1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. History is full of 5 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: mysteries waiting to be solved. From Jack the Ripper's true 6 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: identity to the Shroud of Turin. There are artifacts, events, 7 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: and even people throughout time that defy explanation. For example, 8 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: it was once believed that the Freemasons were tied to 9 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: the Knights Templar, hiding clues to the location of an 10 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: immense treasure in the symbols they built into their buildings. 11 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: Many Ivy League schools are home to secret societies that 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,480 Speaker 1: help shape wealthy elites into titans of industry and world leaders. 13 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: And then there are places spots in the world that 14 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: continued to inspire curiosity, sites like Stonehenge and the Great 15 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: Pyramid of Giza. And in the modern world we might 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: find such mystery in a place like Shugborough Hall, located 17 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: in Staffordshire, England. Shugborough Hall is a massive four hundred 18 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: year old estate that was passed down from the British 19 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: Diocese to a man named William Anson. In sixty four, 20 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: Williams grandson had the original house demolished and erected a 21 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: three story mansion in its place. But it was his 22 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: son Thomas that had the most profound effect on the home. 23 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 1: Yet Thomas had grand plans for Shugborough Hall. He added 24 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,199 Speaker 1: two new structures to either side of the main house, 25 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: as well as a monument on the grounds well. He 26 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: commissioned the monument, but like everything else, it was paid 27 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: for by his younger brother, Admiral George Anson. The monument 28 00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: was designed and carved by Flemish sculptor Peter Shemaker and 29 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: depicts a relief copy of a painting known as The 30 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: Arcadian Shepherds by Nicholas Poussan. Beneath the relief, there is 31 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: an inscription of several letters on the monument, Oh you, oh, 32 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: S V A v V, which sits elevated between the 33 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: letters D and M, and no one as any idea 34 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: what they mean. However, that doesn't mean that people haven't 35 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: tried figuring it out. Most assumptions tie the letters back 36 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: to Latin, where each character represents a word in a phrase, 37 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: like an acronym or initialism. For example, one theory suggests 38 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,519 Speaker 1: that it's a dedication to George Asen's late wife, each 39 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: letter representing the Latin words that translate loosely into best 40 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: of wives, best of sisters, most devoted widower, dedicates this 41 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: to your virtues. Others, though disagree. A former n s 42 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: a linguist, thought the letters might mean I pray that 43 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: all may know the way of true life, a reference 44 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: to a biblical verse in the Book of John. One 45 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: author in two thousand fourteen went a different route. Rather 46 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: than a Latin phrase hiding within an inscription, Dave Ramsden 47 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: interpreted the entire monument as a funerary dedication letters and 48 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: all that meant the inscription wasn't an initialism, but a 49 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: secret code intended for one person, someone known as the Shepherdess. 50 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: Using a complicated decryption cipher, Ramsden was able to decode 51 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: the letters into the name Magdalen. And that's not the 52 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: only religious association with the piece either. A painter of 53 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: the original work, Nicholas Poussan, was alleged to have been 54 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: a member of the Priory of Scion, a secret society 55 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: dedicated to preserving the truth about the Holy Grail. That 56 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't a cup at all, but rather Mary Magdalen's 57 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: womb and the bloodline that descended from it. It was 58 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: believed that Poussan had hidden numerous symbols and secret messages 59 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: within his painting, which were then copied into the monument 60 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: at Schagboro Hall, But the additional letter is under the relief, 61 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: only added to the mystery. Despite the countless theories, translations, 62 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: and interpretations, we may never know the meaning of those letters. 63 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: For one very important reason. While Peter she Maakers may 64 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: have carved the monuments himself, it turns out that the 65 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: letters were actually added later by someone else entirely, and 66 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: nobody knows who. In the musical Gypsy, a trio of 67 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,599 Speaker 1: performers tell young Gypsy rose Lee that if she wants 68 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:51,239 Speaker 1: to be successful on stage, she needs a gimmick, something 69 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: to make her unique and memorable in the eyes of 70 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: the audience. A gimmick, they told her, would mean recognition, 71 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:03,359 Speaker 1: and that meant longevity and legacy. Harry Gardner had a 72 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: gimmick as well. It didn't require special equipment or a 73 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: fancy costume, though he did it all over town, with 74 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: onlookers often stopping to watch him perform, holding their hands 75 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: over their mouths and terror. Harry, you see like to climb? 76 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,920 Speaker 1: He started doing it in nineteen o five and never stopped. 77 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: Any building he saw became a potential place to show off, 78 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: thanks in part to lacks public performance laws at the time. 79 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: The turn of the century saw the birth of the skyscraper. 80 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: Tall majestic buildings that turned flat skylines into living e 81 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: k g readouts, and big buildings meant big business. In 82 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: order to drum up that business, companies needed ways to 83 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: capture public attention. That's how Harry made a name for 84 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: himself and earned much of his living as a climber 85 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: for hire. He started off with flagpoles and smaller structures 86 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: before moving on to larger office buildings. In nineteen sixteen, 87 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: his small town exploits took him all the way to Omaha, Nebraska, 88 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: were more than thirty thousand people watched from the street 89 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 1: below as he climbed to the top of the Omaha 90 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: World Herald building. He saw his talent as nothing more 91 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,720 Speaker 1: than a series of steps, a mechanical set of instructions 92 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: he had to follow to ensure success. On the day 93 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: of his climb in Omaha, he was quoted as saying, 94 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: it seems all a part of a day's work. To me, 95 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: there's the wall with little projections, ledges and places to 96 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: which I must hold, and there's the top of the 97 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: building where I'm going to stop. However, while Harry didn't 98 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 1: talk up his skills that much, word got around about 99 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: what he could do, and other cities wanted in on 100 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: the act. Months after his feet at the Omaha World Herald, 101 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: the Detroit News hired him to scale their building as 102 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: a marketing stunt for their ad department. The following year, 103 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: he climbed up sixteen stories to the top of the 104 00:06:56,240 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: Empire Building in Birmingham, Alabama. Is work took him all 105 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: over North America and Europe, working his way up and 106 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: down skyscrapers wearing only his street clothes. In West Virginia, 107 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: he scaled the north wall of the Logan County Courthouse, 108 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: where he hoisted the U. S. Flag. In British Columbia, 109 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: he climbed to the top of the seventeen story World Building, 110 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: where the Vancouver World newspaper was being published. Over a 111 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: span of almost two decades, Harry Gardner managed to climb 112 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 1: over seven hundred buildings. However, it wasn't until nineteen eighteen 113 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: that he had an idea. World War one had just ended, 114 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: and Harry wanted to celebrate the only way he knew how. 115 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: There were only two problems. First, he had to choose 116 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: which building he should climb, and second, he'd been operating 117 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: without any kind of insurance policy in place. No company 118 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: would back him given his line of work, and he 119 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: was too much of a risk. But if anything happened 120 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 1: to him, his loved ones would be without the help 121 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: they needed. So Harry formed a l On November eleventh 122 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: of nineteen, he went into the Bank of Hamilton's in Ontario, Canada, 123 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: and purchased a one thou dollar bond. While he was there, 124 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 1: he also managed to secure for himself an insurance policy, 125 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: and once he'd finished signing the papers, he left and 126 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: continued on his way, all to great applause from the crowd. 127 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: And no, he didn't take an audience with him inside 128 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: the bank. They were still on the ground outside, and 129 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: Harry well he decided to take a less direct route 130 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: to the bank's insurance offices. He climbed up the side 131 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 1: of the building and poked in through one of the 132 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: open windows, where an employee handed him a pen. It's 133 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: no wonder that former President Grover Cleveland once referred to 134 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: Harry by such an unusual nickname, the Human Fly. I 135 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:54,719 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 136 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,199 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 137 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosity these podcast dot com. The 138 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with 139 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 140 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 141 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 142 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.