1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:10,720 Speaker 1: a show that shines a light on the ups and 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: downs of everyday history on Gay Blusier and today we're 5 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: celebrating a milestone in Avian history, the day when coal 6 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: mine canaries were finally put out of a job. The 7 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: day was December six, A British mining tradition came to 8 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: an end when legislation officially ordered that all live canaries 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: be released from the nation's coal mines. At the time, 10 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: only about two hundred canaries were still in use in 11 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: Britain's minds, a steep decline from decades earlier. The government 12 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: order gave miners about a ear to bid farewell to 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,760 Speaker 1: the birds and make the switch to new digital detectors, 14 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: something the government referred to as the electronic nose. As 15 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: you're probably aware, coal mining is extremely dangerous work. Miners 16 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: face threats like cavens, fires, and explosions on a daily basis, 17 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,320 Speaker 1: but the most insidious danger comes from noxious gases, especially 18 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: carbon monoxide. When a human breathes in carbon monoxide, the 19 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: gas replaces oxygen molecules in the bloodstream, and as a result, 20 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: organs and tissues are supplied with poison instead of oxygen. 21 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: Acute carbon monoxide poisoning causes a headache, dizziness, and shortness 22 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: of breath, but as the gas accumulates, it can quickly 23 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: prove fatal. Carbon monoxide is released through the burning of 24 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: wood and coal, so clouds of the gas can form 25 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: easily in the enclosed space of a mine, and since 26 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: it's completely odorless and colorless, miners typically wouldn't notice the 27 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: gas until it was too late. That is where the 28 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: canaries came in. Starting as far back as the eighteen nineties, 29 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: British miners would descend into the mine carrying one of 30 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,519 Speaker 1: the small yellow songbirds in a cage. If the canaries 31 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: stopped singing or showed any sign of distress while the 32 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,959 Speaker 1: miners worked, they took it as a signal that something 33 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 1: in the air was unsafe and that they should evacuate 34 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: the pit immediately. This crude but effective method of detecting 35 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: the presence of carbon monoxide was employed for nearly a century. 36 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: It started on the advice of Scottish scientists John Haldane. 37 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: He investigated the properties of many different gases, including their 38 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: effects on the human body. His research into the effects 39 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: of carbon monoxide poisoning led him to suggest the use 40 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: of small animals for detecting the gas and underground mining operations. 41 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: Hal Dane noted that white mice would work well because 42 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: their fast metabolism would cause them to show the effects 43 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,240 Speaker 1: of poisoning before the gas impacted human workers, thus giving 44 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 1: them enough time to escape. However, hal Dane noted that 45 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: canaries were even better suited for the task. Like other birds, 46 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: canaries require large amounts of oxygen in order to fly. 47 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: To meet this need, their respiratory systems work in a 48 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: way that allows them to get a dose of air 49 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,559 Speaker 1: not just as they inhale, but as they exhale too. 50 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: That means that compared to a mouse, a canary will 51 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: breathe in twice as much air in the same amount 52 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: of time, and if the air is poisoned, the canary 53 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: would show the effects twice as quickly. England wasn't the 54 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: only country to follow hal Dane's advice. The US and 55 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: Canada with used canaries for the same purpose starting at 56 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: the turn of the twentieth century. The practice was popular 57 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: not just because it was effective, but because it boosted 58 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: morale too. Many miners came to regard their feathered coworkers 59 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: as protective pets, bright chipper companions who guarded their masters, 60 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: and the way a dog might in the dreary conditions 61 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: of a coal mine, the happy singing of a songbird 62 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: was a welcome sign that all was well. It's only 63 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: fitting then that the miners came up with ways to 64 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: repay the favor and protect the canaries right back. For example, 65 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: in eight six, a device was created to help resuscitate 66 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: coal mine canaries when one of the birds lost consciousness 67 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,799 Speaker 1: due to carbon monoxide. The door of the circular cage 68 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: would be sealed and a valve would be opened, allowing 69 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: fresh oxygen from a tank to fill the enclosure and 70 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: revive the canary. Typically, this would be done first thing 71 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: after a mining accident, and only afterward would the miners 72 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 1: evacuate the area. Still, clever gadgets aside, the practice was inhumane. 73 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: By nineteen eighty six, there were better, cheaper, and more 74 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:22,239 Speaker 1: effective options. The new electronic gas detectors were handheld, even 75 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: more portable than a canary in a cage, Plus they 76 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: gave digital readounts of gas levels on a screen in 77 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: real time. Still, the digital detectors weren't as comforting or 78 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: as cheerful as the canaries had been. According to the 79 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: BBC quote, the birds are so ingrained in the culture 80 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: that miners report whistling to the birds and coaxing them 81 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: as they worked, treating them as pets. The Night six 82 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: report went on to say that although the miners were 83 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: deeply saddened by the decision to phase out the canaries, 84 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: they wouldn't fight the change. In a parting show of care, 85 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: the miners recognized that the birds would be better off 86 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: without them. These days, the biggest reminder of the canaries 87 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: role in mining is the overused phrase a canary in 88 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: a coal mine, which is a metaphor used to describe 89 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,760 Speaker 1: something as an early indicator of potential danger. It's hard 90 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 1: to believe the practice alluded to in the cliche was 91 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: only discontinued in the mid nineteen eighties. But on the 92 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: other hand, canaries weren't even the last animals to retire 93 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: from the mining industry. Horses and mules nicknamed pit ponies, 94 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: were used to haul up coal from underground mines until 95 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: nine at which point they were finally replaced by machines 96 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: as well. Today, phrases like coal mine canaries and pit 97 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: ponies seem antiquated, and many would assume they refer to 98 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: much older practices than they really do. They may not 99 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: be the practical to terms they once were, but they're 100 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: still important reminders of an even harsher world of coal mining, 101 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: one that thankfully no longer exists. I'm Gay Bluesier, and 102 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 103 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up 104 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 105 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC Show. You can 106 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and you 107 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: can write to us too at this Day at I 108 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing 109 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: the show, and thanks to you for listening. I'll see 110 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,679 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class. 111 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:56,559 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 112 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or where ever you listen to 113 00:07:59,000 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.