1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: two different hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: on with the show. Welcome to this day in History 5 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,239 Speaker 1: Class from how Stuff Works dot com and from the 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: desk of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the 7 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:20,759 Speaker 1: show where we explore the past one day at a 8 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: time with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: it's November two. Marie Antoinette was born on this day 11 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: in seventeen fifty five in Vienna, Austria. She would go 12 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: on to Mary Louis, the Dauphin of France. He would 13 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:45,279 Speaker 1: become King Louis the sixteenth in seventeen seventy. She was 14 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: only fourteen when they got married, and this marriage had 15 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: been arranged when she was ten years old. She was 16 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: kind of a pawn in all of this. The whole 17 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: thing was meant to connect the House of Habsburg with 18 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: the French Bourbons. That was going to make a diplomatic 19 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: connection between Austria and France, hopefully preventing future wars. Resolving 20 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: from conflict from past wars. When Louis became the king 21 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy four, he and Marie Antoinette pretty quickly 22 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: became emblematic of what people thought of as royal excess, 23 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: and this was in the years leading up to the 24 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: French Revolution. They were also really heavily criticized and scrutinized 25 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: because their marriage wasn't consummated for many years, although they 26 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: did eventually go on to have four children. Marie Antoinette 27 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: herself was heavily criticized for all of the expense that 28 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: went into things like her hair and her gowns. She 29 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: had hundreds of elaborate dresses. There were people who said 30 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: that it was her who was causing France's financial problems 31 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: with all this money that she was spending on what 32 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: she was wearing and what was in her hair. And 33 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: she did spend a lot of money on all that stuff, 34 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: but that was still a really tiny part of what 35 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: was going on in the French economy. That included some 36 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: economic policies that had been just disastrous, plus x fences 37 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: that were brought on by France coming to the aid 38 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: of the patriots caused during the American Revolution. She and 39 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: Louie were really heavily scapegoaded in the press, though even 40 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: though it was not their personal spending that was causing 41 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: all of France's problems, and really it was at best 42 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: completely clueless of them to be having such a visibly 43 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: opulent life at Versailles while the rest of the French 44 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: people were struggling and on the cusp of a revolution. 45 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: After women marched on Versailles in response to a food shortage, 46 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: which we've talked about on this podcast before, Louis and 47 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette were forced to return to Paris and they 48 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: were virtually held captive there as the French Revolution spread. 49 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: The royal family tried to escape on June twenty, seventeen 50 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: ninety one, but they were captured and imprisoned, and Louis 51 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: was executed on January twenty one of seventeen ninety three. 52 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette died by guillotine on October sixteenth, seventeen ninety three, 53 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: after having been found guilty of treason in a very 54 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: sensationalized and lure red trial. She was the last Queen 55 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: of France. Because of all this hair and gowns and 56 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: opulence and excess and wild parties. She has developed a 57 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: reputation for being uncaring and greedy. There's that whole rumor 58 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: that she was told that French peasants couldn't afford to 59 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: buy bread and she very dismissively said to let the 60 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: meat cake. That's not true. That is a story that 61 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: was about a completely different princess. In reality, she had 62 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: a very generous streak when it came to other people, 63 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: particularly those who were needy. She sold the Royal flatwear 64 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: at one point to try to buy grain for poor 65 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: people during a famine. She established a home for unwed mothers. 66 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: She took it an orphaned boy and oversaw his education. 67 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: So even though she's been sort of branded as this uncaring, greedy, flippant, 68 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: frivolous woman who spent all of France's money on her 69 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: hair and clothes, she had a very generous and soft 70 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: hearted streak that's often forgotten in the face of all 71 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: of that. Thanks very much to Casey P. Graham and 72 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for their audio work on this podcast, and 73 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to The Day in History Class on 74 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts, and where reals you get your podcasts, 75 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: and you can tune in tomorrow for a congressional first. 76 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: Hey y'all, I'm Eves and welcome to this day in 77 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: History class, where we uncover a new layer of history 78 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: every day. The day was November two, ninety six. The 79 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: British Broadcasting Corporation or BBC television service was broadcast from 80 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: Alexandra Palace in North London, making it the world's first 81 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 1: regularly scheduled public high definition television service. The BBC had 82 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: been experimenting with television broadcasts since the late nineteen twenty 83 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: Scottish engineer John Logie Baird, who demonstrated the first working 84 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: television in ninety six and succeeded in transmitting live pictures 85 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: from London to New York, helped set up the BBC's 86 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: first television program. Baird built a television studio in long Acre, 87 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: experimenting with a small transmitter. He used his electro mechanical 88 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: system with a vertically scanned image of thirty lines. But 89 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: TV needs one transmitter for sound and one for picture. 90 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: Because the BBC only had one transmitter, the first TV 91 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: programs had to have a couple of minutes of picture 92 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: followed by a couple of minutes of sound. By March 93 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: of nineteen thirty the BBC had a new twin transmitter 94 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: and simultaneous sound and picture transmission began. The BBC began 95 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: broadcasting its first regular experimental television programming on August two, 96 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: ninety two, from Studio BB in the basement of Broadcasting 97 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: House it's headquarters in din. The initial broadcast were produced 98 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: by Eustace rob and the chief engineer was Douglas Berkenshaw. 99 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 1: Baird appeared on the first program to thank the BBC. 100 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: The BBC's early TV programs demonstrated the potential of the medium. 101 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: These regular daily transmissions continued until the system shut down 102 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: in to make way for the new High Definition service. 103 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,040 Speaker 1: A German TV service had begun in nineteen thirty five, 104 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: but since it only offered pictures with one dred and 105 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: eighty lines, it did not qualify as high definition in 106 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: the BBC's book. The BBC had decided that anything two 107 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: hundred and forty lines or above was high definition. After 108 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: tests and special broadcast began in August of nineteen thirty six, 109 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: the BBC Television service officially launched under the leadership of 110 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: Director of Television Gerald Cox on November two, ninety six, 111 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: The first program was a bulletin of British movie Tone News. 112 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: The Television Advisory Committee recommend it that both the Beared 113 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: two hundred and forty line mechanical system and the Marconi 114 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: e M I four and five line electronic system be 115 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: used for the new television station. Each system had its 116 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: own broadcast studio. Early television sets supported both systems and 117 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: the BBC transmitted them on alternating weeks during a trial period, 118 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: and estimated five hundred television sets received the BBC Television 119 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: Services broadcast. The initial broadcast only ran from three to 120 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: four pm and nine to ten pm Monday to Friday. 121 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: The Marconi system one out in nineteen thirty seven after 122 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: the bear To system was deemed to cumbersome and its 123 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:44,559 Speaker 1: visual quality proved inferior. The BBC did its first major 124 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: television outside broadcast in May of nineteen thirty seven, when 125 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: it took cameras to the coronation of King George the six. 126 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: Because recording technology was not yet available, people used a 127 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: technique called telerecording, also known as kinescoping, where a camp 128 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: rep focused on a television screen filmed the live picture 129 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: to preserve the broadcast. A Marconi company employee filmed the 130 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: coronation on his home TV. The last program to air 131 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: before World War Two brought broadcast to a halt was 132 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: a Mickey Mouse cartoon. The station was taken off the 133 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: air on September one, ninety nine, a couple of days 134 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: before Britain declared war on Germany, since Britain feared that 135 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: the v h F four very high frequency transmissions would 136 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: act as a beacon to enemy aircraft. There were an 137 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: estimated twenty thousand TV sets in Britain at the time. 138 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: BBC Television was back up and running by June of 139 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: ninety six. The Mickey Mouse cartoon that they had left 140 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: everybody with was shown twenty minutes after broadcast resumed. I'm 141 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: eve Chef Code and hopefully you know a little more 142 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you know 143 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: you already spend too much time on social media, spend 144 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:57,679 Speaker 1: some of that time with us at t D I 145 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 1: h C podcast on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If emails 146 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: your thing, send us a note at this day. At 147 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: iHeartMedia dot com, we're here every day so you know 148 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: where to find us by. For more podcasts from my 149 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 150 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.