1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 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 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: It's just sitting there, spinning in outer space as it 7 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: orbits the Earth two hundred and thirty nine thousand miles away. 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: It's a big, round rock that controls the tides and 9 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: moderates our planet's movements on its axis. And it's right 10 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: for the taking. At least that's what people have been 11 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: saying for decades. The Moon doesn't just represent one small 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: step from man, nor one giant leap for mankind. It 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: represents a new frontier, entirely real estate in space. Back 14 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty seven, over one hundred nations signed a 15 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: document known as the Outer Space Treaty, which basically outlined 16 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: the rules by which every country should explore and inhabit 17 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: outer space. There were a number of principles, including one 18 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: that stated outer space shall be free for exploration and 19 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: use by all states as well as the Moon and 20 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes. 21 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: But one year earlier, a different governing body took it 22 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: upon themselves to draft its own document, one stating that 23 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: its people owned the Moon. It was called the Declaration 24 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: of Lunar Ownership, and it was signed by thirty five 25 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: citizens from the town of Geneva, Ohio. The declaration gave 26 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 1: the people of Geneva and I quote, full possession and 27 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: complete responsibility of the Moon, at least according to them, 28 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: And although everyone elsewhere was free to enjoy the moonlight 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: given off by the celestial body, Geneva was not responsible 30 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: for any issues incurred by people who moon bathed a 31 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: little too much. But the document had another component, one 32 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: that allowed the town to sell off one hundred plots 33 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: of land on the Moon's surface for one hundred dollars 34 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: a pop. And yet, the people of Geneva weren't the 35 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: only ones who would come up with the idea to 36 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: sell land on the Moon. About fourteen years earlier, a 37 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: man named Dennis Hope figured it out on his own. 38 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,079 Speaker 1: Hope was a car salesman and a ventriloquist, and he 39 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: had hit a rough patch in his life. He and 40 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,639 Speaker 1: his wife were getting divorced, and he'd been living paycheck 41 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: to paycheck. Mister Hope was well losing hope until one 42 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: day when he was driving down the road and looked 43 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: out the window toward the sky, and there it was 44 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: all that lunar land ripe for the taking. He did 45 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: a little digging at the local college library and found 46 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: the Outer Space Treaty from the mid sixties. As he 47 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: read through the document, he noticed something. Even though the 48 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 1: treaties stated that no nation could declare ownership over the Moon, 49 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: there was nothing in there that said a person couldn't 50 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,119 Speaker 1: own it. Hope, believing that he had found a loophole, 51 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: filed the claim with his local county seat for the 52 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: whole of the Moon's surface, along with the surfaces of 53 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: every other planet in the Solar System except for the 54 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: Earth and the Sun. Nobody, of course, took him seriously, 55 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: but after consulting with three supervisors across two separate floors 56 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: in five hours, he finally got what he wanted, ownership 57 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: over the Moon and the planets. He then wrote to 58 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: the General Assembly of the United Nations as well as 59 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: the Russian government, letting them know that there was a 60 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 1: new sheriff in town, and that if anyone wanted to 61 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: sell land in space, they had to go through him first. 62 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: For those wondering, hope will sell anyone an acre of 63 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: moonland for about thirty five dollars. But Dennis and the 64 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: people of Ohio were not alone in believing the Moon 65 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: was up for grabs. Others had been declaring ownership of 66 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: it for years before Geneva. There was a science fiction 67 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: fan club in Berkeley, California, that had laid claim to 68 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: part of the Moon in nineteen fifty two. That same year, 69 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: the chairman of the Hayden Planetarium in New York planned 70 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: on selling parcels of land there for a dollar an acre, 71 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: And in nineteen fifty four, a Chilean lawyer named Gennaro 72 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: Gerada Veda published three separate announcements of his claim of 73 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 1: the Mood on the Official Diary of Chile. Even President 74 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: Richard Nixon acknowledged Veda's ownership, sending him a telegram via 75 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: the US embassy in nineteen sixty nine. Nixon requested permission 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: for his astronauts to land there. It doesn't matter how 77 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: far away it is or how expensive it is to 78 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: go there. For every person who gazes at the night 79 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: sky and sees the enormity of the universe, there will 80 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: always be someone who looks up and wonders, how much 81 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: could I get for that? And now for something a 82 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: bit lighter. Every day the world continues to plunge deeper 83 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: into darkness due to war, climate change, famine and other cateshts, fees, 84 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, scholars, leaders and CEOs with too much money 85 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: having dreaming up ways to save humanity or at least themselves. 86 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,799 Speaker 1: Some of their plans involve inhabiting other planets. Others believe 87 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: building big underground bunkers with their own ecosystems is the 88 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: way to go. But one man had another idea. It 89 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: just wasn't exactly feasible. Yet you could say he had 90 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: his head in the clouds. His name was Richard Buckminster Fuller, 91 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: the architect who made the Geodesic Dome popular. If you've 92 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: ever walked around Epcot at Disney World, you've undoubtedly seen 93 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,239 Speaker 1: the giant golf ball shape sphere known as spaceship Earth, 94 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: a phrase that he also coined. Born in eighteen ninety five, 95 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: Fuller attended Harvard for a short time before he was 96 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: expelled for missing his exams and partying too much. He 97 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: then traveled to Canada, where he took a job at 98 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: a mill until re enrolling at Harvard again in nineteen fifteen, 99 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: but that didn't last long either. He was soon expelled 100 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: once again, ultimately joining the U the US Navy to 101 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: serve during World War One. In fact, Fuller didn't get 102 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: into architecture until the nineteen twenties, when he started working 103 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: on the Stockade Building System with his father in law. 104 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: This was a construction system made using bricks of compressed 105 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 1: wood shavings with large vertical holes drilled down their centers. 106 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: The holes would then be filled with concrete so that 107 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: these stacked blocks couldn't move. After that company failed, though, 108 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 1: Fuller contemplated ending his life in nineteen twenty seven. That 109 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,359 Speaker 1: is until he experienced a life changing event that turned 110 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: everything around for him. He felt as though a ball 111 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,359 Speaker 1: of white light surrounded him and lifted him into the air, 112 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: and then a voice spoke telling him, you do not 113 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: have the right to eliminate yourself. You do not belong 114 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: to you. You belong to the universe. Fuller was transformed 115 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: by the experience and got back to work trying to 116 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:55,159 Speaker 1: improve humanity by revolutionizing housing. He designed the Dimaxian house, 117 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: which was an inexpensive home that could be produced at 118 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,280 Speaker 1: scale and dropped into place on a plot of the land. 119 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: There was also the geodesic dome, which came about in 120 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one. The dome was cheap, resilient, and easy 121 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: to assemble, making it ideal for housing, especially in lower 122 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: income areas and harsh climates, and that design led to 123 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: another creation, one that had the potential to change housing 124 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: all over the world. Japanese media mogul Matsutaro Shoriki had 125 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: challenged Fuller to create a community to accommodate Japan's growing population. 126 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: To do this, the houses would be required to float 127 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: on Tokyo Bay, linked together like a giant city, and 128 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: what Fuller came up with definitely did float, but not 129 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: on the bay. His homes were designed to rise into 130 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: the air like balloons instead. He called them spherical Tensegrity 131 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: Atmospheric Research Stations, or stars for short. They were also 132 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: known as cloud nines and were giant geodesic spheres filled 133 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: with air. Each dome was intended to be a half 134 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: mile in diameter, yet only way a fraction of the 135 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: weight of the air inside. Using a sustainable heat source 136 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: like solar energy or human movement inside, the one degree 137 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: fahrenheit increase of the internal temperature could cause the dome 138 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: to float. If a person wanted to remain in one spot, 139 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: they could tether their massive sphere to a mountain or 140 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: another anchor. Or if they wanted to travel the world, 141 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: they could drift freely throughout the sky. But Fuller didn't 142 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: just picture them as houses. He also anticipated using them 143 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: as impromptu emergency relief sites during disasters. Unfortunately, his dream 144 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: remained just that a dream. The technology didn't exist at 145 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: the time to make these cloud nines a reality. Fuller 146 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: himself believed that they wouldn't be feasible for another fifty years. Well, 147 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: that time has come and gone, and we're no closer 148 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: to living in floating spheres now than we were back then. 149 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: But if floods, wildfires, and heat waves continue to pummel 150 00:08:50,280 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: the planet, then we may be forced to find new 151 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: ways to live. And right now, a geodesic balloon doesn't 152 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: sound half bad. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 153 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 154 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 155 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: dot com. This show was created by me Aaron Mankey 156 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 157 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 158 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: and television show and you can learn all about it 159 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 160 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: stay curious.