1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: In October of nineteen twelve, the survivors of the British 7 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: Antarctic Expedition set out to find their lost comrades, who 8 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: had been missing for months after a journey to the 9 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: South Pole. Winter was over and the terrain was crossable 10 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: once more. They didn't have to search for long. They 11 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: found the remains of their compatriots camp only eleven miles 12 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,319 Speaker 1: from their own base camp. There were logs detailing how 13 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: they had become stuck in a blizzard and eventually all perished. 14 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:06,199 Speaker 1: But there were also samples, samples taken from glaciers never 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: before visited by humans. No, these samples didn't contain alien 16 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: life forms, but they did contain the remnants of ancient 17 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: terrestrial life, and that life had a story to tell, 18 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: the story of a breakup not between two people, though, 19 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: but between two continents. Two hundred million years ago, in 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: the early Jurassic period, there was a super continent in 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: the southern Hemisphere the scientists referred to as Gondwana. If 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: you stood in the exact center of it, you would 23 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: be treated to quite a view too. Dense jungles dotted 24 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: the valleys and mountains. Smoking volcanoes simmered quietly on the horizon. 25 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: Massive dinosaurs of all kinds were abundant, making the land, sea, 26 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: and air their home. Today, though we call this central 27 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: part of Gondwana Antarctica. Even then it was a distinct area, 28 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: but it was land locked amongst its fellow future continents 29 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: like Australia, Africa, and South America. Of all of these, though, 30 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: it was perhaps closest to South America, its true geological soulmate. 31 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: But continents, just like people, change over time. Deep tectonic 32 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: forces beneath each future continent would soon drive them apart 33 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: as the plates in the Earth's crust began to shift. 34 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: Africa departed first in the Crustaceous period, traveling quickly east 35 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: to join strange distant continents. There. Tens of millions of 36 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: more years passed by, and soon Australia decided that it 37 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: would rather go things alone. In the Eocene period, it 38 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: left Antarctica behind, and there you had it. Antarctica and 39 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: South America were now alone, connected by a tiny land bridge, 40 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: almost as if they were holding hands across a large gap. 41 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: But even this small remaining connection was not meant to last. 42 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: All of these tectonic changes led to consistent volcanic activity 43 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: across the Earth. It filled the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, 44 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: turning the world into a tropical paradise, but it also 45 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: melted what few ice caps there were. The sea rows 46 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: hundreds of feet above what it used to be. What 47 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: had once been a vibrant, well trafficked passage between Antarctica 48 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: and South America was soon enveloped by deep, dark ocean water. 49 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: Antarctica was now well and truly alone, and it was 50 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: almost as if it knew. Dark ocean currents began swirling 51 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: around the lonely island, dropping its temperature rapidly. As the 52 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: Eocene period continued on. At a few more million years 53 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: passed by, the co two levels in the atmosphere returned 54 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: to normal, Antarctica was abruptly frozen, killing most plant and 55 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: animal life on its surface and leaving it alone as 56 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: a frigid tombstone, marking the end of hundreds of millions 57 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: of years of history. Thirty million years went by, and 58 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: Antarctica stayed the same, while its former friends and soulmate 59 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: developed new climates and gave birth to new life, including 60 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,520 Speaker 1: human beings. By the twentieth century of this modern era, 61 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: humanity began mounting dangerous exit expeditions to Antarctica to discover 62 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: its secrets. The British discoveries in nineteen twelve were only 63 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: the beginning. Over the past twenty years, internationally funded drilling 64 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: expeditions in Antarctica have revealed much of its history to us. 65 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: Cross sections of sediment have taught us all about the 66 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,120 Speaker 1: many varied organisms that used to call Antarctica home. They've 67 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: also shown us how for millions of years, Antarctica and 68 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:28,679 Speaker 1: South America shared a connection that allowed organisms from both 69 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: to cross pollinate. But these discoveries also carried with them 70 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: a dire warning. You see, the Eocene period was a 71 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: time of intense global warming. All of that CO two 72 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: that was released led to an atmospheric CO two content 73 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: of one thousand parts per million, which was enough to 74 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: melt the ice and flood huge swaths of the earth 75 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: and wipe out many life forms. It shows us that 76 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: CO two in the atmosphere does definitively have an impact 77 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: on the climate. In fact, the only period since the 78 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: Eocene where something even close to that dramatic of a 79 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: change in in the atmosphere CO two levels occurred is 80 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: the last two hundred and fifty years, or the Industrial Age. 81 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: Human beings have managed to raise the CO two in 82 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: the atmosphere from two hundred and eighty parts per million 83 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: to three hundred and ninety parts per million, and that's 84 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,480 Speaker 1: not slowing down quickly enough. But of course, what are 85 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: human beings if not infinitely flexible creatures. We have the 86 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: power to change, the incentive to do so, and an 87 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: understanding of the past that tells us what will happen 88 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: if we don't. We might not be able to bring 89 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: those two ancient soulmates back together, but we can certainly 90 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 1: profess our devotion to our own significant other, our future. 91 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: David's family moved too much for his comfort. He enjoyed 92 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: the suburbs they grew up in the white picket fences 93 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: and comfortable homes, but his parents would never truly settle down. 94 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: His father worked for the United States Department of Agriculture, 95 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,520 Speaker 1: so they would have to move wherever the government dictated. 96 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:08,919 Speaker 1: As he grew up, David began to see the world 97 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: as an ever changing place. As his family relocated from 98 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: Missouri to Washington States, onto North Carolina and Idaho. He 99 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: got to see all of Middle America in the nineteen 100 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: forties and fifties through the wide eyed lens of childhood, 101 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,559 Speaker 1: and even life in so many different suburbs provided brief 102 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: bursts of excitement. Once, during their time in Boise, Idaho, 103 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: David watched a friend settle up a bottle rockets on 104 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: his back porch. The friend stood before David, putting match 105 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: heads into the small rocket with hopes of giving it lift. 106 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: Towering above the two of them was David's friend's mother, 107 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: who was pregnant at the time. The rocket went off, 108 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: but it was too powerful. A small explosion propelled the 109 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: rocket past the friend and he fell screaming to the porch. 110 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: The rocket had struck his ankle and left the kid 111 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: bleeding in the grass, his foot nearly severed. In the 112 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: haze of smoke and blood, young David was entranced his 113 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 1: friend would recover from that injury thanks to a visit 114 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: to the emergency room. David, meanwhile, was left with an 115 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: obsession with playing with fire. He and his other friends 116 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: devised many different ways to create small explosions that would 117 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: entertain them on evenings and weekends. Eventually they advanced from 118 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: bottle rockets to pipe bombs, building devices of increasing power 119 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: and danger. They did not intend to hurt anyone or 120 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: destroy anything, but they explored this pastime with a sense 121 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: of awe and excitement, and naturally they would have to 122 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: test their inventions, right, But how do you do this 123 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: without another horrible injury or getting the cops called on you? Well, 124 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: Eventually they settled on a location, the South Lake Junior 125 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: High swimming Pool. The water there would be able to 126 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: muffle the blast but still give them the spectacle of 127 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: watching their explosive work its action. So one Saturday morning, 128 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: David and his friends snuck into the unused pool. They 129 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: threw the pipe bomb into the water, and they waited. 130 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: They expected only a geyser of water, but what happened 131 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: felt more like an undersea mine. The pool irerupted from 132 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: the force of the pipe bomb, and the very ground 133 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: beneath them shook from the impact. Houses from blocks around 134 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: were shaken by the bomb, and in spite of their 135 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: best efforts, the police were called. Nobody was injured this time, thankfully, 136 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: but David was arrested. All the same stories of the 137 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: event would reappear in newspapers across Idaho and even as 138 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: far as Salt Lake City. David would be let off 139 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: with a stern warning and encouraged to pursue less destructive hobbies. 140 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: At this point, you can imagine the life of the 141 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: kid taking two different directions. He might follow his destructive 142 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: tendencies to a life of crime or danger, or maybe engineering. 143 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: Or on the other hand, he might forsake pipe bombs altogether. 144 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: And fortunately it seemed like the latter path is what 145 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: David wound up taking. Perhaps because of the notoriety brought 146 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: to him by his experiment with pipe bombs, he turned 147 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,080 Speaker 1: to his more artistic pursuits, reading and drawing comics in 148 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: his free time. The ultimate destiny of this kid was 149 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: not a prison cell, but Hollywood. He moved to Los 150 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: Angeles and wound up becoming one of the most acclaimed 151 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: avant garde artists of all time, known for legendary classics 152 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: like Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks. David was David Lynch. 153 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 154 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 155 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 156 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 157 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 158 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 159 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 160 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 1: worldolore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.