Standards
How we check the facts.
A two-minute story leaves no room for footnotes. So the checking happens before the script, and the evidence goes on the episode page.
Before a file is made
- Research comes first. Every episode starts with notes from biographies, archives, museum collections and contemporary newspapers, not with a script.
- Each claim needs a source. Dates, numbers and quotes in the narration are checked against those notes. If we cannot find a source for something, it is left out.
- Careful wording where sources disagree. When historians disagree, the narration takes the careful version, such as "about", "by one estimate" or "he later said".
- Legends are labelled. A famous story that only comes from the inventor's own memoir, or that was made up later, is called a legend out loud.
- Real images only. Photos and film come from archives and Wikimedia Commons, credited under their licence. We never use AI-generated pictures of real people.
The facts behind each file
27 episode pages carry a box called The facts behind this file. It has three parts: what the record shows, the legends and disputes, and the main sources. Louis Slotin and Franz Reichelt are good examples.
When we get it wrong
History is messy and we will sometimes make mistakes. If you know a better source, tell us. If you are right, we correct the page and add the change to the log below. A video cannot be changed after upload, so a mistake in a video is corrected in its description.
Corrections log
- October 2026Timeline
Seven entries were reworded to match the checked facts behind each file. For example, Ypres is now called the first large-scale gas attack rather than the first ever, Kalashnikov's production figures are marked as an estimate, and Diesel's disappearance is dated to the night of 29 to 30 September 1913.