Presley: A Turbulent Life

02 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A hotly anticipated biopic about the king of Rock'n'Roll will be released in June directed by Baz Luhmann. We've delved back into our archives to brin...

Vasectomy

01 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What do you think of when you think of birth control? Is it condoms, IUDs, the pill? What about vasectomies?From monkey testicles to possible cancer t...

Platinum Jubilee: Britain’s Greatest Queens

31 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in British history and one of the longest-reigning in the world. To mark the Queen's Platinum Jubil...

Tulsa: The Attack on Black Wall Street

30 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From May 31 to June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked residents, homes and businesses in the predominantly Black ‘Greenwood District’ of Tulsa, Oklaho...

Falklands40: Battle of Goose Green

29 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Please note that this episode contains descriptions of combat and some explicit language.At the Battle of Goose Green the Second Battalion the Parachu...

SAS Founder: Warrior or Phoney?

26 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

David Stirling was an aristocrat, innovator and special forces legend that earned him the nickname 'The Phantom Major'. His formation of the Special A...

The Treadmill

25 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Before they found their way into gyms, treadmills had a much darker history. In the 19th Century, they could most commonly be found in prisons.In cont...

Our Obsession with Nostalgia

24 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Longing to go back to the 'good old days' is nothing new. For hundreds of years, the British have mourned the loss of older national identities and ca...

How Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt Divided Berlin

23 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Berlin’s fate was sealed at the 1945 Yalta Conference: the city, along with the rest of Germany, was to be carved up between the victorious powers -...

Putin's Rise to Power

22 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Belton joins Dan on the podcast to discuss the remarkable story of Vladimir Putin's rise to power. After working from 2007-2013 as the Mosco...

Medieval Myths and Legends

19 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Various legends, characters and myths are associated with the medieval period. The British Isles is filled with prehistoric monuments - from Stoneheng...

Falklands40: The Loss of HMS Ardent

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Please note that this episode contains frank discussions of conflict, mental health and suicide.Admiral Lord West is the former First Sea Lord and Chi...

Food in the Ancient World

17 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When we think of the modern Mediterranean, delicious and vibrant food is one of the first things that come to mind. But how much has the regional food...

HMS Black Joke

16 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Please note that this episode contains mentions of racial trauma, slavery and violence.The most feared ship in Britain’s West Africa Squadron, His M...

The Secret Plot to Kill the Government

15 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On the night of February 23 1820, twenty-five impoverished craftsmen assembled in an obscure stable in Cato Street, London, with a plan to massacre th...

How to Survive in Medieval England

12 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If you travelled back in time to the Medieval period this very second, do you think you would survive? The short answer is probably not. If you weren'...

Codebreaking at Bletchley Park

11 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Bletchley Park, Britain's key decryption centre during WWI, is known for the success of breaking the Nazi Enigma codes - experts have suggested that t...

Mental Health in Victorian Britain

10 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK so we’ve got a special episode exploring the surprising way Victorians approached mental health ...

The 1650s: Britain's Decade Without a Crown

09 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1649 Britain was engulfed by revolution. Charles I was executed for treason and within weeks the English monarchy had been abolished and the House ...

VE Day

08 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For most of us, VE Day conjures up black and white images of carefree servicemen and women dancing and beaming in Trafalgar Square, of Churchill greet...

Diving for Lost Slave Shipwrecks

05 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From the 16th to the 19th centuries, European slave traders forcibly uprooted millions of African people and shipped them across the Atlantic in condi...

Agincourt: Myths Explained

04 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Agincourt is a name which conjures an image of plucky English archers taking on and defeating the arrogant and aristocratic knights of the French cour...

Death, Desire, Power & Scandal: The House of Dudley

03 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Dudleys were the most brilliant, bold and manipulative of power-hungry Tudor families. Every Tudor monarch made their name either with a Dudley at...

John Donne: Poet of Love, Sex and Death

02 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

John Donne (1572-1631) lived myriad lives. Sometime religious outsider and social disaster, sometime celebrity preacher and establishment darling, Joh...

Falklands40: The Sinking of the Belgrano

01 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On this day 40 years ago the HMS Conqueror, a British nuclear submarine, propelled silently through the South Atlantic stalking the Argentinian light ...

Falklands40: The Black Buck Raids

30 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Falkland Islands lie 8000 miles from Britain making the Falklands War a particularly tricky one to fight; it required some seriously innovative th...

Theodore Roosevelt

28 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 - January 6, 1919), was an American politician, conservationist and writer. After the assassination of Willia...

War in Space

27 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On November 15 2021 Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon, shattering one of their own satellites into over a thousand pieces. This space debris will...

Gossip, Scandal and High Society

26 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Henry ‘Chips’ Channon documented British high society in eye-watering detail. His diaries are ...

Great Scientists We've Forgotten to Remember

25 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We are told that modern science was invented in Europe, the product of great minds like Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert E...

The Death of King George V: A Royal Murder Mystery

24 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Just before midnight on January 20, 1936, King George V died at Sandringham, in Norfolk, England. The scandal of King George V’s reign would not be ...

Victoria: A Greedy Queen

21 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Warning: There are adult themes, explicit language and references of disordered eating and diets in this episode.Did you know that before Queen Victor...

The History of the RNLI

20 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Since its foundation in 1824, the volunteers of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution have been braving the most savage of elements at sea to rescue...

Operation Mincemeat: The Deception that Changed WWII

19 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It’s 1943. The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe and plan an all-out assault on Sicily, but they face an impossible ...

Josephine Baker: Entertainer and Spy

18 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On November 30th, 2021, Josephine Baker, the French-American performer, second world war resistance hero, and activist became the first Black woman to...

A Short History of Pirates

17 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Swashbuckling, murder and robbery on the high seas! We're bringing back the fan favourite episode on Dr Rebecca Simon's 'Pirate Queens: The Lives of A...

TITANIC: Survivors and Lost Souls

14 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Part 3/3. News of Titanic's fate sent shockwaves around the world; stories and illustrations of that fateful night splashed across newspaper stands on...

TITANIC: A Night to Remember

13 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Depicted countless times in art, television and film, the night of the 14th of April 1912 has haunted and fascinated us for over a century. This is a ...

TITANIC: The Unsinkable Ship

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On April 10th, 1912, RMS Titanic cast off from Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage. The largest of its kind, full of grandeur and the most soph...

How to Party like an Ancient Greek

11 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In Ancient Greece, the symposium was no ordinary after-dinner drinking party, but one in which the Hellenic men of society got together to wine, recli...

The Objects That Made Britain

10 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What can art tell us about a country's history? Well, a lot! In today's episode, Dan is joined by Art Historian Temi Odumosu and popular historian Jam...

Resisting the Third Reich

07 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Across the whole of Nazi-ruled Europe, the experience of occupation was sharply varied. As a result, resistance movements during World War II occurred...

Recreating the Viking World in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla

06 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has brought the Viking Age to life in stunning detail, and now the game is even being used as an educational tool!Maxime Du...

Cold War Submarine Warrior

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Thompson has had his finger literally on the nuclear button. He joined the Royal Navy submarine service in the early days of the Cold War. He ser...

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures

04 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1888 Louis Le Prince shot the world’s first motion picture in Leeds, England. In 1890, weeks before the public unveiling of his camera and projec...

The Foundations of Modern India

03 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The greatest anti-imperial rebellion of the nineteenth century, The Indian Rebellion of 1857, witnessed mass violence against the British. Ninety year...

Falklands40: What Started the Falklands War?

02 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On April 2nd 1982 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher declared war against Argentina over the Falkland Islands in the Southern Atlantic. To make ...

The Enclosures

31 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The enclosure of the commons was a centuries-long process. Gradually, through a combination of legal degrees and private acts, the land across Britain...

The Real Cyrano de Bergerac

30 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the world's much loved stage and screen characters has just returned to the cinema in a new film version starring Peter Dinklage. But what...

Benjamin Franklin with Ken Burns

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was a scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat. As one of the leading figures of early American history, Franklin helped...

The Demerara Uprising and Britain’s Legacy of Slavery

28 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Demerara Rebellion of 1823 was an uprising of over ten thousand enslaved people in the Crown colony of Demerara-Essequibo (now part of Guyana) on ...

Destroying a Nazi Stronghold: The St Nazaire Raid

27 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On 28 March 1942, in the darkest months of World War Two, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St...

The Wonder of Stonehenge

27 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Towering above the Wiltshire countryside, Stonehenge is perhaps the world's most awe-inspiring ancient stone circle. Shrouded in layers of speculation...

200 Years of British-Russian Relations

25 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Russia and the UK have very different political structures and ambitions, from their alliance at the Battle of Navarino in 1827 to the historic low of...

The Forgotten Hero of Everest

24 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Caesar joins Dan on the podcast to tell the extraordinary but largely forgotten story of World War I veteran Maurice Wilson, Britain's most mysteri...

The Fall of France 1940: How it Influenced the US

23 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Shocked by the fall of France in 1940, panicked U.S. leaders rushed to back the Vichy government despite their Nazi sympathies. This policy caused ins...

Mary Queen of Scots with Kate Williams

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dan is joined by Professor Kate Williams to discuss the rise and fall of Mary Queen of Scots, one of the most dramatic and tragic figures of the Sixte...

The Confederate States of America

21 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Confederacy was more than an army. It was a national project. A whole state, albeit an internationally unrecognised one, formed between 1861-1865 ...

Prison Camps in WW2 Britain

20 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

From the summer of 1940, approximately 30,000 so-called ‘enemy aliens’ were indefinitely sent to internment camps across Britain.Gripped by spy fe...

ENDURANCE22: Questions & Reflections

18 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To mark the end of a truly epic journey, Dan wanted to hear from you -the listeners- those that have dedicatedly followed the story of Endurance22. Fi...

What Is an Oligarch?

17 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The use of the word ‘Oligarch’ has been increasingly rampant across international news outlets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just weeks ago...

The Steam Engine and Simultaneous Invention

16 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The revolution in speed ground to a halt in the 1960s. The previous half-century saw great leaps in how quickly people could get from place to place: ...

The Assassination of Julius Caesar: Explained

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

March 15th 44BC is perhaps the most notorious date in all of ancient history. On that fateful day, the Ides of March, 55-year-old Roman dictator Gaius...

The KGB in Ukraine

14 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The KGB was the main security agency for the Soviet Union. Tasked with surveillance and rooting out dissidents, religious practitioners and anti-gover...

My Dad Wrote a History Hit!

13 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this special episode Dan Snow teams up with Alice Levine, Jamie Morton and James Cooper from My Dad Wrote A Porno to chat about all things sex and ...

The Origins of Kyiv

11 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

24th of February 2022 marked the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This episode of Gone Medieval looks at the origins of its capital city, Ky...

Preventing Nuclear War

10 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

While Ukraine fights to defend itself from Russian forces, Putin makes a nuclear threat to the west and the rest of the world. Dr Jeremy Garlick, Asso...

War, Women and the 1921 Census

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After World War One women outnumbered men by the highest margin in recorded history, even compared to after World War Two. This had wide-reaching impl...

Escape From a Nazi Concentration Camp

07 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In April 1945, weeks before the Nazi defeat, nine women made a last-ditch escape from the concentration camp at Ravensbruck. The group, who had all be...

Yellowstone: The World's First National Park

06 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This year is the 150th anniversary of the world's first national park of its kind, Yellowstone. Each year nearly four million people visit the park bu...

Edward VI: The Last Boy King

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, became king at the age of nine. All around him loomed powerful men who hoped to use him to further their own ends. Edwar...

ENDURANCE22: Onto the Ice

02 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On today's episode, Dan takes the podcast out onto the Antarctic ice to find penguins, seals and the expedition scientists conducting experiments. He ...

The Real Peaky Blinders

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Who were the real Peaky Blinders? Did they really exist? Carl Chinn reveals the true story of the notorious gangs that roamed Birmingham's streets dur...

How the Mongols Changed the World

28 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After the death of Chinggis Khan, the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, the land became the largest contiguous empire in history.The Hor...

An Audacious Heist at the National Gallery

27 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Please note that this episode contains spoilers from the film ‘The Duke’.Kempton Bunton was a taxi driver who stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke ...

Crisis in Ukraine: Putin & NATO

25 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine has been invaded by Russia. But why? What is NATO’s purpose, and why does it bother Vladimir Putin so much? In this episode of Warfare, we’...

Ukraine and Russia: A Quick History

24 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Russia has launched an invasion of Ukraine. As European leaders gather and Ukraine makes preparations to defend itself, the world watches. In light of...

The Origins of London

23 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

London is today one of the greatest cities in the world, and the story of its origins is fittingly spectacular. Founded by the Romans as Londinium in ...

ENDURANCE22: Dan's Diary #04

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dan updates us from Antarctica about whether the SS Agulhas II has managed to break free from the ice that had surrounded it.If you'd like to learn mo...

ENDURANCE22: Searching for the Shipwreck

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The search for the wreck of the sunken Endurance is well underway. Find out more about the submersibles, equipped with 4k cameras that can scan the se...

The Last Invasion of Britain

21 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Popular knowledge may claim Hastings as the site of the last invasion of mainland Britain by Norman forces in 1066. True, this was the last successful...

Section 28 and Britain's Battle for LGBT+ Education

20 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 was a controversial amendment to the UK's Local Government Act 1986, enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed o...

ENDURANCE22: Dan's Diary #03

17 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Endurance22 crew have made it to the Weddell Sea and the point where they believe Shackleton’s ship sunk! It’s a rocky start as they begin the...

River Kings: Epic Stories of the Viking Age

17 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

To mark the US release of our very own Dr Cat Jarman’s incredible book River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads,...

ENDURANCE22: Arrival in Antarctica

16 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Icebergs, albatrosses and growlers- the team have crossed the Antarctic circle! In the first of our episodes recorded from Antarctica, Dan takes you o...

The Fall of Singapore: 80th Anniversary

15 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Fall of Singapore to the Japanese Army took place in the South-East Asian theatre of the Pacific War, with fighting in Singapore lasting through 8...

ENDURANCE22: Dan's Diary #02

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dan gives a quick update on the expedition's progress towards Antarctica from a rather wet and windy deck as the crew prepare for a storm to hit.If yo...

Dear John, The Wartime Breakup Letter

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Writing letters to a spouse or sweetheart deployed overseas was portrayed as a patriotic duty, a means to boost the morale of the fighting man. But wh...

Rival Queens: Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots

13 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots were cousins who never met - but their fates were intertwined. As their nations were engulfed in religious turmoi...

ENDURANCE22: Dan's Diary #01

11 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A little update from Dan on where he is and how the journey to Antarctica is going!If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentar...

ENDURANCE22: The Man Who Filmed the Expedition

10 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The extraordinary story of Shackleton's doomed Trans-Antarctic expedition has captured audiences for over 100 years. It's not just because it's a dram...

Alexander's Successors at War: The Spartan Adventurer

06 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Tristan of The Ancients podcasts has published his first book, Alexander’s Successors at War: The Perdiccas Years. Focussing in on 323 – 320 ...

ENDURANCE22: Dan Sets Sail for Antarctica!

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The expedition has begun and Dan is here to answer your questions about all things Endurance22, the expedition to find Shackleton’s lost shipwreck!&...

Russia's Threat to Invade Ukraine

03 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Amid Moscow’s increasing build-up of troops along the Ukrainian border and the preparation of infrastructure for a possible invasion, tensions betwe...

The Troubles: How It Started

02 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With Kenneth Branagh film, Belfast, hitting cinemas - we run down the historical background of the early years of the decades-long conflict in Norther...

The Forgotten Einstein

01 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

John von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived, a man who was in his day as well-known as Einstein and considered smart...

Introducing: On Jimmy's Farm

31 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Join celebrity farmer, ecologist and conservationist, Jimmy Doherty, on his farm as he talks to eco-experts and well-known faces about trying to live ...