Short History Of...

New Noiser Release. Starting today, unpack the epic dramas of history’s most infamous buccaneers. Real Pirates takes you right into the heart of the action with immersive storytelling and pulse-racing tales, charting the lives of the legendary men and women who roamed the oceans...

Despised by the English, mistrusted by the Scottish nobles, and revered by his countrymen: William Wallace is synonymous with the battle for Scottish freedom. But scratch away at the legend, and even the most basic details are disputed. Where he was born, who he married, and what he did after his famous battle at Stirling Bridge. Thanks to the brutal nature of his death, he doesn’t even have a grave...

After a bloody battle on September 22nd, 1877, Saigo Takamori and his loyal warriors pause on a hillside overlooking Kagoshima. They’ll never surrender, but they’re wounded, exhausted, and massively outnumbered, and Saigo already knows how this will end. Because his noble Samurai army aren’t just fighting the Emperor’s gun-wielding forces. They’re fighting progress itself. And that’s a battle they cannot win...

Introducing History Daily, the new show from Noiser, co-produced with Airship. Host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous moment that happened ‘on this day’ in history. Find and follow 'History Daily' wherever you get your podcasts to get your daily dose of history. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users...

One night in November 1605, a man is discovered underneath England’s Houses of Parliament. And he’s got enough gunpowder with him to reduce it to rubble, with the King, his sons, and the entire government inside it. The Gunpowder plot is an epic tale of adventure and murderous revenge, a detective story complete with secrets, aliases, even an anonymous letter of betrayal...

By the time she died in 2005, Rosa Parks was known around the world as an icon of activism. Her act of defiance one ordinary Thursday afternoon in Montgomery, Alabama catapulted her to the forefront of the battle for racial equality in America. But what was her story before that fateful moment in 1955? What course did her life take afterward? This is a Short History of Rosa Parks. Written by Kate Simants. With thanks to Dr...

Cloaked in secrecy, discussed by even the most hardened criminals as a place of terror, US Penitentiary Alcatraz is the most feared institution in the American penal system. From 1934 to 1963 more than 1500 prisoners pass through its gates, including Machine-Gun Kelly and Scarface himself, Alphonse Capone. But how did this island rock capture the public imagination? What was life really like inside? This is a Short History of Alcatraz. Written by Kate Simants...

In 1511, a Spanish lifeboat makes land on the Yucatán coast in modern-day Mexico. Thirteen days ago, the crew's caravel was wrecked on a reef. But their adventure is far from over. Now, they are about to become some of the first Europeans to make contact with the Maya. Custodians of an ancient civilisation, at one time tens of millions of Maya people inhabited a swathe of the Americas...

After multiple coups by the Soviet Union, astronaut Alan B. Shepard has just become the first American in space. But this is only the beginning. Now, NASA have the moon in their sights, but it's still a long way off. For either the USA or the USSR to succeed, they'll need newer and better technology. The 1960s are about to become the defining decade in space exploration. Who will touch down first on Earth's nearest neighbour? This is a Short History of the Moon Landing. Written by Luke Kuhns...

Humanity has always looked to the heavens, pondering what is really out there. But how did space travel turn from fantasy into reality? In the aftermath of World War Two, a group of scientists from Nazi Germany arrives in the United States. Their task? To kickstart America's space program. Meanwhile, in the Soviet Union a covert team of engineers begins work on a series of rockets and satellites. The starting gun has been fired...