1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,239 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. As a child, Larry 5 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: had dreams of soaring high above the clouds. After all, 6 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: he was from Los Angeles, a place where people from 7 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: all over the world came to follow their great, big 8 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: dreams and find great big success. Larry applied for the 9 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: United States Air Force after high school in the hopes 10 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: of becoming a fighter pilot. Gliding through the sky and 11 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: zooming past the clouds were all he wanted to do. 12 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: The Air Force couldn't help him, though, not with this 13 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: terrible eyesight. He was rejected and eventually found work as 14 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: a trucker as well as a part time gig at 15 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: a television studio, two jobs about as far from the 16 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: sky as you can get without working on a submarine. 17 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: But his boyhood dreams never really went away. He remembered 18 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 1: a trip to a military surplus store in his teens 19 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,320 Speaker 1: where he saw weather balloons hanging from the ceiling, the 20 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: kind meteorologists send into the atmosphere to take readings of 21 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: air pressure, temperature, and humidity. They were strong, made of rubber, 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: and meant to carry heavy loads. They would have to do. 23 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: Larry and his girlfriend forged a requisition from the TV 24 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: studio for forty five weather balloons and several tanks of helium, 25 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: telling the vendor they were for a local commercial shoot, 26 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,440 Speaker 1: and well, Larry wasn't entirely lying. He would definitely be 27 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: on TV by the end of all of this. It 28 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: was long before the phrase going viral was attached to 29 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: anything but deadly pandemics. Still, what he was about to 30 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: attempt would definitely get him a slot on the six 31 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: o'clock news. Call it a midlife crisis, Call it inspiration. 32 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: That's what Larry did when he filled all forty five 33 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: of his weather balloons and tied them to a metal launchair. 34 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: He dubbed the vessel the Inspiration One. Had launched it 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: from his home in San Pedro, California, with himself as 36 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: its sole passenger, along with the BB gun, a CB radio, 37 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: and a camera by his side. Each balloon measured four 38 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: feet across when fully inflated, and together all forty five 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: of them carried him to an altitude of sixteen thousand 40 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: feet in no time. Two commercial airliners noticed the makeshift 41 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: craft and notify the f A A of the not 42 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: so unidentified flying object. Only a few minutes into his 43 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: trip and he was already famous. But Larry was in 44 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: a bind. The chair had risen so quickly and to 45 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: such a height he worried shooting the balloons might cause 46 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 1: the chair to become unbalanced and spit him out. He 47 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: lifted the BB gun to his shoulder and one by 48 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: one popped a few balloons. The chair slowly descended, with 49 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: Larry holding on for dear life. Forty five minutes had 50 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: passed since the launch, and he was coasting his way 51 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: to an easy landing when the worst thing happened. Larry 52 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: lost his grip, not on the chair, but on the 53 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: BB gun. His landing gear, for lack of a better phrase, 54 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: had fallen off, and now it was up to gravity 55 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: and the California winds to carry him to safety. Well, 56 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: safety was the first choice, the winds had another idea. 57 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: As the chair floated down, the cables from the popped 58 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: balloons dangled below and got caught on power lines in 59 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: Long Beach. They caused a blackout across the entire town, 60 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: but Larry survived and managed to climb down from his 61 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: first predicament and into a brand new one. The Long 62 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: Beach Police Department knew all about his little excursion, and 63 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: they'd been waiting. They took him into custody for violating 64 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: the Federal Aviation Act. He'd paid a fine, but since 65 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: no one got hurt, he didn't face any jail time. 66 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: He did, however, enjoy his fifteen minutes of fame, appearing 67 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: in a TIMEX ad and doing some motivational speaking across 68 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: the country. Eventually, Larry's wild idea led others to follow 69 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: in his airsteps. No fewer than five people have attempted 70 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: similar trips using balloons and deck chairs, and while Larry 71 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: might not have fulfilled his dream of flying a fighter 72 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: plane for the Air Force, his story did become the 73 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: basis for several episodes of hit TV shows, including The 74 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: A Team and Hill Street Blues, oh and a major 75 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: film from Disney and Pixar Up And Let's face it, 76 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: if you're looking for fame, you can't get much higher 77 00:04:47,400 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: than that. There's a sequence in the film The Shawshank 78 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: Redemption where the main character Andy Dufrayne scatters pebbles and 79 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: rocks from his cell wall all over the prison yard. 80 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: No one else knows what he's up to, but he's 81 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: got a plan. An escape is in the works, and 82 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: it's coming together, piece by piece, stone by stone over 83 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: the course of two decades. Andy's Rocky scheme was pure fiction. 84 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: But in France in the late eighteen hundreds, a man 85 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: named Ferdinand Cheval was executing his own plan of escape, 86 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: and he left no stone unturned. Ferdinand wasn't looking to 87 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: escape prison, or war or anything like that. He fell, well, 88 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,119 Speaker 1: more like stumbled into an escape from his daily life. 89 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: You see, Ferdinand was a postman delivering letters and packages 90 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: in the southeast of France. One particular hectic day, he 91 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: was practically running along his daily route when he tripped 92 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: over something in his path, a rock. In loosening it 93 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: from the earth, Ferdinand had loosened an old dream of his. 94 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: He'd imagined building a palace of his own, one where 95 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: he could rest after a hard day's work delivering other 96 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: people's mail. The stone's serendipitous appearance and its bizarre shape 97 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: had inspired him to finally put his dream into motion. 98 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: That became the first of many pebbles Ferdinand collected over 99 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: the next three decades. He'd walk his eighteen mile route 100 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: across the south of France, collecting stones and rocks as 101 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: he went, and thought about the work that he would 102 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: do on his palace. By the time he got home, 103 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,600 Speaker 1: the sun had disappeared, so Ferdinand set to work by 104 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: the light of an oil lamp. He toiled for hours 105 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: assembling the stones into archways and walls and roofs. He 106 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: poured everything into what he called l'a palais y d'Al 107 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: or the ideal palace, and I mean everything. Hundreds of 108 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: gallons of lime, mortar, and cement, as well as thousands 109 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,919 Speaker 1: of stones were all combined to create the palace. Ferdinand 110 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:04,799 Speaker 1: also paid homage to Christianity and Hinduism as well, which 111 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: can clearly be seen in the finer details all around 112 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: the structure. When Ferdinand finally completed the structure in nineteen 113 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: o seven, at the age of seventy eight, it measured 114 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: twenty six meters long and twelve meters high. Its construction 115 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 1: was unlike anything anyone had ever seen, seemingly carved from 116 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: a large mountain or having grown out of the ground 117 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: like an enormous stalagmite. Ferdinand's pet project had also garnered 118 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: him praise from some of the most acclaimed creators of 119 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: all time, including writer Andre Breton and artist Pablo Picasso, 120 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: who credited the d I Y carpenter with founding surrealistic architecture. 121 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: Naturally at his age, Ferdinand had some ideas about how 122 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: he wanted to spend his final days on earth, whenever 123 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: they might be. He was seventy eight, after all, and 124 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: what better place to be buried than within the home 125 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: he built with his own two hands. But the town 126 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: didn't see it that way, and they prevented him from 127 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: planning his own burial within the palace. And that was 128 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: all right. Ferdinand had a different idea, one that would 129 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: take him much less time to complete. He got back 130 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: to work with his stones and cement and lime, beginning 131 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: a completely new structure set off from the house. It 132 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: took him another eight years to finish it, but he 133 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: finally did and his plan had paid off. Just a 134 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: year and a half after putting the last stone into place, 135 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 1: Ferdinand Cheval passed away. His spirit lives on in his 136 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,439 Speaker 1: ideal palace, which greets over one thousand visitors each year. 137 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: They can tour the structure and walk its various hallways 138 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: and corridors. Their mouths agape at the level of detail 139 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: Ferdinand put into every corner. His body also never left. 140 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: While it doesn't reside inside the house, it's not too 141 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: far away. Ferdinand Cheval's remains were allowed to stay within 142 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: the second structure he built, the one that took him 143 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: eight years to finish, a mausoleum half a mile away. 144 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 145 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 146 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 147 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 148 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 149 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 150 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 151 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.