The Obscure
A history podcast about strange stories, forgotten figures, and the obscure corners of the past.History remembers the famous — but what about everyone else?The Obscure is a relaxed and often funny podcast that shines a light on historical figures whose contributions were vital, fascinating, or quietly revolutionary, yet largely unrecognised. Hosted by Daniel Darkens, Nina Bickerton and Minna Hayman, it’s a podcast for curious minds who enjoy learning, laughing, and looking at history sideways.
Horace de Vere Cole - Britain's Greatest Prankster
In 1910, Horace de Vere Cole helped convince the Royal Navy to welcome a fake Abyssinian delegation aboard HMS Dreadnought. Among the disguised visitors was the future Virginia Woolf. It became his most famous practical joke—but it was far from his only one.
This time on The Obscure, we explore the life of the man remembered as Britain’s greatest prankster. From bogus dignitaries at Cambridge to the Dreadnought hoax, Cole had a talent for making authority look ridiculous—and persuading other people to join in.
But what happens when practical jokes become a life’s work...
Halloween Special: Obscure Tales of Mysterious Deaths and Disappearances
Halloween Special – Obscure Tales of Mysterious Deaths and Disappearances
Pioneering balloonists, a flying tailor, a mathematical genius, a pioneering chemist, an apparently unkillable Irishman and a vanished French expedition. History has a remarkable collection of extraordinary characters, and some met particularly extraordinary ends.
In this Halloween Special of The Obscure, we explore some of history's strangest deaths, misadventures and unexplained disappearances.
From the dangerous early days of ballooning to the streets of 1930s New York, these are true stories of ambition, ingenuity, bad luck and, occasionally, spectacularly poor judgement.
Discover the tr...
The Fossil Hunters and The Monsters Beneath Our Feet
Mary Anning, Gideon Mantell and William Buckland didn’t just collect fossils — they uncovered an ancient world that rewrote the history of life on Earth.
From the storm‑lashed cliffs of Lyme Regis to the strange Victorian monsters of Crystal Palace, this episode explores how a handful of determined fossil hunters revealed creatures so extraordinary that they changed science forever.
Mary Anning battled poverty, prejudice, and a scientific establishment that refused to admit women, yet her discoveries shaped palaeontology itself. Gideon Mantell struggled with ridicule and being plagiarised, William Buckland scrambled through caves in full academic...
The Most Disastrous Observation in History: Guillaume Le Gentil’s Long Wait
Guillaume Le Gentil and the Most Disastrous Observation in History
Guillaume Le Gentil should have been remembered as one of the great astronomical observers of the 18th century. Instead, history handed him a cosmic slapstick routine: eleven years of travel, two transits of Venus, and not a single usable observation. Storms, war, illness, shipwrecks, bureaucracy, monsoon clouds — if something could go wrong, it went wrong directly at him.
In this episode, we follow Le Gentil’s extraordinary, exasperating journey across oceans and empires as he tries — twice — to witness one of the rarest celestia...
The Curious Case of Mary Toft — Britain’s Strangest Medical Scandal
In 1726, a young woman from Godalming convinced England’s leading physicians — including the King’s own surgeon — that she was giving birth to rabbits. The Mary Toft scandal became one of the most bizarre medical episodes in British history, exposing ambition, gullibility, and the strange world of early‑18th‑century medicine.
In this episode of The Obscure, Daniel and Minna unravel how the hoax worked, why so many experts fell for it, and what it reveals about the era’s obsession with monsters, miracles, and medical spectacle.
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The Unkillable Soldier - Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart
Adrian Carton de Wiart lived a life so extreme it feels fictional — a one‑eyed, one‑handed, bullet‑ridden British officer who fought in the Boer War, WWI, and WWII, survived a plane crash, escaped a POW camp, negotiated in China, and still insisted he’d “enjoyed every minute of it.” In this episode of The Obscure, Daniel and Minna explore the unbelievable true story of a man who seemed physically incapable of dying.
In this episode:
His early life and the making of a war legendOutrageous Boer War escapadesThe WWI injuries that would have ended any...Trailer - The Obscure
A quick introduction to The Obscure - a history podcast about strange stories and forgotten figures.
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The Gold‑Nosed Astronomer Who Measured the Heavens and Died of Politeness
Daniel Darkens is accompanied for another episode of The Obscure by Minna Hayman in which we explore the extraordinary and eccentric history of Tycho Brahe — a forgotten scientific pioneer whose naked‑eye astronomical observations transformed our understanding of the cosmos.
Join us as we take you through the life and achievements of Tycho Brahe. Tycho was the last of the great naked eye astronomers shuffling off this mortal coil just eight years before the introduction of the astronomical telescope.
He was a wildly eccentric man, with a gold prosthetic nose (gained after a duel...
Kidnapped, Sold Into Slavery, Escaped - The Astonishing Life of Indian Peter Williamson
Welcome to the latest episode of The Obscure with Daniel and Minna, where we explore the strange and often disputed history of Indian Peter Williamson - a forgotten Scottish figure whose dramatic tale of kidnapping, slavery, escape and reinvention may be part truth and part fiction.
Peter has long been accused of exaggerating parts of his life and inventing others completely, but the story is so compelling it deserves to be told regardless.
Our sources for this episode were Indian Peter's own published works, which are referred to throughout the podcast, and are no longer...
The Calculating Boy Who Built Britain's Railways - the Little-Known Story of George Parker Bidder
In this episode of The Obscure, we uncover the remarkable history of George Parker Bidder — a forgotten Victorian engineer and former child prodigy whose influence on railways, docks, harbours, and early telegraphy helped shape the modern world.
Daniel Darkens is accompanied for another episode of The Obscure by Minna Hayman. Join us as we take you through the life and achievements of The Calculating Boy - George Parker Bidder.
George's story has two distinct aspects to it. Firstly as a child prodigy in the field of arithmetic, with an un...
Britain's Most Eccentric Aristocrat - The Wild Life of Mad Jack Mytton
In this episode of The Obscure, we dive into the eccentric and often unbelievable history of Mad Jack Mytton — a forgotten 19th‑century figure whose wild antics and chaotic life have become legendary in British folklore.
Join Daniel Darkens and, while Nina takes a short break, a very special guest Minna Hayman in the latest episode of The Obscure.
Using the biography written by his friend Nimrod, fascinating details of this remarkable character come to light.
This ultimately tragic tale includes anecdotes from throughout his life - his...
Scotland's Greatest Scientist? John Scott Haldane, The Man Who Risked His Life to Understand Poison Gas
In this episode of The Obscure, we explore the remarkable and often overlooked history of John Scott Haldane — a forgotten pioneer whose groundbreaking work in safety, welfare, and human physiology shaped everything from coal mining to mountaineering and deep‑sea diving.
Join Daniel Darkens and Nina Bickerton for another episode of The Obscure as they take you through the life and achievements of this great Scottish scientist.
Each future episode will pluck another interesting character out of the obscure and take them into the limelight.
JS Haldane's is a...
The Man Who Flew to Everest to Climb it Alone - the Remarkable Story of Maurice Wilson
In this episode of The Obscure, we explore the extraordinary and little‑known history of Maurice Wilson — a forgotten figure whose attempt to climb Mount Everest alone remains one of the strangest stories of the early 20th century.
Join Daniel Darkens and Nina Bickerton as they take you through Maurice Wilson's story in this first ever episode of The Obscure podcast.
Every episode will pluck another interesting character out of the obscure and into the limelight.
Maurice's is a tragic tale, but includes incredible bravery and ambition. Most...
