1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,080 Speaker 1: I'm to bling a Chalk reporting and I'm fared out. 4 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: And we promised our listeners some spooky kind of Halloween 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: issh episodes in October. And it just so happens that 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: I've gotten magic on the brain recently because I was 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: visiting with my ten year old niece and she is 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: finally requiring me to do something that many people have done, 9 00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: which is read Harry Potter. Oh, finally, I know. I 10 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 1: know you've been wanting that for a long time. That's great. Yes, 11 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,919 Speaker 1: we been my long cherished hope. She lies in bed 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: and I read Harry hopefayin that I'll read it. She's 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: wearing a wizard outfit right now. Actually, So we wanted 14 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,280 Speaker 1: to look into some real life examples of people who 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: were said to have been involved with magic and the occult. 16 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: And John d who was a mathematician and astronomer from 17 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: the sixteenth century, really our interest, not least of all 18 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: because there's a new opera about him. So this opera, 19 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: which is called Dr D, premiered at the Manchester International 20 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: Festival in July and It came about when festival organizers 21 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: approached the graphic novelist Alan Moore, who is the creator 22 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 1: of V for Vendetta and From Hell, approached him to 23 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: work on a new project about the quote life of 24 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: an obscure but important figure from English history. So more 25 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: pondering on this, decided to focus on John D. Of course, 26 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: Moore didn't finish the project, he left before it was completed, 27 00:01:36,760 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: but Damon Albarn, singer and songwriter of the band Blur 28 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 1: and also Guerrillas, he did finish it along with director 29 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: Rufus Norris. And we haven't heard or seen it ourselves, 30 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: but we've we did get kind of stuck on that 31 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: phrase obscure but important figure from English history. I mean, 32 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: that's exactly the type of person we love to read 33 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: stuff he missed in history class exactly. So there's no 34 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 1: denying that D was important. In addition to being an 35 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: accomplished mathematician, astronomer, geographer and navigator and also book collector, 36 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: he was an adviser to Queen Elizabeth the First and 37 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,239 Speaker 1: probably a spy for her in some capacity, and also 38 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:17,399 Speaker 1: an early proponent of expanding Britain into an empire. So 39 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: why is this guy with some legitimate resume entrees sometimes 40 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: dismissed as the queen's astrologer and necromancer and a sorcerer. 41 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: Well we're going to take a look at that, but 42 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: first we need to find out how he got to 43 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: work for the queen in the first place. So it 44 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: started with schooling and he was born. John D was 45 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: born July fifty seven in London. His father, Roland, was 46 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: of Welsh descent and was probably some kind of merchant. 47 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: So John D started his studies at a school in 48 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: Chelmsford in Essex in fifteen thirty five and then went 49 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: on to St John's College in Cambridge in fifteen forty two, 50 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: where he studied a pretty impressive lineup of Greek, Latin philosophy, geometry, 51 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: arithmetic and astronomy. And from the beginning he was really 52 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:09,359 Speaker 1: dedicated to his studies, especially when you consider how young 53 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: he was at the time. He really seemed to love 54 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: to learn, especially when it came to studying mathematics. And 55 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: just to give you an example of young John D's 56 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: typical day, according to his biographer Benjamin Woolley, D would 57 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: work at his studies about eighteen hours a day, leaving 58 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:31,639 Speaker 1: just four hours for sleep and two hours for meals. 59 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: So a busy child, and by all accounts he was 60 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: an extremely talented scholar. Some even call him a genius. 61 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: So I guess all that hard work of his really 62 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: paid off. He got both his bachelor's and master's degrees 63 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: from St John's in fifteen forty five and fifteen forty eight, respectively. 64 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: In fifteen forty six he was made one of the 65 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: founding fellows of Trinity College in Cambridge. But then he 66 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: switched stuff up a little bit. He left England from 67 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: fifteen forty eight to fifteen fifty one. He continued his 68 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: scientific education on the continent, and he studied with a 69 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: variety of top experts in a number of different fields, 70 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: including cartography and mathematics. He published astronomy texts and lectured 71 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 1: on Euclid's elements. Euclid, of course, was a Greek mathematician 72 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: and sometimes called the father of geometry and d is 73 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: sometimes credited with popularizing Euclidean geometry and academic circles. He 74 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: was also said to be an early supporter of Copernicus's 75 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: heliocentric model of the universe, so he was out promoting 76 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: sort of revolutionary math he was out learning and kind 77 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: of yeah, thinking about and talking about cutting edge ideas. 78 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: It was interesting, though. He turned down to mathematical professorships, 79 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: one at the University of Paris in fifteen fifty one 80 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: and another one that was offered to him at the 81 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 1: University of Oxford in fifteen fifty four. It's unclear exactly 82 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: why he did this. He seems to have had designs 83 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: on landing a position with the English crown, though, as 84 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: we'll see later, probably hoped that that setup would result 85 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: in financial support or or patronage that would allow him 86 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: to pursue his own research, so that seemed to work 87 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: at first. He was aiming higher. Yeah, it did seem 88 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,799 Speaker 1: to work at first, and when Dee returned to England 89 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: in fifteen fifty one, he was able to associate himself 90 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: with the royal court and he offered his math instruction 91 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 1: to courtiers and to navigators, and that same year he 92 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: was presented to King Edward the six, who granted him 93 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: a pension of one hundred crowns, which d later exchange 94 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: for a rectorship which had a nice comfortable living associated 95 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: with it. Um. So, yeah, it seems like he was 96 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: doing well for himself. He made friends at court. He 97 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: received the patronage of a couple of them, including the 98 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: Duchess of Northumberland, and soon he started to get caught 99 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,919 Speaker 1: up in things though, the intrigue that was going on 100 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: at the time regarding Queen Mary's ascension to the throne 101 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: and the tensions going on in England between the Catholics 102 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: and the Protestants. But Deep played his cards right, and 103 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: at least at first, he didn't appear to take side, 104 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: which obviously during this time, could mean a swift execution. Yeah. 105 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: So when Queen Mary the First, who was Catholic, took 106 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: the throne, D served as a consultant and astrologer to her. 107 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: So we should stop here, though and talk about it 108 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: a little bit, because you're probably thinking, whoa wait a second, astrology. 109 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: I thought you said D was into astronomy. I have 110 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: a whole different opinion of him now. But before you 111 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:24,679 Speaker 1: go judging him, we have to give you a little 112 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: background by way of explanation. Around this time, there wasn't 113 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,679 Speaker 1: such a distinct line between astronomy and astrology. Many people 114 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: like D put stock in both. In fact, even though 115 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: people were coming out of the Dark Ages in the 116 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 1: sixteenth century, reason and science still existed right alongside superstition 117 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: and magic. So he wasn't the only one to feel 118 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: this way or to have these beliefs. And they'll get 119 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: too upset about dark ages people. I know everyone sometimes 120 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: gets riled up with that, But I think it's a 121 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,839 Speaker 1: good illustrative term for discussing coming out of this real superstitious, 122 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: magical time. Yeah, it's illustrative. So just to give you 123 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: an example of what D's beliefs were like, he believed 124 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: that the positions of the planets at the moment of 125 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: a person's birth would affect their future, so like astrology, 126 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: but he was driven to find a scientific explanation for this, 127 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: and it was this need to understand it all that 128 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: really shaped his whole career. So we're gonna too, essentially, 129 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: and so he was asked to use these astrology skills 130 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: for Queen Mary. He was asked to cast horoscopes for 131 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 1: her and for her husband, Phillip the second of Spain. 132 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: Around that time, though, D also started a correspondence with 133 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: the Protestant Princess Elizabeth, Mary's half sister, and he did 134 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: an astrological chart for her too. Soon after this, maybe coincidentally, 135 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: maybe not. In May A, fifteen fifty five, D was 136 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: arrested and imprisoned at Hampton Court, a week or so 137 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 1: before Elizabeth faced the same similar situation, and the charge 138 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: against him maybe different, depending on what source you look at. 139 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: I've seen it as conjuring, and then I've seen it 140 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: in other places as simply calculating um just to explain that. 141 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: And mathematics was kind of considered a form of black 142 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: magic by some at that time, so that's why calculating 143 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: would have been a criminal charge. He was acquitted after 144 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: this and released soon after, though, and he went back 145 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: to work for Mary, which kind of amazes me. Yeah, 146 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: he kept on working for Mary, and he was loyal 147 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: to her until she died in fifteen fifty eight, and 148 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: then when Elizabeth the First became queen after that, D 149 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: immediately shifted his allegiance to her. It's likely most people 150 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,959 Speaker 1: think that he may have supported her all along, but regardless, 151 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,679 Speaker 1: it's interesting to see that he showed loyalty to kind 152 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: of whoever was in power because it was best for him, 153 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: especially since it seems like it would be difficult for 154 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: an astrologer to show loyalty to two people what are 155 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: you going to tell somebody that there their cards don't 156 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: look so great or their stars aren't aligned. Maybe just 157 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:58,839 Speaker 1: avoid the conversation it would be it would be a 158 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: tricky conversation have. So with Elizabeth, he became kind of 159 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: a scientific and medical advisor to her, known officially as 160 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: the Queen's Intelligence or or the Royal Astrologer, and she 161 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: asked him to use his astrological skills to pick the 162 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: data for coordination, and obviously it worked out, so she 163 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: was happy with the result, and she promised him security, 164 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: but always kind of kept him at arm's length, like 165 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: she didn't want to be too closely associated with his 166 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: involvement in the occult. But de still had that dream 167 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: of royal patronage, and especially a dream of creating this 168 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: huge royal library that would be available to everyone with 169 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: the goal of advancing learning. But he couldn't get official 170 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: support for that, so finally he just decided to build 171 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: his own private library and spent several years abroad collecting 172 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: books for it. By the mid fifteen sixties, he had 173 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 1: set up a laboratory and a library near London, and 174 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: the library had more than four thousand books in it 175 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: and was the largest private library in England at the time, 176 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,200 Speaker 1: but d kept to his original intention. He was really 177 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: generous with it. He made it accessible to scholars. He 178 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: had a pretty significant collection of astronomical instruments, a collection 179 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: of globes, so this was all suddenly um at the 180 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: fingertips of England scholars, which was a great boon for 181 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: them and for him too. During the next twenty years 182 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: or so, D was involved in a number of let's 183 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 1: say practical or more scientific compared yes. He edited, for example, 184 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: the first English translation of Euclid's Elements in fifteen seventy. 185 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: He also observed Tico Brahe's supernova fifteen seventy two, and 186 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:41,200 Speaker 1: if you would like to know a little bit more 187 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: about that, you can reference our Tico Bray podcast from 188 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: last December. So he observed this as well, and he 189 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: offered some triggering a metric methods for fighting its distance 190 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: from Earth. So he kind of helped not a little 191 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,680 Speaker 1: to the discussion, absolutely, and he recommended that England adopt 192 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: the Grigorian calendar in fifth teen eight two, although no 193 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: one really listened to him at the time, and during 194 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,239 Speaker 1: this entire period he was also helping lay the groundwork 195 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: for English exploration by preparing just all sorts of nautical information, 196 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: including maps and charts for navigation in the polar regions, 197 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: as well as teaching ship captains and crews about the 198 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: principles of navigation and giving them navigational instruments. So this 199 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: allowed them to venture out on routes that were away 200 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: from the coast and really encourage exploration. I kind of 201 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: see him as a coach almost to all of these advisors. 202 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: You know, somebody who's got the brains and knows all 203 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: of the specifics for all of these diverse sciences and 204 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: can help the people actually making the decisions make the 205 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: correct decision. And just a little side note if you're 206 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: interested in such things. Uh D was probably an advisor 207 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:52,480 Speaker 1: on Sir Francis Drake's voyages as well, so that's another 208 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: impressive entry for his resume. But along those same lines, 209 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: D was a really big advocate of building a British 210 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: and fire and that sort of makes sense if you 211 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: consider his involvement in all the navigation stuff. He expressed 212 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,199 Speaker 1: those views, those views for an empire in a work 213 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: called Perfect Art of Navigation. But just because he was 214 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,719 Speaker 1: working on navigation and empire building, didn't mean that he 215 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 1: had left math and physics and astrology and magic um 216 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: to just linger there and not be worked on. He 217 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: published something called the Propa Dumata Afrostica in fifteen fifty eight, 218 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: which contained his views on these subjects math and physics 219 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: and magic and things like that, and that's not all 220 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: he had going on. Many sources also suggest that throughout 221 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: this period D was working with none other than Sir 222 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: Francis Walsingham as a spy for the English crown. And uh, 223 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,520 Speaker 1: that's kind of It's kind of a surprise, isn't it. 224 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: It is, it just takes the story in a completely 225 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 1: different direction. An article in Military history by Adam Mandelbaum, 226 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,800 Speaker 1: for example, suggests that it was D along with Walsingham, 227 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: who founded the British Secret Intelligence Service. I mean, talk 228 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: about having an entry on your resume. That's something that 229 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: you wouldn't expect for someone who's labeled a sorcerer and 230 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 1: a conjuror not at all. But he was probably able 231 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,400 Speaker 1: to use both his scientific and his more supernatural skills 232 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: to act as a spy and to work in this 233 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: capacity because for the more scientific part of things. Mondel 234 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: Bomb suggests that D was kind of like a sixteenth 235 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 1: century version of James Bond gadget Master Q. He would 236 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: create all kinds of cool devices, including this mechanical flying bird, 237 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: which might not have been used for spying, but it 238 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: still sounds pretty neat um. So you know that that 239 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: very practical side of him had an outlet in this. 240 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: Speaking of James Bond, there is another James Bond connection 241 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: here that's kind of interesting, and I couldn't really find 242 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: it in any great academic sources or anything, so I 243 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: thought I just put it out there that if you 244 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: happen to look up D and double oh seven on 245 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: the Internet, you might find some interesting stuff there. Some 246 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: say that he actually used that double O seven sign 247 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 1: and his secret correspondence to the Queen. The two ohs 248 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: would symbolize his eyes and the seven was just a 249 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: sacred or lucky number to him. I like that maybe 250 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: some tutor experts can let us know if there's any 251 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: truth behind that. Here's what we do know, though. D 252 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: also discovered this work while he was searching for books abroad, 253 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: and it was the staganigraphia of Johanna's Truthemius, a German 254 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: abbott and magician of the late fifteenth century. It was 255 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: divided into three books, all of which were apparently concerned 256 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 1: with the evocation of angels, and this was a topic 257 00:14:47,120 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: that D was very interested in. We'll tell you more 258 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: about that later. But the first two parts actually turned 259 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: out to be hoaxes. They were really the subject of 260 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: them was really secret codes, and only the third part 261 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: was actually about contacting spirit. So, according to Mandelbaoma's article, 262 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: D use this code to communicate with Walsingham and disguise 263 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: the intelligence he'd gathered, throwing some symbols associated with alchemy 264 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: in there too, that was in the mix so that 265 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: people would think that they were magical writings. It's why 266 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: some people think of him more as a master spy 267 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: than necessarily a magician. And I really love this detail. 268 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: I mean, I imagine somebody intercepting a letter and it 269 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: looks like it's all about magic, and to add to that, 270 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: you know, there are these weird symbols thrown in, and 271 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: it's from old John D. Really there's important communications contained. 272 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: I think that's such an interesting tactic for a spy 273 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: to take. I know, we when we talked about Civil 274 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: War spies, we talked about one who would visit the 275 00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: hospitals and fame being crazy and this is this reminded 276 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: me of that almost just a personality disguise. Almost yeah, 277 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: something that has the ability to tarnish your reputation, but 278 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: as further in time, dismiss what you're what you're working on. 279 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 1: So D did also im loy his psychic abilities and 280 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: occult knowledge in this. Walsingham, for example, asked him to 281 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: cast horoscopes to evaluate the queen's marriage options, and he 282 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: used this to determine that neither the Duke Gianjou or 283 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,720 Speaker 1: his brother were suitable marriage partners for the queen. So 284 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: what other intelligence to d obtain? Well, for one thing, 285 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: he gathered a lot of information about Spain, which was 286 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: England's big expansionist rival. He found out about the Armada, 287 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: the Spanish fleet that was designed to overthrow Elizabeth, long 288 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: before it was launched, and in fact, it said that 289 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:36,600 Speaker 1: D predicted violent storms in fight. He used his math 290 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: and astronomy knowledge to predict the weather, I guess, and 291 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: spread that around and Spain had some trouble because of that, 292 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: Because of those rumors, they had trouble drumming up volunteers 293 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: for this venture. And then of course the predictions proved 294 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: to be true story did destroy many of the Armadas ships, 295 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: and some have wondered if that prediction that he made 296 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: was actually just psychological warfare by the English, or if 297 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: it was actually just that he really doing. But between 298 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: those scientific pursuits and the spying, you'd think that d 299 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: would really have his work cut out for him. But 300 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: he also had some side jobs going on. He told 301 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: fortunes for money, He practiced necromancy with real corpses, basically 302 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: attempting to communicate with the dead or even raise the dead. 303 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: And on top of that, he would also teach the 304 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: occult arts and alchemy to students for a fee, basically 305 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,679 Speaker 1: as a magician for hire. But one other thing that 306 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: was a real passion of deeds was his efforts to 307 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,040 Speaker 1: communicate with angels. I mean, this guy has so much 308 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: going on, but that was a really strong interest of his. 309 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:48,960 Speaker 1: He said to have conducted occult experiments with crystal gazing 310 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: that he called scrying the ether and began conversing with 311 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: angelic intelligences this way, and D got more and more 312 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 1: involved in this. So while some of these pursuits seemed 313 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,320 Speaker 1: pretty well balanced from most of his life, this started 314 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: to take over the other ones from the fifteen eighties 315 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: onward until it really began to dominate his life almost entirely. 316 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: And a lot of people think that he changed his 317 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: focus because he was just so frustrated that he couldn't 318 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: gain a comprehensive understanding of the universe up until that point. 319 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: That was what he was striving for all along, as 320 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier, to try to reconcile the magical aspects 321 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: of life with the practical aspects and the secrets of 322 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: the universe make it all makes sense, and he was 323 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: frustrated he couldn't do this despite his long hours, despite 324 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 1: his intelligence, and thought that maybe the angels could explain 325 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: it all, it could help him out. Another major influence 326 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:49,560 Speaker 1: that played a part in this, though, was a man 327 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: named Edward Kelly, not to be confused with Ned Kelly 328 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: another not Ned It's not another Australian podcast, But Edward 329 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: Kelly came to D's life in fifteen eighty two and 330 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: he's often referred to as D's medium. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 331 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: Kelly was a convicted counterfeiter and he claimed that he 332 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 1: could contact angels and spirits by gazing into a crystal ball. 333 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: He and D held seances together, and D became pretty 334 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,360 Speaker 1: convinced that Kelly's abilities were actually real. The two traveled 335 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: on the continent together for several years in the fifteen eighties, 336 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: doing displays of magic at various courts, and they recorded 337 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 1: a language for communicating with angels, which is now referred 338 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,399 Speaker 1: to as a Nokian, and he basically claimed that the 339 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: angels had revealed this language to them. Many historians suggest 340 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 1: that Kelly was pretty much a con artist, doing this 341 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: for fame and for wealth. According to d biographer Woolley, 342 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: he eventually made a play for D's wife and that's 343 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 1: what sort of broke them apart. But D seems to 344 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: have really been sincere in his belief of the stuff, 345 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,440 Speaker 1: and that didn't help him win any friends. And by 346 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: the time he returned to England in fifteen eighty nine, 347 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:02,080 Speaker 1: his reputation had been very much tarnished by his involvement 348 00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:04,880 Speaker 1: in the occult, and he found that his library had 349 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:08,920 Speaker 1: been ransacked and his books and scientific instruments had been stolen, 350 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,840 Speaker 1: and that that great reputation as a practical mind, as 351 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: somebody who was intelligent and and capable of performing all 352 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: these sciences was really gone, and ultimately the financial support 353 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: that D had longed for from Queen Elizabeth the First 354 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: and that she had sort of promised him to never 355 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,680 Speaker 1: really materialized. She did give him a job, she appointed 356 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,840 Speaker 1: him warden of Manchester College in fifte but that didn't 357 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: pay enough to support D and support his family, and 358 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: was honestly probably just a way to get him out 359 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: of London um away from from giving her a bad 360 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 1: rap by association. So his friends managed to raise some 361 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: money for him, but still his final years were pretty 362 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: much spent in poverty. He was miserable in Manchester, and 363 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 1: in sixteen oh five, to add insult to injury, the 364 00:20:57,680 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: area was hit by plague, killing his wife life and 365 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: several of his children too. He eventually returned to London 366 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: and died there in December sight. He basically spent the 367 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: end of his life trying to fight off the reputation 368 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,680 Speaker 1: of being a conjurer, and that's what many remember him as, 369 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: even though he did so many other things. They're kind 370 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: of faded into the background now. The British Museum, though, 371 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 1: has some artifacts associated with him that you can check out, 372 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,160 Speaker 1: including a mirror that he probably used in his occult 373 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: research and for all of the literary minded people out there, 374 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:32,560 Speaker 1: d is also thought to be Some people actually say 375 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,280 Speaker 1: he's almost certainly the inspiration for a very famous literary 376 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: conjuror Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest. So in a lot 377 00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 1: of ways, and some people have said this before, he 378 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: was the quintessential magician, and therefore I think, okay, submission 379 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 1: for Halloween months, even though he wasn't that scarier spooky. 380 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: I like Halloween entries like that, ones that are intriguing. 381 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: It kind of reminds me of the Mesmerism episode did 382 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: for Halloween last year. Ones that just make you think, what, 383 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: what's reality, what's not? I don't know, And it makes 384 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 1: me interested to check out that opera if I ever 385 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,239 Speaker 1: get a chance. Definitely, So that probably should bring us 386 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 1: to listen to me, And do you think so? We 387 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: had a lot of fun recently recording a podcast about 388 00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: orson Wells War of the World's radio broadcast, which is 389 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 1: definitely spooky. It is, And so we have a couple 390 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: of emails here about that. One is from Martha and 391 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 1: she says, good afternoon, ladies, I just finished listening to 392 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: your podcast on orson Wells in the War of the 393 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: World's broadcast, So I wanted to share with you a 394 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: fond memory that your broadcast helped me recall. In two 395 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 1: thousand eight, I worked at a local skilled nursing facility 396 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: that October, to mark the seventh anniversary of the original broadcast, 397 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 1: I worked with some of the residents to rebroadcast the original. 398 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: We really put on a show for the other residents, 399 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:56,879 Speaker 1: so it wasn't a actual radio broadcast, is which she's 400 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:58,919 Speaker 1: trying to point out. She goes on to say, the 401 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: residents had a great I'm putting on the show, and 402 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:04,320 Speaker 1: afterwards we talked about the original. Many of the residents 403 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: that I worked with were teenagers and young adults at 404 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,199 Speaker 1: the time, and they told me that for some it 405 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,120 Speaker 1: was a little scary and for others a good laugh, 406 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: but the majority were glued to their seats wanting to 407 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,120 Speaker 1: know what happened next. The residents enjoyed sharing their memories 408 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,320 Speaker 1: of their youth with me, which made this little bit 409 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: of history come alive for me. I've since moved on 410 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 1: in my career and some of those residents have passed away. 411 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: But your podcast covering the War of the Worlds has 412 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 1: brought back some fond memories. So I thought that sounded 413 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,840 Speaker 1: like such a neat project to do, and I don't know, 414 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: maybe something that would be pretty fun for schools today too. 415 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,199 Speaker 1: I mean, it's really cool if if the people actually 416 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,239 Speaker 1: got to hear the original, But um, it's something that 417 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:44,200 Speaker 1: doesn't seem to go away. Really. We got so many 418 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: emails from people about hearing the War of the World. 419 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,640 Speaker 1: Then most of them were not people who had heard 420 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: the original broadcast. They heard it because their grandparents played 421 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: it for them, or it was rebroadcasts on the radio. 422 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: And we even heard from some people who said, I 423 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: know exactly what I would have done, because I thought 424 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 1: it was real when I heard it rebroadcast in the 425 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: seventies or whatever. Doesn't seem like a great thing to 426 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 1: play for little kids, because we also heard from many, 427 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: many people who had terrified memories as children of of 428 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: hearing the War of the World. But we did get 429 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 1: another fun email. This one is from Sarah, and she 430 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 1: wrote that a friend of mine just received his master's 431 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:28,440 Speaker 1: degree in broadcast communications and his master's thesis was about 432 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:31,320 Speaker 1: the War of the World. Last Halloween, he threw a 433 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,120 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties War of the World's theme party where everyone 434 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: had to come in period dress. We drank classic cocktails 435 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: and listened to the War of the World's broadcast. It 436 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,520 Speaker 1: was fabulous. This Halloween, he plans to host the party again, 437 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: but on a bigger scale. So this auce that sounded 438 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,360 Speaker 1: really fun and a perfect pre Halloween listener a mail 439 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: to include. Um good costume idea for sure. Yeah, a 440 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,920 Speaker 1: good party idea, definitely. So if you have any more 441 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: Halloween suggestions, well, probably have time to to receive your 442 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: feedback and maybe records them. I don't know, get them 443 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: in soon though, maybe as soon as you as soon 444 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: as you hear this podcast. If we're gonna have a turnaround, yeah, 445 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,919 Speaker 1: you know that we can always use spooky ideas, so 446 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,119 Speaker 1: we are always up for spooky doesn't have to be 447 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 1: contained in just one month of the year. We can 448 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: spread it around definitely, So right into us where at 449 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: history podcast at how Stuff works dot com. We're also 450 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: on Twitter at Miston History, and we are on Facebook too, 451 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:30,480 Speaker 1: So those are all great ways to leave your Halloween suggestion. 452 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 1: And if you want to join me on my quest 453 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 1: to find out what this whole Harry Potter thing is 454 00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: all about, many years after the fact of it's being cool. 455 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:43,640 Speaker 1: You can check out an article we have on our 456 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: website called how Harry Potter's wand Works. I think I 457 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:48,240 Speaker 1: should probably hold off from reading it in case of 458 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 1: how spoilers. There will be spoilers, but you can find 459 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: that by visiting our homepage and searching for Harry Potter 460 00:25:54,560 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: at www dot how stuff works dot com. Be sure 461 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,479 Speaker 1: to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. 462 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: Join how stupe Works staff as we explore the most 463 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The House Step Works 464 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: iPhone app has a rise. Download it today on iTunes.