Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right
Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of curiosities. Under the best circumstances, the
Speaker 1: odds of dying in a plane crash are one and
Speaker 1: twenty million. You're more likely to be struck by lightning
Speaker 1: or dye in a car accident than you are to
Speaker 1: perish in a malfunctioning airplane. However, no matter how unlikely
Speaker 1: the scenario, the fear of falling out of the sky
Speaker 1: from thirty thousand feet up is very real, and it's
Speaker 1: only amplified by stories like that of Tim Lancaster. Lancaster
Speaker 1: was a forty two year old British Airways pilot with
Speaker 1: over eleven thousand flight hours under his belt. He was
Speaker 1: more than capable of handling a simple flight from Birmingham, England,
Speaker 1: to Spain. On June tenth, Tim and his co pilot,
Speaker 1: Alistair Atchinson, took a British Airways Flight fifty nine into
Speaker 1: the clouds along with eighties seven Precious Souls. Take Off
Speaker 1: was perfect. The plane soared skyward for twenty minutes as
Speaker 1: it worked its way up. It was only when the
Speaker 1: plane reached twenty three thousand feet that everyone started to
Speaker 1: realize that this was one of those one in two
Speaker 1: hundred million flights. An explosion in the cockpit startled the
Speaker 1: passengers and blew the door to the flight deck clean
Speaker 1: off its hinges. They saw everything the open window, the
Speaker 1: debris and paperwork being sucked out the front of the plane,
Speaker 1: and the pilot had gone missing the windscreen. Basically, the
Speaker 1: plane's windshield had come loose and flown away completely, deep
Speaker 1: pressurizing in the cabin, and the pilot, Tim Lancaster, had
Speaker 1: been sucked out through the opening in a matter of seconds.
Speaker 1: Another remember bravely ran to the cabin and took a
Speaker 1: position in the pilot's seat while Atchinson, the co pilot,
Speaker 1: got his bearings. He strapped on an oxygen mask and
Speaker 1: told the passengers to hold tight. They were about to
Speaker 1: make an emergency landing. He got on the radio to
Speaker 1: signal to the closest airport that he needed a place
Speaker 1: to land, but the wind whipping through the plane made
Speaker 1: hearing anyone at air traffic control almost impossible. Without their confirmation,
Speaker 1: Atchinson couldn't begin the emergency landing procedures. After some time, however,
Speaker 1: a message from Southampton Airport came through and Atchinson began
Speaker 1: his descent towards the runway. He landed the plane without incident,
Speaker 1: saving the lives of every single person on board. But
Speaker 1: you might be wondering what happened to the pilot, Tim Lancaster.
Speaker 1: After all, authorities eventually found the windshield and were able
Speaker 1: to deduce what had caused it to separate from the
Speaker 1: rest of the plane. An investigation revealed the use of
Speaker 1: bolts of varying sizes in securing the windshield to the
Speaker 1: flight act, none of which had been strong enough to
Speaker 1: handle the changes in pressure between the cabin and the outside,
Speaker 1: and Lancaster well, they didn't have to go far to
Speaker 1: find him because he'd never left the season pilot had
Speaker 1: been sucked out the window, but Atchinson, thinking on his feet,
Speaker 1: had grabbed his colleague's ankles and held on with all
Speaker 1: his strength until more crew members were able to come
Speaker 1: and help him. Being exposed to such strong winds that
Speaker 1: that high altitude should have killed him, especially as his
Speaker 1: body continued to slide farther outside the cockpits. According to
Speaker 1: flight attendant Nigel Ogden, the first crew member to take
Speaker 1: over holding the pilot's ankles. Lancaster kept hitting his head
Speaker 1: on the fuselage, but letting go of him risked his
Speaker 1: body being sucked into one of the engines, which would
Speaker 1: bring down the plane even faster and kill everyone on board.
Speaker 1: So they held on Ogden, withstanding frost bite and exhaustion,
Speaker 1: until Atchinson was able to bring Flight fifty nine safely
Speaker 1: to the ground. Not a single passenger or crew member
Speaker 1: died in the incident, thanks to some quick thinking by
Speaker 1: everyone involved, and although Lancaster also suffered from frostbite and
Speaker 1: minor injuries, he was back on the job six months
Speaker 1: later with a heck of a story to tell, for sure.
Speaker 1: I can't help but wonder though, if he warned people
Speaker 1: before he shared the story with them. This one will
Speaker 1: give you chills, he must have said, So hold on tight.
Speaker 1: It doesn't take a lot to change the world. Just
Speaker 1: one small act can set off a chain of events
Speaker 1: that could shape the future for generations to come, and
Speaker 1: oftentimes those acts occur under durest when there's much to
Speaker 1: lose and little to gain in the short term. During Prohibition,
Speaker 1: the government took away alcohol across the country under the
Speaker 1: belief that they were hearing the nation of abhorrent behavior.
Speaker 1: Working class folks turned to bootlegging and hoarding to get by,
Speaker 1: and their combined efforts eventually led to the repeal of
Speaker 1: the Jaconian law. However, years earlier, it was a Roman
Speaker 1: priest who broke the law of the land, and his
Speaker 1: rebellion against the empire did more than change the law,
Speaker 1: it changed the world. Around two d d at the
Speaker 1: height of the rule of Emperor Claudius, the Second Rome
Speaker 1: was on a bloody path of war and destruction. Claudius
Speaker 1: needed his armies to be bigger and stronger. There was
Speaker 1: only one problem. No one wanted to join up. Roman
Speaker 1: men at the time had no interest in traveling across
Speaker 1: Europe to fight on behalf of a cruel and despotic leader.
Speaker 1: Legend has it that Claudius was so strong that he
Speaker 1: could knock out a horse's tooth with a single punch.
Speaker 1: He had no patience for formalities and positioned himself as
Speaker 1: the opposite of the aristocratic emperors that came before him.
Speaker 1: He was a soldier through an through, and he expected
Speaker 1: his men to follow suit. Because he was a soldier
Speaker 1: with deep affinity for the military. He had no time
Speaker 1: for silly things like marriage or family life. In fact,
Speaker 1: Claudius believed it was the concept of family that was
Speaker 1: keeping men from joining his ranks. They were soft and weak,
Speaker 1: he said. By getting married and raising children, they were
Speaker 1: not living up to their full potential as soldiers of Rome. However,
Speaker 1: rather than incentivized new recruits with promises of fame and glory,
Speaker 1: you know, positive reinforcement, Claudius took the opposite approach. He
Speaker 1: simply banned marriage. It was a harsh move, for sure,
Speaker 1: and one that did not go unnoticed by the Church.
Speaker 1: A local priest did not agree with this declaration. He
Speaker 1: believed people should be able to pursue their love despite
Speaker 1: what the emperor thought. Government had no right to deny
Speaker 1: what God had already blessed. Although he knew it was illegal,
Speaker 1: the priest found a way to rebel against Claudius. He
Speaker 1: began performing clandestine marriage ceremonies for Roman couples looking to
Speaker 1: build better lives for themselves. Unfortunately, just as had happened
Speaker 1: with speakeasies during the prohibition, the authorities found out about
Speaker 1: the secret ceremonies taking place right under the Emperor's nose.
Speaker 1: They arrested the priest and paraded him in front of
Speaker 1: the Prefect of Rome for a trial. Neither his testimony
Speaker 1: on true love or his duties as a man of
Speaker 1: the cloth made any difference to the Roman courts. He
Speaker 1: had defied Emperor Claudius and made a mockery of his position.
Speaker 1: The priest's fate had been sealed long before his trial.
Speaker 1: He was sentenced to death, which was to be carried
Speaker 1: out over a series of beatings and stonings before his
Speaker 1: eventual decapitation. Claudius was going to make an example out
Speaker 1: of this traitor for anyone else looking to challenge him.
Speaker 1: So defiantly. The priest was held in prison for a
Speaker 1: short time before his death, and during his stay something
Speaker 1: unexpected happened. He found love. Not unlike young couples, he
Speaker 1: had married in secret, and despite the obvious barriers keeping
Speaker 1: the two apart, their relationship flourished. You see, he had
Speaker 1: fallen in love with someone outside his prison cell, the
Speaker 1: daughter of one of his jailers. During their brief time
Speaker 1: that they had together, they exchanged notes and letters professing
Speaker 1: their love for each other all the way up to
Speaker 1: the day of the priest's execution. He was beheaded for
Speaker 1: his crimes as ordered, and went down in history as
Speaker 1: a martyr for his cause on behalf of lovers everywhere.
Speaker 1: And it was because of his efforts to stand up
Speaker 1: to an unjust and immoral law that he was later
Speaker 1: named a saint. And because he died on February, we
Speaker 1: remember him on that same day each year, signing letters
Speaker 1: and cards to our loved ones with his name, not
Speaker 1: ours from your Valentine. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.