Yesterday's News

King Richard III lives on in our cultural imagination as one of England’s most nefarious villains, particularly for the suspected murder of his two young nephews while they were confined to the infamous Tower of London in the summer of 1483. 

No one knew what happened for certain, even in 1675, when workers found the remains of two children buried underneath a staircase in the Tower. 

Many people assume that these...

The Affair of the Diamond Necklace was the eighteenth century's most notorious heist—and for good reason. It's a dramatic story of lust, theft, betrayal, and ultimately, the fall of the freaking Queen of France.

The players in this con included Marie Antoinette, King Louis XVI, a sly con-woman named Jeanne de la Motte, her gigolo-forger boyfriend, and the dumbest cardinal of all time. Mix them all together, add an absurdly e...

The humid, cobbled streets of New Orleans’ French Quarter have their fair share of shadowy stories, but none are as notorious as that of Micaela Almonester, the beautiful Baroness de Pontalba. This Creole blueblood’s life was filled with decadent balls, palatial estates, and one infamous crime.

Plug in your headphones and learn all about New Orleans' "Bullet-Proof Baroness" but take care: It doesn’t get more Sout...

On January 30, 1889, tucked away in the Mayerling hunting lodge near Vienna, one of history’s darkest stories unfolded. That morning, servants discovered the lifeless bodies of Crown Prince Rudolf and his 17-year-old mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera. The shocking vignette threw the royal house into instant chaos and left a pervading mystery.

What led up to that dark day at Mayerling and exactly what happened inside that huntin...

On a misty August day in 1590, John White disembarked from a perilous voyage across the Atlantic ocean. White and his crew had come to America to check on a settlement, but as they approached the Roanoke colony, they realized that something was very wrong: the people of Roanoke had disappeared without a trace. 

On this episode of "Yesterday's News," Dancy and Veronica explore one of America's most famous vanishing acts: the m...

In 1820, England talked about one thing and one thing only: The spectacular breakdown of the marriage between King George IV and his wife Caroline of Brunswick. The royal couple had never been happy, but their misery and hatred only hit its apex when George took his own wife to court and demanded a divorce.

The reason? According to George, Caroline was a sexual pervert and an unfit queen. The resulting trial became the sex scandal...

Who was history's most infamous serial killer? In this episode—the second of our two-part series on Jack the Ripper—we go full armchair detective and try to identify Victorian England's most dangerous criminal. We discuss the Ripper's psychology, overview prominent suspects, and conclude by stumping for the man that each of us think committed the Whitechapel murders. Was Jack an insane barber? A member of Britain's roya...

In 1888, Jack the Ripper haunted London's Whitechapel District. He preyed on the vulnerable, killing at least five innocent women—and then, just as suddenly as he emerged, he disappeared. 

In this episode—the first in our two-part series on Jack the Ripper—we're switching gears. Instead of talking about Jack, we're talking about his five canonical victims. Who were these women and what were their lives like?...

"Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the king." These are the words that greeted Sir Howard Carter and his expedition when they entered King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. But did they listen? Of course not. 

And then they started dropping like flies...

This week, we're investigating the legend of King Tut's curse. Is this thing legit, total BS, or somewhere in between? And uh, why was a British guy...

For centuries, the Romanovs were one of the most powerful families in the world, yet they will forever be remembered for their brutal downfall. During Tsar Nicholas II's disastrous reign, Russia began to resent their reigning dynasty. It all came to a head in 1918 when Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and all five of their children were executed by Bolshevik soldiers. 

What led to the Romanovs' horrific fate? Did Princess Anasta...

Everyone has heard of Queen Victoria, but very few people know about her 1) Weird AF childhood 2) Super-size court scandals and 3) Super-secret later-life romance. To this day, we think of her as prim and proper, but nothing could be further from the truth—and that applies to both her surprising personal life and her disturbing political agenda. 

As we’ll discuss, Queen Victoria supported horrific policies t...

Isabella, the “She-Wolf” of France was the most notorious woman of the medieval ages. Known for her beauty, intelligence, and ability to shmooze her way in or out of any situation, she was most famous for a truly beautiful feat: Dethroning her own cheating husband *chef’s kiss* 

So join us as we celebrate the ultimate good girl gone bad and tell you all about Isabella, the femme fatale who fought her w...

Based on our past episodes, it’s safe to say that queens tended to have some pretty, shall we say, turbulent love lives—but Empress Wanrong took one look at those gong show marriages and was like, “Hold my beer.” This poor woman was part of the world’s most dysfunctional royal throuple, complete with a cruel man-child of a husband and competitive sister-wife.

And as though that wasn’t enou...

Hatshepsut went from being a royal consort to leading Egypt as one of very few woman pharaohs—and she didn’t rise to the top by being meek or subservient. She worked to cement her power, dressing as a man, building A LOT of glamorous statues of herself, and of course, proving she could have just as many spicy affairs and royal scandals as any man in power. 

But for a long time, we didn’t even know she ...

If Empress Elisabeth was alive today, she’d probably make headlines for A) Being a dang Olympic athlete B) Seducing noted hotties of all genders and C) Dunking on anyone who got in her way.

But because Sisi (as she was called) had to deal with Victorian social mores, she didn’t exactly have the freedom to do that stuff. Instead, she settled on 1) Horseback riding so hard she nearly died 2) Marrying the Emperor of...

The African warrior queen Nzinga called herself “King” and led her armies with a sword around her neck (swordlace!). She also regularly devastated Portuguese colonizers with her impeccable ability to throw shade and kept a harem of men (get it Nzinga). She was an absolute force—and it’s high time that more people know her story.

Join us as we track Nzinga’s tumultuous reign, explain why she&rsq...

Castile’s “Mad Queen” Joanna was whip-smart, exquisitely beautiful, and, as her nickname would suggest, hopelessly insane. Juana la Loca white-knuckled her way through a deranged childhood, then nabbed a hot hubby—only to realize that her new beau was the Worst Husband Ever (we wish we were exaggerating—this guy sucked BIG TIME).

So, when Joanna’s evil spouse kicked the bucket, you’d...

When it comes to rebellious queens, it's hard to beat Catherine the Great. This woman chucked her own himbo husband off the Russian throne, entertained an unending parade of hunky lovers, and might just hold this season's record for most batshit court scandals. 

In this episode, we get to know the one, the only Catherine the Great. Was she, as people said, "a warmonger with an unnatural sexual appetite"? Why did she hate her ...

Mary Queen of Scots is like if a period drama cross bred with a Fast and Furious movie. The action JUST. DOESN’T. STOP. This girl’s life was wall to wall drama, with special appearances from: Treacherous cousins! Toxic hunks! Suspiciously convenient deaths! Blue pee! And so much more.

Honestly, trying to summarize her gong show life in this episode description is impossible, so suffice it to say that Mary was a m...