1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. We hope you're having a great holiday. Your 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: pals here at Ridiculous History are vacatie just a bit 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: uh and uh, while we do. We didn't want to 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: leave you hanging, so we thought we'd we'd share some 5 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: of our favorite classic episodes for the very last week 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 1: of the year. Indeed, starting off with one of our 7 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: earliest episodes, it'll be kind of fun for us to 8 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: check this one out and see how we did. I 9 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: think it'll be fun for all of us. This one 10 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: is about Winston Churchill's quest to um kill Nazis in 11 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,519 Speaker 1: some pretty ridiculous ways. Ridiculous History is a production of 12 00:00:38,600 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hello, Hello, welcome to the show this show. 13 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: My name is Ben, my name is Nol. Nol, So 14 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: what what are we doing here? What? I just thought 15 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: it was a cool cadence for Ridiculous History. Oh, I 16 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: see what you did there? You said the name of 17 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: the show so people know what they're listening to. Yes. Yes, 18 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: for everyone who is in such a rush to hear 19 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: the latest episode that they haven't bothered to read the 20 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: title and aren't sure what show they're listening to, you 21 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: are in the right place and right and let us know, 22 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: should we do an entire show a rhyming show, or 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: we're just like the whole thing rhymes? I think, I 24 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: don't know if we have the band with to pull 25 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: that off. Ben, I bet we could pull it off, though, Nol. 26 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: We would just have to take it slow at first 27 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: and eventually accept that some rhymes will be better and 28 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: some will be worse. You know what, That's a good 29 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: way to approach life. It is true, Indeed, it is true. Indeed, 30 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: this is of course the show where we look at 31 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: all these strange, fascinating, at times silly and often ridiculous 32 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: stories of yesteryear, and this one that that you found 33 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: was completely new information to me. I had no idea, 34 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: And Nolan I have talked about oh and also shout 35 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: out to our super producer Casey Pegrum. Hey, Casey, we 36 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: got a thumbs up. He's in a good mood today, uh. Nolan, 37 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: I have talked often about these strange cockamami assassination attempts 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: that sound like there's something out of Naked Gun. You mean, 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: just like in our spare time? It comes up? Because 40 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: what is spare time right now? I love the Naked 41 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: Gun movies? Um? What I always think about is all 42 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: of the kind of James Bond esque devices that were 43 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: already so ridiculous they barely needed to be satirized, but 44 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: the Naked gun always managed to kind of take it 45 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: to another level. Absolutely. And the truth of the matter 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: is that in decades past, with the emergings of modern 47 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: intelligence agencies or their precursors, from let's say call it 48 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: after World War One through World War Two and on 49 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,839 Speaker 1: and on to the present day, UH, we saw this 50 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,679 Speaker 1: rise in very what should we call them, out out 51 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: of the box plans to assassinate world leaders. Probably one 52 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,519 Speaker 1: of the most famous examples for this for most people, 53 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: it would be, uh, the CIA's plans and their various 54 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: attempts to either humiliate, undermine, or assassinate Fidel Castro. You know, like, 55 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: what are some of the weird things they tried there? Yeah, 56 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: I mean the one you think of is like practically 57 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: a prank that you would play on, you know, an 58 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: unsuspecting friend who smokes lots of cigars, the old exploding 59 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: cigar trick. You think about it from like Looney Tunes 60 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: and stuff, And I always thought of it as you know, 61 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: like a little ha ha. But no, if there was 62 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: like thermite in that thing. It but take your head 63 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: off right. What we found was that Fidel Castro and 64 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:07,559 Speaker 1: the CIA are not unique entirely. And what you introduced 65 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: me to is today's topic. Very strange story about former 66 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 1: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. And it's cool because there's 67 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: actually a biopic coming out about Churchill with the absurdly 68 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: talented Gary Oldman portraying um Mr Churchill. So Churchill was 69 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: one of the first European leaders that was vehemently opposed 70 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, and it sounds like 71 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: kind of like a no brainer, but it was there. 72 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: You know, there was sort of a I don't know, 73 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: I'm not a don't ask, don't tell policy, but kind 74 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: of like let's see what happens kind of policy in Churchill, 75 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: you know, really took up the mantle of this is 76 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 1: a humanitarian crisis, this is an issue of UM good 77 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: versus evil, and sort of framed the UK as being 78 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: on the good side UM. His broadcasts really boosted the nation, 79 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: the whole mindset of the nation UM and who were 80 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: pretty freaked out by what Hitler would be capable of, 81 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: and as a result, Hitler and his you know, goon squad. 82 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: Uh really really wanted to put an end to this man. 83 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,360 Speaker 1: How how do you how do you do a thing 84 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: like that? I mean, Churchill was incredibly insulated, you know, 85 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: he as you know, any leader of a nation is 86 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: constantly under surveillance, kept under lock and key. You know, 87 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: how are they going to reach a guy like that? Right, 88 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: one of the most protected non royal family members in 89 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,840 Speaker 1: the in the Kingdom. But he was actually like working. 90 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: You know, you'd think they would protect him more. They 91 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: just kind of prop up the queen and you know, 92 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: kind of trundle her out during you know events, smile 93 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,840 Speaker 1: a wave. Oh boy. Uh. So in two thousand and 94 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: twelve we finally learned what they were planning. And oh, body, 95 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: is it weird? Ye? This is not a thing that 96 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: was like super common knowledge until a letter or a 97 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: few letters, have a parcel of letters, shall we say, 98 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: was unearthed, um bearing a secret stamp a little on 99 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: the nose, isn't it. He just like, don't look at this, 100 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: it's secret. Okay, that's time. I'm gonna open that right 101 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: on up. Uh. And the letter was commissioned by a 102 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: Lord Victor roth Child, m who was an m I 103 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: five senior intelligence chief. Now Ben, is this the roths 104 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: Child of the roths Child Roth's child, So that was 105 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,480 Speaker 1: a mouthful. Yeah, related to for sure, big powerful family 106 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: from from the UK, far reaching political control and even 107 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: to this day uh influence over the banking system of 108 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: the UK and politics correct financial clout. For sure, Lord 109 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: Victor Rothschild during peacetime was a scientist and a key 110 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: member of the Rothschild banking dynasty when he wrote so 111 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: he wrote this letter to a talented illustrator that he 112 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: was aware of, named Lawrence Fish. It is such a 113 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: good British name. And on May four, Lord Victor Rothschild 114 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,480 Speaker 1: wrote to Mr Fish and asked him to draw poster 115 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: sized images of a particular type of chocolate for the 116 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,679 Speaker 1: purposes of warning the public to be on the lookout 117 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: a nice chucky. You've seen that episode of Money Python 118 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: where they have the is a candy company that has 119 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: an assortment and they're all really unpleasant. Like one of 120 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: them it's called like the the New Get Surprise, and 121 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: then you bite into it, it shoots out bolts to 122 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: either cheek, piercing them from the inside. And there's one 123 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: that's the crunchy frog that has has an actual tiny 124 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: amphibian inside of it, and the crunch comes from the 125 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:09,000 Speaker 1: crunch of its bones. Uh. This particular device would be 126 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: quite at home in that assortment because one of the 127 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: devices that was sketched out by Mr Fish It was 128 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: a chocolate bar containing a layer within that when snapped, 129 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: would explode. That's right. You see, Lord Victor Rothschild had 130 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: received word of a possible Nazi plot to kill Winston 131 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: Churchill by smuggling this chocolate into the war cabinet's dining room. 132 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: And this war cabinet here is a group of people, 133 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 1: it's a specific cabinet. I just now I'm victory of 134 00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:49,719 Speaker 1: Winston Churchill getting up at three in the morning and 135 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:53,560 Speaker 1: his skivvy's and then walking through the war cabinet to 136 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: get chocolate. Yeah, when you know he had some fine, 137 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:00,559 Speaker 1: fine silk pajamas. Oh, that's certain of it. You're probably right, 138 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: and you're probably right the treating question. This chocolate bar 139 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: was finally wrapped in black and gold paper and lab 140 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: labeled uh Peter's Chocolate. And here's the thing. It wouldn't 141 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: have aroused suspicion at least the Nazis hoped because it 142 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: wasn't a fake chocolate bar, it was actually chocolate, and 143 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,200 Speaker 1: they put a lot of thought into this. Right. According 144 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,839 Speaker 1: to a British spy who actually firsthand got a look 145 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: at this exploding delicacy, um, he was able to draw 146 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: the first artist's rendering of it. And what it was 147 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: was a steel plate, a very thin steel plate covered 148 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: by a thin layer of dark chocolate. And as I 149 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: said before, when the chocolate bar was broken, along those 150 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: those nice square lines where you can get to you 151 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: a little piece, snap, you want to snap it because 152 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: it's tempered chocolate. We'll get it nine a second, um, 153 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: that would detonate the device. Only then, that is when 154 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: there was a canvas strap that connected to the explosive inside. 155 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 1: And only once you broke it could you actually see 156 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 1: it had a seven second delay following that very satisfying snap, 157 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: and apparently was powerful enough explosive that the effects could 158 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: be felt for uh several meters in all directions. Right, 159 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: and this was high powered explosive. Yeah, And in all 160 00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: the research about this, I couldn't find specific mention of 161 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: the type of explosive used. But in this cash of 162 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: drawings uncovered from mr Fish. There there were multiple drawings 163 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: various devices, exactly one of which looked sort of a 164 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: military issue crock pot, I guess um where there was 165 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: a false bottom and it had like you know, peas 166 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: and bangers and mash kind of dish on the inside, 167 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: and it looks like it used thermite, which then you 168 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,439 Speaker 1: can probably speak to. This is a pretty powerful substance 169 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: that can burn through steel and when ignited properly and 170 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:06,480 Speaker 1: used in a certain way, can cause some serious carnage. Yeah, 171 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: Thermite is a composition of metal powder that could be 172 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: a fuel metal oxide. The thing with thermite is when 173 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: you ignite it with heat, it undergoes pretty intense exothermic reduction, 174 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: oxidation or redox if you want to be cool with 175 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: the the explosive crew uh redox reaction. And most varieties 176 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: of this stuff are not explosive. They just create brief 177 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,319 Speaker 1: burst of heat and high temperature in a small area. 178 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: But you can make it explosive, and that's what you'll 179 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,199 Speaker 1: see that that's how you can make like thermite hand 180 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: grenades and stuff like that, so it can be weaponized. 181 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: And I guess because we're dealing with such a thin 182 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,959 Speaker 1: um and small item. Like I said, even though I 183 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,839 Speaker 1: didn't see specific mention of thermite and the chocolate bar drawing, 184 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: it was in some of the other drawings in this 185 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,560 Speaker 1: cache of of of illustration. So um, let us know 186 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: if you've heard anything beyond um this speculation. But the 187 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: point is this could really do some serious damage, especially 188 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,800 Speaker 1: if you're holding it close to your face. It would 189 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: you know, cause a blast that would you know, could 190 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: of course kill you. Right And this chocolate bar in 191 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,119 Speaker 1: an our our opinion, was one of the strangest devices, 192 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: but it was, as as we had said, one of several. 193 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,080 Speaker 1: There's the military mess ten and there are a couple 194 00:12:34,160 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: of different diagrams I believe of the chocolate which you 195 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: can view online. There's a historian named Nigel West who, 196 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: in speaking with BBC said that he believes Rothschild probably 197 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: paid out of pocket for these diagrams. Uh. This just 198 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: for context with Lord Victor Rothschild. It's not like he 199 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: was hard up for the scratch or the cheddar. But 200 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,599 Speaker 1: he was a good a good citizen. He was a 201 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: very what's the word patriotic individual and wanted to use 202 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: his wealth um for the greater good. And he was 203 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:12,079 Speaker 1: I guess sort of more of a consultant, I guess, 204 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 1: or like a board member of some kind. Yeah, he 205 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: just for prison draw salary, just for perspective. When m 206 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: I five was scouting out some offices to locate in Paris, 207 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: he said, you guys just used one of my mansions. 208 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: You got a few, yeah, you got you kicking around 209 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: to He was the Paris mansion. And so once Fish 210 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: completed the illustrations and sent them to Rothschild, he liked 211 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: them so much that he had he had one framed 212 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: in his home library. Again, this is top secret stuff, 213 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: and then he put the remaining prints in storage. So 214 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: when these letters were found, when this parcel of letters 215 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: was found in historians around the world wondered, well, what 216 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,559 Speaker 1: happened to the illustrations, because at first they only found 217 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: the letters. But then super recently in early September UM, 218 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: some of the members of the Rothschild family, we're sorting 219 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: through some documents and they found the drawings, and experts 220 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: consider them pretty incredible for pre digital graphics. These are 221 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: like hand drawn kind of cross sections of diagrams of 222 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: all these different devices and actually here in the house 223 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: stuff works offices in Atlanta Georgia upon City Market. We 224 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: have um, a bunch of framed illustrations that are right 225 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: along these lines. We've got one that shows a gas 226 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 1: mask in cross section and all the different layers of that. 227 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: We have one that shows I believe like a nerf 228 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: gun or or something like super socer, super soccer, that's 229 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: what it is, but very similar in style and not 230 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: an easy feat to do accurately by hand, um, especially 231 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: you know in in in in those days. And we're yeah, 232 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: we're huge fans of cutaway diagrams. If you have any 233 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: really cool ones, please send them to us, because we will. 234 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: We'll just look at them for fun. We literally want 235 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: to know how stuff works, It's true. And so the 236 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: chocolate bar drawing in particular was seriously compelling because it 237 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 1: really could actually work, um because you know, people like 238 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: a nice, tasty chocolate treat, and the bar was designed 239 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: to detonate um using minimal effort from the individual consuming 240 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: said a treat. Right, So, like, all you gotta do 241 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 1: is do that thing you're gonna do anyway, give it 242 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: a snap. You don't have to do anything special, it 243 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: won't feel unusually difficult, doesn't have to be any particular 244 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: line right, because the whole thing runs throughout the whole bar, 245 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: so it could be like, you know, breaking in half 246 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: or just breaking off a little piece. Yeah, and so 247 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: this kind of strategy, spycraft, espionage was very common on 248 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: the German side. They were super into it. Oh and 249 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: I forgot to mention Lawrence Fish the reason he got 250 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: hit up for this. He was the sun of one 251 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: of the three m I five counter sabotage agents at 252 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: the time, so there was a family relation there too. 253 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: He wasn't I don't think Rothschild was just you know, 254 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: flipping through a magazine and said, ah, this is the guy. 255 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: Let me just ask him this weird question. There's another 256 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: weird detail at about Churchill at the end. But as 257 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: s Noll said, they've we found these documents quite recently 258 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: when the Rothschild family were sorting through stuff on the 259 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: estate in September. And you have to wonder how strange 260 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: and fascinating that cave of wonders must be. Yeah, look 261 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:42,359 Speaker 1: at this trove treasures untold yes, yes, exactly, and gizmos 262 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,560 Speaker 1: as a plenty, and you know, I'll tell you it's 263 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: significant to that the Germans did not use milk chocolate. 264 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: They didn't use white chocolate. They used dark chocolate, and 265 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: that is because of the way chocolate and a chocolate bar, 266 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: and dark chocolate in particular has to be tempered. So 267 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: what's the deal with tempering then? Right? Okay? Tempering chocolate 268 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: is essentially melting it and then stirring it vigorously as 269 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,960 Speaker 1: it cools. Pastry chefs know all about this. I learned 270 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,200 Speaker 1: about it pretty recently because my daughter is a big 271 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 1: fan of this new pastry cooking show on Netflix called 272 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:20,399 Speaker 1: Zombo's Just Desserts, and also The Great British Bakeoff, where 273 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 1: tempering chocolate is hugely important when they're making decorations or 274 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: things that have to stand up to pressure or like 275 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: you know, chocolate shapes that they then put on cakes 276 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: or decorate the size with it, because otherwise it will 277 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 1: not hold its shape and it will melt all over 278 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: the place. The same is true for a chocolate bar. 279 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: In order to be able to hold it and have 280 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: it be you know, manipulatable and break on those lines 281 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: of demarcation, the chocolate has to be tempered correctly, right, 282 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:50,440 Speaker 1: And one of the questions would be why why tempered chocolate? 283 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: So I propose that we take a page from our 284 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: good friends Lorn and Annie over at our sister show 285 00:17:57,119 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: food Stuff, and we'll talk of it, just briefly about 286 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,480 Speaker 1: the food side giants. Here. The short answer for why 287 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: you would want to temper chocolate is that chemically it's 288 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,120 Speaker 1: composed of several different tiny crystals, six to be exact. 289 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: Of these six there are, there's one desirable type, and 290 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: they're called beta crystals. Developing informing these crystals is what 291 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,439 Speaker 1: makes us the key to the good chocolate. So the 292 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: one in comparison, be like a cup of chicken stock. 293 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 1: It might seem homogeneous, uniform throughout, but the fat's gonna 294 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: rise to the surface. And when chocolate is an emulsion, 295 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: but if you're warm and melt it, you break the 296 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: emulsion as it cools. Cocoa butter rises to the surface, 297 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: unattractive but harmless, and sometimes that even makes people throw 298 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:46,679 Speaker 1: away the chocolate. We can briefly laundry lists the reasons 299 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,320 Speaker 1: you would do you a temper chocolate. Avoid fat and 300 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: sugar bloom, you know, those white streaks or blotches on 301 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: the surface. You raise the melting temperature the finished chocolate 302 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 1: so it doesn't melt on contact with your fingers, which 303 00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: would be super awkward if someone's like, hey, what is it? 304 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: Why is there canvas at this far? Uh preserves you know, 305 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: the keeping quality, cools it quickly, and it gives it 306 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,640 Speaker 1: that classy glossy shine, makes it pretty, especially if you're 307 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: using it like a like a pastry chef would use it. 308 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: And the final most important thing, not just for pastry chefs, 309 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: but for would be Nazi assassins. Again, would be Nazi assassins, 310 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: is that tempering chocolate gives it that capacity for that crisp, 311 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: clean snap at to pop the pa for emphasis. There 312 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: was a good, good, good pe popper good thing. We've 313 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,359 Speaker 1: got these nice popper stoppers on our mics here. Um. 314 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: But yeah, and I hope I didn't set it up 315 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: too much at the top of the show. This sound 316 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: like this was a successful attempt, because everyone's like, I 317 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: don't remember hearing about any exploding chocolate bars and attempts 318 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: on Winston Churchhill's life. Yeah, because it didn't really happen. Um, 319 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: these were beta tests at the very best, right, these drawings. 320 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: But my question to you, bens. These drawings were commissioned 321 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: by the British government based on technology the Nazis may 322 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: have had, um how where what's the connection there? Reported 323 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,639 Speaker 1: by a British spy who was embedded on the German side. 324 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: And because this this is part of the story that 325 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 1: they don't emphasize too much. It's just a funny little detail. 326 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 1: So the British spy was actually the first one to 327 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: draw the diagram. Uh, let's say, I don't wanna, I 328 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,159 Speaker 1: don't want to cast too much as version on the guy, 329 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,120 Speaker 1: but let's say he was stressed and maybe a little 330 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: distracted with this other stuff, because apparently the first drawing 331 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,920 Speaker 1: he made was just garbage, terrible. It was like a 332 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,280 Speaker 1: dumpster fire candy bar drawing. But then fish was past 333 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: those documents and was able to um get a little 334 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: more granular and detailed with him. So I just have 335 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: this picture in my head of Lord Rothschild reading the 336 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: messages from the spy and going quite quite and then going, 337 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: oh no, it's a very poor sketched This won't do 338 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: one bit. And then you know what, who's who has 339 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: the boy who draws? Someone send a someone send a 340 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,159 Speaker 1: memo to the boy. The boy. I hope he addressed it, 341 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: Dear the boy. Yes, of course, that's how they referred 342 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: to their underlings. I hope we've done a pretty good 343 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: job establishing the worry that they were tackling at this time, 344 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: or that they were addressing, because as well, I hate 345 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: to overuse the word and all, but as ridiculous as 346 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: it sounds today, in this was a very real concern. 347 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,120 Speaker 1: This was quite possibly a way to kill the Prime minister. Absolutely, 348 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 1: and then looking through these, uh, these drawings, the thing 349 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: that that occurred to me was, you know, think about 350 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: what happens when we go through airport security. Now we 351 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,439 Speaker 1: gotta take out our laptops. There's all kinds of like 352 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 1: they have to we can't have you know, hair gel 353 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:02,160 Speaker 1: or certain types of liquid because the technology now and 354 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: the um everyday objects that it could be embedded in 355 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:10,360 Speaker 1: are much more complex. These drawings and these devices are 356 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: very very analog and very um just practical and functional. 357 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 1: And it required you know, a physical uh touch to 358 00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:21,919 Speaker 1: actually detonate, you know, as opposed to being done by 359 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,359 Speaker 1: remote or being integrated into the circuitry of a phone 360 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: or a computer or something like that. So this this 361 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: was cutting edge for the time, right, sure, Yeah, this stuff. 362 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: I really appreciate you saying that because this stuff is 363 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: all mechanical. There's no there's no sort of electronic wizardry 364 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: or sorcery going on here. We also want to tell 365 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,639 Speaker 1: you about just a couple of the other items. No, 366 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: I think you mentioned that army mess kit that does 367 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,880 Speaker 1: look like a crock pot. They also had a motor 368 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: oil can with explosives inside. You know, maybe not, Maybe 369 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: that's a little too on the nose, since motor oil 370 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,160 Speaker 1: is already a dangerous thing around by or uh. One 371 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:04,000 Speaker 1: of the ideas, going back to the history in Nigel West, 372 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: that Germany was focusing on was destroying ships that would 373 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 1: reach the United Kingdom so they could deprive Britain of 374 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 1: food stuffs. And this would be you know, this is 375 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: almost like a siege mentality at that point. And we 376 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,719 Speaker 1: say this because sure, killing the prime minister of an 377 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: enemy country would be a setback. Yeah, to say the least, 378 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: it's a tremendous coup, right, But if you really want 379 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: to shut down the entire country, then do something that 380 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,239 Speaker 1: affects everybody. So they were really focusing on trying to 381 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,239 Speaker 1: sink or destroy the ships while they were out at 382 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: sea and um. According to an article on the BBC 383 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: that we found from Nick Higghum. The chocolate bar might 384 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 1: have been the most bizarre explosive device that they found 385 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: in these drawings, but the one that was probably potentially 386 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: the most effective involved the timer, very intricate timer that 387 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: would go off after twenty one days and involved a 388 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: rotating disk. And at the top it says in bold letters, 389 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: do not unscrew here, and at the very bottom equally 390 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: bold according to this article, unscrew here first. So, you know, 391 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: very important to get those timers right, to assure that 392 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: the ship went down well out of range of any 393 00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: kind of help. Yeah, and devious, right, ingenious time. Uh. 394 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: And you know, if we're being objective about it, that's 395 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 1: some really impressive engineering. We we do have. I think 396 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,400 Speaker 1: a cool place to close here, uh that I think 397 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 1: you will enjoy. One of these things might be a 398 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: surprise for funeral. You will be happy to know, friends 399 00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,360 Speaker 1: and neighbors that Lawrence Fish went on to become quite 400 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: a successful designer graphic artist, right, and he had a 401 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: longer rewarding career. What I probably a police should have 402 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: mentioned at the top, and this is going to be 403 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: the last fact for me regarding this story, is that 404 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:11,719 Speaker 1: Winston Churchill himself believed he had another layer of protection 405 00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: in addition to the state security forces, in addition to 406 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: the power of the ninety Kingdom's military. You see, Winston 407 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: Churchill believed that he heard voices and he would obey 408 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: what those voices told him to do when he was 409 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: convinced on several occasions that it had saved his life. 410 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:35,439 Speaker 1: And it's a very it's a very strange kind of 411 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:40,040 Speaker 1: HALLOWEENI anecdote to add their uh. He would hear the 412 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: voices telling him in the sort of a bicameral mind thing, 413 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: almost sit here, do this, scoot over here, and followed 414 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: it without question. I would call that intuition, but that's 415 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: just me. He was very specific that it was a 416 00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: golden voice that he would hear. Interesting. I wonder if 417 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 1: it told him to keep drinking. Probably did. And I 418 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: wonder if it plays into um Gary Oldman's depiction of 419 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 1: him in this upcoming film Churchill, which we will have 420 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: to go see. Yes, we can only hope. We are 421 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: off today to fanboy a little bit about the flawed 422 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:21,919 Speaker 1: but amazing historical figure known as Winston Churchill, who famously 423 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 1: and perhaps unnoyingly to himself avoided death by chocolate. Oh, 424 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: I was holding on to that reference for a while. 425 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:31,959 Speaker 1: It's good. I think there's like a that's like a 426 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: fancy like T G I Friday's style. Uh, you know, 427 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: molten lava chocolate cake. I think because that's death by chocolate. 428 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,920 Speaker 1: Absolutely that exists as a thing. Yeah, what's your favorite 429 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 1: delicious treat? Um, explosive or otherwise? Write us that ridiculous 430 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 1: at how stuff works and let us know. You can 431 00:26:47,880 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: also find this on Facebook, on Instagram. Still working on 432 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 1: that vision board for Pinterest. It will come one day, um, 433 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,840 Speaker 1: but not today, my friends, and we hope you join 434 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,440 Speaker 1: us on another day for another installment of ridiculous history. 435 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I 436 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,919 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to 437 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.