1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,479 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: Destruction has a way of leaving a trail through history, 7 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: not just in the stories we continue to tell, but 8 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: also in the physical evidence we can uncover if we 9 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: dig deep enough. For example, deep deep below the streets 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: of modern London, there's something called the Buddhica Destruction Layer. 11 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: This small layer of red in the earth is a 12 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: physical reminder of Queen Boudica's spectacularly deadly revolt against the 13 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: wrong An Empire. The city as old as London have 14 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: plenty of layers. They're usually all that remains of the 15 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: land's extensive past, from old Roman roads to long lost 16 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: defeated kings buried under parking lots. They've slowly been built 17 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,559 Speaker 1: up and become the London we know today. Unfortunately, many 18 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: of those layers, most in fact, were created by fire. 19 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: Fires were a common part of life, especially in a 20 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: world before hydrants and organized fire departments. Instead, residents had 21 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: to organize rapidly to take water from the nearest source, 22 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: usually a well or a river, and form a bucket 23 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: brigade to try and put the blaze out as quickly 24 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: as possible. Sometimes they even succeeded before too much damage 25 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: was done. London, like most old cities, was no stranger 26 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: to fires. Budica and her revenge was just one of 27 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: the first recorded examples. In the year sixty CE, she 28 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: and other tribe leaders banded together and burned cities like 29 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: Londinium to the ground, creating her destruction layer of red, 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: brown oxidized ash. London has been built and rebuilt several 31 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: times over the centuries, often flourishing in between those destructive fires. 32 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: But not even a century after Boudica's revenge, Londinium was 33 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: destroyed again. No one knows what caused the Hadriatic fire, 34 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: or really even when it happened. Experts estimate sometime after 35 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: Emperor Hadrian's visit in the early one twenties. London managed 36 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: to stay intact for a few more centuries, although admittedly 37 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: Saint Paul's Cathedral seems to have had terrible luck, burning 38 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: down nine times before the next fire. In eleven thirty five, 39 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: the Pentecost fire broke out near London Bridge, reportedly in 40 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: the Sheriff's home, and then spread out from there. One 41 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: chronicler said Saint Paul's burned to the ground again, but 42 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: another disagrees. Given the building's history, I wouldn't be shocked 43 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: if it had. Though. The Great Pentecost Fire destroyed London Bridge, 44 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: made of wood, of course, as well as the homes, 45 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: ships and other properties within two miles of the Thames. 46 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: Despite the devastation of the blaze, though this wasn't London's 47 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: deadly fire. That dubious honor happened years down the line. 48 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: Like so many fires, the causes unknown. We can speculate 49 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: about the unattended ovens, dropped pipes, or careless trash fires 50 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: until the cows come home, but no one knows how 51 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: this great blaze began. Some people, though, suspect the weather. 52 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: You see, it was July tenth, and England, like many 53 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,239 Speaker 1: other places in the North Atlantic, was going through a 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: bit of a warm spell. The roller coaster of climate 55 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 1: change means that we might be able to imagine what 56 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: it was like a hot day in July. Maybe it 57 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 1: was sunny and bright or rainy and muggie, although given 58 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: what happened next, I'm inclined to think it was very, 59 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: very dry. Someone would have taken up the call to 60 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: warn the neighbors that a fire had broken out from there. 61 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: The news would have spread like well fire pun intended 62 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: people would have scrambled for buckets, basins and washtubs to 63 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: fill them and stand in line while the others evacuated children, animals, 64 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: and valuables. The fire started south of the River Thames 65 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: in Suffolk, so maybe they used river water, but they 66 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: probably used whatever they could get their hands on. Still, 67 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,680 Speaker 1: it was no use. Between July tenth and July twelfth, 68 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: they fought and fled from the fire as it burned 69 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: through Suffolx Cathedral known as Our Lady of the Cannons 70 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: or Saint mary Ovary, then most of Borough High Streets, 71 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: a major street that connected the south bank of the 72 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: Thames to London, and then it spread to London Bridge. 73 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: Now the wind had picked up, carrying blazing cinders across 74 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: the river to the Hugh guessed it. Wooden houses and 75 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: their straw roofs near the northern end of the Bridge. 76 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: From there, the fire jumped to the city of London itself. 77 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: As people fled the inferno from Suffolk, they came crashing 78 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: into people running from the fire that had broken out 79 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 1: on the northern side. They were trapped in the middle 80 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: of two terrible fires, and the wooden shops and houses 81 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 1: on the bridge became ticking time bombs. It was only 82 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,279 Speaker 1: a matter of time before those went up as well. 83 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: Some people jumped into the river trying to save themselves, 84 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: but either drowned or were crushed by boats trying to 85 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,679 Speaker 1: rescue those who were stranded. Some of the rescuers themselves 86 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: were pulled in and crushed desperate people trying to haul 87 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: themselves on board. It was a terrible sight. The idea 88 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: of putting wooden buildings on London Bridge had been the 89 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: idea of King John of Magna Carta and Robin Hood fame, 90 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: although at this point in time the bridge itself was 91 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: built of stone. Many of the survivors must have been 92 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: wondering if they should have listened to the mayor when 93 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:24,280 Speaker 1: he strongly recommended using stone over wood as a building material. 94 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:26,919 Speaker 1: As you can tell by now, and the mention of 95 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: King John of the Magna Carta. This fire was not 96 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: the Great Fire of sixteen sixty six that everyone talks 97 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: about today. All told, an initial estimate put the death 98 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: toll for the Great Fire of twelve twelve at three 99 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: thousand people. Many historians disagree, as the population of London 100 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: was just fifty thousand people at the time, and that 101 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: number of dead would have been devastating. The city, though 102 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: was soon rebuilt. As for London Bridge, it may not 103 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: have fallen down this time, but it's luck would eventually 104 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: run out. After all, how could we sing the song 105 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: if it didn't. Going to the eye doctor isn't the 106 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: most fun experience, although it sure beats sitting in a 107 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: dentist chair. At some point during your exam, the optometrist 108 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 1: might squeeze a few drops of liquid into your eyes 109 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: in order to dilate them. This allows the doctor to 110 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: see your optic nerve and diagnose potential underlying conditions, such 111 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: as cataracts or macular degeneration. Today's eye drops may be uncomfortable, 112 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:38,239 Speaker 1: but they're a lot better than the ones made hundreds 113 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: of years ago, because if you go back far enough, 114 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,280 Speaker 1: you might find that the people were putting very similar 115 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: drops into their eyes to look more attractive, but at 116 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: great cost. They were derived from a plant called belladonna 117 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: or literally translated beautiful woman. Its full scientific name as 118 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,960 Speaker 1: Atropa belladonna or atropine, but most people know it by 119 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: its more common money her deadly nightshade. The genus Atropa 120 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,800 Speaker 1: comes from Greek mythology. It was named for one of 121 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: the three fates, Atropos, who would put the thread of 122 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: life that had been measured and drawn by her other 123 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: two sisters. And there was a reason for this name, 124 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: given to the plant by Swedish botanist Carlinaeus in the 125 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds, because those who consumed it would find their 126 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: own threads cut short. Records of its use go back 127 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 1: as far as the fourth century BC, although Cleopatra was 128 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: known to drop extracts of other night shades into her 129 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: eyes in order to dilate her pupils. But why it's 130 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: not like optometrist was a profession in ancient Egypt because 131 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: belladonna extract helped make women more beautiful in their minds, 132 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: at least that's how it was marketed. History is riddled 133 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: with instances of poisons being used in cosmetics. Ancient Egyptians 134 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:54,679 Speaker 1: and Greeks darkened their eyelashes with antimony, a toxic chemical 135 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: element full of sulfur, lead, copper, and silver. Thallium acetate 136 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: was used in the late nineteenth century as a cure 137 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: for scalp ringworm, but it didn't actually kill the ringworm. 138 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: It just caused the user to lose their hair so 139 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: the ring worm would be easier to treat. Afterward, it 140 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: was marketed as a body hair removal cream, which poisoned 141 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: women who applied it to their skin, and of course, 142 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: arsenic was incorporated into everything from makeup to edible wafers 143 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: as recently as the eighteen nineties. Belladonna drops did back 144 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: then what they do now. They dilate pupils. The resulting 145 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: effect is a glassy look in the woman's eye, making 146 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: them appear lustrous and hopefully desirable. They were quite popular 147 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: in the Renaissance era Italy, as a woman's eyes were 148 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,319 Speaker 1: believed to be the most beautiful part of her body. 149 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: In fact, the sixteenth century painting Woman with a Mirror 150 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: by the artist Titian was believed to depict a woman 151 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: with big, dark eyes dilated by belladonna, though in order 152 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: to achieve such an effect, the plant extract used did 153 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: do something harsh to the eyes. For one, they paralyzed 154 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: the nerve endings, which worked well for pain relief and 155 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: stopping bad coughs in asthmetics, But if someone dropped too 156 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: much into their eyes or worse, ingested a significant amount 157 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: of it, other symptoms would start to appear. Dry mouth, 158 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: an increase in body temperature, excitement, and an inability to 159 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: swallow were just some of the side effects that doctors 160 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: saw as a result of atropine poisoning. Long term use 161 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: of belladonna drops had also been known to cause blindness. 162 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: Poisoners have seen belladonna or Deadly nightshade as a tool 163 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: in their arsenal as well. In nineteen ninety four, an 164 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: Edinburgh biologist named Paul Agater was convicted of attempted murder 165 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: after dosing his wife's tonic water along with a dozen 166 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,679 Speaker 1: other bottles in a local supermarket with the toxic chemical. 167 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,320 Speaker 1: The good news is that today optometrists use an alternative 168 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: to belladonna when dilating their patient's pupils, especially where children 169 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: are concerned, but the plant is still incorporated into a 170 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: variety of medicinal products, including eyedrops. Just a much more 171 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,959 Speaker 1: reasonable level than before, because a doctor doesn't care if 172 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: your eyes are sultry or seductive. They just want to 173 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: see if you can see. I hope you've enjoyed today's 174 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 175 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 176 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:28,280 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 177 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 178 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,800 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 179 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 180 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Loore dot com. 181 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.