1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosity is a production 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,360 Speaker 1: is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: open book, all of these amazing tales are right there 5 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. In eighteen o seven, about a 7 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: third of the way through the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark found 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:47,599 Speaker 1: itself in an interesting situation. It already controlled Norway, Greenland, Uteland, Slush, 9 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: Big Holstein in Germany and Iceland. In addition, it commanded 10 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: a formidable navy with three thousand members in its fleet, 11 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: and that navy was preparing to defend itself against the French. 12 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: The Danish army was already planning for a land attack 13 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: from Napoleon's forces. The navy, however, was in a tougher spot. 14 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: You see, the British needed access to the Baltic Sea. 15 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: They were using it as a trade route. The Baltic 16 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,319 Speaker 1: was also home to the resources needed for building English warships, 17 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: and up to then the Danes had been allowing the 18 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: British safe passage through the Baltic, especially since their presence 19 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: also benefited allies like Sweden and Russia against the French. Unfortunately, 20 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: there was a serious fear of France taking over Denmark 21 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: now that Prussia had finally fallen. English Foreign secretary Charles 22 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: Gray had secretly tried to build an alliance between Denmark, Britain, 23 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: and Sweden against France for several years, but had failed 24 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: to make progress. Meanwhile, France was sending its own people 25 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: into Denmark to secure the country's armies against the British. 26 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: There were even rumors that the Danish might go along 27 00:01:55,960 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: with the French after all, fearing the loss of Denmark 28 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: to Napoleon, who dozen English ships were sent in July 29 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: of eighteen oh seven to Kantagat, a sea on the 30 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: eastern Danish coast. Their mission was simply to watch for 31 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: any aggression on the part of the Danish navy and 32 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: intervene if necessary. Meanwhile, a British delegate had also slipped 33 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: into Copenhagen to try and convince Denmark to hand over 34 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: its navy to English control. As discussions carried on, Napoleon 35 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: got his own affairs in order. He tried to convince Alexander, 36 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: the First of Russia to join Denmark and Portugal in 37 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: fighting against Britain. In other words, both the British and 38 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: the French were playing tug of war with a neutral Denmark, 39 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: who wouldn't choose to fight with either side. Expecting the worst, 40 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,240 Speaker 1: England chose to act first. By August of eighteen o seven, 41 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: England had assembled around four hundred warships off the coast 42 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: of Denmark, with roughly twenty five thousand troops awaiting orders. 43 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: They attempted to negotiate a treaty with Denmark in return 44 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: for its warships, and promised military support and even to 45 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:03,799 Speaker 1: return the ships once the war was over. The following day, 46 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: Napoleon issued an ultimatum to Denmark go against England or 47 00:03:07,919 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: prepare for an invasion. The Danish refused to choose, so 48 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: the British ordered them to hand over their ships, and predictably, 49 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: Denmark said no. What resulted was the Battle of Copenhagen, 50 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: a conflict lasting from mid August until the beginning of 51 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: September in eighteen o seven between England and Denmark. The 52 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: British fired Congreve rockets at the city, the same kinds 53 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: of rockets whose red glare would inspire Francis Scott Key 54 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: to write The Star Spangled Banner seven years later. The 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: rockets caused much of the city to burn, and countless 56 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: buildings were reduced to ash and rubble. By the time 57 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: the dust had settled, the British had lost several hundred men. Denmark, 58 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: on the other hand, fared much worse. About two hundred 59 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: civilians were killed, along with a few thousand Danish soldiers, 60 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: and despite their best efforts, they were forced to surrender 61 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: the entire Danish navy to the British. Now, warships that 62 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: were still being constructed were destroyed, while the existing vessels 63 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: were commandeered by the British and sailed away. The defeat 64 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: severely crippled Denmark and wound up forcing them to join 65 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: forces with France anyway. Although now without a navy to 66 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: fix the situation, Crown Prince Frederick the sixth did everything 67 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: he could to secure the materials necessary to rebuild his fleet. 68 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: Every oak tree in Denmark was declared property of the Crown. 69 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: He planted thousands of oak trees all over the country, 70 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: knowing it took on average about two thousand oaks to 71 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: make one ship. Although he knew the trees wouldn't be 72 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: fully grown for some time. The Crown Prince probably didn't 73 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: realize how much ship building would advance over the next 74 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:49,280 Speaker 1: two centuries. Navies went from using wood to steal, which 75 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: meant that all those oak trees were no longer necessary. Still, 76 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: that didn't stop Denmark from tracking their growth. Around two 77 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: thousand seven, two centuries after the battle, Queen margret To 78 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: the second, received a call from her Royal Forestry Commissioner 79 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: with an important message. Her oak trees. They told her, 80 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: We're finally ready. A six ft six inch man wouldn't 81 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: find the cockpit of a British World War Two fighter 82 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,560 Speaker 1: jet a comforting place, but in this instance, the pilot 83 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: had no trouble with being taller than the average human, 84 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: let alone the average fighter pilots. He did, however, crash 85 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: land in Libya, where he lived out his own action 86 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: movie sequence, crawling away from a flaming jet with a 87 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: fractured skull before the jets leaking fuel tank exploded, injuries 88 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: that led the pilot to a new calling, espionage. It 89 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: all began with a diplomatic post at the British Embassy 90 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. In the after math of Pearl Harbor. 91 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: There he took on the role of an assistant air 92 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,599 Speaker 1: at Tache. And while James Bond has infused our mind 93 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: with romantic notions of being a spy, including luxury cars 94 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,719 Speaker 1: with machine guns built into the headlights, our spy started 95 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: out in something a little less glamorous public relations, but 96 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: the James Bond life would follow. Being tall, handsome and 97 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: remarkably persuasive, he found his way into the finer things 98 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: in spy work, cocktail parties, finger foods, and well women. 99 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: Numerous friends noted that, like Double O seven himself, this 100 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: spy like to socialize his way into the good graces 101 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 1: of established women, from actresses and heiresses to powerful congress women. 102 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: That isn't all he was doing, though. He also sweet 103 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: talked himself into the inner circle of the most important 104 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: Americans of the day, Harry Truman, for instance, and that 105 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: powerhouse of an American family, the Roosevelt's. In fact, he 106 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: spent at their family residence at Hyde Park, charming the 107 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: socks off anyone he engaged in conversation. All the while 108 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: he was sending notes and telegrams back to England detailing 109 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: what the political climates in America looked like. And how 110 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: that would affect British interests. Yes, in politics, friends spy 111 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: on friends as much as they spy on their enemies. 112 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: It's safe to say that working as a spy was 113 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: a better fit for our hero than the pilot seat, 114 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: although it took a crash to set him in a 115 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: new direction. But in the end, even spying wasn't quite 116 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: the right fit. Now he still had one more path 117 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: yet to walk. If his time as a pilot was 118 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: act one and Act two was his time as a spy, 119 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: then we now have to turn our attention to Act three, 120 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: since the life of this particular person fits nicely into 121 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: that classic three act structure, and this final act was 122 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: the one that would set him apart from all the rest, 123 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: moving him from a notable historical figure to practically a 124 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: household name. You see, our pilot turned spy eventually became 125 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,440 Speaker 1: a writer. Even as he danced his way through civilized 126 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 1: American society, there was still time to scribble down his stories, 127 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: and he began to publish articles. He would also all 128 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: too appropriately write the screenplay for a film that had 129 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: many parallels from his own life, an actual James Bond movie, 130 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: But none of that cemented what would become the lasting 131 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: legacy of this larger than life man because his big 132 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: break as a writer came in nineteen sixty one, over 133 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: a decade after his service in World War Two, and 134 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: that big break was a children's book about a boy 135 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 1: and an enormous piece of fruit. The success of this 136 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: adventure story eventually turned into many more successes in the 137 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: publishing world. Soon to follow were other now classics, like 138 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,319 Speaker 1: the story about a boy who earns a trip to 139 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: the local chocolate factory, or another child's adventure with giants. 140 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: Then all of them cemented this pilot turned spy turned 141 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 1: writer as perhaps one of the greatest children's authors to 142 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: have ever lived. In the end, he may have embodied 143 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: the title of his James Bond screenplay You Only Live Twice, 144 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: But if you ask me, he may have miscounted, because 145 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 1: his was a life that was certainly lived thrice and 146 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: his name rowled doll. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided 147 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on 148 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting 149 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me 150 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works, I make 151 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 152 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,560 Speaker 1: book series, and television show and you can learn all 153 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: about it over at the world of Lore dot com. 154 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.