1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. History, 6 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: as they say, is written by the victors, which is 7 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: a little ironic when you consider that this phrase, often 8 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: attributed to Winston Churchill, is actually of uncertain origin. So 9 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,199 Speaker 1: much of the past has been lost, and the historical 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: records we do have can be extremely biased. Take the 11 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: story of Nathaniel Russell, for example. Born in Rhode Island 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: in seventeen thirty eight, Nathaniel moved to Charleston, South Carolina 13 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: in his late twenties. He began a career as a merchant, 14 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: trading rice, tobacco, cotton, and human beings. Nathaniel made a 15 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: fortune participating in the African slave trade. In seventeen eighty eight, 16 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: when he was fifty years old, Nathaniel married a woman 17 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: named Sarah Hopton. Sarah was the daughter of a wealthy 18 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: Charleston family, so the union secured his social and economic 19 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,479 Speaker 1: position in colonial America. He later paid for the construction 20 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: of a lavish mansion in South Carolina, where his family 21 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: and the humans that he enslaved lived. These days, the 22 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 1: Nathaniel Russell Houses considered one of the most important examples 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,040 Speaker 1: of Neoclassical architecture in America. It's since been restored, but 24 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,479 Speaker 1: remains decorated in ante bellum fashion. Think floor to ceiling windows, 25 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: a giant spiral staircase, and oil paintings hung on every wall. 26 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: The home gives the impression of luxury and esteem, two 27 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,280 Speaker 1: things that Nathaniel and his family certainly enjoyed. But like 28 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: I mentioned, the Russells weren't the only ones who lived 29 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: inside this Charleston mansion. Over two centuries, the stories of 30 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: the people they enslaved were lost, But then in twenty seventeen, 31 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: representatives from the Historic Charleston Foundation decided to restore the 32 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: kitchen House. Now, the kitchen house was a separate building 33 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: on the property. It's where enslaved people would have worked 34 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: and lived, Unlike the rest of the mansion, though this 35 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: part had never been fixed up, which meant that there 36 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: were parts that had never been explored. When conservation experts 37 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 1: cut into the walls, they found a whole lot of dust. 38 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: Beneath that, there was hair, buttons, marbles, part of a waistcoat, 39 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: fragments of a newspaper from November of eighteen thirty three, 40 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: and lots of rodent droppings. It was a nineteenth century 41 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: rat's nest, preserved inside the walls for roughly two hundred years. Now, 42 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: if the thought makes your stomach turn, I don't blame you, 43 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: but here's the thing. Rats are actually furry little historians, 44 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: and their archives are entirely unbiased. You see, in order 45 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: to build their nests, rats gather a bunch of random 46 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: stuff from their environment. They inadvertently create a snapshot of 47 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: a specific time in place, simply by collecting the items 48 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: that happened to be there. There is an entire area 49 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: of study devoted to this phenomenon. It's called rat nest archaeology, 50 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: and the practice has revealed interesting items all over the 51 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: American South. For example, at Poplar Forest Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Retreats, 52 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: rats filled the walls with newspapers, eighteenth century board game pieces, 53 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: and even an entire shoe. At the Bray School in Williamsburg, Virginia, rats. 54 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: Pilford a mechanical pencil from the eighteen thirties, one of 55 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 1: the earliest models manufactured in the United States, and it 56 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: goes back even further than that. Rats can also help 57 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: us understand ancient history. In Central Oregon's Paisley Caves, seven 58 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: thousand year old rodents' nests were found to contain man 59 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: made items. This suggests that some of the earliest humans 60 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: in the region lived in those caves too. But I 61 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: want to go back to the Nathaniel Russell House. Of 62 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: all the stuff rodents hid in the walls of the 63 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: kitchen House, one thing stuck out to me the most 64 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: scraps torn out of an early writing textbook. Remember this 65 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: was inside a building where only enslave people lived and worked, 66 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: and this was an era when the vast majority of 67 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: enslaved people were forced to remain illiterate. Based on the 68 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: paper scraps, archaeologists think that those who lived inside the 69 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: Kitchen House were teaching themselves to read and write in 70 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: a world that said that they were less than human. 71 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: They were working to gain a small bit of power, 72 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: the ability to tell their own stories, to record their 73 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: own history. And we know this because, as it turns 74 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: out history is not written by the victors, it's collected 75 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 1: by rats. For most of us, learning to write a 76 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: bicycle was a rite of passage, one that involved more 77 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: than a few scraped elbows and knees. Learning how to balance, 78 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: pedal and break can be tough, but beyond the actual 79 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: mechanics of riding a bike, there's a deeper lesson that 80 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: all kids need to learn. When you fall, you have 81 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: to get back up and try again. Thankfully, our modern 82 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: pedal powered machines have a relatively low risk of injury. 83 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: In fact, when they were first developed, they were advertised 84 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: as safety bicycles, and that's because their predecessors were remarkably dangerous. 85 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: The first two wheeled bicycle was invented in Germany in 86 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: eighteen seventeen. Its official name was the lauf Machine or 87 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: running machine in English, but everybody just called it the 88 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,480 Speaker 1: bone shaker. It looked similar to bicycles of today, except 89 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: it was made almost entirely out of wood and it 90 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 1: didn't have any pedals. The idea was that you could 91 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: sit down, kick the ground to get some momentum, then 92 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: the wheels would propel you forward. It was kind of 93 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: like the car from the flint stones. But it wasn't 94 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: exactly an off road vehicle since it was wooden. The 95 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: tiniest pebble or crack the pavement would send shutters through 96 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: the whole machine, hence the nickname the bone shaker. This 97 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: is how the American Cyclopedia described it. Quote. The defects 98 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: of the running machine its rigidity and its strain on 99 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: the rider in propelling it by muscular thrust, besides rendering 100 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: it impractical for general road travel and subjecting the rider 101 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: to severe jolting, were frequent cause of abdominal hernia. Yeah. 102 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: Clearly the design needed some improvements, so an English inventor 103 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: named James Starley, better known as the father of the 104 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: bicycle industry, answered the call. In the eighteen seventies, he 105 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: updated the running machine in a number of ways. Instead 106 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,799 Speaker 1: of wood, his new design was made with hollow metal 107 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,720 Speaker 1: frame and rubber tires. He also added pedals. All in all, 108 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: it seemed like the bicycle was moving in a good direction. Right. Well, 109 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: there's one more thing that you should know. James Starley's 110 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: bike was built for speed, which is why its front 111 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,120 Speaker 1: wheel measured over five feet tall and its back wheel 112 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: was a meager fourteen inches in dice diameter. Oh and 113 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: it didn't have any brakes. This weird bike was called 114 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: a penny Farthing. It was named after two British coins, 115 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: which were vastly different in size. Just like the two wheels, 116 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: Getting on and off was a challenge, and the lack 117 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,119 Speaker 1: of brakes meant that crashes were very common. But still 118 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: the machine speed was a big draw. By the early 119 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, people flocked to London to watch and join 120 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: penny farthing races. These events were exciting too, if only 121 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: because the spectacle was so strange and the risk of 122 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: disaster so high. Bikes could travel over fifteen miles an hour. 123 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: Because the front wheel was so tall, riders often sat 124 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,800 Speaker 1: five to seven feet up in the air. If two 125 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: penny Farthings collided, the drivers would be pitched out of 126 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: their seats, and way back then, nobody was wearing helmets. 127 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: Penny Farthings fell out of fashion in the nineteen twenties 128 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: when the safety bikele hit the stores, but curiously, the 129 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: Victorian era vehicle has experienced a modern resurgence. Competitive races 130 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: became common again in the nineteen eighties, although helmets are 131 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: now required. Perhaps the most well known Dash takes place 132 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: in the English village of Nottsford. Every ten years. The 133 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,559 Speaker 1: streets are blocked off to make room for the Great Race, 134 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: a penny farthing sprint for the benefits of charity. The 135 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: last Great Race was held in October of this year. 136 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: Melissa Idel, the current European female Penny Farthing racing Champion, 137 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: was there. She describes riding the asymmetrical bike as and 138 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: I quote, a combination of flying a helicopter and riding 139 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,839 Speaker 1: a mechanical horse. It's avant garde, it's risky. One jerk 140 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: can mean the bike flips and that's you hurtling through 141 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: the air. And with that, I think it's fair to 142 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: say that the Penny Farthing puts a different spin on 143 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: the age old wisdom. If you fall from seven feet high, 144 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: get back up, brush yourself off, and consider getting a 145 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: bike that actually has brakes. I hope you've enjoyed today's 146 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 147 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 148 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,839 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 149 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 150 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,359 Speaker 1: make another Award winning show called Lore which is a podcast, 151 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: book series, and television show and you can learn all 152 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 153 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.