Utterly interesting

Teenage emperor Elagabalus shocked Rome with a new sun cult, a Vestal Virgin marriage, rapid divorces, and rumours of lovers and excess. Ancient writers turned his brief reign into one of history’s most notorious scandals.

The Mirabal sisters stood up to Trujillo when doing so meant prison or death. Their assassination on 25 Nov 1960 shook the Dominican Republic and helped hasten the dictator’s fall. Dedé Mirabal spent her life making sure the world remembered why.

A detailed factual account of Michael Ryan’s life, the Hungerford shootings of 19 August 1987, the victims, the police response, and how the Hungerford Report led to the Firearms Amendment Act 1988.

Discover the overlooked life of inventor Mary Kenner, creator of the sanitary belt and holder of five US patents, whose work quietly transformed everyday life.

Eccentric millionaire Nubar Gulbenkian lived life like a performance. Gold plated taxis, daily orchids, outrageous lawsuits, MI9 spy work, and legendary dinner parties. A man who said, “I prefer everything” and meant it.

The making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was as dramatic as the film itself. Lost manuscripts, Cold War surveillance, casting battles, real psychiatric wards, and a director shaped by political repression all came together to create a classic that changed cinema.

She was once the most recognisable woman in America, posing for statues across New York and starring in early silent films. Audrey Munson lived to 104 yet died forgotten. Her story is a haunting mix of beauty, scandal and survival, and her face still lives on in stone.

In 1910, Dr Samuel Monell claimed high frequency electric currents could treat everything from acne to insomnia and even hysteria. His book became a curious milestone in the odd, inventive world of early electrotherapy. A fascinating glimpse into medicine’s electric age.

Meet George Burchett, the King of Tattooists. From Brighton to the Royal Navy to inking kings and circus stars, his life shaped modern tattoo culture. A relaxed deep dive into the man who turned tattooing into an art.

In 1951, a 66 year old Swede named Gustaf Håkansson unofficially entered a thousand mile race he had been deemed too old for. Five days later he crossed the finish a full day ahead of every official rider. This is the relaxed but remarkable story of Steel Grandpa.

A detailed journey through the story of the Communards from the streets of revolutionary Paris to the distant penal settlements of New Caledonia with rare insights into daily life, escape attempts and unexpected friendships.

On 13 November 1002, King Æthelred II ordered the slaughter of Danes in England. Mass graves in Oxford and Dorset reveal the horror of the St Brice’s Day Massacre, a desperate act that helped bring down Anglo-Saxon England.

Before headlines found him, Michael Dillon quietly changed medicine and himself. Oxford scholar, ship’s doctor, Buddhist monk — and the first known trans man to undergo phalloplasty. A life shaped by intellect, ethics, and quiet courage.

In the early 1900s, Austrian priest Martin Gusinde journeyed to Tierra del Fuego to live among the Selk’nam, Yamana, and Kawésqar peoples. His 1,200 photographs and sound recordings remain one of the last great records of a vanishing world.

In 1931, New Orleans threw a party for Satchmo. There was jazz, there was baseball, and there was a team in white uniforms called the Secret Nine. Discover the story of Louis Armstrong Day and his lifelong love of the game.

Before she was Marilyn, she was “Mona” — a nineteen year old model earning $10 an hour in Earl Moran’s studio. Those early photos, once just reference material, now reveal the quiet beginnings of Hollywood’s most enduring icon.

On 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes waited in a cellar below Parliament with 36 barrels of gunpowder. A letter exposed the plan — and changed England forever. Discover the full story of faith, fire, and the night that made Bonfire Night.

In the 1960s, Cornell Aeronautical Laboratories explored the “Man Amplifier,” an early exoskeleton concept designed to boost human strength. Decades before modern robotics, their visionary work laid the foundation for today’s powered suits.

In the late 1960s, hijacking an American airliner and demanding to fly to Cuba became so common that the U.S. government considered building a fake Havana in Florida. Federal officials planned to disguise a runway with palm trees, Spanish signs, and Cuban music so hijackers could be tricked into surrendering — a bizarre but revealing episode from the Cold War’s golden age of skyjacking.

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were unlike anything before or since. A chaotic marathon of dust, poison, wild dogs and cheating that almost ended the event for good. Discover the unbelievable story of America’s first and strangest Olympic Games.

In 1954, Marilyn Monroe left her honeymoon in Japan to perform for American troops in freezing Korea. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. For the soldiers, her warmth and laughter brought home to a war-torn land.

From battered sand at Daytona to blinding white salt at Bonneville, Malcolm Campbell’s Blue Bird fused Rolls Royce power and Railton craft to shatter three hundred miles per hour in 1935. How a cool head, a smarter nose, and twin rear wheels made history.

A broke writer, a fiery producer, and a word the Mob wanted erased. Discover how The Godfather was made — the deals, the threats, the casting fights, and the brilliance that made it a masterpiece.