1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:05,320 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey guys, the show's currently on break until 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: the new year, but we've got plenty of classic episodes 4 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,160 Speaker 1: to tide you over. Enjoy this trip through the show's 5 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: own history, and I'll see you back here on January 6 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: second with a batch of brand new episodes. See you 7 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: in the new year. Welcome to This Day in History 8 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: Class from how Stuff Works dot com and from the 9 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. It's the 10 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: show where we explore the past one day at a 11 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: time with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 12 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy Vie Wilson. In 13 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: its December five, the Mary Celeste was found adrift on 14 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: the day in eighteen seventy two with no one aboard, 15 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: and it was four hundred miles or so east of 16 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: the Azores, that's off the coast of Portugal. The Mary 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: Celeste had departed from New York City on November seven. 18 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs was in command, and his wife, 19 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: say Era and young daughter were on board the vessel 20 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,960 Speaker 1: as well, along with the crew. By December five, when 21 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: the derelict vessel was found. It should have already arrived 22 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: in its destination of Genoa, Italy, but instead there it 23 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: was a drift. One of its lifeboats was missing. The 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: last log entry was dated November, and inside there was 25 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: water in the bottom of the boat about three and 26 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: a half feet or a little more than a meter deep. 27 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: One of the pumps that would have been used to 28 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: remove this water was disassembled, but otherwise everything seemed pretty normal. 29 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: The cargo and the stores seemed to be undamaged more 30 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: or less. There was plenty of food and water on board, 31 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: at least six months worth, and there was really no 32 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: other clue what might have happened. What might have prompted 33 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: the people on board to have a bandaged ship that 34 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: was an experienced captain and crew. Nothing seemed that dangerous 35 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: to prompt people to get into a lifeboat rather than 36 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: staying aboard the ship. The ship that spotted the mary 37 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: Celeste was the day Gratia, and they sailed the Mary 38 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: Celeste to Gibraltar. Normally, this would have been a simple 39 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: matter of just working out the salvage rights once they 40 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: got there, but the Attorney General thought something seemed suspicious 41 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: about all of this, and that led to a whole 42 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: investigation into whether there had been some kind of foul 43 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: play involved, although that investigation didn't uncover any evidence of 44 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: foul play. The crew of the Day Gratia didn't get 45 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: nearly as much money out of their whole salvage effort 46 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: as they normally would have, so it seems as though 47 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: maybe they still have some suspicion about them. The Mary 48 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: Celeste that was fixed up and re christened and put 49 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: back into service where it had a relatively normal several 50 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: years until it was run around on purpose with its 51 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: captain trying to commit some insurance fraud. This whole thing, though, 52 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: it was very mysterious, and because it's so mysterious, there's 53 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: just been a lot of speculation about what happened. Some 54 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: of it is very far fetched, like sea monsters. Maybe 55 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: sea monsters ate everyone that didn't happen, a little more probable, 56 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: perhaps there was a mutiny, perhaps it was pirates or 57 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: some other kind of attack. The cargo aboard was industrial alcohol, 58 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: and so there's been a lot of speculation that maybe 59 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: something caused fumes from the cargo to ignite, causing an 60 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: explosion that was frightening enough that it caused everyone to flee. 61 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: That one was discounted for a long time because there 62 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: weren't any burn marks to suggest that an explosion had happened, 63 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: but some more recent experiments had suggested that it is 64 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: possible that there could have been an explosion that didn't 65 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: catch anything a light. It's also possible that the crew 66 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: became disoriented at sea, and that that, combined with the 67 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: faulty pump, led them to believe that they had a 68 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: better chance of survival in the lifeboat than in the ship. 69 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: Regardless of exactly what happened, though, the Mary Celesti has 70 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: become one of history's most famous ghost ships. You can 71 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: learn more about this in the juneisode of Stuffy Miss 72 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: in History Class. Thanks to Ksey Pigraham and Chandler Maze 73 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: for their audio work on the show. You can subscribe 74 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class on Apple podcast, Google Podcasts, 75 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: and wherever else you get your podcasts, including the I 76 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,159 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app. You can tune in tomorrow for another 77 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: maritime tale, although this one is a lot more tragic 78 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: than mysterious. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome to This 79 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a podcast where we rip out 80 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:58,600 Speaker 1: a page from the history books every day. The day 81 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: was December fi, eighteen fifty two, a dense layer of 82 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: fog descended on London and covered the city for five days. 83 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: The fog ended up killing thousands of people and what 84 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,040 Speaker 1: was the worst air pollution disaster in the United Kingdom. 85 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,719 Speaker 1: It was a particularly chilly time in the misty city 86 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: of London since an anti cyclone had caused cold, stagnant 87 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: air to become trapped below warm air. Though factories had 88 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: been moving out of the city and smog was not 89 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: an issue as frequently as it once was, businesses and 90 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: households still used a lot of cold fog mixed with 91 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 1: sulfur dioxide and smoke that came from smokestacks, chimneys and vehicles. 92 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: Since smog and anti cyclones happened relatively frequently in London, 93 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: residents did not think much of the polluted fog. But 94 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: the temperature inversion made it so that the smog could 95 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: not rise, trapping it near the ground, and there was 96 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: no wind to carry the smog away from the city. 97 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: The smog began to get thicker and it smelled of sulfur. 98 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 1: It limited visibility to the point that people couldn't see 99 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:10,840 Speaker 1: their own feet Because drivers were unable to navigate, transportation 100 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: was brought to a halt. The London Underground could still operate, 101 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 1: but boat traffic, flights and trains could not. Emergency vehicles 102 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: had difficulty getting through the city streets, leaving many people 103 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,799 Speaker 1: to walk to get help and crime rates to rise. 104 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,280 Speaker 1: Children stayed home from school, and sporting events were canceled 105 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: because the smog made its way into buildings. Indoor events 106 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: like plays and concerts were also canceled. The smog lifted 107 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: on December ninth, when wind carried the smog away from 108 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: the city into the North Sea, but the smog had 109 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: been lethal. As people inhaled the toxic smog, they died 110 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: of bronchitis and pneumonia. The elderly, children and people who 111 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: already had respiratory issues were particularly at risk of complications 112 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: or death due to the smog. Many people choked to 113 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: death or died of heart failure as they struggled to breathe. 114 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: Animals died or became ill because of the smog. Around 115 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: four thousand people died in the immediate aftermath of the incident, 116 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: but in the months after the smog the death rate 117 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: remained high as thousands more people than normal died because 118 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: of the smogs effects. An estimated twelve thousand people died 119 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: due to the toxics mog. The devastation that the fog 120 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: caused made clear the impact of air pollution. Still, government 121 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: officials did not treat the issue with urgency. Some thought 122 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: legislating cleaner air was unnecessary and alarmist. Some were worried 123 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: about how expensive it would be to implement cleaner fuels, 124 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: and some denied that Small caused the high death rate. 125 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: It took an investigative committee to push the government to act. 126 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty six, the British government passed the Clean 127 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 1: Air Act, which restricted the burning of coal and urban 128 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: areas and authorize the establishment of smoke free areas. Homeowners 129 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: were also offered grants that would allow them to switch 130 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: from coal heating systems to alternative systems that used oil, 131 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:16,560 Speaker 1: natural gas, or electricity. Even though Small caused more disasters 132 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: in the following years, air pollution in London eventually improved 133 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: as people converted from coal and the Great Small of 134 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: London increased public awareness of pollution related issues. I'm Eve 135 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more about 136 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can find us 137 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: on social media at t d I h C Podcast 138 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. You can also shoot us 139 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: an email at this Day at I heart media dot com. 140 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed today's episode. We'll be back tomorrow 141 00:08:51,679 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 1: with another one. Hello and welcome to This Day in 142 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: History Class, a show that proves history waits for no one. 143 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,679 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Louzier, and in this episode, we're looking at 144 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of one of the 145 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: world's most gifted musicians, Wolfgang rock Me Amadeus Mozart. The 146 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: day was December five. Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died 147 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: in Vienna at the age of thirty five. He had 148 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: been in relatively good health until mid November that year, 149 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: when he suddenly became seriously ill and died just two 150 00:09:56,679 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 1: weeks later. The true cause of mozart death has been 151 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: the subject of debate for over two hundred years, and 152 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: a wide range of theories have been proposed, some more 153 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: plausible than others. Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, on 154 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: January seventeen, fifty six. His father, a composer and music 155 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,320 Speaker 1: teacher at Salzburg Cathedral, instilled a love of music and 156 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: Wolfgang and his older sister at an early age. They 157 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: were both taught to play a stringed instrument called the clavier, 158 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: and by the time he was four years old, Mozart 159 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: could learn a new song on the instrument in just 160 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: half an hour. Two years later, the child prodigy started 161 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: performing his own concerts. At age eight, he published his 162 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: first piece of music, in original violin sonata written in 163 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: five parts. He penned his first opera three years later, 164 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,320 Speaker 1: and by age thirteen he was a touring composed ozer 165 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:06,319 Speaker 1: celebrated throughout Western Europe and beyond. In seventeen eighty one, 166 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: Mozart moved to Vienna and quickly became a fixture of 167 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,199 Speaker 1: the city's elite social scene. He spent his evenings at 168 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: masked balls and operas, where he hobnobbed with the wealthy 169 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:22,520 Speaker 1: and showed off his latest compositions. A year after moving 170 00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: to the city, Mozart married a local soprano singer named 171 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: Constance Weber, and in seventeen eighty three they had their 172 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: first child, a boy named Raymond Leopold. Meanwhile, Mozart tried 173 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: his hand at more and more forms of music. He 174 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: wrote symphonies and concertos, chamber music, piano sonatas, masses, operas, 175 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:51,319 Speaker 1: choral music, you name it. In Vienna, the composer had 176 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: fallen in love, started a family, and grown as an artist. 177 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 1: In other words, life was good. In the coming years, however, 178 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: Mozart's reputation would continue to grow, but his family would 179 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: struggle financially. By the summer of seventeen nine, he and 180 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:15,760 Speaker 1: Constance had six children together. Mozart worried constantly about how 181 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,839 Speaker 1: to provide for his still expanding family, and that anxiety 182 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: began to affect his health. He had suffered from rheumatism 183 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: since childhood, and the condition was worsening. The money worries 184 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: didn't help. Then, on November twenty seventeen, Mozart suddenly developed 185 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: a high fever. His hands and feet were severely swollen, 186 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: and in the following days he became so racked with 187 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: pain that he couldn't even turn over in bed. On 188 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: the eve of his death, Mozart lost consciousness after a 189 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: doctor drew his blood. Hours later, at one am on 190 00:12:55,960 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: December five, the acclaimed composer died unexpected lee, though what 191 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: exactly took his life remained an open question. The coroner 192 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: reported the cause of death as quote severe miliary fever, 193 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: while Vienna's official death register claimed he had died of 194 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: quote fever and rash. Even at the time, these were 195 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: understood to be symptoms of disease, not actual diseases themselves. 196 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: The vague nature of the reports led to myths about 197 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: what it really caused Mozart's premature death. Maybe it was 198 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: lead poisoning or intestinal parasites. Maybe he was assassinated by 199 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: his fellow Freemasons, or maybe it was syphilis. There was 200 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: no shortage of speculation, but the most popular rumor by 201 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: far was that Mozart had been intentionally poisoned by Antonio Salieri, 202 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: a prolific opera composer and something of arrival to Mozart. 203 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: The the ary is somewhat supported by the fact that 204 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: Mozart himself suggested that his illness was due to being 205 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: poisoned over a long period of time. However, he only 206 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: raised that concern during his bout with depression, at a 207 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,680 Speaker 1: time when his health was deteriorating and he was prone 208 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: to fits of delusion and paranoia. In the eighteenth century, 209 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: the poisoning theory was dismissed as baseless gossip, partly because 210 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 1: Saliary had no motive and stood to gain nothing from 211 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: Mozart's death. Still, the rumor persists even today, largely because 212 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: of the nineteen seventy nine play Amadeus and its Oscar 213 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: winning film adaptation, both of which depict Saliary plotting to 214 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: murder Mozart. Many viewers have mistakenly assumed that Amadeus was 215 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: a straight adaptation of confirmed history, but the truth is 216 00:14:56,040 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: there's no record of animosity between the two composers. In reality, 217 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: Mozart's early death was likely caused by something much more mundane. 218 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: The current working theory is that the composer died of 219 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:15,640 Speaker 1: a streptococcal infection that eventually resulted in kidney failure. In 220 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and nine, a team of Dutch researchers studied 221 00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: the death records in Vienna in the months before and 222 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: after Mozart's death. They compared the causes of death in 223 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: those months with those of the previous and following years. 224 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: The study showed there had been an increase in swelling 225 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: related deaths among the young men of Vienna in seventeen 226 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: ninety one compared to the surrounding years. According to the 227 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: studies author doctor Richard Zeeger's quote, we saw that at 228 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 1: the time of Mozart's death there was a minor epidemic 229 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: in deaths involving swelling, which also happened to be the 230 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: hallmark of Mozart's final disease. In fact, Mozart's other symptoms, 231 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: back pain, fever, rash, and depression are also symptoms of 232 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: kidney disease induced by a strep infection, possibly strep throat. 233 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: It's not a definitive answer, but it's the most likely 234 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: theory so far, and the surviving evidence does back it up. 235 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: He may have died young, but Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart certainly 236 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: made the most of his time on earth. He wrote 237 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: more than six hundred pieces of music, redefined multiple genres, 238 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: and influence the work of contemporary composers such as Beethoven 239 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: and Tchaikovsky. In these ways, Mozart has lived far beyond 240 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: his early death. For, as he once wrote, this world 241 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: of music, whose borders even now I have scarcely entered, 242 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: is a reality. Is immortal time. Gay bluzier and hopeful 243 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 244 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,880 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. If you have a second and you're 245 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 1: so inclined, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and 246 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,800 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d I HC Show. And if you 247 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: have a Mozart conspiracy theory of your own, please send 248 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 1: it my way at this day at I heart media 249 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: dot com. Together we can blow this whole thing wide open. 250 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler May's for producing the show, and thank 251 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 252 00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:46,640 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class. For more podcasts from 253 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,440 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 254 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:51,199 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.