1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. It was childish, really, the kind of schoolyard 7 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: name calling that might have involved mentions of someone's mother 8 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,319 Speaker 1: or ugly shaved dogs walking backwards. I'm sure you can 9 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: recall a few from your own childhood, except the ones 10 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: hurling the insults weren't children, No far from it. They 11 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: were grown men fighting a war. During the Revolutionary War, 12 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: both the Americans and the British troops disparaged each other 13 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: with the most deprecating putdowns they could come up with. 14 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: It was war, after all, But instead of mere taunts, 15 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: both sides used ditties, simple songs with memorable, pointed lyrics. 16 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,399 Speaker 1: You see, the American and British troops played fifes and 17 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,279 Speaker 1: drums to signal battle, wake up, performed chores, and boost 18 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: the men's fighting morale. As they headed to battle, both 19 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: sides saying a variety of verses mocking the other. Each 20 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,680 Speaker 1: had their favorite targets to Americans love to insult King 21 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: George the Third and the British love to insult the Americans. 22 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: For the British Red Coats, the melody They've Chosen had 23 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: been around for a couple hundred years or more, but 24 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: it was a quick witted British army doctor who is 25 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: credited with revising the lyrics from their soldiers came up 26 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: with even more verses, and the more degrading the better. 27 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: It became a kind of competition within their troops. The 28 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: title alone was meant to be as insulting as possible Yankee, Doodle, dandy, 29 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: and yes, we sing this as a patriotic song today, 30 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: despite the original meaning behind the words. During war, Yankee 31 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: was British slang for being an American rebel, whether derived 32 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: from a similar sounding Cherokee word meaning coward or a 33 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,680 Speaker 1: Dutch word meaning little Johnny. Yankee wasn't meant as a compliment. 34 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: A doodle was a bumbling, sloppy fool, which is how 35 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: the primly dressed British Redcoats saw the Americans, and the 36 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,799 Speaker 1: word dandy was an alternate word for a man obsessed 37 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 1: with clothing in the mid seventeen hundreds, The most flamboyant 38 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: and eccentrically dressed of these men were called Macaronis, which 39 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: had nothing to do with Italian pasta. Macaronis were part 40 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: of the British subculture who wore the tiniest of hats 41 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: upon the largest of wigs, loud and flashy waistcoats, bright hosiery, 42 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: and dainty shoes. In Britain, these men's suspected orientation was 43 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: nothing shorts of scandalous. In the song the bumbling American 44 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: road to Town on a pony instead of a real horse. 45 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: Lacking social grace or status, he placed a feather in 46 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: his hat and declared himself as fashionable as the Macaronies. 47 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: The innuendo was that the inept Americans couldn't even manage 48 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: to be a proper member of the gay community. In 49 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: April of seventeen seventy five, the British play the tune 50 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: from Boston to Lexington and Conquered. The battle with the 51 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: Americans didn't go in their favor, though, and as the 52 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: Red Coats hastily retreated, the drums, fife and singing played 53 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: back the perky tune once more, not from the British, 54 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: though the Americans now mocked them with their own rendition. 55 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: One officer condemned the act, claiming the Rebels had made 56 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: them dance until they were tired, and it wouldn't be 57 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: the last time either. After defeating the British at Saratoga 58 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy seven, the Americans repeatedly serenaded the Red 59 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,839 Speaker 1: Coats with the song, causing an English officer to say 60 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: hearing the once degrading words sung back at them in 61 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: their moment of defeat was pure agony. The America Prikins 62 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: had turned the insult around, making the tune their victory song, 63 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: minimizing the mockery and disparaging the words meant as weapons. 64 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: As schoolyard insults went, the Rebels did a pretty good 65 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: job with that old I'm rubber and your glue technique. 66 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: The Americans sang it again at Yorktown, much to the 67 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: Red coats chagrin. The catchy Diddy became the state anthem 68 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: for Connecticut. Before long, the British came to loathe the 69 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: song they had written. It haunted them on every battlefield. 70 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: The Rebels even sang the song at Fort McHenry, while 71 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: Francis Scott Key wrote America's second national anthem, yes I 72 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: said second, because Yankee dood old Andy was America's first. 73 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: It was seen as the ugliest structure in Paris when 74 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: Gustav Eiffel's ought iron structure began construction in July of 75 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties seven, over three hundred artists, sculptures, and fellow 76 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: architects petition the World's Fair Commission against the plan. It 77 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: looked like a giant black smokestack. They protested. The tower 78 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: would be a monstrosity so hideous and loathed that even 79 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,799 Speaker 1: the commercially minded Americans wouldn't want it. Their complaints were ignored, 80 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: though that same commissioner helped choose Eiffel's design from over 81 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: one other entries in a contest for the chance to 82 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: build the centerpiece for the eighteen eighty nine Paris World's Fair, 83 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: and while the tower bears Gustav's name, it actually was 84 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: one of his employees who drew the original design. Guzdav 85 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: rejected the engineer's first submission, asking him to go back 86 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: and add more flourishes. At a thousand feet tall, the 87 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: Eiffel Tower became the world's tallest building. Over eighteen thousand 88 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: pieces of iron were used, each of the four corners 89 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: oriented with the four points of the compass, and for 90 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: opening day, the tower had been painted a reddish brown color. 91 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: While visitors from around the world marveled at the structure 92 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: during the fair, most Parisians considered it an isore. Novelist 93 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 1: guy du Mampasan reportedly ate his lunch at the tower's base, 94 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 1: the only place he could find where he could look 95 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: at the skyline and not see the tower. Since Eiffel 96 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: had paid eighty percent of the construction costs himself, the 97 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: city granted him twenty years to recoup his money before 98 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: tearing the tower down for scrap metal. For a small fee, 99 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: people could take an elevator to the third floor to 100 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: enjoy a view of the city. In the past, only 101 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: the wealthy could see Paris from such heights, and only 102 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: from a hot air balloon. Ten years after the World's Fair, 103 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: the tower was painted yellow to match the ever popular 104 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: style trends of the city. While the tower brought in 105 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: modest funds from visitors looking to view the world's most 106 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: romantic city, it wasn't enough to make the tower more useful, 107 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: Eiffel had a meteorology lab installed on the third floor, 108 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: buying the tower a little more time. In nineteen ten, 109 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: during World War One, the government granted Eiffel an extension. 110 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: The French found that the structure was useful to transmit 111 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: telegraphs to ships in the Atlantic Ocean. The tower was 112 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: also used to relay zeppelin alerts to dispatch troops reinforcements. 113 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,040 Speaker 1: They found other uses for it too. In nineteen o nine, 114 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: Eiffel installed a wind tunnel at the tower's base. Companies 115 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: and inventors have run thousands of tests in that tunnel, 116 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: including the Wright Brothers airplanes. In nineteen eleven, a German 117 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: scientist used the tower to detect radiation levels known today 118 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: as cosmic rays. In fact, seventy two of the country's 119 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: most acclaimed scientists have their names engraved on the first 120 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: floor gallery. Daredevils have also taken to the tower, the 121 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: first in nineteen twelve, where a tailor attempted to fly 122 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: from the first floor tower using a spring loaded parachute. 123 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: He crashed, though he luckily survived. Fourteen years later, another 124 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: pilot attempted to fly between the four corners and died 125 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: when his plane became entangled in the aerial wire station 126 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: and burst into flames between nineteen twenty five. At nineteen 127 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 1: thirty six, the French automobile company Citron paid to use 128 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: the tower as a giant billboard. The lights on the 129 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: one hundred foot tall letters burned so bright that Charles 130 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: Lindbergh used the Eiffel Tower as a beacon to land 131 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: in Paris during his transatlantic solo flight of nineteen twenty seven. 132 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen forty, the French cut the elevator cables to 133 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: the tower. The Germans who occupied Paris were forced to 134 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,119 Speaker 1: climb the stairs to fly the Nazi flag from the top. 135 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: Hitler later ordered the tower destroyed, but his own general 136 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: disobeyed him. By nineteen fifty seven, television transmitters were attached 137 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: to the tower, and at last the tower was declared 138 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: a national treasure in nineteen sixty four. But it was 139 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: an event fifty years earlier in nineteen fourteen that helped 140 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: solidify the tower as a permanent structure, and it all 141 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: had to do with capturing a spy. That year, a 142 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: radio message was intercepted from the tower between Germany and Spain. 143 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: The details not only allowed the French to counter organize 144 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: an attack. They also captured and executed the notorious spy 145 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:11,679 Speaker 1: Mata Harri. It's ironic, really, and more than a little curious. 146 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: Although millions visit the famous landmark every year for what 147 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: they can see, it was something invisible that ultimately saved 148 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:26,440 Speaker 1: the Eiffel Tower from becoming scrap metal radio waves. I 149 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 150 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,440 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 151 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 152 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 153 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 154 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 155 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 156 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.