1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is production of iHeartRadio. Hello 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: and welcome to This Day in History Class, a show 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: that demystifies history one day at a time. I'm Gay Bluesier, 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,319 Speaker 1: and in this episode, we're looking at the controversial and 5 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: conspiracy laden history of one of the largest and strangest 6 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: airports in the world. The day was February twenty eighth, 7 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:36,800 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety five, the Denver International Airport officially opened to 8 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,199 Speaker 1: the public. The path to the airport's opening hadn't been easy. 9 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: Some residents said it was unnecessary, as Denver already had 10 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: an airport in the northeast corner of the city. Others 11 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: worried the new facility wouldn't be accessible as it was 12 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: located roughly twenty four miles from downtown Denver. Construction delays 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: and reports of malfunctioning equipment only added to the public's concern, 14 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: but the city officials who had championed the project insisted 15 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: it would all be worth it. Their claim was put 16 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: to the test when the airport finally opened sixteen months 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: overdue and two billion dollars over budget, but it was 18 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,639 Speaker 1: eventually proven right. Three decades later, the airport is still 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: serving the mile high city better, busier, and weirder than ever. 20 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: The history of the Denver International Airport dates back to 21 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three, when a Latino lawyer named Federico Pena 22 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,480 Speaker 1: was elected as the city's new mayor. He had campaigned 23 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: on a plan to expand and update the city's aging airport, 24 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: which had been in operation since nineteen twenty nine. The 25 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: initial proposal sought to get around the space constraints of 26 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: the airport's urban location by building the addition across I 27 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: seventy to the north, but residents of Adams County pushed back, 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: arguing that a large, sure airport would make their corner 29 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,639 Speaker 1: of the city even noisier than it already was. Mayor 30 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: Penya heard their concerns and worked with county leaders to 31 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: craft a new, more ambitious plan. The city would try 32 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: to annex land in Adams County to build a brand 33 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,239 Speaker 1: new airport, one that was far away from established neighborhoods. 34 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: In return, the county's elected leaders would drum up support 35 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: for the plan among their constituents. The agreement worked like 36 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: a charm, and in nineteen eighty eight, voters approved the 37 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: annexation of fifty four square miles for a new international airport. 38 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: By that point, Penya was about halfway through his second term, 39 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: so it would be up to his successor, Wellington Webb, 40 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: to see the project to completion. Webb took office in 41 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one as Denver's first African American mayor. His 42 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 1: administration supervised roughly eighty five percent of the airport's construction. 43 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: Much of the revenue for the project came from leasing 44 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: airport gates to various airlines, but one of the most 45 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: vital players, United Airlines, refused to participate unless the airport 46 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: was equipped with a new, state of the art computerized 47 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: the baggage system. Webb in the city reluctantly agreed, knowing 48 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: that the choice would further delay the airport's opening and 49 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: inflate its already bloated budget by an additional two hundred 50 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: million dollars. That would have been bad enough, but the 51 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: expensive automated system also turned out to be unreliable. As 52 00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: Mayor web later recalled, quote, we went through the embarrassment 53 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: of going through the test run and having baggage that 54 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: was designed to go to Casper, Wyoming instead going to Shanghai. Unfortunately, 55 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: those bugs were never completely worked out, and the baggage 56 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: system continued to misdirect luggage and frustrate passengers long after 57 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: the airport had opened. Despite all those setbacks, the opening 58 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: of the DIA was still hotly anticipated by much of 59 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: the public. On February twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five, Denver's 60 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,440 Speaker 1: old Stapleton International Airport ceased operations after more than sixty 61 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: five years. Then the following morning, a ribbon cutting ceremony 62 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: was held at Gate thirty eight of the new facility. 63 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: Mayor Webb was on hand for the occasion, as was 64 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: former Mayor Penya, who attended on behalf of the Clinton 65 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: administration as the Secretary of Transportation. The two mayors cut 66 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: the ribbon together, and shortly after the first flight to 67 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: depart from the new airport, United Airlines Flight ten sixty two, 68 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: took off for a trip to Kansas City. The DIA 69 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: was the first major new airport to open in the 70 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: United States since Dallas Fort Worth more than two decades earlier. 71 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: In addition, it was and still is the country's largest 72 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: airport by area, covering a staggering thirty three and a 73 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: half thousand acres or roughly fifty three square miles. It's 74 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,160 Speaker 1: also home to the longest public use runway in North America, 75 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,080 Speaker 1: which measures sixteen thousand feet in length, and it routinely 76 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: ranks as one of the busiest airports, not only in 77 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: the US but in the entire world. That's a pretty 78 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: good success story for an airport that was for a 79 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: time mired in controversy. But that's not to say that 80 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: the DIA is no longer subject to debate. In fact, 81 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: since its opening, the airport has been implicated in a 82 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: multitude of conspiracy theories. Some of them relate to the 83 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: early woes of the project, like the construction delays and 84 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: the ill fated baggage system. Those setbacks led some more 85 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: imaginative residents to question whether the airport was cursed, perhaps 86 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: for being built somewhere it shouldn't have been, like on 87 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: top of a Native American burial ground. Other theories relate 88 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: to the airport's layout, which some claim hides a sinister intent. 89 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,479 Speaker 1: For example, its unusual pinwheel shaped runways supposedly look like 90 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: swastikas when viewed from the air. The sprawling airport's network 91 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: of underground utility corridors has also led to rampant speculation, 92 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: with theories ranging from secret bunkers full of aliens to 93 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: a vast hidden city meant for the elite survivors of 94 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: an impending nuclear apocalypse. It all sounds pretty far fetched, 95 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: but a lot of the suspicion is rooted in something 96 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 1: that is admittedly hard to explain. See. The airport is 97 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: home to a dedication marker and capstone that sits on 98 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: top of a time capsule that isn't set to be 99 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: opened until twenty ninety four. It's said to contain ordinary 100 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: artifacts like the Colorado flag and a newspaper from the 101 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: airport's opening day, but because the marker includes symbols associated 102 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: with the Freemasons, many people suspect there's something far more 103 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: interesting inside. Another reason for this suspicion is that the 104 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: marker also mentions something called the New World Airport Commission, 105 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: an organization that doesn't seem to exist. The marker suggests 106 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: that the so called NWAC was the group responsible for 107 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: the airport's construction, Since the contributors listed include an architecture 108 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: firm and a metal company, that could very well be 109 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: the case. Still, when you have a large scale public 110 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: works project that includes some questionable design choices, and then 111 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: you throw references to the Freemasons and the New World 112 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: Order into the mix, you're pretty much inviting conspiracy theorists 113 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: to speculate. Of course, the DIA is well aware of 114 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: that by now, and they've since embraced their ominous reputation 115 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: for marketing purposes. A prime example is the enormous thirty 116 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: two foot tall statue of a blue horse rearing up 117 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,320 Speaker 1: in anger that stands on the road to the terminal. 118 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: The size and stance of the horse make it rather imposing, 119 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: but it becomes full on freight at night when the 120 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: horse's eyes glow bright red. And if that weren't scary enough, 121 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: the horse statue also has a truly tragic backstory. It 122 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: actually killed its own creator. Back in two thousand and six, 123 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,320 Speaker 1: when artist Louise Jimenez was still sculpting the fiberglass statue, 124 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: a piece of its head broke off and severed an 125 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: artery in his leg. Jimenez died from the injury, and 126 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: his children completed the blue Horse in his honor. That's why, 127 00:08:28,760 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: even though the statue is officially known simply as Mustang, 128 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,880 Speaker 1: the locals now refer to the nightmare steed as Blucifer, 129 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: believe it or not, though the art inside the airport 130 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: is somehow even weirder than a giant killer horse. For instance, 131 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: at the baggage claim, there are two stone gargoyles keeping 132 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: watch over the luggage carousels. Taken together, the pair forms 133 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: a sculpture known as Notre Denver, a cutesier name than 134 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: you might expect for a couple of winged demons. Bill. 135 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: The most unsettling artwork in the whole facility has to 136 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: be a pair of murals in the baggage Claim, done 137 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: by artist Leo Tanguma. The piece's titles sound heartwarming enough 138 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,480 Speaker 1: children of the world dream of peace and in peace 139 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: and harmony with nature, but the scenes they depict are 140 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: actually terrifying. Children huddle in the wreckage of a ruined 141 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: city while a looming soldier in a gas mask stalks 142 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: them with an assault rifle in one hand and a 143 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: cutlass in the other, which he's using to stab the 144 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 1: dove of peace. The murals do suggest a happy ending 145 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: of sorts, with the sleeping children dreaming of a better future, 146 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: but it's still pretty heavy subject matter to hang on 147 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: the wall of an airport, if nothing else, Though the 148 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: murals and the rest of the airport's curiosities certainly give 149 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: passengers plenty to discuss while they wait. Concablusier and hopefully 150 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: you now know a little more about history today than 151 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: you did yesterday. You can learn even more about history 152 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI 153 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 1: HC Show, and if you have any comments or suggestions, 154 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: you can always send them my way by writing to 155 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 156 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll 157 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: see you back here again tomorrow for another day in 158 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:40,079 Speaker 1: History class.