Discover the extraordinary history of ordinary items all around you.
Sounds,·31 episodes
A boy scout assembles parts for the nuclear reactor he’s building in his mother’s shed.
The Ancient Romans use questionable substances to clean their clothes.
A whole city is built from waste in Neolithic Turkey.
Villagers across Europe turn on each other with dangerous accusations of witchcraft.
Ryebread causes a devastating disease in medieval Germany.
A king in dire financial straits institutes a controversial tax on fireplaces.
On a windswept island in the Bristol Channel, radio is born…
The most elaborate clock the world has ever seen is constructed in 11th-century China.
In Victorian London, a rat catcher turns his profession into street entertainment.
At a feast in Norway, drunk Vikings engage in a rap battle.
A tax on windows leads to some interesting architectural solutions.
A gaggle of geese stands guard outside a whisky distillery in Scotland.
Pigs form an unlikely part of the sewage system in ancient China.
In the Middle Ages, poison rings are used to covertly contaminate food and drink.
Landscape gardening leads to the downfall of a powerful politician in 17th century France.
In Mughal India, an emperor just can’t do without his favourite tandoori meals…
On the Isle of Lewis, a lost cow unearths the most famous chess pieces in history
Napoleon Bonaparte causes a stir, by rotating his bicorne 90 degrees…
A young girl’s innovation turns a small Georgia town into the carpet capital of the world.
A radical apothecary causes a stir during the English Civil War...
A bed proves fatal for three men in medieval France…
Prohibition in America leads to the production of potentially deadly drinks…
The world’s first cat lady is found living in Victorian London.
In medieval England, gardening brings an inquisitive monk closer to God.
A goat herder in 9th century Ethiopia finds a stimulating plant.
At a wedding in medieval Italy, a woman’s death is blamed on a two-pronged utensil...
A summit between Henry VIII and his French counterpart leaves a mountain of dirty dishes.
In the hills of Northern Spain lamps help an anthropologist make an incredible discovery.
A murderous emperor builds the grandest bath complex ever seen in Ancient Rome.
In Ancient Persia, ice houses refrigerate food in one of the hottest deserts on earth...
