1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. These are coming from the 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: T D I h C Vault, so you'll also here 4 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: two hosts. Consider it a double feature. Enjoy the show. 5 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to this Day in History Class from how Stuff 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff you 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 9 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome 10 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Christopher Haciotas, sitting in this week 11 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: for your regular host Tracy V. Wilson. It's December eleven, 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: and in one of the most pivotal moments of the 13 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: French Revolution, King Louis the sixteenth was indicted for high 14 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: treason and crimes on this day in sevent The man 15 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: who would become Frank's final king before the French Revolution 16 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: was born August seventeen fifty four as Louis August. He 17 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: was his parents seventh pregnancy, but the first child to 18 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: survive to adulthood. Louis August was born during the reign 19 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,720 Speaker 1: of his grandfather Louis, who was also known as Louis 20 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: the Beloved and ruled France for nearly six decades. Now 21 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: Louis the fifteenth, Louis the sixteenth predecessor died of smallpox 22 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,440 Speaker 1: in May of seventeen seventy four. Normally, Louis August's father 23 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: would have assumed the throne, but he had died of 24 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: tuberculosis nine years earlier, So in seventeen seventy four, Louis 25 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: August became Louis the sixteenth King of France. I know 26 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: it's a lot of Louis Louise, but we can keep track. Now. 27 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth was nineteen years old at the time, 28 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: and he was already married to Murray Antoinette of Austria. 29 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: They'd been married for about four years at that point. 30 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth, we'll just call him Louis from now on. 31 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: Louis started his reign with an eye towards values that 32 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: came out of the era of Enlightenment. Greater freedom of 33 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: the press, religious tolerance, and scientific inquiry, among other endeavors. 34 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:51,160 Speaker 1: Eliminating certain land taxes, increasing acceptance of non Catholic Christians, 35 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: abolishing serfdom, supporting the American Revolution, and even deregulating grain markets. 36 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: These were all undertaken by Louis. Some were resisted and 37 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: shot down by nobility, while other reforms were successful. It 38 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: says last two though, that would prove to be pivotal. 39 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: Deregulation of grain markets in France led to wild fluctuations 40 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,359 Speaker 1: in price. The common people struggle to afford bread or 41 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: even the grain to make their own, and a number 42 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: of riots broke out in seventeen seventy five. That was 43 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: a series of events often called the Bread War in 44 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,839 Speaker 1: supporting the American Revolution. The following year put France into 45 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:26,440 Speaker 1: serious debt, and the ensuing financial crisis was compounded by 46 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: a byzantine system of taxation. The next decades saw an 47 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: erosion of the monarchy's credibility, and people came to view 48 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette as figures of not 49 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: just an outdated system of governance, but one ignorant to 50 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: the plight of the common people. Violence, civil unrest, and 51 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: political turmoil became more prevalent, and Louis became increasingly irrelevant 52 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: when it came to actual governance, and gained a reputation 53 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,239 Speaker 1: for being indecisive, unskilled at political maneuvering and just generally 54 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: being out of touch with the realities of the day 55 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 1: and the need for policy compromise. So in July fourteenth, 56 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine, a group of revolutionaries store the bast Deal, 57 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: which was a political prison in Paris. Though it only 58 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: held seven prisoners at the time, the Bastial was viewed 59 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: as symbolic of the monarchy's rule. Now here's a side note. 60 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: You may hear that louis journal for that day, July fourteenth, 61 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: seventy nine held only a single word nothing, which a 62 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: lot of people say signifies how out of touch he was. 63 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: That journal was actually just a hunting journal or a 64 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: hunting log, so it's not really indicative of where Louis 65 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: head was at. And anyway, at the time, Louis was 66 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: at the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris, and he 67 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: only learned of the storming of the Bastial the following morning. So, 68 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: following these events, Louis was forced to accept the dissolution 69 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: of the monarchy as it existed, and a constitutional monarchy 70 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: was established. But after a failed assassination attempt on Marie Antoinette, 71 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: Louis and his family relocated from Versailles outside of the 72 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: city to the Tuilerie Palace, which is right in the 73 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: heart of the city, and the intent there was to 74 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: be closer to the people. Now in seventee, Louis tried 75 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: to secretly flee the city in response to what he 76 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: considered indignities and risk strains placed upon him and his 77 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: family by the constitutional government. He was being treated, he 78 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: felt away a monarch should never be treated. On his 79 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: way out of town, though, Louis left behind a political 80 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: manifesto which outlined his dissatisfaction with the constitutional system, he 81 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: considered it illegitimate. This manifesto was published in newspapers, though, 82 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: making his true feelings public, and just four days after 83 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: leaving Paris, Louis and his family were identified. He was 84 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: recognized because his face was on the national currency, and 85 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: he was arrested and returned to Paris. At this point, 86 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: Louis lost all credibility even with those who had stood 87 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,599 Speaker 1: by him, and he was viewed as more loyal to 88 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 1: foreign governments rather than to his own people. Later that summer, 89 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,919 Speaker 1: on August tenth, of the people of Paris had had enough. 90 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: A group marched on the Tuileries Palace and the royal 91 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,039 Speaker 1: family again fled, taking shelter with the Legislative Assembly. Louis 92 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: the sixteenth was found and arrested a few days later 93 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: and eventually taken to the Parisian prison known as the Temple. 94 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: While he was in prison there, the government officially a 95 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: bolished the constitutional monarchy, declared a republic, and stripped Louis 96 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: of all his titles and honors. So for the last 97 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: few months of his life, Louis the sixteenth was known 98 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: as Citizen Louis Cape. That's the name that would have 99 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: been his ancestral surname, Citizen Louis Cape. His trial before 100 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: the National Convention began on December three, more than a 101 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: week after the trial started, bringing us to today den 102 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: Louis was brought out of the Temple and before the 103 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: Assembly formally indicted. Now there were thirty three charges in total. 104 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: These ranged from ordering the army to march on the 105 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,159 Speaker 1: citizens of Paris, to attempting to flee the city, and 106 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: from ignoring counter revolutions, to defanging the navy and ignoring 107 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: foreign threats, particularly from Austria where Marie Antoinette was from 108 00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: the final of these thirty three charges, you caused the 109 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: blood of frenchmen to flow. Louis, through his defense team, 110 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: responded to his individual charges on December, generally demanding proof, 111 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: claiming he wasn't involved in certain decisions, saying he knew 112 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: nothing of the claims, or to borrow more contemporary political phrase, 113 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: passing the buck to his ministers and their decisions. Louise 114 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: lawyer Raymonde Says argued the former king's case for three 115 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: hours straight that day, and it wasn't until three weeks 116 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: later that Louis the sixteenth was convicted overwhelmingly of colluding 117 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: with foreign powers. Now seven dred and twenty one voters 118 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: were tasked with choosing his punishment. There were four options, 119 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: including life, imprisonment, or banishment from France, but on January 120 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: three d and sixty one of the voters exactly plus 121 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: one vote sentenced Louis to death, and on the very 122 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: next day, citizen Louis Cape was executed by guillotine. The 123 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: beheading took place in the Place de la revolution, an 124 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,159 Speaker 1: open square where the revolutionary government conducted the majority of 125 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: its public executions. It's the same spot where Robespierre, olymp 126 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: de Gouge and Marie Antoinette, who followed her husband to 127 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: the guillotine eight months later were executed. The plaza went 128 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: through a series of name changes and took the names 129 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: of both Louie and Louis six but in eight thirty 130 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: returned to its original name of Place de la Concorde. Today, 131 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: located along the banks of the Sin, you'll find the 132 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: Place de la Concord full of obelisks and fountains. To 133 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: learn more about this, listen to the November nine, two 134 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: eight episode of Stuffy missed in History Class called how 135 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: the French Revolution Worked, or scroll back on your podcast 136 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: and find the November second episode of this very podcast, 137 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,640 Speaker 1: which is the day Marie Antoinette was born. Thanks to 138 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: Casey Pegruman Chandler Mays for their audio work on this show. 139 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to This Day in History Class on 140 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, or wherever else 141 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: you like to find your podcasts, and uh, stick around, 142 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: because tomorrow we're going to learn about a disastrous explosion. 143 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Eves and you're listening to This Day 144 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: in History Class, a podcast where we build the time 145 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: machine and all you have to do is hop in 146 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: the day was December eleventh, nineteen. A group of robbers 147 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: stole five million dollars in cash and around a million 148 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: dollars in jewelry from the air cargo building of the 149 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: Luftonza Airline at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. 150 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: Most of the people involved in the heist participated in 151 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: organized crime, and the event has since been depicted in 152 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: books and films, including Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. Luftonza cargo workers 153 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: Louis Werner and Peter Gruenwald knew that about once a month, 154 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: Luftonza fluent large amounts of unmarked money that was exchanged 155 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: in West Germany by tourists and military service people. Sometimes 156 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: that cash wasn't transferred to banks until the next day, 157 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: when trucks would pick it up to transport it. Werner 158 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: and Gruenwald figured that that was the perfect opportunity to 159 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: the cash. But Werner had a bunch of gambling debt, 160 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,960 Speaker 1: and he told bookmaker Martin Kruegeman about the heist plan. Krugman, 161 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: in turn took the idea to Luchesi crime family mobster 162 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: Henry Hill, and word soon made it to gangster James Burke, 163 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:19,959 Speaker 1: also known as Jimmy the Gent Burke, Hill and Warner 164 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: then went about planning the heist, using information like maps, 165 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: reports of employees who would be present, and details of 166 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: the security measures that were in place in the building. 167 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: Around three am on December eleven, n a group of 168 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: armed men and a black fan pulled up to the 169 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: cargo holds loading platform. Several of the men entered the 170 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: building while the van was driven to the back of 171 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: the site. They were strained the employees and ordered a 172 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: supervisor to open the vault so the alarm would not trigger. 173 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: They loaded the money and jewelry into the van and 174 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: drove away, later transferring their hall to other vehicles. The 175 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: robbery took just over an hour. At the time, it 176 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: was the largest cash theft ever in the US. The 177 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: van driver, Pardneil Edwards, was supposed to take the van 178 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: to a junkyard that the mob controlled, but he parked 179 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: it illegally on the street in Brooklyn instead. The van 180 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: was soon discovered, along with edwards fingerprints and footprint. Not 181 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 1: long after, Edwards was murdered, and within months several other 182 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: people suspected of committing the crime were murdered or disappeared. 183 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: Hill went into the witness protection program and in nineteen 184 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: eighty he began testifying against the people involved in the robbery. 185 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: Other informants in the case also entered the witness protection program. 186 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: Investigators suspected James Burke of orchestrating the heist, but there 187 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: wasn't enough evidence to connect Burke to the heist or murders. 188 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: He died in prison in nine after he was incarcerated 189 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: for other crimes. The only person ever convicted of the 190 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: robbery was Louis Werner. Vincent Assar, part of the Bonano 191 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: crime family, was arrested on robbery charges related to the 192 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:10,280 Speaker 1: heist in but he was acquitted the next year. Only 193 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,679 Speaker 1: a portion of the stolen money was recovered, worth around 194 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: six million dollars in nineteen seventy eight. The hall will 195 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: be worth twenty four million dollars in twenty nineteen. I'm 196 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:23,719 Speaker 1: Eve Chef Code and hopefully you know a little more 197 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,760 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you haven't 198 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: gotten your fill of history yet, you can find us 199 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:35,480 Speaker 1: on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t D i h 200 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,839 Speaker 1: C Podcast. You can also email us at this day 201 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: at I heart media dot com. Thank you again for listening, 202 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 1: and we'll see you tomorrow for more podcasts from my 203 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 204 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.