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LANE: Welcome back to Touring History, the podcast where we turn calendar pages into entertainment and occasionally learn something by accident. I'm Lane—
DAVE: And I'm Dave, and before we dive into a day that gave us everything from Queen Victoria to Jaws, we need to talk about Randy's Donuts.
LANE: Oh, are we starting with the important stuff today?
DAVE: Lane, when you're about to discuss the French Revolution, movie sharks, and Lizzie Borden's acquittal all in one episode, you need proper sustenance. Randy's Donuts has been providing that to Los Angeles for over seven decades.
LANE: That giant donut sign isn't just advertising—it's a promise. Inside, you'll find donuts perfected through generations of bakers who take their craft seriously.
DAVE: Check them out at randysdonuts.com, because when you're learning about history's most dramatic moments, you deserve snacks that are equally dramatic.
LANE: And speaking of dramatic, today is June 20th—revolutionary France to movie sharks, with royal succession and axe murder trials thrown in for good measure.
DAVE: Let's start with birthdays, because June 20th produced some seriously talented people. Brian Wilson turns 83 today—the mastermind behind the Beach Boys who proved pop music could be as complex as classical music.
LANE: "Pet Sounds" alone makes him a genius. Plus Lionel Richie's 75, Nicole Kidman's 58, and John Goodman's 73.
DAVE: And representing Gen Z, we've got 17-year-old TikTok star Ava Wood and 18-year-old rapper Ndotspinalot.
LANE: I love that we're living in an era where teenagers can build global audiences from their bedrooms. Although I feel ancient when there are famous people younger than my T-shirts.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: Colonial-era Congress meeting room with founding fathers in period dress examining the Great Seal design. Show close-up details of the eagle, olive branch, arrows, and "E pluribus unum" motto on parchment. Include the moment of final approval and the seal being pressed into wax. Style: Dignified historical documentary with warm candlelit atmosphere.]
DAVE: June 20th, 1782, the U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal—that's the eagle and pyramid on the back of dollar bills.
LANE: This took them six years to figure out! Three different committees, and they kept rejecting designs. Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey as the national bird.
DAVE: Can you imagine? "In God We Trust" with a turkey underneath? The eagle holds 13 arrows and an olive branch, but cleverly, the head faces toward the olive branch—peace over war.
LANE: The reverse side with the pyramid and eye says "Novus ordo seclorum"—"a new order of the ages." The founding fathers were announcing America would change everything.
DAVE: And they weren't wrong! Though I'm not sure they anticipated their symbols ending up on conspiracy theory websites.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: Indoor tennis court at Versailles with members of the Third Estate in 18th-century French attire raising their hands in solemn oath. Show the dramatic moment of collective commitment with revolutionary fervor and period architecture. Style: Classical historical painting brought to life with cinematic drama.]
LANE: June 20th, 1789, brings us the Tennis Court Oath—basically the moment the French Revolution became inevitable.
DAVE: The Third Estate got locked out of their meeting place and said, "Fine, we'll meet at the tennis court and overthrow the entire social order."
LANE: Peak French drama! They swore never to separate until France had a proper constitution. Standing in a tennis court making promises that would lead to the guillotine.
DAVE: It's such a perfect example of how revolutions work. You start with "we want representation" and before you know it, you're chopping off the king's head.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: Mountain landscape of West Virginia with coal miners and farmers in Civil War-era clothing celebrating statehood. Show Union officials and mountain communities as news spreads, with the West Virginia flag being raised. Style: Rustic Americana documentary with natural mountain lighting.]
DAVE: June 20th, 1863, West Virginia becomes the 35th state. Basically said, "Virginia's seceding from the Union? Well, we're seceding from Virginia."
LANE: The mountain folks never felt they had much in common with eastern Virginia plantation owners anyway. When Virginia joined the Confederacy, western counties were like, "Nope, we're staying with the Union."
DAVE: What's legally fascinating is you can't create a new state without permission, but Virginia had technically left the United States, so... loophole!
LANE: Like a really complicated divorce where someone claims the house because the other person moved out first.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: Kensington Palace with 18-year-old Victoria in a white nightgown being awakened early morning to receive news of her uncle's death. Show the formal moment of becoming Queen and first royal ceremonies. Style: Royal biographical drama with soft morning light transitioning to ceremonial grandeur.]
LANE: June 20th, 1837, Princess Victoria becomes Queen at age 18. They woke her up at 6 AM to tell her she was now the most powerful woman in the world.
DAVE: Eighteen years old! Can you imagine? She ruled for 63 years and basically defined what we think of as the 19th century.
LANE: Young Victoria was much more fun than the stern queen we picture—she loved dancing and parties before marrying Prince Albert turned her serious.
DAVE: During her reign, Britain controlled about a quarter of the world's land and population. This teenager who got unexpected news became the template for modern constitutional monarchy.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: Supreme Court building with justices deliberating. Show legal documents, scales of justice, and advocates watching intently. Include respectful imagery representing intellectual disability advocacy and constitutional law. Style: Formal legal documentary with dignified lighting.]
DAVE: June 20th, 2002, the Supreme Court rules that executing people with intellectual disabilities is unconstitutional.
LANE: A 6-3 decision saying you can't execute someone who can't fully understand the consequences. The Court pointed to "evolving standards of decency"—constitutional interpretation changing as society's moral understanding develops.
DAVE: What made it complicated was defining intellectual disability legally. The principle seems obvious, but the details are incredibly complex.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: Split screen showing opulent 1898 Ritz Paris with crystal chandeliers and elegantly dressed guests, contrasted with 1990s office workers at early computers reviewing digital advertising reports. Style: Luxurious period piece transitioning to nostalgic tech documentary.]
LANE: Now for advertising history! June 20th, 1898, the Ritz Paris opens, basically inventing modern luxury hospitality branding.
DAVE: César Ritz created the concept of luxury service every fancy hotel copies today. Private bathrooms and electric lighting in every room—in 1898, that was like having a spaceship!
LANE: And June 20th, 1996, the Interactive Advertising Bureau releases its first digital ad revenue report—$37 million for the first half of '96.
DAVE: When most people were figuring out email, someone's already tracking internet ad money. That $37 million was the beginning of a trillion-dollar industry.
LANE: Speaking of advertising that works, let's talk about Randy's Donuts—the most honest advertising ever. You see that giant donut sign, you know exactly what you're getting.
DAVE: No complicated algorithms, just a massive donut that says "We make donuts. Good ones." That's brand consistency digital marketers can only dream about.
LANE: Classic glazed perfection, innovative specialty flavors, and 24-hour availability. While other brands chase viral moments, Randy's just focuses on being excellent at the one thing they do.
DAVE: Check them out at randysdonuts.com—where the marketing strategy is: make great donuts, put up a giant sign, watch people come back forever.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: 1970s movie theater with long lines for Jaws. Show the iconic poster, theater marquees, audiences screaming, and Spielberg directing with the mechanical shark. End with empty beaches as people became afraid to swim. Style: Classic 1970s cinema documentary with film grain.]
DAVE: June 20th, 1975, "Jaws" premieres, and Steven Spielberg basically invents the summer blockbuster.
LANE: Before "Jaws," studios dumped bad movies in summer. Spielberg took a B-movie concept and created sophisticated filmmaking that scared everyone.
DAVE: What's genius is you barely see the shark—it kept breaking down, so Spielberg created suspense with music and suggestion. John Williams' score is basically half the movie.
LANE: Made $260 million domestically, proving genre movies could appeal to everyone. But it also destroyed the ocean for a generation—beach attendance dropped significantly.
DAVE: It created the summer blockbuster template and made Spielberg a household name at 27. Although the real victims were sharks—populations never recovered from the hunting that followed.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: 1890s New Bedford courthouse with Victorian crowds outside waiting for the verdict. Show Lizzie Borden in dark Victorian clothing as the jury delivers not guilty verdict, with period newspaper reporters and family reactions. Style: Victorian crime drama with sensational media atmosphere.]
LANE: June 20th, 1893, Lizzie Borden is acquitted in the famous axe murders. "Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks"—except it was actually like 10 and 11, but who's counting?
DAVE: The case violated every Victorian assumption about women. A proper middle-class lady doesn't hack her parents to death with an axe.
LANE: Lizzie had motive—inheritance worries—but evidence was circumstantial. Her story kept changing, but the prosecution couldn't prove she did it.
DAVE: After the trial, she inherited the money, bought a mansion, and lived comfortably. Never married, never left town, never explained what happened.
LANE: Although let's be honest—if you had to bet money on who killed them, you'd probably bet on Lizzie.
[AI VIDEO PROMPT: German Bundestag chamber with parliamentarians in historic debate about moving the capital. Show voting procedures, maps of both Bonn and Berlin, and the momentous decision announcement. Style: Formal political documentary capturing reunification gravity.]
DAVE: Finally, June 20th, 1992, German Parliament votes to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin—Germany saying "We're really reunified now."
LANE: Incredibly close vote—338 to 320. Bonn supporters worried Berlin carried too much historical baggage: Nazis, division, Cold War.
DAVE: But Berlin was the historic capital and geographically central. The move took years—rebuilding the Reichstag, new government buildings, convincing bureaucrats to leave comfortable Bonn.
LANE: Now Berlin's this vibrant, cosmopolitan capital. It's hard to imagine German politics being centered anywhere else.
DAVE: So there you have it—June 20th, from French revolutionaries in tennis courts to German parliamentarians voting on capitals, with movie sharks and royal succession in between.
LANE: What strikes me is how many dramatic decisions changed everything. Sometimes mundane stuff like tracking digital ads reshapes civilization, while sensational trials like Lizzie Borden become footnotes.
DAVE: Speaking of consistency, Randy's Donuts has been reshaping donut expectations since 1952—check them out at randysdonuts.com.
LANE: Thanks for joining us! We'll be back next time with more historical coincidences and probably more food tangents.
DAVE: Until then, I'm Dave—
LANE: And I'm Lane, reminding you that history is just people making decisions about sharks, tennis courts, and very large donuts.
[END OF EPISODE]