Half-Arsed History
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Half-Arsed History
Half-Arsed History's first book, History's Strangest Deaths, is now available: https://www.booktopia.com.au/history-s-strangest-deaths-riley-knight/book/9781761472589.htmlWelcome along to Half-Arsed History! It's a weekly podcast highlighting absurd and entertaining stories from history. Twice a wee...
Son Epizodlar
673 epizod
Episode 404: The East India Company - Part 4 Expansion and Empire
In this week's episode, hear about the phase of conquest and expansion that transformed the British East India Company into one of the largest and mos...
Week 12: England Loses the 1966 World Cup
This week in history we’ve got monuments both finished and unfinished, we’ve got great escapes, we’ve got the birthdays of clockmakers, filmmakers, an...
Episode 403: The East India Company - Part 3: Conquest and Corruption
In this week's episode, get across how the British East India Company transformed from a purely commercial enterprise to a sovereign entity exercising...
Week 11: The Assassination of Julius Caesar
This week in history we’ve got the death of a saint, the discovery of a planet, and the theft of half a billion dollars of art, we’ve got the birthday...
Episode 402: The East India Company - Part 2: Footholds and Factories
In this week's episode, hear about the early history of the English East India Company, and how it moved away from the Indonesian spice trade and inst...
Week 10: The 13 Original Rules of Golf
This week in history we’ve got the foundation of the French Foreign Legion and frozen food, we’ve got the birthdays of explorers and artists and activ...
Episode 401: The East India Company - Part 1: Spices and Stocks
In this week's episode, learn about the global 16th century trading conditions that ultimately led to the formation of the East India Company, an inst...
Week 9: The Great Fire of Meireki
This week in history we’ve got the first Europeans in Australia, we’ve got the first Sherlock Holmes stories, we’ve got famous composers and an even f...
Episode 400: What Half-Arsed History Could Have Been
In this week's episode, get a taste of what this show might have sounded like if it had begun as a podcast of a different genre.
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Week 8: Three Presidents in One Hour
This week in history we’ve got monuments, calendars, and the disastrous premiere of a popular opera, we’ve got the birthdays of astronomers and diaris...
Episode 399: Nicolaus Copernicus and Copernican Heliocentrism
In this week's episode, get to know Nicolaus Copernicus, the 15th-century astronomer who brought about a historical paradigm shift with his radical pr...
Week 7: The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre
This week in history we’ve got famous martyrdoms, global car races, and the discovery of former planets, we’ve got the birthdays of scientists and lea...
Episode 398: The Foundation of Modern Singapore
In this week's episode, discover how, why, and perhaps most importantly where modern Singapore was founded, back in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles.
Week 6: The Sack of Baghdad
This week in history we’ve got riots and treaties, we’ve got the discovery of the world’s biggest gold nugget, we’ve got the birthday of a famous Vict...
Episode 397: Catherine the Great, the Enlightened Empress
In this week's episode, meet Catherine the Great, the empress who successfully ruled Russia for almost 35 years despite usurping a throne she had no c...
Week 5: The Day the Music Died
This week in history we’ve got the execution of a famous traitor, a tale of revenge served cold, we’ve got the birthdays of conquerors and explorers a...
Episode 396: The Horrors of Sarah Island
In this week's episode, become acquainted with Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, known as Sarah Island, which was one of the cruellest and most brutal...
Week 4: When Some Ships Sailed from Botany Bay to Port Jackson
This week in history: the publishing of Pride and Prejudice, the first-ever cans of beer, the birthdays of pirates, kings, and composers, and... that...
Episode 395: The Raft of the Medusa
In this week's episode, head the gruesome and tragic tale of the Raft of the Medusa, when almost 150 people were set adrift and abandoned on a rickety...
Week 3: The Miracle on the Hudson
This week in history: inaugurations, executions, and people drowning in hot molasses, the birthdays of famous founding fathers, and the Miracle on the...
Episode 394: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Great Engineer
In this week's episode, meet Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the famous and immensely influential engineer, whose work encompassed bridges, tunnels, railways...
Episode 393: Operation Just Cause
In this week's episode, get across the story of Operation Just Cause, when the US staged an invasion of Panama in 1989, capturing and airlifting its l...
Week 2: Caesar Crosses the Rubicon
This week in history: rioting sports fans in sixth-century Constantinople, the first-ever meeting of the UN General Assembly, the birthdays of famous...
QAH Episode 143: William McGonagall, History's Worst Poet
Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of William McGonagall, widely considered to be the worst English-language poet that history has ever seen.
Episode 392: Jean de Carrouges and the Last Duel
In this episode, hear the tale of Jean de Carrouges, who fought a duel to the death to seek justice for his wife Marguerite.
WARNING: this episo...
Inventions Episode 52: The Smartphone
The smartphone is an invention that is currently bringing about a technological transformation of human civilisation - and an invitation to think abou...
Week 1: The Introduction of the Euro
This week in history: the establishment of calendars and international timekeeping systems, the federation of Australia, the birthdays of several prom...
Update: Half-Arsed History in 2026
Changes are coming to Half-Arsed History in 2026! Some positive, some negative - here is the TL;DL:
• There will now only be two episodes releas...
QAH Episode 142: The Principality of Sealand
Quarter-Arsed History presents: the very amusing history of Sealand, an unrecognised micronation located on an abandoned military fort off the coast o...
Episode 391: History's Weirdest Epithets - Part 2
In this week's episode, meet five more historical figures with strange epithets: Æthelred the Unready, Constantine V Koprónymos, Louis Do-Nothing, Mal...
Inventions Episode 51: The Internet
The internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes.
Hosted on Acast. See aca...
QAH Episode 141: The Stone of Scone
Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of the Stone of Scone, a block of sandstone upon which Scottish, English, and then British kings and queens...
Episode 390: The Miracle Landing of the Gimli Glider
In this week's episode, hear the incredible tale of Air Canada Flight 143, when a Boeing 767 ran out of fuel mid-flight and so had to be flown and lan...
Inventions Episode 50: The Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System began as top-secret military technology, before a series of interesting (and some tragic) events opened up a world of co...
QAH Episode 140: A Brief History of Morse Code
Quarter-Arsed History presents: a brief history of Morse code, an encoding and transmission system that helped to transform long-distance communicatio...
Episode 389: The First Transatlantic Telegraph Cable
In this week's episode, hear about the series of ridiculous setbacks and disasters that took place as part of the laying of the first transatlantic te...
Inventions Episode 49: The Personal Computer
The personal computer is an invention that defines the modern information age, a deeply entrenched part of daily life for billions of people all aroun...
QAH Episode 139: The SS Princess Alice Disaster
Quarter-Arsed History presents: the story of the SS Princess Alice Disaster, when hundreds of people drowned in raw sewage after two ships collided on...
Update: On Recent Episodes Being Late and a Few Other Things Too
TL;DL: No episodes for the next week or so. I'm a little bit burnt out after a huge year, so I've been struggling to get episodes out on time. Solutio...
Episode 388: Beatrix Potter, the Enterprising Author
In this week's episode, get to know the remarkable Beatrix Potter, whose historical legacy goes a lot further than just the authorship of an immensely...