WEBVTT - Fedora the Explorer 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:07.440 Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:14.440 iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:18.440 the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.119 of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:28.840 waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:38.159 I think it's fair to say that just about everyone 0:00:38.320 --> 0:00:41.839 loves a good adventure story. The risks, the thrills, and 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.320 the satisfying conclusions are always the perfect recipe for a 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:48.960 good time, and few adventure formats are as powerful as 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:52.400 a good old fashioned treasure hunt movie. Maybe you're a 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:55.080 fan of the National Treasure films and they're deep dive 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:58.160 into the mysteries of the early days of the United States. 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:01.200 Perhaps you grew up on Goonies and their amazing journey 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.560 through an underground passageway full of traps and clues and 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:07.880 devilishly difficult puzzles. The list could go on and on, 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:10.720 and most of us would probably nod and smile as 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:14.039 we remember each amazing film. But it's hard to beat 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.520 the icon, isn't it So? Unless you're driving or using 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:19.920 a dangerous tool right now, I want you to close 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.959 your eyes and imagine a certain world and cast of 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.839 characters with me. It's a story set in a once 0:01:25.880 --> 0:01:29.480 glorious land that has become lost to time, taking far 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.880 too many secrets and treasures with it. It's exotic and 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:36.240 beautiful and full of danger. At the center of the 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:38.920 story is our adventurer, a man who has left his 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.360 day job behind for a while in order to find 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.640 an item of particular importance. There's the now obligatory female 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.040 companion and love interest. Naturally, there's also a bad guy, 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.000 because what adventure movie would be complete without one, right, 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.040 And then, of course there's the treasure, an object of 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:59.040 immense beauty, crafted of gold by ancient artisans. It has 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:02.120 monetary value, for sure, but that's not what our adventurer 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.320 sees in it. No, it has priceless cultural value, and 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:08.240 that's the true prize. This object doesn't belong in the 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:11.079 hands of some rich evildoer. No, it belongs in a 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.120 museum or some other place where it can be appreciated 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.520 for what it truly is. In one memorable scene in 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.800 this movie, our handsome, rugged adventurer is inside an ancient structure, 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:24.680 a temple or a tomb of some kind and has 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:28.520 just taken possession of his prize when his assistant betrays 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.359 him and takes it away. You know what I'm talking about, right, 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.400 Because betrayal is another one of those key ingredients to 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.320 a great adventure movie, and our hero has to work 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.160 hard to get that treasure back. And of course, who 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.720 could forget the scene where our hero is inside that 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:45.440 chamber all by himself and has to use a beam 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:48.600 of light to pinpoint the exact location of the treasure. 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:52.560 It's tense and brilliant in its simplicity. I love it, 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:54.679 and at the end of the day, we just love 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.840 the hero, right, his chiseled good looks, that stubble on 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:02.239 his chin, his tan pants, leather jacket and trademark Fedora hat. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.160 Sure he's got a revolver tucked into his belt, but 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:07.880 that's not getting used all the time. No, he prefers 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.639 to punch his way through trouble and use his ingenuity instead. 0:03:12.040 --> 0:03:14.919 Of course, adventure films have moved on since then, all 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.239 those years ago. Today they're so full of massive CGI 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.680 components and big explosions. They usually involve billionaire bad guys 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:26.280 or riddles wrapped in art history symbolism. But there's no 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:30.120 beating a classic, is there That old adventure story starring 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:34.800 our beloved hero called The Secret of the Incas? Wait? 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.760 Was that not what you were expecting. It's a real 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:40.640 movie starring a real hunk of a Hollywood a lister, 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:44.360 Charlton Heston pulled on that leather jacket and Fedora for 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.160 the Secret of the Inca's way back in nineteen fifty four. 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:50.120 And all those scenes that I described for you are 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.920 straight from that movie. Of course, his character is called Harry, 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.400 not Henry, he doesn't carry a whip, there are no Nazis, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:00.480 and it's set in Machu Pichu instead of Egypt. But 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:05.360 it's Indiana Jones through and through nonetheless, Why Because when 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.760 Raiders of the Lost Dark was in pre production, many 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.080 of the crew watched Secret of the Incas multiple times 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:16.479 for inspiration. Legendary Hollywood costume designer Deborah Nadulman Landis, who 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:21.400 created Indiana Jones' trademark outfit, drew inspiration from that film, 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:24.480 and even more elements found themselves into the writing and 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.000 the filming decisions. Don't call it a ripoff, though, think 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.520 of it more as an homage, a callback to an 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:34.080 adventure film from three decades earlier that inspired a bunch 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.720 of people so deeply that they had to make their 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.240 own and frankly, I'm glad they did. I don't think 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.560 my childhood or Hollywood itself would have been filled with 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:48.280 such joy and fun without Indiana Jones, the fictional embodiment 0:04:48.920 --> 0:05:06.080 of curiosity. William Pennybrooks was a small town boy with 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.359 a big vision. Born in the town of much Wenlock, 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:12.520 a small town in Shropshire, England, his father was a 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.960 well regarded local physician. As William grew up, he was 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.240 inspired to follow the same path, and so when he 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.200 came of age, he left home to study medicine in London, 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:24.919 before leaving the country with his brother John to further 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:27.760 their studies at the University of Padua. He was in 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:30.360 Paris in eighteen thirty when he learned that his father 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.599 had died, and so returned home for good the next year. 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:38.720 Taking over his father's medical practice, Brooks provided affordable care 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:42.400 to the rural poor, often treating patients free of charge. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:45.720 He was also a fierce advocate for common sense modern 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:50.280 medical standards like clean drinking water, better conditions for factory workers, 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:54.279 and vaccinations. His bedside manner and willingness to travel long 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.919 distances earned him deep respect among farmers, laborers, and the 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:01.840 emerging industrial workforce. A fierce advocate for the well being 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:05.359 of the poor, Brooks believed that physical fitness and structured 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:08.719 learning should be available to all. In eighteen forty one, 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:12.719 he founded the Agricultural Reading Society, Convinced that having access 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.640 to free learning would help lift people out of poverty. 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:19.000 He wrote to numerous wealthy individuals for funding, and his 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:22.520 pursuit was rewarded richly in donations of books and enough 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:25.799 money to keep the society running. It provided the community 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:29.360 with a lending library and offered classes in arts, botany, 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:33.480 and music training, among many others. To further his passion 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:36.680 for physical fitness for all, he founded a sporting competition 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.719 inspired by the ancients Olympic Games. The first Wenlock Olympics 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:48.200 were held in eighteen fifty and featured numerous sports like running, jumping, throwing, wrestling, cycling, gymnastics, 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:52.080 and rifle shooting. The games also included pageantry, with a 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:56.520 parade of competitors and organizers, complete with bands and flag bears, 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.720 which would march through town to the event. Spaces. They 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.919 were open to people of all ages and social classes, 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.400 a radical concept for Victorian England, whose caste system rigidly 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.880 separated the haves and the have nots. Over the coming years, 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.720 the Wenlock Games expanded and grew in popularity, with competitors 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:18.239 coming from all over England to compete, and as it grew, 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:22.280 Brooks started corresponding with other fitness reformers across Europe, inviting 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:25.760 athletes from all over to attend. Although numbers remained modest, 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:30.000 the idea of an international competition was seated, and it 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.040 was through these letters that Brooks first came upon Baron 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:36.640 Pierre deck Kuberton, who arrived to experience the Games in 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.080 eighteen ninety. The Baron was deeply impressed by the event, 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:43.400 as well as by Brooks himself. In subsequent years, the 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.320 Frenchman would write of him, mister Brooks has shown that 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.560 the Olympic ideal can live again in the modern world. 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:53.320 Following the Games, the men met to feverishly discuss the 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.400 role of sporting in nation building and the need for 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.520 a universal periodic competition to inspire the mass to take 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:04.760 up physical fitness. In the following years, they would correspond regularly. 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:09.000 In eighteen ninety four, De Kubertan formed the International Olympic 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.160 Committee for the purpose of planning and executing the very 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.120 first Modern Olympic Games, which were to be held in 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:19.360 eighteen ninety six and were largely patterned after Wenlock's Games. 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:23.640 Athletes would come from all over the world to compete. Tragically, 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.560 though Brooks would not live to see his dream made real. 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:29.880 He passed away in December of eighteen ninety five, peacefully 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:32.840 in his home, mere months before the very first modern 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:36.000 Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, where the ancient 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:38.880 Games had been held in the past. Brooks was buried 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:41.880 in the churchyard at Holy Trinity in Much Wenlock, where 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.000 he had spent his life dedicated to the betterment of all. 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.400 A Wenlock Olympian Society that he founded still operates today 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:54.000 organizing the Wenlock Olympic Games. Decuberton made sure to give 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.680 Brooks his due posthumously, telling the world that the Olympic 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.520 Games would not be alive today if an hadn't been 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.160 for doctor William Penny Brooks. He was further memorialized in 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.360 nineteen ninety six for the one hundredth anniversary of the 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:11.520 modern Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Although Brooks died just 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.319 months before the inaugural Games, his belief that physical fitness 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.840 and free learning should belong to everyone lived on in 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:23.000 every stadium and at each podium. The Wenlock Games continue 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:26.760 to this day, and the International Olympic Flame still burns 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.320 and enduring testament to the power of a small town 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:37.560 dream that help shaped our history. I hope you've enjoyed 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.280 today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.120 free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:49.200 by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.560 by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.120 I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:59.560 a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.680 learn all about it over at Theworldoflore dot com. And 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.000 until next time, stay curious.