Horrible Histories didn't invent the "Divorced, Beheaded, Died. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived" rhyme. They just made a song out of it. It was taught in British schools long before Horrible Histories.

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived isn't a song. It's how we are taught to remember the fates of Henry VIII's six wives

I am genuinely surprised by the amount of rage I felt when he referred to Rattus as a squirrel
Horrible Histories was my childhood, the books as well. I still have my entire collection taking up a whole shelf in my room.
Random question, anyone else feel cheated by the new version of the Kings and Queens song? They put literally zero effort into adding Charles III, it was kind of disappointing that I could think of a better change - just replace "completes the mix" with "King Charles Three" and ignore the fact it doesn't rhyme, same with "then reigned and how" - I've put too much thought into this, but I didn't memorise that song for nothing!

I don't think the swans are referencing anything except swans - you just get told as a kid not to feed or go near swans, or at least be careful. Ducks are ok, but swans are evil buggers who can (supposedly) break your arm - or at least that's the impression I got as a 7 year old

Also I'm sorry but I'm finding even more reasons not to live in America - they don't have pantomimes? My primary school had trips at Christmas to go see one! They're one of the highest forms of entertainment!
But yes, it is a period of life that is behind many of us (can't believe he missed that)

Also for the phone number one my brain went to Childline? cause it's 0800 double one double one, and I learnt that from school for some reason.
Also a lot of these are very old British tv shows, so while some references will filter through the generations if you asked a young British person about some of these they'd probably be as clueless as an american

And I have ranted for ages about Britishness, sorry about that

I can’t believe that Tyler reads the concept of “he’s behind you!” At 8:30, then literally 25 seconds later the joke of “it’s behind me” flies over his head

A British pantomime is normally based on kids stories like Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs or Jack and the Beanstalk or Cinderella.
Pantomimes have been going on in the U.K. since the year 1721, and still going strong to this day.  
A lot of British Tv celebrities star in these pantomimes.
They are a lot of fun.

Whether a swan can break your arm or not is a moot question. When a swan goes for you, RUN!.

Just say the words "Four Candles" to a Brit and they will smile at the memory.......

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived doesn't come from Horrible Histories. I was taught that poem in primary school back in the mid 80's. It's a way to remember the order in which King Henry VIII's wives died.
I don't know about schools now, but back in the day it was taught to all kids.

At 8:55 you have totally missed British tongue in cheek humour - the person says it's behind them, referring to the shouts by the audience (at the cast of the Pantomine show) of 'it's behind you'.

Variants of the "Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived" rhyme can be traced back to the 1700s. Horrible Histories didn't invent it

The expression: "It is cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey" comes from the practice of putting iron cannon balls on a dimpled brass plate on the deck of a war-ship. When very cold the brass contracted sufficiently to cause the iron balls to fall out.

It's not "spill the tea". It's "spill the beans". That's one thing you've just learnt.

The random sounding comments after the swan myth are  referencing a sub plot in the film Hot Fuzz. In Britain if anyone mentions swans, sooner or later someone will reference this film.

The phone number was used in an advert for Hastings car insurance, and was said in a rhythm that sticks in your brain. The number is said "Oh Eight Hundred, double Oh, Ten sixty six!" (1066 is the year of the battle of Hastings, and is the one actual date that EVERYONE in Britain knows from their schooldays)

Here is an obscure British reference that only Brits will get, probably only those of a certain age too:

The excitement of popping the lid on a particular tube of sweets to discover which letter you have ... even though nobody knows why there is a random letter on the underside of the plastic cap in the first place, they literally did not mean anything and nobody knew why it was there ... the mystery!

extra points if you can name those sweets

Ok not gonna lie, almost 40 and still find myself singing the Bodger and Badger song everytime i make mash 😂

How did you not get the "ive stopped going to panto, its behind me" joke? Proper british dad joke that 😂

I think a traditional British pantomime would probably cause major hassles in parts of the USA these days - the dame is a guy in drag and the boy is a girl in drag, oh the morality! Oh and "Listen very carefully, I will say this only once" is one a Brit would know spoken in a French accent.

Trumpton, Camberwick Green and Chigley were part of the childhoods of everyone overr the age of 40 in the UK.  They were made in the 60's but were repeated often through to the 80's.  Great memories.

S-squirrel?! I don't think I have been more offnded in my life!

Horrible Histories is a show for kids designed to make history more accessible. But its offbeat and often dark humour makes it popular with adults too. The team that made it went on to make "Yonderland" (for kids) and "Ghosts" (for adults), and the movie  "Bill" (a comedy based on the life of Shakespeare). They also created an American remake of "Ghosts"). All shared the same silly humour. They've been compared to Monty Python, mostly because, like Python, there are six of them and they take on multiple rolls within their projects.

I would love to see a horrible histories reaction tbf, it was a kids show to teach kids about history and at least in my experience, a lot of teachers used it in lessons