[00:00] Maya Kim: Welcome to Deep Dive.
[00:02] Maya Kim: I am Maya Kim.
[00:03] Michael Turner: And I am Michael Turner.
[00:05] Michael Turner: Today is February 13th, a date that highlights major shifts in governance and human achievement.
[00:12] Maya Kim: It really is a day defined by transition.
[00:16] Maya Kim: We're looking at everything from the foundations of British democracy
[00:19] Maya Kim: to the first time a human outpaced the speed of sound.
[00:23] Michael Turner: That is a wide range, Maya.
[00:26] Michael Turner: Let's start with a moment that changed the course of the British monarchy forever.
[00:31] Michael Turner: On this day in 1689, William I.I. and Mary I.I.
[00:36] Michael Turner: were officially proclaimed joint sovereigns of England.
[00:39] Maya Kim: This was the culmination of the Glorious Revolution.
[00:43] Maya Kim: What is so fascinating here is that they were the first monarchs to rule under the Bill
[00:48] Maya Kim: of Rights.
[00:49] Maya Kim: It was a complete shift in power.
[00:53] Michael Turner: Exactly, Maya.
[00:54] Michael Turner: Before this, the royal prerogative was much broader.
[00:58] Michael Turner: The Bill of Rights established parliamentary supremacy, meaning the monarch couldn't just
[01:03] Michael Turner: bypass the law.
[01:04] Michael Turner: Mary was the daughter of the deposed James I, and her husband, William of Orange, was a Dutch prince.
[01:11] Maya Kim: They ruled together until Mary passed away in 1694, at which point William continued on his own.
[01:17] Maya Kim: But it was that initial partnership that stabilized the country during a very volatile time.
[01:23] Michael Turner: It set the stage for the modern constitutional monarchy we see today.
[01:28] Michael Turner: It is incredible how a single proclamation in 1689 still echoes in the way governments operate
[01:35] Michael Turner: centuries later.
[01:37] Maya Kim: Speaking of things that echo through history, Michael, we have some incredible birthdays to celebrate today.
[01:44] Maya Kim: People who really push the boundaries in their respective fields.
[01:48] Michael Turner: We certainly do.
[01:49] Michael Turner: First up, born on this day in 1923 is the legendary Chuck Yeager.
[01:55] Michael Turner: As a climate and weather reporter, I often think about the physical limits of our atmosphere,
[02:00] Michael Turner: and Yeager was the man who broke one of the biggest ones.
[02:03] Maya Kim: He was an Air Force officer and test pilot, but he is forever etched in history for what
[02:09] Maya Kim: he did on October 14, 1947.
[02:12] Maya Kim: he became the first person to break the sound barrier in level flight,
[02:16] Maya Kim: flying that experimental Bell X-1 aircraft.
[02:19] Michael Turner: It is hard to imagine the courage that took, Maya.
[02:23] Michael Turner: But February 13th isn't just for the daredevils of the sky.
[02:27] Michael Turner: In 1933, it also gave us the iconic actress Kim Novak.
[02:32] Maya Kim: I have always admired her work.
[02:35] Maya Kim: Most people know her best from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo,
[02:38] Maya Kim: which is such a cornerstone of film history.
[02:41] Maya Kim: She had this incredible screen presence in movies like Picnic and Bell, Book and Candle, too.
[02:47] Michael Turner: She really defined a certain era of Hollywood glamour and mystery.
[02:51] Michael Turner: And our third birthday today takes us into the world of music and activism.
[02:56] Michael Turner: Peter Gabriel was born on February 13, 1950.
[03:00] Maya Kim: He has had such a multifaceted career, Michael,
[03:04] Maya Kim: starting out as the original lead singer for Genesis and then moving into a massive solo career
[03:09] Maya Kim: with hits like Sledgehammer and In Your Eyes.
[03:13] Michael Turner: Right, Maya.
[03:14] Michael Turner: But it is not just about the music with him.
[03:17] Michael Turner: He has used his platform for human rights activism for decades.
[03:21] Michael Turner: It's a recurring theme today, isn't it?
[03:23] Michael Turner: People using their roles to influence something much larger than themselves.
[03:27] Maya Kim: That is a great point, Michael.
[03:30] Maya Kim: Whether it's music or flight or even the highest offices in the world,
[03:34] Maya Kim: leadership and change are everywhere on this date.
[03:37] Michael Turner: That's remarkable.
[03:39] Michael Turner: That brings us to our fact of the day, which involves a very modern transition
[03:44] Michael Turner: On February 13, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI did something that hadn't been seen in centuries.
[03:52] Maya Kim: He announced his intention to resign.
[03:54] Maya Kim: That was a massive story in the global news spheres because it was so unexpected.
[03:59] Maya Kim: He cited his failing health and age as the primary reasons.
[04:03] Michael Turner: It was the first time a pope had voluntarily stepped down in nearly 600 years.
[04:09] Michael Turner: You have to go all the way back to Gregory XII in 1415 to find another example, and he only did it to end the Western Schism.
[04:18] Maya Kim: Benedict's decision took effect a few weeks later and led directly to the election of Pope Francis.
[04:24] Maya Kim: It was a historic moment that showed even the most traditional institutions can face sudden, profound change.
[04:32] Michael Turner: Yeah.
[04:33] Michael Turner: From the Bill of Rights to the breaking of the sound barrier and the resignation of a pope,
[04:38] Michael Turner: February 13th really is a day of rewriting the rules.
[04:42] Maya Kim: It certainly is.
[04:43] Maya Kim: Thank you for joining us for this look back through time.
[04:46] Maya Kim: I'm Maya Kim.
[04:48] Michael Turner: And I'm Michael Turner.
[04:49] Michael Turner: For more episodes, head to deepdive.neuromnewscast.com.
[04:53] Michael Turner: Deep dive is AI-assisted, human-reviewed.
[04:57] Michael Turner: Explore history every day on Neural Newscast.