1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Eves and welcome to This Day in History Class, 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: a show that on covers history one day at a time. 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: Today is January. The day was January. After seventy two 4 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: days of traveling by train, rickshaw, horse, small boat, steamship, Donkey, 5 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:40,959 Speaker 1: and various other vehicles, journalist Nellie Bligh set foot back 6 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: in New York to a cheering crowd. Nellie, just twenty 7 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: five years old, had set a new record for her 8 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: trip around the world. Nellie's unprecedented trip made her famous, 9 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: well more famous. It wasn't her first time at the rodeo. Nellie, 10 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: born Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, was known for being a daring reporter. 11 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: Take Ten Days in a Madhouse, a series Nellie did 12 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: in eight seven that pretty much epitomizes her sensational investigations. 13 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: Nellie wanted to do a story on immigrants for The 14 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: New York World, a newspaper that was a pretty big 15 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: deal in the late nineteenth century, but she got a 16 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: no on that assignment and was told to see if 17 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: she could find out what was really going on at 18 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island in New York. 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: To get into the asylum without tipping people off that 20 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: she was there reporting. She pretended she was a patient 21 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: after a little bit of training, and by that I 22 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: mean Nellie made quote crazy faces in a mirror and 23 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: deprived herself of sleep. Nellie was ready to convince people 24 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: she belonged in the hospital stereotypes of what mental illness 25 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: looks like the side. Nellie soon made it to black 26 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: Well's Island and her experience there was published as a 27 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: temporary expose in the newspaper. The horrible treatment and conditions 28 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: that she exposed led to more investigation of the asylums practices. Yeah, 29 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: Nellie's journalism was pretty bold, so it wasn't much of 30 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: a surprise when she read Jules verns eighteen seventy three 31 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: novel Around the World in Eighty Days and thought it 32 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: was a good idea to do the same thing the 33 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: main character, Phileas Fogg, does, but in less time. So 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: she went to the New York World and said something 35 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: along the lines of, Hey, I want to travel all 36 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: the way around the world and write about it for you. 37 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: And it was eighteen eighty nine, so to say the least, 38 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: Nellie's proposal wasn't met with glowing acceptance. Her managing editor 39 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,680 Speaker 1: was interested, but the other guys at the newspaper not 40 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: so much. Nobody's done this before, they said, and of 41 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: course a woman couldn't do it alone. Being the daredevil 42 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: she was, she told the man in charge at the 43 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: New York World to go ahead and send a guy, 44 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: and she started the trip on the same day for 45 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: another newspaper and beat him. Finally, they agreed to send 46 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: her around the world on their dime. Nellie gave herself 47 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: seventy five days to travel all the way around the globe, 48 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: and on November four nine, Nellie left New Jersey on 49 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: a steamship headed for England and the New York Role 50 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: made sure everyone knew she was leaving with the front 51 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: page story on the day of her departure. Little didn't 52 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: Nelly know a journalist named Elizabeth Bislam was also just 53 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: beginning her trip around the globe, but for Cosmopolitan magazine. Yes, 54 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: Cosmopolitan was that petty spoiler alert, Elizabeth didn't win the 55 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: race anyway. Nellie set off on her adventure with a 56 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: bag full of just the necessities, plus a jarriff cold cream. 57 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: She went through Italy, Egypt, Singapore modern day Sri Lanka, Japan, 58 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: and other countries, even going off route to meet with 59 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: Jules Verne in France. Along the way, she sent her 60 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: writing back to the newspaper in New York by telegraph, cable, 61 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: and by ship. Nellie's travels were definitely eventful. There was 62 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: a monsoon on the way to Hong Kong, she was 63 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: proposed to by who thought she was an American heiress, 64 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: and she bought a monkey in Singapore after resisting the temptation, 65 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: as she put it, to buy a boy at Port 66 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: Said and a girl at Columbo. Yes. Nellie was a 67 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:16,799 Speaker 1: pioneering journalist at a time when there were few women 68 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: journalists at all, let alone those who weren't pigeonholed into 69 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: the women's interest category. But many of her remarks came 70 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: off as jaded, ignorant, and even casually racist, like when 71 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: she called beggars in Hong Kong repulsive and compare the 72 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: plight of US slaves to that of poor people in 73 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:41,200 Speaker 1: Mexico City. Nellie was complicated, regardless, The New York World 74 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: made a spectacle of all of it. They printed as 75 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: many stories as they could about her travels, even creating 76 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: a contest for guessing how long Nellie's trip would take, 77 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: and readers devoured her worldly tails, increasing the newspaper circulation numbers. 78 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: When she landed in San Francisco on January one, the 79 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: New York World ordered to train to get her to 80 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: New York, where she was met by cheering crowd. She 81 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: had made it back on January nine at three pm 82 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: in exactly seventy two days, six hours, eleven minutes, and 83 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: fourteen seconds, but despite her contributions to the New York World, 84 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: her bosses wouldn't give her a race, so she resigned 85 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: from the paper and wrote out her success, going on 86 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: a lecture tour and publishing the popular book Around the 87 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: World in seventy two days. A few months later, George 88 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,799 Speaker 1: Francis train beat her record, coming in at sixty seven days. 89 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: But Nellie continued to write, and her sensational reporting left 90 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: an impact beyond the boundaries of stunt journalism. Oh and 91 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,279 Speaker 1: if you think headlines today are super, click baby check 92 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: out some of Nelly's headlines in the New York World. 93 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: One of the standouts is Nellie blithe tells how it 94 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,080 Speaker 1: feels to be a white slave. I'm Eve Stepcote and 95 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: hopefully you know a little more about history today than 96 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. You can subscribe to This Day in 97 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: History Class on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, 98 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to Chandler May's 99 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:19,480 Speaker 1: our producer. Come back tomorrow for another tidbit from history.