1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: Amusement parks are meant to be fun. You eat a 7 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: little funnel cake, you get on a roller coaster, and 8 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: then you eject that funnel cake into the nearest garbage 9 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: can you know fun? But in between bites of corn 10 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: dogs and slurps of lemonade are rides that are meant 11 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: to thrill and excite you. But several parks haven't always 12 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: been so amusing. In fact, at one time they were 13 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: pretty problematic because of the attractions or the food, but 14 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,120 Speaker 1: because of how they came to be. Before Six Flags, 15 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: Dorney Park and Dollywood, there was Coney Island. Do a 16 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,759 Speaker 1: quick search online and you'll likely find early footage from 17 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: any of Coney Island's famous parks. You'll see women in 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: long dresses and men in suits, riding on a scenic 19 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: railway or holding on for dear life. As the famous 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: Cyclone roller coaster shakes its wooden frame. But long before 21 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: Coney Island was known as a place for families to 22 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: spend the day riding rides and playing games, it was 23 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: known by one unfortunate name, Sodom by the Sea. Let's 24 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: back up for a moment. Coney Island is located in 25 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: southwestern Brooklyn and became a prime vacation spot starting in 26 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 1: the eighteen thirties. It was far enough away from Manhattan 27 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: and the other boroughs that many New Yorkers would flock 28 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: to its beaches for a quick getaway. The next several 29 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: decades were full of growth and development, with the installation 30 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: of a ferry as well as several hotels and restaurants. Then, 31 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety seven, New York businessman George till You 32 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: built Steeplechase Park, complete with a ferris wheel, a wild 33 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: west side show, and various slide based rides. It was 34 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: enticing to locals who were looking for a cheap way 35 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: to pass the afternoon, but till You's greed and desire 36 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: for growth wound up costing him dearly. You see, he 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:22,239 Speaker 1: had secured the rights to another ride built by two 38 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: entrepreneurs for his park, but they didn't just want to 39 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: license their creation. They saw what till You had built 40 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: and decided to go into business as direct competitors to Steeplechase, 41 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: and so Fred Thompson and Skip Dundee started working on 42 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: the now famous Luna Park. But neither amusement park was 43 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: attracting posh elite clients. Coney Island became a haven for 44 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: the lower and middle classes who couldn't afford the whole 45 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: summer in Spain or winter in Paris, and because of 46 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: its close proximity to the rest of New York, its 47 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: sandy beaches and ample boardwalk became crammed with vacationers. During 48 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: the busiest seasons, music from buskers and bands filled the air, 49 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: as fortune tellers and other con artists lured unsuspecting visitors 50 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: into their shops, promising them a glimpse of their future 51 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: for a nominal fee. Of course, in fact, it bore 52 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: more of a resemblance to Pleasure Island in Pinocchio than 53 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: Las Vegas. As one writer described it in a nineteen 54 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: oh five issue of the Cosmopolitan magazine, Coney Island exists, 55 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,079 Speaker 1: he wrote, and will go on existing because into all men, 56 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: gentle and simple, poor and rich, including women, by some 57 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: mysterious corybantic instinct in their blood has been born a 58 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: tragic need of coarse excitement, a craving to be taken 59 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: in by some illusion. However palpable, and that course excitement 60 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: took form in a number of questionable ways. For example, 61 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: Thompson and Dundee brought in an elephant named Topsy to 62 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: keep visitors entertained while Luna Park was being built. But 63 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: after a short time, Topsy's maintenance and behavior, because after all, 64 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: she was a wild animal, had them rethinking their purchase. 65 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: Rather than sell her off to a zoo or a circus, though, 66 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: they decided to give the people one last show. They 67 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: electrocuted her to death, and the whole thing was recorded 68 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: on film. The pair also staged displays of indigenous peoples 69 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: from the Philippines, portraying them as and I quote, uncivilized 70 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: savages to enthrall their white patrons. Of course, as the 71 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: years passed by, others like William Reynolds, erected their own 72 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: competing parks with bright, flashy attractions, but in the end 73 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: only two parks stood the test of time. Luna Park 74 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: and Dino's Wonder Wheel amusement Park, which opened in nineteen twenty. 75 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: Its famous Wonder Wheel ferris wheel has become as iconic 76 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 1: as the Coney Island Cyclone coaster. During the nineteen seventies 77 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: and for the next three decades after that, Coney Island 78 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: went through a number of ups and downs, with several 79 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: parks and rides falling into disrepair. But today the former 80 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,479 Speaker 1: Sodom by the Sea is refreshed and revitalized, and it 81 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: welcomes more than five million visitors per year from all 82 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: over the country. It's fun for the whole family, and 83 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: no elephants have been harmed on the property and at 84 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: least a century. In nineteen eighty six, Roy Duncan decided 85 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 1: it was finally time to get to the bottom of 86 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: a local rumor. Roy lived on one of the Isles 87 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: of Silly, a tiny archipelago just off the coast of 88 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: Cornwall in the United Kingdom. For generations, Siloians had claimed 89 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: their tiny islands had been at war with the Netherlands. 90 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: If there was a war, Roy thought it certainly was 91 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: an odd one. He couldn't remember ever seeing a Dutch 92 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: army or warship, and neither could his father or grandfather. 93 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: There was no battle, no treaties, not even a skirmish 94 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: as far as he could tell. So Roy wrote to 95 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 1: the Dutch embassy in London to get to the bottom 96 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: of the mystery. The embassy's answer was surprising. According to 97 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: their records, the Netherlands had in fact declared war on 98 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: the Isles of Silly in sixteen fifty one, and as 99 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 1: far as they could tell, no peace treaty was ever signed. 100 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: So technically, the Dutch and the Selonians had been fighting 101 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: for three hundred and thirty five years. So how exactly 102 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: did a tiny little archipelago full of fishermen become embroiled 103 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: in the longest war in history. Well you can blame 104 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: Oliver Cromwell for that. Back in sixteen fifty one, England 105 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: was in the grip of a bloody civil war. Parliamentarians, 106 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: led by Oliver Cromwell, wanted to limit the powers of 107 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,799 Speaker 1: the English monarchy and give most of England's legislative power 108 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: to a constitutional parliament, thus the name Parliamentarians and their opponents, 109 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: the Royalists, wanted the English king to have absolute power. 110 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: Cromwell's parliamentarians had swept over the country, pushing the Royalists 111 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: back to the furthest point south in England, the tiny 112 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: Isles of Scilly. The entire Royalist navy was docked at 113 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: the isles, waiting for Cromwell to launch his final attack. 114 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: At the same time, the Dutch were fighting their own 115 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: war to gain independence from Spain. Early in the con inflict, 116 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: England helped the Dutch allies, so when the Netherlands were 117 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: finally free of Spanish rule, they wanted to return the favor. 118 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: Since England was so divided, the Dutch were forced to 119 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: pick aside, and seeing the riding on the wall for 120 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: the Royalists, the Dutch backed Cromwell and his parliamentarians. Now 121 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: the Royalists, who were docked at the Isles of Silly, 122 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: considered this a stab in the back. In retaliation, they 123 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: raided Dutch merchants in the English Channel, seizing their ships 124 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: and cargo for the Royalist cause. Well. On March thirtieth 125 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: of sixteen fifty one, a Dutch lieutenant admiral named Martine 126 00:07:33,080 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: Tromp demanded the Royalists pay the Dutch for what they 127 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: had stolen. When the Royalists refused, Tromp declared war on 128 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,239 Speaker 1: the only Royalist held land in England, the Isles of Scilly. 129 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: In retrospect, it's actually not certain that Trump had the 130 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: authority to declare war for an entire country. At the 131 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: most Dutch leadership probably expected him to establish a blockade. 132 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: It's also pretty unclear if even if Tromp could declare war, 133 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: could he declare it on just one small part art 134 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: of another nation. Regardless, the declaration stood, and when the 135 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: Royalists finally surrendered to Cromwell three months later in June 136 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: of sixteen fifty one, the Dutch sailed home without ever 137 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: officially ending the war. For years, it became something of 138 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: a local legend until Roy Duncan received the Fateful Letter 139 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: from the Dutch embassy in nineteen eighty six. Wishing to 140 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: bury the hatchets, Roy invited the Dutch ambassador to the 141 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: Isles of Silly to end the conflict. On April seventeenth 142 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighty six, the Dutch ambassador arrived at the 143 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: Isles of Silly. He brought with him a signed peace 144 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: treaty declaring that after three hundred and thirty five years, 145 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: the war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Silly 146 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: was officially over all without firing a single shot. I 147 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,800 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 148 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 149 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. This show 150 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with Howstuff Works. 151 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 152 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 153 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. 154 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.