The Ancient Greek Computer: The Antikythera Mechanism
20 August 2023 - 28 minsIn the recent Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny movie, the Antikythera Mechanism is used for time travel but in reality it was actually more of a celestial calculator- to track and predict astronomical phenomena. It was discovered by a group of Greek sponge divers in 1901 as they explored the site of an ancient shipwreck that dated back to the first century BCE. Among the wreckage on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, they found a complex arrangement of gears, wheels, and dials housed in a wooden case. It has astounded archaeologists, scientists and historians for years. It challenges our previous understanding of ancient technological capabilities and reveals the sophisticated level of s...
Series Episodes
Pirates: Piracy in the South China Seas
Zheng Yi Sao was a pirate leader so formidable that she made Blackbeard and Captain Morgan look like amateurs. From humble beginnings as a sex worker in Canton, she rose to command a vast pirate fleet that wrought havoc in the South China Sea. She took on the Qing Dynasty, the Portuguese and the East India Company and still managed to walk away free. In the second episode of our 'Pirates' mini-series, Dan is joined by Andrew Choong, Curator of Historic Photographs & Ship Plans at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, to uncover the story of one of history's most successful buccaneers. You can discover more about the exhibition and book tickets here. Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore. Join Dan and the team for the first-ever LIVE recording of Dan Snow's History Hit on Friday 12th September 2025! To celebrate 10 years of the podcast, Dan is putting on a special show of signature storytelling, never-before-heard anecdotes from his often stranger-than-fiction career as well as answering the burning questions you've always wanted to ask! Get tickets here, before they sell out: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/dan-snows-history-hit/ You can now find Dan Snow's History Hit on YouTube! Watch episodes every Friday here. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on. You can also email the podcast directly at [email protected].
38 mins
6 July Finished
The Rise & Fall of Sparta
Today, we trace the rise and fall of ancient Greece’s most formidable warrior society - Sparta. This society's militaristic culture and battlefield feats are the stuff of legend - but how much of its story is based on cold, hard fact? Joining us is Dr Andrew Bayliss, a professor of Greek History at the University of Birmingham. He separates the fact from the fiction, explaining how a brutal education system and unyielding discipline forged an elite military state, and eventually led to its downfall. Join Dan and the team for the first-ever LIVE recording of Dan Snow's History Hit on Friday 12th September 2025! To celebrate 10 years of the podcast, Dan is putting on a special show of signature storytelling, never-before-heard anecdotes from his often stranger-than-fiction career as well as answering the burning questions you've always wanted to ask! Get tickets here, before they sell out: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/dan-snows-history-hit/ You can now find Dan Snow's History Hit on YouTube! Watch episodes every Friday (including this one) here. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on. You can also email the podcast directly at [email protected].
46 mins
3 July Finished
The Seven Years War
The Seven Years' War in the 18th century is often called the first world war - it was fought across Europe, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. It redrew the world map, setting the stage for the rise of the British Empire and the eventual American and French revolutions. Dan guest-presents this special episode of the Echoes of History podcast that we're sharing on this feed. He is joined by Dr Emma Hart to discuss this clash between the Old World and the New. Echoes of History is a Ubisoft podcast, brought to you by History Hit. Listen here. Edited by: Michael McDaid Produced by: Robin McConnell Senior Producer: Anne-Marie Luff Production Manager: Beth Donaldson Executive Producers: Etienne Bouvier, Julien Fabre, Steve Lanham, Jen Bennett Music by Elitsa Alexandrova If you liked this podcast, please subscribe, share, rate & review. Take part in our listener survey here.
1 hour 4 mins
1 July Finished
Pirates: Myths vs Reality
When it comes to our perception of pirates, Treasure Island has a lot to answer for. They didn't make their enemies walk the plank, they didn't keep parrots as pets, and they didn't bury their treasure. But that doesn't mean the golden age of piracy wasn't an era of swashbuckling rogues and sword fights on the high seas... In the first episode of our 'Pirates' mini-series, Dan explores the facts behind the fiction behind the likes of Blackbeard and Captain Kidd with Sophie Nibbs, the curator of the new Pirates exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. You can discover more about the exhibition and book tickets here. Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore. Archive: Treasure Island, RKO Pictures, 1950 Muppets Treasure Island, Walt Disney Pictures, 1996 Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt Disney Pictures, 2007 Treasure Island, Mercury Theatre, 1938 Join Dan and the team for the first-ever LIVE recording of Dan Snow's History Hit on Friday 12th September 2025! To celebrate 10 years of the podcast, Dan is putting on a special show of signature storytelling, never-before-heard anecdotes from his often stranger-than-fiction career as well as answering the burning questions you've always wanted to ask! Get tickets here, before they sell out: https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/words/dan-snows-history-hit/ You can now find Dan Snow's History Hit on YouTube! Watch episodes every Friday here. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on. You can also email the podcast directly at [email protected].
38 mins
29 June Finished
Richard the Lionheart
Crusading hero, battlefield legend...absentee ruler? Dan explores the myth and reality behind England’s Warrior King. From storming Sicily to conquering Cyprus and striking fear into the heart of Saladin on crusade, Richard’s legend has loomed large for centuries, fuelled by Victorian storytellers and patriotic lore. But how much of it is true? Medieval historian Richard Huscroft joins Dan to separate fact from fiction. Was Richard I a noble warrior, a king who abandoned his realm, or is it more complicated than that? Produced by Mariana Des Forges, Dan Snow and edited by Dougal Patmore You can now find Dan Snow's History Hit on YouTube! Watch episodes every Friday here. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on. You can also email the podcast directly at [email protected].
35 mins
26 June Finished
Pirates! NEW SERIES
Swashbuckling rogues with a disregard for authority surging across the oceans, the smell of salt and gunpowder in their nostrils... looking for treasure on desert islands. Just like Dan, we're sure you've also grown up reading pirate stories and watching adventure films. But, what if we told you that most of what you know about pirates isn't quite true? This July, Dan is teaming up with the National Maritime Museum Greenwich to unravel the fact from the fiction and tell you the extraordinary stories of the most formidable pirates in history. From the South China Seas to the Barbary Coast and the Caribbean, he'll be joined by leading experts to chart the rise and fall of Piracy across the 17th - 19th centuries. New episodes every Monday from 29th June to 21st July. Be sure to hit follow wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode. Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore. You can email the podcast directly at [email protected].
1 min
25 June Finished
