1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Harry was really good at chess. 5 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: I don't mean that in a casual way either. Harry 6 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: was tried and tested in dozens of large tournaments and 7 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: proved to be incredibly good at it. He started playing 8 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,519 Speaker 1: at the age of fifteen, and over the years that followed, 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,680 Speaker 1: became a master of the game. In he managed to 10 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: become the United States representative in a British competition known 11 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:55,720 Speaker 1: as the Hastings Tournament. Most of the other chess players 12 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: there were a lot older than him, and there's a 13 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: rumor that they were a bit rude to him. He 14 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: might have had something to do with his age, sure, 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: but it was more likely to be connected to the 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: cigars he smoked while he played. Whether or not they 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: liked him didn't matter. Harry beat them all. I'm not 18 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: going to sugarcoat this story. Harry didn't live long. He 19 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: passed away in nineteen o six at the age of 20 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:22,199 Speaker 1: thirty three, but he left behind a legacy that still 21 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: makes people scratch their heads today. Not for his typical 22 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: victories in normal chess competitions, though, no, Henry built a 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: reputation for something entirely different, group matches. He would sit 24 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: down with a number of other chess players, each with 25 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: their own game board and pieces set up, and then 26 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: play against all of them simultaneously. It would often take 27 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: place during an official tournament when many of the players 28 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: had the day off, so these were just random players 29 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: off the street. He was playing groups of the best 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: chess players in the world, all at the same time, 31 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: and he would win. Once he sat down with a 32 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: group of sixteen players and beat thirteen of them. Another time, 33 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: he played against twenty one contestants at a German tournament 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: and managed to record eleven draws, three wins, and six losses. 35 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,239 Speaker 1: It was incredible to see as many people recorded one 36 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: player managing to think through and compete with a dozen 37 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: or more high level opponents at the same time. Well, 38 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: it was amazing. His best match was in Moscow in 39 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: nineteen o two. There he sat down with twenty two 40 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: tournament players and beat all but one of them. If 41 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: he hadn't died four years later, there's no telling what 42 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: else he would have been able to accomplish. Henry Nelson 43 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: Pillsbury was a phenomenon, and not just because he beat 44 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: so many players at the same time. No, as if 45 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: that weren't enough of a handicap, Henry managed to secure 46 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: all of these records with one additional limitation. You see, 47 00:02:57,440 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: he played each and every one of these group matches 48 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: is seated in a chair facing away from his opponent's 49 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: boards while others called out the moves to him. Henry 50 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: Nelson Pillsbury wasn't blind, but he played each of these 51 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: games as if he was. William was what you might 52 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: call an explorer. He grew up at the end of 53 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century at a time in America when war 54 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: was raging across the state of Kentucky. No, not that 55 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: kind of war. This was the Kentucky Cave Wars, which 56 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: was a sort of competition between the people lucky enough 57 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: to own land over large cave systems who wanted to 58 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: sell tickets to tourists. Honestly, it was like a lot 59 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: of things in life. If there's money to be made, 60 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: people have a tendency to get competitive about it. But 61 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: of course this was a pretty odd business opportunity. If 62 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: you owned land with access to a cave that people 63 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: could walk into and look around, you could sell tickets 64 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: for admission and make a living. Except in Kentucky there 65 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: are a lot of caves. William was thirty seven years 66 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: old and lived on his father's land in central Kentucky. 67 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 1: About a decade before, he had discovered a cave on 68 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: the family property there and had begun selling tickets to visitors. 69 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: But there was a problem. The more popular Mammoth Cave 70 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,159 Speaker 1: was easier to get to, so it had the majority 71 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: of the business in the area. Not one to be deterred, 72 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: William formed a plan. If he could find another entrance 73 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: to his family's own cave system, perhaps even one that 74 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: was closer to the foot traffic near Mammoth Cave, he 75 00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: might be able to increase their business. So William went exploring, 76 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: and in he found something promising. He called it Sand 77 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: Cave and set about explore in it properly to make 78 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: sure it would work for all his goals. On January 79 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: he was crawling through a narrow part of the cave 80 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: when his lantern went down, leaving him in the dark. 81 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: Normally a very careful man, William accidentally kicked a large boulder, 82 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: which somehow rolled onto one of his legs, crushing it 83 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: and trapping him in the dark. His brothers and friends 84 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: tried to get him out but failed. Rescue workers failed 85 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,799 Speaker 1: as well. A local college offered to send their entire 86 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: basketball team, but the offer was politely declined. They did 87 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: their best to keep Williams spirits up and brought him 88 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: food and water, but at the end of the day 89 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: he was trapped in a small cave, and that horror 90 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: wasn't about to just go away. On February four, six 91 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: days after becoming trapped, a group of men took him 92 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: a meal, and on their way out, the entrance to 93 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: the cave collapsed. William was still pinned beneath the boulder, 94 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: but now he was also cut off from the rest 95 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: of the world. His scuwers began to dig down from 96 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 1: a different location, but it took them ten days. When 97 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: they finally broke through and reached him on February, he 98 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: was already dead. It took William's family another two months 99 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: to retrieve his body, which they buried on their farm 100 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: on April nineteen, and then, oddly, the entire family sold 101 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: the farm two years later, moving away and leaving the 102 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: family cemetery behind. The new owner, being very aware of 103 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: the story of William's death, saw a business opportunity. He 104 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: dug up the explorer's body and moved it to the 105 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: cave there on his own land. He even had a 106 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: glass box made for it so that everyone who visited 107 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,479 Speaker 1: would have a good view. Like the curiosity it was. 108 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: It sat in its glass case for nearly two years, 109 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: but in March of nineteen someone broke in and stole 110 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: William's body. When it was recovered a week later, the 111 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: damaged leg was missing. They the Corps put inside a 112 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: metal coffin, secured it with chains, and then placed it 113 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,920 Speaker 1: deeper inside the cave. It stayed there until nineteen eighty nine. 114 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: There might be a silver lining to all of this, though, 115 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: When William became trapped in the cave back in nineteen five, 116 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:21,679 Speaker 1: the media went wild. Historians believed that roughly fifty thousand 117 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: tourists came to the cave during those two weeks of 118 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: agony for William. They bought food and drink from the 119 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: local vendors, and then visited other nearby caves. Over fifty 120 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: reporters traveled there as well, each one hoping to write 121 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: the Great account of the ordeal. William Floyd Collins was 122 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: a star for a while. The result was an explosion 123 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: in public awareness of the Kentucky Cave system. In nineteen 124 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: forty one, the US government declared the entire Mammoth Cave 125 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: area to be a national park, protecting it for future 126 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: generations to enjoy. Each year, over half a million people 127 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: step inside and do a little exploring of their own safely. 128 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: I hope, I hope You've enjoyed today's guided tour of 129 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 130 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 131 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 132 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 133 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 134 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:32,880 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 135 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 136 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.