Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

We're going to go way back today to the 17th century, to England, to talk about the crown jewels,

and a man named Blood, Thomas Blood. Blood was, to put it generously, a shady thief.

Some called him Colonel Blood or Captain Blood.

Both nicknames fit.

He was a scoundrel.

According to Ireland's History Magazine,

Blood had a reputation for espionage and conducting terrorist campaigns, though many of his

plans were foiled just in time.

That's because Blood was not a particularly good planner.

He once posed as a doctor to earn money, even though he had no medical qualifications

to his name.

In 1642, he switched sides during the English Civil War.

Colonel Blood knew he would wind up on the losing side otherwise.

And he just didn't consider himself to be the losing kind.

And then, in 1671,

Colonel Blood and his buddies decided to execute

what was perhaps their most audacious

and foolhardy plan.

They would steal the crown jewels.

So here's how they did it,

or didn't do it.

...