Sunglasses

Sunglasses

Author: History Hit September 13, 2023 Duration: 30:15

What do all incredibly cool people have in common? They wear Sunglasses. Whether you're Miles Davis or Audrey Hepburn, James Dean or Bob Dylan, your sunglasses are never far away.


Who invented sunglasses and who made them so cool? Was there a moment when sunglasses went from being just an instrument for protecting your eyes to becoming an iconic symbol of high fashion?


Vanessa Brown, author of Cool Shades: The History and Meaning of Sunglasses knows everything about sunglasses and she joins Dallas to answer all your burning questions about sunglasses.


Edited by Tom Delargy, Produced by Alex Carlon, Senior Producer is Charlotte Long



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Dallas Campbell guides you through the fascinating and often overlooked backstories of the objects and ideas that shaped our world in Patented: History of Inventions. This isn't just a dry recounting of dates and blueprints; it's a deep dive into the human drama behind innovation. You'll hear about accidental breakthroughs, the forgotten figures whose contributions were sidelined, and the clever-sometimes dubious-marketing that turned an idea into a household name. From questioning the true legacy of figures like Thomas Edison to uncovering the surprising connection between foundational garments and space exploration, each episode unpacks these narratives with a sense of curiosity and wit. Produced by History Hit, the podcast brings in historians, scientists, and specialists to add depth and context, transforming every tale into a compelling detective story. Tune in for a consistently engaging exploration that reveals how luck, persistence, and sheer human ingenuity collide to create the fabric of modern life. The result is a listening experience that changes the way you look at the ordinary world around you, one remarkable story at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Patented: History of Inventions
Podcast Episodes
Ectoplasm: Seances & the Rise of Spiritualism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:03
Communicating with the dead has a long and winding history. The rise of seances and the showmanship of paranormal activity rose to prominence in the late 19th century. Spiritualism was entering a new wave, and communicat…
Fish & Chips: The Unexpected Origins of Britain's Favourite Dish [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:03
Fish and Chips. About 382 million portions of the iconic national dish are consumed every year. That works out to around 6 servings per person, per year! But who invented it? Panikos Panayi, the Author of Fish and Chips:…
Black Boxes: Recording Airplanes' Final Moments [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:50
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Duration: 29:51
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Dogs: Domesticating Wolves, Inventing Breeds (& Killer Beavers) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:45
How do we go from wolves to modern dogs? And where do Killer Beavers fit into the story?Humans domesticated wolves long before any other animal (or even any plants). Yet what exactly happened is shrouded in mystery.We co…
Ejector Seats: Death Defying Invention [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:26
"Eject! Eject!" Imagine hearing that and the next second flying out into the sky at hundreds of miles an hour, your life in the hands of a chair. Luckily it's a very special chair that has rockets, restraining harnesses,…
McDonald's: Roadside Stand to Worldwide Brand [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:55
Every second McDonald’s sells 75 hamburgers. It serves 70 million customers each day (more than the population of the UK). All this began at a roadside stand manned by two brothers: Dick and Mac McDonald (no joke). Then…
Kitchens [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:53
Who invented the Kitchen? It might seem silly to ask that but there is in fact one kitchen that people point to as the mother-of-all-kitchens. It was built in 1926 in the middle of a German housing crisis, by an architec…
Pride Flag: Birth of a Rainbow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:47
The first ever Pride Flag was 30 ft high and 60 ft wide. A suitably epic beginning for a flag that has had a massive impact on the world.Who design that first flag? Why? And is Judy Garland involved in all this?Dallas is…
Pencils: A Surprising History [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:24
Is the pencil an example of perfect design? What is the greatest pencil of all time? What does a fallen down tree in the Lake District have to do with its invention? Dallas talks to Caroline Weaver, pencil expert and aut…