Gill is very secretive about where she is off to this week but we coax it out of her and it turns out it's Paris! To celebrate, Pete and Gill look into the very long and varied history of the Olympic Games and a few of the forgotten events that once were part of the sporting festival... some of which they want back, but some are probably best consigned to history.

Gill also reports from Paris and sends us her take on how the Games are shaping up.

Pete gets tangled up a bit with telling Holland and The Netherlands apart and there is some (only a bit) talk of naked wrestling.

No Pigeons were harmed in the making of this podcast... The same cannot be said of the 1900 Paris Olympics.

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Youtube...: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

References in this episode:

https://olympics.com/en/news/top-reasons-why-the-athens-1896-olympics-were-important-for-modern-sport

http://ftp.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/olympics/revival/intro.html

https://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/g46994101/weird-olympics-facts-history/

https://www.firstpost.com/sports/olympic-humour-a-history-of-all-that-was-funny-hilarious-and-absurd-at-the-games-2939400.html/amp

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Gill & Pete Blast off into space - figuratively speaking - and look into the Apollo Missions and the Moon Landings. They also find out the huge cultural role The Muppets played in the Space Race. Gill has star-gazing dating tips but then also gets Bruce Willis mixed up with Jim Lovell. Pete attempts impersonations of not one but two US Presidents to varying degrees of success.

Also you heard it here first. The New Game Show: Shooting down Space Junk with Lazers... It's going to happen.

Follow us on Social Media:

X / Twitter: @WhatTheFactual

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Youtube...: www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

We, again thoroughly recommend:

The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks

at Lightroom, London.

https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/the-moonwalkers/

References used in this episode:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/missions.html

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/address-to-joint-session-of-congress-may-25-1961

https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/apollo-11-moon-landing

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/interactive-map-shows-all-21-successful-moon-landings-180972687/

https://www.history.com/news/apollo-11-moon-landing-timeline

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-amazing-facts-about-the-apollo-11-moon-landing.html

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Gill and Pete look into the roaring post-republic years of Charles II's reign. Samuel Pepys starts getting stuck into his diary while Charles just simply gets stuck in. They also find that romance still exists down on the London Underground and they find out what a missed opportunity a Liberty Moo was.. or could have been.

It also seems that Donald Duck is suffering from a bit of hey fever.

Follow us on Social Media:

X / Twitter: @WhatTheFactual

Instagram: @whatthefactualpod

Email us..: whatthefactualpod@gmail.com

Youtube...: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

References in this episode:

https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/blog/mind-gap-story-embankment-stations-announcement

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Gill & Pete dive into the history and "quirks" of British Politics and without pledging any (obvious) allegiance they delve into how Parliament was born and how it developed all its crazy idiosyncrasies. They discuss, black rod, the division bell, where to hang your sword and then cross the pond for some drunken late-night pizza hunts. Also we learn how not to fake your own death and that its quite a good thing to remember if your country is at war or not.

Follow us on Social Media:

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Youtube...: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

References used in this episode:

https://www.history.com/news/bill-clinton-boris-yeltsin-drunk-1994-russian-state-visit

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/politicians-behaving-badly-7-british-government-scandals/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zb736v4

https://louderthanwar.com/20-weird-facts-about-parliament/

(Article by John Robb)

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Gill and Pete are back for a look at how we got from Henry VIII to The Restoration via Civil War and some fairly dubious execution practices. They navigate the republic years of boredom and anti-fun under Cromwell and they find that the National Anthem was actually a football chant... (Some things haven't changed.)

We thoroughly recommend a visit to Moonwalkers at Lightroom, London.

https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/the-moonwalkers/

Follow us on Social Media:

X / Twitter: @WhatTheFactual

Instagram: @whatthefactualpod

Email us..: whatthefactualpod@gmail.com

Youtube...: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

References from this episode:

https://kidskonnect.com/animals/zonkey/

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In Episode 5, Gill and Pete look at the life of all-round legend Marie Curie and the incredible work she did in the field of science and medicine. They also touch on Robin Hood, Vincent Van Gogh, Brass Rubbing, new WTF? merchandise and a gameshow where Baseball results take on far more importance than we might like. They also look into whether glow in the dark watches are actually radioactive.

Follow us on Social Media:

X / Twitter: @WhatTheFactual

Instagram: @whatthefactualpod

Email us..: whatthefactualpod@gmail.com

Youtube...: www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

References in this episode:

www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/faq.html

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susunu!_Denpa_Sh%C5%8Dnen

www.gearpatrol.com/watches/a324890…mitting%20light

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Gill & Pete are back with episode 4 in which, this time Pete takes the reins and tells Gill the miraculous story of Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade who was left with an unimaginable choice during the Second World War when his Lancaster Bomber was set alight in combat.

The regular features of Love Factually and Chew The Fact throw up the usual fascinating facts which bewilder and confuse in equal measure!

Follow us on Social Media:

X / Twitter: @WhatTheFactual

Instagram: @whatthefactualpod

Email us..: whatthefactualpod@gmail.com

Youtube...: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

Source material from:

https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/blog/the-indestructible-alkemade/

https://www.tpr.org/arts-culture/2020-07-10/50-years-ago-there-was-a-great-little-train-robbery-in-san-antonio

https://thinkzone.wlonk.com/SS/SolarSystemModel.php?obj=Pluto&dist=0.1cm&lat=40.625766&lon=-82.224742&table=y&map=y&stars=y

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In Episode 3 Gill and Pete finally answer the huge hanging question from Series 1, Gill educates Pete on the most complicated route a man can take to being drowned in a barrel of wine. They also address JFK, Dr Henry Heimlich, Coney Island Steeplechase Amusement Park and finally setting up the interview of the century with Lee Harvey Oswald... If he'll agree to come on the pod.

References:

https://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/People/King-Richard-III-53274.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steeplechase_Park#1907_fire_and_rebuilding

https://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/27/us/heimlich-inventor-uses-maneuver/index.html

Follow us on Social Media:

X / Twitter: @WhatTheFactual

Instagram: @whatthefactualpod

Email us..: whatthefactualpod@gmail.com

Youtube...: https://www.youtube.com/@whatthefactualpod

What The Factual? is written and presented by Gill Smith & Pete Moor.

Subjects & Research by Gill Smith.

Sound, Editing & Music by Pete Moor.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.