Hot History - The (real) Peaky Blinders

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Alrightttt … this episode of Hot History is by order of the Peaky Fooking Blinders! Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is on Netflix tonight, so we’re covering exactly who the real Peaky Blinders were! We start by looking at the Industrial Revolutions impact on Birmingham and the origins of the Victorian street gangs, before covering some of the real figures and events in the TV series. From Billy Kimber to Diana Mitford and of course, Alfie Solomon’s, we get down and dirty with the big wigs of Steven Knights story!We’re also doing some light myth busting (sorry) about some of the series key Shelbyisms and so much more!If you're wanting more Hot History content you can follow along on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and of course, right here!Til next week, Ainslie x

Hi guys and welcome back to Hot History, the podcast covering all the things in history that you probably should know but don't. I'm Ainsley Harvey, your Hot Historian, ready for a super exciting day of history today, guys, because Pecky Blunders, the Immortal Man, is coming out on Netflix tonight. Now, I am a huge Peeky Blunders fan. I'm a huge Stephen Knight fan, the guy who created the series. So when I heard the show was coming back for a film set during World War II, I was stoked and thought, what better pairing than first doing a deep dive right now on the real peekie blinders, followed by diving back into Stephen Knight's world for piggyblenders afterwards. So I'm here today in my Birmingham Brown suit and we are going to rewind all the way back to the late 1880s. so significantly further back than the start of season one in the show. Now, guys, at this point, it's the late Victorian era, and the Industrial Revolution is in full swing with Birmingham

becoming the very epicentre of manufacturing for the UK. In fact, it's largely regarded as the first modern manufacturing town in history. Renowned as the City of A Thousand Trades, Birmingham was driven by metalworking, brass, gun and jewelry manufacturing, often in small, specialized workshops throughout the city. This meant that Birmingham was loud, it was dirty, and most of all, it was busy, as the work opportunities brought people to Birmingham in their droves from all over the country. In fact, between 1801 and 1901, the population of Birmingham increased

from about 70,000 to more than 500,000 people, which created a melting pot. of both industrial and social reformation. You see, with the sweeping impact of industrialisation, the British government and indeed governments around the world were forced to make changes to their political systems with a push for more democratic process. We spoke about the Romano family's fall last week, and this inability to modernise and democratise

in the face of sweeping industrial expansion is largely where it all went down to the way. hill for them. Well, like before Sun Nichols' Second sat on the throne, it existed. But anyway, as part of this push in Britain specifically, Parliament passed the representation of the People Act in 1884, extending the right to vote to many rural working class men, which increased the electorate dramatically. So this led millions more men across the UK to be engaged with politics some for the very first time. Now, as a result of this and the significance of the industrial epicenters like Birmingham,

bringing in millions of dollars to the British economy, these cities demanded greater representation in Parliament, which led to the redistribution of Seats Act in 1885, reorganising Parliament so that these industrial cities had fairer and greater representation. Now, with these expanding political powers and influence of democratic thinking more broadly, you also see an increase in labour movements and strikes, namely the 1888 Matchgirls strike and 1889 London Dock strike, which increased public debate about wages, hours and working conditions. There was also the passing of the Elementary Education Act of 1880,

requiring children to attend school up to age 10, which increased literacy and new. numeracy rates all over the country. So all in all, guys, you have at this point in time a more informed, empowered and educated society who are taking up residents in these cities. Which all sounds amazing, right? It's new freedoms, democratic processes, further education are always amazing. But the problem with so many people swamping these manufacturing cities like Birmingham is that you end up with crowded, squalid spaces because there's no real infrastructure there to support them. Now, the response to this did see back-to-back housing for workers in the city centre established, but it also led to the establishment of slums

for this overdraft, people who couldn't get into these back-to-back houses. So really, you have everyone here living in each other's back pockets and as competition for work and different social, religious, ethnic and political groups were forced to coexist, many people, mainly the young men, became disenfranchised and restless. And this is the climate in which the Birmingham street gangs emerge, beginning largely with pickpocketing as a way of earning money and fist fighting because they were drunk and bored. Classic.

If only, like, they had Netflix. If only they could watch the piggy blinders back then, maybe they wouldn't have had actual piggy blinders. But the thing that these early gangs all had in common was their link to the immediate community. And the parts of the city where communities are tightly packed and economic opportunities are limited is where we see the biggest surge in this gang activity, namely in the districts of Smallheath, Bordersley, Aston and Cheapside, who all became known for youth groups who defended their neighbourhood territory and fought other rival groups.

Smallheath will sound familiar to those of us who watched Peaky Binders because this is the community in which the Shelby family lived. Now, as I said, amongst these early gangs, street fighting was a common pastime and a way of inspiring competition between districts, kind of like a less lethal version of the Hunger Games, if you will. So in these fights, rival groups would meet in open areas, mainly outside pubs, to beat the shit out of another group with, you know, whatever they really wanted, whatever they had, fists, belts, knives, whatever they could get their hands on. And these kinds of violent street fights became incredibly notorious throughout the city, so much so that the Victorian newspapers frequently reported on their outcomings, referring to these. men as rough youths or corner gangs. So decisively not the criminal organization of Thomas Shelby,

but you can see some of this like street level community-led violence in season one of Peaky Blinders and how this can lead to, you know, a greater kind of organized group. Now, one thing that was very prevalent early on in these corner gangs was branding. There is a reason, guys, that armies wear the same uniform. It's so you can identify them and know on a battlefield who to kill and who not to kill. And when it came to the Birmingham gangs, this was no different. Each group began dressing and their distinctive clothing style and developing their own slang, which helped to not only reinforce their identity, but establish a clear brand about who they were and what they did.

It also scared the shit out of middle-class citizens who believed these gangs represented a far greater threat to public order than the papers chalked them up to be when they say, you know, they're simply rough youths or corner gangs. And they weren't wrong. Industrial work for all its promise was both dangerous and flippant, with some workers being injured and unable to work again, others being fired for their political or social views on the spot,

and the rest paid pitiful wages. So poverty and a need to survive turned these once rough youths into thieves within these kind of larger criminal networks. Now to address this rising crime, Victorian authorities bolstered the police force throughout Birmingham, who attempted to reform these gangs through stricter law enforcement and social programs, viewing these men as a symptom of moral decline rather than a result of social inequality. But the more they stole or swindled or evaded police capture, the better they became at navigating a life of crime. And soon these petty criminals with matching jackets or ties

became larger organisations, the best and most famous of which is the Peaky Fork and Blinders. So who are they? Where did they come from? And what did they actually stand for? Now, similar to the other gangs of the time, the Peaky Blinders rose to prominence, like I said, in the 1880s with their name likely coming from their distinctive fashion, with the term Blinder referring to someone who looked impressive or stylish or hot.

So like this podcast, for example, could be called like Blinders history, but the alliteration doesn't really work there, so I'll stick with hot history. But anyway, the Peaky Blinders absolutely. nailed their fits. They wore flat caps, tailored jackets, collared shirts and pointed cap peaks underneath, which gave them the sharp appearance that Stephen Knight immortalised in the Peaky Blinders TV show. In fact, the reputation of their style was so great, the Victorian newspapers frequently mentioned their outfits in reports of violent incidents.

So the term Peaky Blinder really just meant sharp-looking dudes in peaked caps. Another thing the show gets right is the group's origins in small heath and cheapside. This was prime peaky territory, and they controlled the local streets with the majority of members typically in their late teens or early 20s. But what did they do? Well, unlike the TV show, the peekie blinders did not have a vast criminal mafia-style organisation that wield and dealed all sorts of goods. Instead, they ran their illegal gambling operations to gain power. and money, utilizing extortion, theft and violence to expand their territory within Birmingham. So I am so sorry for all you Shelby Lovers at home, but unlike the show, the real Peegie Blinder's

were not as influential or successful on a national scale. I really think it's more similar to season one. Like, season one is, you know, the Peggy Bliners at their height. But that doesn't mean that the peekie bladers weren't notorious. And like I said, of all the street gangs out there, they, even before the show, were the most famous of the Birmingham Games at the time, with some of its members being equally as notorious. So, let's meet some of them, shall we? Let's start, firstly, with Thomas Gilbert, nickname Kevin Mooney. So, he is largely credited as one of the earliest leaders of the Peeky Blinders, being born in Smallheath in 1870 with

police reports from the time, describing him as being involved in robbery, assaults and gang activity as early as 1885. So he's 15. Now, we do know he was sentenced to two separate stints in prison for thievery and deception, with some historians believing he helped organize early peekie-blinded groups and recruit members from the neighborhood. And it is no mistake, you guys, that Thomas Shelby, as the early leader of the peekie blinders in the show, shares Thomas. Gilbert's name. He is largely a direct inspiration for Stephen Knight's protagonist. Next, we have Mr. Harry Fowles. Now, he was arrested in 1890 for stealing a bicycle and police records identify him as a peekie blinder, with his case being one of the clearest

historical pieces of evidence that the term peekie blinder was used by authorities at the time to describe gang. Members, Fowles was renowned for looking particularly dapper in his peeky uniform, I will post some picks on socials. But again, he stole a bicycle, like this isn't some big criminal organisation like we see for our show. Another real peekie-blinder that we can meet is Ernest Bales, who was charged with assaulting a man named George Eastwood by police in 1980. Now, the attack was described as violent and unprovoked, characteristic of the gang-based street violence, and this case was actually paramount in defining the peeky blinders' reputation for brutality.

There was also Stephen McNichael arrested in 1890 as well, but unlike Bales, he was charged for petty burglary and theft. So again, not this big criminal organisation the show makes out. As for other members, we don't really know, to be honest, and it makes sense, right? This is a criminal gang. They're hardly like an organised syndicate with members lists that are being shared about. And while many young men were described as peekie blinders in police and newspaper reports, We don't really know much about these men.

In the end, many historians believe the gang likely consisted of dozens of local youths who moved in and out of the group over time. So again, I am so sorry, Shelby fans, but the peekie blinders were not, as we see on TV. So, what happened to them then, really, throughout history? Well, in the show, the major threat to the piggy blinders expansion and indeed survival in Birmingham itself comes in the form of Sam Neal's character, Inspector Campbell, in season one and season two. And indeed, there was an Irish police constable who was contracted to gather information, keep a close watch and enforce law and order within the city, and his name was Charles Horton Rafter. But he was not sent by Winston Churchill, and he certainly was not the Peaky Blinders downfall. While Rafter did bring new officers to the city and impose harsher penalties in the end, Tommy's famous line, Big Foxmore, is indeed correct.

With the Peaky Blinders being usurped by the real life, Billy Kimber and his very real Birmingham boys. Now, we do meet both Mr Kimber and his gang in the first season, but what were they actually like? So Billy Kimba was born in 1882. As part of Birmingham's lower working class, he grew up around gangs like the peeky blinders his whole life, learning the dynamics and inner workings of these community-based gangs, becoming involved first in petty crimes, where he built connections with various criminals and bookmakers as he climbed. the ranks. It was around bookmakers that Kimbo recognized the opportunity that a legal betting, particularly at horse racing events, offered him. He didn't want to be small time. He wanted

to make significant profit. And he wanted to be able to scale this small time operation that the peekie blinders had into something bigger. But to do this, he had to get around the tight regulations of the gambling industry at the time. So he began his underground operation, protected by his group of loyal associates who became known as the Birmingham Boys. These weren't just gangsters guys. They were businessmen. It was kind of like a pyramid scheme. And Kimba sold these men on the promise of an organized high-profit organization that they could be a part of, not a street gang, but a business. Basically like Avon. Now, unfortunately, for the drama lovers, myself included, there was no great showdown or take down or street fight between the Peaky Blinders and the Birmingham Boys like we see in the finale of season one.

Really, the Peaky Blinders were just small-time dealers. And by the time Kimber and the Birmingham boys rose to prominence, there were only a few blinders really left, who eventually joined Kimba and that promise of big business. Now Kimba did well for himself, which we'll get into further when we look at him like personally, but the key thing is that the Birmingham Boys represented an important stage in the evolution of organised crime in Britain. It went from small time to the big leagues under Kimba, who stepped away from the business when the Sabini gang came into the picture in the 1930s. Now, the Sabinis, of course, are the key antagonists in season two of Peakey, blinders, led by the very real Charles Darby Sabini and Italian British gangster based in London.

So as Kimba expanded his betting operation across the country, he and his Birmingham boys came head to head with Sabini and his men who controlled the neighbouring regions. There was mass violence between the opposing. sides, one particular incident occurring at Epsom Racecourse, where members of Sabini's gang reportedly attacked Kimber's men. Epsom Racecourse, of course, being the event in the Peeky Blinder series that Polly dispatches Inspector Campbell, Grace tells Tommy she's pregnant, and Tommy finds himself facing almost certain death until he is saved by an agent of Churchill's. And while Epsom wasn't a significant turning point for the real Peeky Bliders, as it was

in the show, it certainly was a big event for Billy Kimbar and the Birmingham Boys, with the conflict eventually weakening them, allowing the Sabini gang to gain the upper hand over their betting operation. But they too fizzled out with increased police attention, legal changes to gambling laws, and the gradual restructuring of betting systems reducing the opportunities for organized criminal control of race courses prior to World War II. So there we have a bit of a look at the emergence of street gangs, especially in the rapidly industrialised Birmingham, along with who the peekie blinders were, why they're so famous and how

they fell with the likes of Billy Kimba and Darby Sabini leveling up the illegal bookmakers game. P.S, I'm going to interrupt myself here because I realize I haven't said this in the last few episodes, but if you are watching or if you're listening on Spotify, this is actually following video. And if you're on Apple, then you can head over to YouTube and watch the full-length video. We include graphics and clips and things like that in, so brief breaking of the fourth wall, but let's get back into Peekies. So while some names and similarities from the actual history appear throughout the series, it's very much full of exaggerations and inventions, mostly derived from the local folklore of the blinders in Birmingham.

So I thought, why don't we break down exactly what is true and what is false in the Peakey Blinders series, starting with the fact the Peaky Blinders had razor blades in their caps. Unfortunately, guys, this is a big old false. Contrary to popular myth, there is little evidence that they sewed razor blades into their caps, which they used to blind people with. In fact, disposable razor blades were not widely available until the early 20th century, with the cost of these blades at the time far too extravagant, even for the blinders. As we already said, the term blinder is Birmingham slang for basically good looking rather than like a literal blinder of sight.

Next, we have the peeky blinders with gypsies. This, guys, is also false. While there were Romani and traveller communities in Britain at the time, including in parts of the Midlands around Birmingham, the real peeky blinders were simply local Birmingham city residents, right? from neighborhoods, like I said, such a small heath and cheap sight. They were working class men with the travel and narrative by Stephen Knight through things like fortune-telling, mysticism and funerary practices being used for dramatic flair. Next, that they were war heroes.

This is also false guys. I can literally hear hearts breaking around the world. But as I said, the piquir blinders rose to prominence primarily in the 1880s, With most historians agreeing their influence had largely ended by around 1910, four years before the start of World War I, where Tommy Shelby is meant to have, you know, earned all of his medals from. It is almost certain I do want to make space for the fact that members of the peekie blinders did go to war,

and some of them may have been heroes. But the gang was largely disbanded by that point in time, so the idea that the peekie blinders were, you know, headed up by these morally grey but still heroic, patriotic men is pure cinema. Sorry. Okay, next. Were the Peaky Blinders stylish? That is very true. Yay, something that's historically accurate here. As we said, the term blinder is Birmingham slang for, like, good looking or hot or, you know, sharp?

Of all the gangs at the time, the blinders are the most famous exactly because of that. For their outfits, right? They're jackets, their caps, their shaven hair styles, their boots, their long. coats were all unusual for working-class men in Victorian Birmingham. So the fact the peekie blinders were dressed so sharply helped them stand out and helped them be remembered. Plus, it gives us those amazing like slow-mo walking scenes with, you know, the long coats, the red right hand, just like pure aura farming, obsessed. Next, were the picky blinders involved with politics? The answer is yes, but also no. There is no historical evidence that the peekie blinders held any political power,

influenced government decisions, worked directly with politicians, all ran political organisations like we see in the show. Basically, there were no OBE peekie blinders like Tommy Shelby. But the expanding rights and representation of the Birmingham seat in Parliament we see in the back end of the Pecky Blinder series is accurate. Right? We already spoke about this at the top. With the economic might of Birmingham's industrial wave becoming undeniable, the city was given greater power and with the expansion of education and lived in literacy rates. Plus, you know, as we already said, the passing of the representation of the People Act in 1984,

extending the right to vote to the majority of working class men, we really see the Birmingham electorate dramatically increase. And the result of this was millions more men. being engaged with politics, some of whom would have been peeky blinders, who wanted greater union rights or wanted certain acts not to pass. We do know that gangs like the blinders engagement with politics was often in the form of election intimidation, standing out the front of electorates to sway voting or basically beating the shit out of certain candidates. But there was no peeky blinders holding a seat in Parliament. I am very sorry to say.

Next, were the Peaky Blinders charitable? It's kind of the thing that makes Tommy Shelby so endearing, right? It's this like Robin Hood-esque guy who's happy to go and cut and maim someone, but then take care of his orphan children and wife. After all, who can forget this scene? Let's have a listen. That is God and that are the Peaky Blinders. Mrs. Sparkhillwood and Small Heath,

we're much, much closer at its own than God. But the truth is, there is no historical evidence that the real Peaky Blinders work. charitable. Again, the men who formed these gangs were often in poverty and overcrowded housing, barely able to afford things themselves. Yes, they had their bookmaking operation, but they weren't sharing those proceeds with widows and babies, with contemporary newspapers and police reports suggesting that many residents within Birmingham at the time viewed the peeky blinders as troublemakers who make neighborhoods less safe rather than protect those

who need it. This kind of reputation of gangs being charitable throughout history really emerges from the very immediate care they gave to friends and family or like the economy they bring to their local areas by purchasing with local vendors. But the reality is that the Birmingham gangs, including the blinders and Billy Kimbaugh, were not visiting orphanages to make sure their donations were being spent accordingly. Which kind of answers our last question, guys. Were the Peeky Blinders a full-blown criminal organisation making a shit ton of cash? No. Sorry. Their poverty was well known, like I already said, and while groups like the Birmingham Boys and the Sabini gang did manage to make quite a bit of money,

the Peaky Blinders were a small-time, low-profit street gang, which never managed to stretch its influence beyond Birmingham. Okay, guys, so lastly, it would be remiss of me not to deep dive into each of the characters in the series and look at who's real and who's not. So let's start where it all begins with the Shelby family. Were they real or not? Unfortunately, guys, and no one's heart breaks more than mine when I say this, but the Shelby's are pure fiction. However, while Killian Murphy's Tommy Shelby tragically exists only on our screens, they do have a reality in Stephen Knight's own family tree. Now, he revealed that both of his parents grew up in Birmingham and his mother at eight years old was a bookies runner. Basically, she'd carry like a washing basket down the street. People would drop their bets into

the basket because the police weren't likely to arrest a child. Stephen also tells us that the Shelby's are a direct inspiration from his dad's uncles, the Sheldons, who were bookies linked directly to the peeky blinders. Now he said that his parents mythologized their lives and relatives into something that felt almost like a grand adventure, right? A game of cat and mouse with these morally grey heroes, which he has then taken and mythologise further with the Shelby family on the show. But as we said, Tommy Shelby is largely modelled off of one man we know for certain as a peekie blinder, Mr Thomas Gilbert, with other men like Henry Fowles also living on as notorious peeky blinders.

Guys, kind of an obvious one, but Winston Churchill. Yes, of course, he is a very, very real man, but he had nothing to do with the peekie blinders as the show suggests. In this, he is played by a few different men actually, including Andy Nyman, Richard McCabe and Neil Marskel, with Churchill's dealings with the Shelby family occurring post-World War I after the devastating failure of his plan at the Dardanelles. Now, At this point in Churchill's life and in history, he was in fact working as military and air secretary, which is the kind of role which would manage the theft of machine guns and ammunition, which is basically like the whole plot of season one of the show.

But the truth is, guys, Piggy Blinders were usurped by Billy Kimba by that point around 1910 when Churchill was in fact only 35 years old and working as liberal home secretary well before. World War I. So while, yes, he is a very real historical figure, he did not have anything to do with the peeky blinders and the timelines just don't match up. Next is Billy Kimber, who as we already said, is a real guy and possibly the biggest crime boss in England, but he is so much more than that. In fact, Billy Kimber is not only a real guy who was not killed in a street-to-street battle with the peeky blinders, but after the Sabini gang took over his illegal betting operations, he became

Charlie Chaplin's bodyguard, with Chaplin himself being born in a gypsy camp just outside of Birmingham. So Kimba gets done over by the Sabini gang and, you know, hits up his old mate Charlie, who historians suggest was a friend from his youth, spending time together at London's music halls and entertainment district. And guys, Billy Kimber is even in one of Charlie Chaplin's films, the former crime boss can be seen basically going through the background of a shot. So unlike the show, he did not meet his end by Thomas Shelby's gun, rather doing what many men of the criminal underworld never did, dying at old age from a prolonged illness. Now speaking of the Sabini gang, let's look at its leader, Darby Sabini, played by Noah Taylor

in the series as the Italian kingpin. Now, as we said, he was a real English criminal who clashed with Kimber and his Birmingham boys over control of race courses for years. But before that, he was an Italian immigrant born in 1882, raised in the London areas of Clerkenwell and Soho, where communities formed around restaurants, cafes and small businesses. Now, it was here that Sabini became involved in criminal activities, starting small with petty theft, and later leading the group again seems to be like the entire trajectory of these kind of gang leaders. Now under Darby Sabini, the gang expanded their remit into bookmaking, which is where he meets

Mr Kimber. After deposing him, Sabini's gang ruled the roost throughout the 1920s, with Sabini himself being known as a tough but intelligent leader with the nickname the King of the Racecourse. He opened nightclubs, imported goods, and had his 300 strong gang fit out with the very best protection, allegedly hiring Sicilian gunman to join their ranks. In 1926, however, he was declared bankrupt following an unsuccessful legal battle and with World War II eventually squashing his operation, which really relied heavily on an alliance of Italians and Jewish bookmakers. Speaking of alliances with the Jewish community at the time, we have to talk about Alfie

Solomon's, who was a real guy, albeit not with the accent and flair that Tom Hardy brings to the role, but Mr. Solomons is based on a real-life gangster named Alfred Solomon. Now, he was the leader of the Yiddishers, the early 20th century's criminal organization operating out of Canton Town in London. Mr. Solomons himself was born around 1895 to a Russian Jewish immigrant family, running around with the Yiddishers until becoming their leader. He was arrested and later acquitted in 1921 for attempting to murder Billy Kimba. God, can that guy catch a fucking break?

He then was convicted of manslaughter in 1924 after a fatal brawl involving another bookmaker, largely the inspiration for the famous Passover scene where Alfie's men beat the shit out of Arthur. Unlike Tom Hardy's charismatic theatrical Alfie, the real Mr Solomon's was to described as a terrified figure who ultimately broke the underworld's greatest code of silence by becoming a police informant. He was also generally clean-shaven and wore secular clothing, unlike the bearded orthodox-looking portrayal by Tom Hardy. Let's be real, guys. Alfie is everyone's favourite character and for good, bloody reason.

Tommy, when a pike he walks in with hair like that, you've got to ask yourself, Have I made a mistake? Who the fuck are you? Who the fuck a boy? Who the fuck is this? He's incredible. Alfie has a particular wonderful run-in with some Russians in the show as well. In particular Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna, played by Gate Jensen.

She is forced to flee Russia after the revolution alongside her aunt and uncle, Grand Duke Leon Petrovich Romanov and Grand Duchess Isabella Petrovna. Now, Tatiana is a real person. but she famously was the daughter of the Tsar who was shot and killed by Bolsheviks with the rest of her family. Although, guys, really, Tadiana is a popular Russian name and could have been any number of aristocratic women who fled. So while she may not be one specific historical figure, again, if she is Tadiana Romanov, she was like 15 at the time and died. But she really is modelled after those who were in the same position as her. Her aunt also entirely fictional, as is her uncle, but he is largely based on Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia,

who was saved by the British government with the aid of the royal family aboard the HMS, Marlborough. The stockpiling of jewels and Faberjeet eggs is also historically accurate. There's that incredible scene down in the cells with Alfie and Tommy, although the sheer volume in which the show depicts does not reflect what the majority of even the most senior imperial and aristocratic families managed to take out of Russia. You should actually listen to last week's ep if you want to know more about what happened to drummond a fortune after their deaths. Speaking of ladies, let's keep it going with Jessie Eden.

Now she is absolutely real and responsible for leading between 40 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent strike of 1939. She also led 10,000 non-unionized women on a week-long strike during which she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and travelled to the Soviet Union in secret where she spent two and a half years rallying women there. However, despite her skills here, her work did very little to speed up the progress in Moscow,

largely due to language difficulties. After which, she returned to Britain and she remained committed to improving conditions for working people and supporting the Labour movement, dying in 1986 at 84 years old, Jesse's pretty incredible. She leaves behind a legacy as one of Birmingham's most influential label organizers and just like a badass woman.

Now a bit of a random one and perhaps a deep cut for Peaky Blinders stands. But remember when Arthur, John, Michael and Polly are about to be at the beginning of season four? And the scene goes between like them and an old guy being woken up in his dressing gown, being told that Tommy has all of this information about, you know, the king and the government and he wants his family spared, and, you know, it's going back and forth between this scene, and then Tommy wants to be made in OBE.

Well, that guy's name in the dressing gown is Arthur Vick. And he was one of the most influential figures of the 19th and 20th centuries. So, he began as an officer in the British Army before becoming private secretary to Queen Victoria. He then left her employee to join British troops in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, serving for a year before being recalled by Queen Victoria. He was like so good at his job as a royal handler that he later went on to also become private secretary to King George the 5th British King during World War I.

So while his role in piggy blinders is small, big is actually among like the more notable historical figures in the series. Now what about Sir Oswald and Diana Mosley? Now, they were both real figures, both of whom were actively involved with the fascist party in Britain and considered close with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party itself. So Oswald was the founder and leader of the British Union of fascists and during World War II he was detained due to his position being considered a threat to national security during the war. His wife, Diana, played by Amber Anderson, brilliantly, if I may add, was not only an in real real,

life fascist, but a member of the famed aristocratic Midford family. Her sister, unity, was ingrained in Hitler's inner circle, with the Fuhrer referring to Diana as his angel, even attending her and Oswald's wedding. She was also interned during the war with declassified MI5 documents showing that the government considered her an even greater threat than her husband. So that's it, guys. The real piggy blinders do not hold a single flame to the Shelby family, but their notoriety and style earned them great levels of attention before Tommy, Arthur, Ada and Polly were even a thought.

And whilst their power faded with time, their namesakes now live on across both TV and, as of today, guys, film. I am so excited to go and watch Pecky Blinders' The Immortal Man on Netflix, tonight. If you two are watching, please DM me your thoughts after. I'm desperate to hear and discuss. I may even drop a surprise review episode in your feeds. Who knows? But what I do know for certain is that we will be back next Friday, because we are going to finally chat about the most important, iconic and tragic couple of the 1990s. Carolyn F. Sett and John F. Kennedy, Jr. Now, Love Story, the show by Ryan Murphy about the famed couple, has been out for weeks,

and I have been itching to cover the real history for you guys, but I wanted to do so when the finale was out, when I've, you know, consumed the full, the full, like, series. So next week is the final episode, and the pod will be out for you that morning. So you can continue the CBK, JFK, Journey. before I then drop my review of the entire series in a bonus episode for you guys a few days after that. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. Thank you so much for following along with me on this episode. If you are looking for some more Hot History, then you can always follow us on Instagram at Hot History Club and on TikTok at hot.

It has been a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and I will speak to you all next Friday. Thanks guys. Love you. Bye.