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. There's a polite term once
Speaker 1: used to describe people of means who didn't behave according
Speaker 1: to societal norms. The term was eccentric, and many throughout
Speaker 1: history came to embody it. John Mitten, also known as
Speaker 1: Mad Jack, was a British aristocrat during the nineteenth century
Speaker 1: who literally bought himself a seat in Parliament. He paid
Speaker 1: every voter ten pounds, costing him roughly ten thousand pounds.
Speaker 1: Mitton was inevitably elected for his generosity, but his term
Speaker 1: was cut short by himself. He sat in on one
Speaker 1: thirty minute meeting in the House of Commons and decided
Speaker 1: it wasn't for him. He never came back. Oh and
Speaker 1: he also reportedly arrived at one of his own dinner
Speaker 1: parties riding the top of bear named Nell, and occasionally
Speaker 1: hunted wild game wearing nothing but his birthday suit. A
Speaker 1: unique individual, to say the least. Then there was Heady Green,
Speaker 1: the Witch of Wall Street, allegedly worth tens of billions
Speaker 1: of dollars, which she earned by being incredibly stingy. Rather
Speaker 1: than rent in office, she worked out of trunks she
Speaker 1: kept at the bank. She also donned the same black
Speaker 1: clothes every day until they were too tattered to wear.
Speaker 1: She barely bathed or heated her home to save on
Speaker 1: living costs. To Finally, we have Matthew Robinson, second Baron Rokebury.
Speaker 1: By all accounts, Lord Rokebury had a fairly standard upbringing
Speaker 1: for someone of his station. He was born in Yorkshire, England,
Speaker 1: around into a family of six brothers and two sisters. Large, yes,
Speaker 1: but also incredibly sophisticated and well rounded. Among his siblings
Speaker 1: were authors, legal writers, clerics and members of parliament. With
Speaker 1: such a successful brood, it took a lot for Lord
Speaker 1: Rokeby to stand out. After he graduated college, he became
Speaker 1: a Fellow of the Royal Society, an honor bestowed upon
Speaker 1: people who had contributed to the advancement of math, engineering
Speaker 1: and medicine. Around the same time, his mother passed away
Speaker 1: and left him a property she owned in Kent. Her
Speaker 1: untimely death came with an inheritance and bigger responsibilities, which
Speaker 1: perhaps led to her son's increased stress. It was after
Speaker 1: he had vacationed in a German spa town when Lord
Speaker 1: Rokeby developed a passion for baths. He loved the sensation
Speaker 1: of submerging his body in water, of cleansing himself of
Speaker 1: the day's dirt and grime. But he didn't just want
Speaker 1: to be clean. Lord Rokeby practically lived in the water.
Speaker 1: He was obsessed with it, lounging in it, drinking it,
Speaker 1: being around it at all times. He preached its benefits
Speaker 1: to anyone who would listen. He often traveled to the
Speaker 1: shore and spent entire days in the ocean until someone
Speaker 1: would come and fetch him out of the water. Occasionally
Speaker 1: he would pass out there and have to be saved
Speaker 1: from drowning. Eventually, though, it became too much of a
Speaker 1: hassle to travel to the ocean, so he moved out
Speaker 1: of his large mansion and into a small hut on
Speaker 1: the coast so he could be closer to the water.
Speaker 1: He even had drinking fountains installed along the route just
Speaker 1: in case he got thirsty, and whenever he saw someone
Speaker 1: else drinking from one of them, he'd give them half
Speaker 1: a crown. But not everyone supported this new hydrated lifestyle.
Speaker 1: The neighbors were worried about him, as were his siblings,
Speaker 1: so Lord Rokeby retreated to his mansion, where he kept
Speaker 1: to himself. He stopped venturing outside for any reason, instead
Speaker 1: having a swimming pool installed surrounded by glass to trap
Speaker 1: the sunlight in and keep the water warm. He swam
Speaker 1: even in the dead of winter and refused to light
Speaker 1: a fire to heat the rest of the house. To him,
Speaker 1: the swimming pool was enough. He also grew his beard
Speaker 1: longer than any of his peers and reduced his food
Speaker 1: intake to beef, broth and venison. He awaited doctors. He
Speaker 1: only worshiped within the walls of the mansion, never joining
Speaker 1: the rest of the community at local church services. With
Speaker 1: all the dietary changes and reclusive behaviors, one might think
Speaker 1: Lord Rokeby couldn't live that long. After all, he barely
Speaker 1: ate anything, and most of what he ate was meat based.
Speaker 1: But he also gave up bread, corn, and sugar, dietary
Speaker 1: choices that might sound all too familiar to people today
Speaker 1: who hope to lose weight and regain control of their bodies.
Speaker 1: As a result of his daily regiment, Lord Rokeby lived
Speaker 1: the ripe old age of eight. He died peacefully in
Speaker 1: his bed, although there's no word on whether he was
Speaker 1: buried at sea, but you can bet that's what he
Speaker 1: would have wanted. Roman emperor's weren't known for their forgiveness.
Speaker 1: The Emperor Tiberius, who ruled from a d. Fourteen to
Speaker 1: thirty seven, was a paranoid tyrant. Longer he reigned, the
Speaker 1: more suspicious he grew of everyone around him. After he
Speaker 1: thwarted an attempted coup by one of his advisors, he
Speaker 1: fled to the island of Capri and used an ancient
Speaker 1: edict to execute anyone he even suspected of treason. The
Speaker 1: Emperor Nero knew how to rule, which he did from
Speaker 1: a d. Fifty four to sixty eight, and surrounded himself
Speaker 1: with knowledgeable advisers, but he was also a serial killer.
Speaker 1: First he took care of his stepbrother, who he was
Speaker 1: worried would take the throne away from him. Then he
Speaker 1: had his wife killed so that he could be with
Speaker 1: his mistress, Popeia, who then encouraged him to murder his mother.
Speaker 1: One big, happy family, right. But galleanis Emperor of Rome
Speaker 1: from two fifty three to two sixty eight. Was perhaps
Speaker 1: the most feared of them all. He came from a
Speaker 1: rich and politically powerful family and quickly gained a reputation
Speaker 1: as a strategic military mind. His forces prevented countless invasions
Speaker 1: and helped to secure several important areas of modern day
Speaker 1: Europe for the Empire. But that sort of military work
Speaker 1: required troops on several fronts. He put one of his
Speaker 1: sons in charge of stopping an invasion in the east
Speaker 1: while he focused on protecting the west. As a result
Speaker 1: of these distractions, a governor named Ingenuous declared himself emperor
Speaker 1: in Galiennis's place. Well, that didn't sit well with the
Speaker 1: real emperor, who rushed back home and took the governor's
Speaker 1: forces head on. When Ingenious was killed, Galliennis reclaimed his
Speaker 1: rightful place as Roman emperor. But that's not why Galliennis
Speaker 1: was so feared. His brilliance extended far beyond his military
Speaker 1: prowess to how he handled the public. He once put
Speaker 1: a gladiator against a large bull, but the gladiator didn't
Speaker 1: perform as expected. A poor fighter tried over ten consecutive
Speaker 1: times to kill the bull and failed each time. The
Speaker 1: crowd expected something to happen to the gladiator for his failure.
Speaker 1: Perhaps another animal, such as a lion, might be brought
Speaker 1: out to take him on, or another person for him
Speaker 1: to fight. Galiennis, though, had another idea. He had a
Speaker 1: crown brought out to the young man and placed atop
Speaker 1: his head. Everyone in attendance was shocked someone as low
Speaker 1: as a gladiator to be crowned it was unheard of,
Speaker 1: And then Galiennas had a herald announced to the crowd.
Speaker 1: It is a difficult thing not to wound a bull.
Speaker 1: So many times. Along with his formidable military mind, it
Speaker 1: seemed the emperor had a sense of humor. He wasn't
Speaker 1: always so kind, though. One time, a local merchant had
Speaker 1: sold Galiennis his wife some jewels. She quickly discovered that
Speaker 1: they weren't of any value at all and were actually
Speaker 1: just colored glass. The emperor was furious. He ordered his
Speaker 1: guards to find the merchant, snatch him up, and throw
Speaker 1: him to the lions. He had the city gather in
Speaker 1: the colosseum, just as they had done for the gladiator.
Speaker 1: This would teach anyone planning on cheating the emperor or
Speaker 1: his wife to think twice. A merchant cowered in the
Speaker 1: center of the ring as spectators looked on, and somewhere
Speaker 1: a lion roared, scaring him so much that the poor
Speaker 1: man wet himself in front of everyone Onlookers laughed as
Speaker 1: they waited for the beast to show itself. Gallienis held
Speaker 1: out until the crowd was at a fever pitch, and
Speaker 1: then he gave the signal. The gate was lifted, and
Speaker 1: from the darkened wings of the Colosseum came a terrifying
Speaker 1: and intimidating chicken. Yeah, a chicken. The people, surprised at first,
Speaker 1: soon burst into laughter. They've never seen anything like it.
Speaker 1: The Emperor, laughing right along with them, announced to the
Speaker 1: crowd he has deceived, and then was himself deceived. The
Speaker 1: merchant had served his time as the butt of a
Speaker 1: joke for all of Rome, and then was free to go.
Speaker 1: But I doubt he was ever able to eat a
Speaker 1: bite of chicken never again. I hope you've enjoyed today's
Speaker 1: guided too of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by
Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by
Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works, I
Speaker 1: make 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.