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 to 15 February 1942. Nicknamed the “Gibraltar of the East,” Singapore was the foremost British military base and economic port in South-East Asia ...

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

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 what of the letter that broke off an engagement, or announced the intention to file for divorce? During World War II, such letters became known as “D...

A little update from Dan on where he is and how the journey to Antarctica is going!

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 dramatic tale of survival, but because there's visual evidence of it. Some of the greatest moments of history in the last century are etched into our m...

In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel the Endurance was crushed ...

Classicist and national treasure Mary Beard speaks to Dan about Ancient Rome and its emperors.

In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel the Endurance was crushed ...

In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel the Endurance was crushed ...

The expedition has begun and Dan is here to answer your questions about all things Endurance22, the expedition to find Shackleton’s lost shipwreck! For the first time, Dan is the subject of his own podcast as he’s interviewed by History Hit’s producer Mariana Des Forges about all things Endurance...

Amid Moscow’s increasing build-up of troops along the Ukrainian border and the preparation of infrastructure for a possible invasion, tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue to mount. Dating back centuries, the history of the relationship between the two countries is one of complexity - but ...

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

Dan is joined by Tim McInerney, co-host of The Irish Passport podcast, for this deep dive into the pivotal events of 1969 to the early...

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 smarter. Von Neumann was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He c...

On the 30th January, 372 years ago, Charles I, king of Great Britain and Ireland, stepped out of the Banqueting House in Whitehall, to be beheaded in front of a huge London crowd. It was a deeply shocking moment not just in the lives of those people who witnessed it, but also in the longer span o...

The 1950s in West Germany saw a sharp decline in Nazi war crimes investigations and trials. Instead, there were campaigns for amnesties and reductions of earlier sentences, many led by former high-level Nazis and supported tacitly by conservative politicians. Prosecutions lacked any serious or sy...

Carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949, the Nuremberg trials were held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice. The most widely-known of those trials was the Trial of Major War Criminals, held from November 20, 1945, to October 1, 1946. Judges from the Allied p...

Have you heard? History Hit is going to the Antarctic!

Dan is joining an incredible expedition to locate the missing shipwreck of Ernest Shackleton’s vessel that was crushed by the ice and sank during his 1914 attempt to cross Antarctica. If they find the Endurance, it'll be the greatest underwa...

Thomas Geve was just 15 years old when he was liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp on 11 April 1945. It was the third concentration camp he had survived. During the 22 months he was imprisoned, he was forced to observe first-hand the inhumane world of Nazi concentration camps. On his even...

The Gilded Age was a time in American history when the economy grew at its fastest rate in history. This had wide-reaching cultural and social effects, including a broadening tier of self-made millionaires, the rapid growth of the working class and a burgeoning black middle class.

It is against ...

Most people think that Britain's worst moment of the war was in 1940 when the nation stood up against the threat of German invasion. Yet, eighty years ago, Britain stood at the brink of defeat. In 1942, a string of military disasters engulfed Britain in rapid succession, including the collapse in...

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law banning abortion, effectively legalising the procedure nationwide. The court held that a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy protected by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

Roe v. Wade, involve...

After the outbreak of the First World War, boys as young as twelve were caught up in a national wave of patriotism and, in huge numbers, volunteered to serve. The press, recruiting offices and the Government all contributed to the enlistment of hundreds of thousands of underage soldiers in both B...

Fought between the 22nd-25th of April 1951, the battle of Imjin River was part of a Chinese counter-offensive after United Nations forces had recaptured Seoul in March 1951. The assault on ‘Gloster Hill’ was led by General Peng Dehuai who commanded a force of 300,000 troops attacking over a 40-mi...

Eugenics has been used in attempts throughout history, and across continents, to gain power and assert control.

In this episode, we trace Eugenics from its intellectual origins in Victorian Britain to the actual policies put into action to control populations birthrates in Nazi Germany and 20th ...