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 --> 00:00:22,119 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 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: On July second of eighteen eighty one, the world famous 7 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: inventor Alexander Grahambell was working at his lab in Washington, 8 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: DC when he received some shocking news. President James A. 9 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: Garfield had just been shot in the back at the 10 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station while waiting for a train. 11 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: The assassin was a man named Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: office seeker furious that Garfield hadn't rewarded him with a 13 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: cushy govern job. Guiteau was immediately arrested and Garfield was 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 1: rushed to the White House for treatment. Alexander Graham Bell, 15 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: who lived just a stone's throw from the White House 16 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: and had personally installed a telephone there a few years earlier, 17 00:01:13,840 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: followed the story with rabid interest. He was disturbed by 18 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: reports that the President's doctors couldn't find the bullet lodged 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,960 Speaker 1: in his body. Days after the shooting, they were still 20 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: probing around in his wounds with their fingers, and if 21 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: they didn't get the bullet out soon, the president would 22 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: die of lead poisoning. Lying awake one night, Bell had 23 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: a realization this wasn't just a medical problem. It was 24 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: an engineering problem, and in a way, he had already 25 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,880 Speaker 1: solved it. Flashback a few years to eighteen seventy seven. 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: Bell had just patented the world's first practical telephone, but 27 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: as his team rolled out that technology to the world, 28 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: they ran into a frustrating issue. When telephone conductors were 29 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: installed next to telegram wires, the signal became garbled with static. 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: It seems that the metal in the telegram wires was 31 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: interfering with the electromagnetic fields that Bell's telephone system relied on, 32 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: rendering them far less useful. As a clever workaround, Bell 33 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: and his team installed something called an induction balance device. 34 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: It equalized any interference from metal, cutting down on the static. Now, 35 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: as President Garfield lay dying in the White House, Bell 36 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,519 Speaker 1: realized that the same principle could actually work in reverse. 37 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:29,119 Speaker 1: Rather than canceling out the interference from metal, he could 38 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,519 Speaker 1: amplify it, and so he got to work cobbling together 39 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: parts from his telephone and the induction balance device. Early 40 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: tests were promising too. When the machine passed over metal, 41 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: it emitted a distinct buzzing sound. When no metal was present, 42 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: there was silence. Bell tested the machine by firing bullets 43 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,519 Speaker 1: into planks of wood and hiding them inside slabs of 44 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,640 Speaker 1: raw meat. Each time the machine found the metal with ease. 45 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: Once he was satisfied, Bell contacted the White House and 46 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: offered his help. Doctor Willard Bliss, the President's head physician, 47 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: was skeptical, but Bell's reputation gave him enough credibility to 48 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: warrant a try. When he got to the White House, 49 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: he found Garfield lying on his left side. Bliss had 50 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: already determined that the bullet was somewhere on the President's 51 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: right and didn't want to move him, so Bell was 52 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: instructed to restrict his search area to that spot. As 53 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: he ran his machine over Garfield's body, it emitted a 54 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: faint buzz, indicating the presence of metal, but the signal 55 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: was weak and Bell couldn't pinpoint the exact location of 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,679 Speaker 1: the bullet. Before he had the chance to troubleshoot, though 57 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: doctor Bliss hurried in telling him to come back when 58 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: the machine actually worked, Bell understandably was frustrated, but he 59 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: didn't give up. Back at his lab, he made adjustment 60 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: to reduce the machine's sensitivity to interference, and he ran 61 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: more tests. A Civil War veteran volunteered to be examined, 62 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: and when Bell's machine pinpointed a bullet lodged inside him, 63 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: Bell was convinced that it worked. On August second, he 64 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: returned to the White House and examined the President for 65 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: the second time. Only now there was no buzz, just 66 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: agonizing silence. For Bell, this could only mean one thing. 67 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: The bullet wasn't where they were looking. He suggested moving 68 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: the president for a more comprehensive search, but Bliss was 69 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: fed up. He dismissed the inventor, indicating that his help 70 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: was no longer needed. A few weeks later, on September nineteenth, 71 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: President Garfield died from the infection. The autopsy revealed what 72 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: Bell already suspected. The bullet was launched in his left side, 73 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: exactly where Bell had been told not to look. The 74 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: buzzing in his first examination was probably triggered by the 75 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: metal springs in Garfield's mattress. If Bliss had just been 76 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: willing to move the president, Bell would have been able 77 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,919 Speaker 1: to find the bullet. Even if he had, though it 78 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: might not have changed anything because the bullet isn't what 79 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: killed Garfield. The real culprit was infection, introduced by doctors 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: poking around in his wounds with unwashed hands, years after 81 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: antiseptic methods had become standard practice in Europe. So while 82 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: he was shot by Charles Guittoux, many historians argue that 83 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: he was actually killed by his doctors, chief among them 84 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: doctor Bliss. Alexander grahmb Bell was heartbroken, but he took 85 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: solace in the fact that his invention worked. It just 86 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: needed a new name. You see, induction balance phone didn't 87 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: exactly roll off the tongue, so it's remembered today instead 88 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: as a metal detector. Stories often have multiple entry points, 89 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: like a big room with many entrances. So for our 90 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: second tale today, I want to revisit our first, only 91 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: from a different angle. But to do it, I'm going 92 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: to need you to use your imagination. Picture this. It's 93 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: July of eighteen eighty one, and you're a naval engineer 94 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: stationed in Washington, DC. One typical sticky afternoon, You're huddled 95 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: over some blueprints when an urgent message arrives. You're wanted 96 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: at the White House immediately for a top secret project 97 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: involving matters of national security and indoor cooling. That makes 98 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: you raise an eyebrow, but hey, it's July in Washington 99 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: and the city is infamous for its brutal humidity. Swampy 100 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: doesn't even begin to cover it. The Capitol becomes a 101 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: human oven every summer, which is why so many presidents 102 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: have historically fled town to escape the heat. So maybe 103 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 1: the current commander in chief is choosing a different tactic 104 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: by bringing in the big guns, meaning you. You press 105 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: for more details, but all they tell you is that 106 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,039 Speaker 1: the request came straight from the top, and the top 107 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: is uncomfortably warm. So you grab your team and your 108 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: tools and you head over to sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue, 109 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: brainstorming ways to cool the President's quarters while he works. Now, 110 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,679 Speaker 1: electric fans haven't been invented yet, but steam powered ones 111 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,720 Speaker 1: do exist. They're just annoyingly cumbersome and noisy, probably not 112 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: something that president wants to hear. During his meetings. But 113 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: the moment you entered the White House, it's clear that 114 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: this is no comfort project. A grim mood hangs over 115 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: the building as stone faced staffers rush about, barely even speaking. 116 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: You're escorted down a hall and into a room that 117 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: smells faintly of alcohol and blood, and there he is, 118 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: President James A. Garfield is lying on a mattress in 119 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: the middle of the room, surrounded by a small army 120 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: of doctors. Briefly, they fill you in on the critical details. 121 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: The President was waiting for a train when he was 122 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: shot from behind at point blank range. The bullet was 123 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: still inside him, but the doctors haven't been able to 124 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: find it yet. They have, however, called for a specialist 125 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: whose unique skills might be able to help. But that's 126 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: not your concern. You just have to cool down the 127 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: room enough to keep him comfortable and conscious. Easier said 128 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: than done. But the President is burning up from the 129 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: heat and probably fever from an infection, so you get 130 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: to work. Over the next few days, your team assembles 131 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 1: a contraption the likes of which the world has never seen. 132 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: The main component is a bulky iron chest holding dozens 133 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: of screens with terry cloth stretched over them. Above this, 134 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: you rig a large tank holding a half ton of 135 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: shaved ice, water and salt. As the slush melts, it 136 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: drips down onto those screens, freezing them within seconds. And 137 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: the final piece is a steam powered fan which blows 138 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: air from the open window, through the screens and out 139 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: into the room. When it's all up and running, you 140 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: watch the temperature drop first by five degrees, then ten, 141 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: and then twenty. Soon the room is comfortably cool and 142 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,200 Speaker 1: a heck of a lot less humid. On his sticky mattress, 143 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: President Garfield breathes a sigh of relief, while his doctors 144 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: silently applaud you. It's a small victory, but everyone in 145 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: the room can use a win at the moment. And 146 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: as you stand in the corner listening to your machine 147 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: hum away, you can't help but think about its potential 148 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: beyond the White House. Imagine if hospitals, factories, or even 149 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: ordinary homes could stay this cool in the summer. But unfortunately, 150 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: that's not happening anytime soon. The system you just created 151 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: is wildly inefficient, devouring four tons of ice each day 152 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,679 Speaker 1: just to cool a single room. No expense is too 153 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: great to save the life of a president, but ordinary 154 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: citizens now, it'll never happen. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to 155 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: save the president. Garfield dies in September after months of 156 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: expensive cooling and prodding from the doctors. After he passes, 157 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: you return to the White House and quietly disassemble your machine, 158 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: recalling the delightful sensation of chilled air sweeping through the room, 159 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: and you can't help but feel that, for the briefest moment, 160 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: you touched the future. Today, historians look back on that 161 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: crude contraption as an early precursor to modern air conditioning. 162 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: Almost half a century would pass before mechanical cooling began 163 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: appearing in commercial buildings, and decades more before it reached 164 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: everyday homes. But the seed had been planted. So the 165 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: next time you're lying back in an air conditioned room 166 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: on a hot summer day, sipping a cold drink and 167 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,440 Speaker 1: appreciating the breeze from that vent, take a moment to 168 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: toast President James A. Garfield, not just for his service, 169 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,599 Speaker 1: but for sweating through one of the toughest moments in 170 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: the history of indoor cooling. It just goes to show 171 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: that when history turns up the heat necessity really is 172 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: the mother of invention. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided 173 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:30,480 Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on 174 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting 175 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me 176 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,080 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make 177 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 178 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 179 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 180 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.