1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,239 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. War requires a lot 5 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: from a soldier, intuition, dedication, and resourcefulness. From medic to mcgever. 6 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: A soldier's role can change from one moment to the next, 7 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:40,879 Speaker 1: and oftentimes the only tools they have to work with 8 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: are the objects on their person at the time. You 9 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: might not think you could patch up a wound with 10 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: only a rifle, a knife, and some leaves you found 11 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: on the ground, but when you're under enemy fire, you 12 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: find a way. And the United States military had to 13 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: find a way when they ran a foul of the 14 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: Chinese army during the Korean War. The chan Jin Mountain Reservoir, 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: known by American forces as the Chosen Reservoir, became a 16 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: hotbed of action during the Chinese Second Defensive of nineteen fifty. 17 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: The war appeared to be over as U N forces 18 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: advanced into North Korea in order to unite the two sides. 19 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: A reunification wasn't going to happen if the People's Republic 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: of China had anything to say about it. One hundred 21 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: twenty thousand Chinese soldiers infiltrated North Korea in an effort 22 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,479 Speaker 1: to stop the U n's advancement. They reached the reservoir first, 23 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,560 Speaker 1: while a special group of United States soldiers known as 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: the ex Corps approached from the coast. I know they 25 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: sound like characters out of a Marvel comic book, but 26 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: trust me, they were real superheroes. Fifteen thousand men from 27 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: the Marines and the U. S Army were ready to 28 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:50,919 Speaker 1: end the war once and for all and bring stability 29 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: to the region. You might be wondering why only fifteen 30 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: thousand if the Chinese had deployed eight times that amount 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: into the area, And that's because the United States forces 32 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: had no idea the Chinese army was waiting for them. 33 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: They snuck in and fortified their position, waiting for the 34 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: Americans to arrive. The X Corps held their own for 35 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: over two weeks against the Chinese military, but the harsh, 36 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: terragn and brutal fighting had left them all but defeated. 37 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: Stuck in freezing temperatures and outgunned. The X Corp the 38 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: best of the best. We're running out out of AMMO, 39 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: out of food, and out of time. They were surrounded. 40 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: The enemy was closing in on thousands of US soldiers, 41 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: many of whom had nothing to defend themselves with except 42 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: broken guns and equally broken spirits. Worst of all, the 43 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: mortar shelves they used to beat back the Chinese forces 44 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: had run dry, so they called in for an air drop. 45 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: Tutsi rolls they called them. It sounds silly, but code 46 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: names like that were necessary to prevent the other side 47 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: from knowing what was coming in case someone happened to 48 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: be listening in. Unfortunately, who ever took the air drop 49 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,639 Speaker 1: order didn't understand the code name. The X Corps got 50 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: their supplies, boxes and boxes of what they thought were 51 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 1: mortar shells, ready to launch. What they received, however, was 52 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,959 Speaker 1: far less explosive. Their pleas for tutsie rolls had gotten 53 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: them exactly what they'd asked for, tutsie rolls, little chocolate 54 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 1: candies wrapped up in wax paper. This might have signaled 55 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: the end for the U S forces, now without an 56 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: escape plan and their chances of survival dwindling. After all, 57 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: you can't win a war with chocolate as your only 58 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 1: supply unless you're the x core. The men were quickly 59 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: revitalized by the sugar rush bestowed upon them from overhead, 60 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: and they quickly realized that their little candies, although hardened 61 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: by the reservoirs freezing winds, became soft and pliable when 62 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,440 Speaker 1: warmed up in their mouths. They chewed them into a 63 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: putty like substance, which they then spread over the holes 64 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 1: in their weapons, letting the wind freeze them in place. 65 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: With their bellies full and their guns back in action, 66 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: the ex Corps were once again a formidable threat. They 67 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: managed to fight back just enough to get out of 68 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: enemy territory and make their way to the nearest coast 69 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: where they could regroup. It sounds almost too strange to 70 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: be true, the idea that a simple chocolate candy saved 71 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: the lives of so many American soldiers in Korea. But 72 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: as it turns out, Tootsie rolls made as good a 73 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: patching material as they did a candy. Now that I 74 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: think about it, it's a good thing they didn't call 75 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: in for an air drop of life. Savers Louis was 76 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,919 Speaker 1: born in Plymouth, England, to parents who dedicated their lives 77 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: to helping others. His father was a surgeon in the 78 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: Royal Navy, and his mother worked as a nurse in 79 00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. Lewis learned from a 80 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: young age that the best use of anyone's gifts was 81 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: to use them in service of others. The family moved 82 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: to South Africa when Louis was ten, and that was 83 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,719 Speaker 1: where he found his true love the water. Louis hadn't 84 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: had a real swimming lesson until late in high school, 85 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: but it didn't take long for him to outpace the 86 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: other students. A month after his first lesson, he swam 87 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: four point three miles to Robin Island off the coast 88 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 1: of Cape Town. That's the same island where Nelson Mandela 89 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: was imprisoned for many years, and that gave Lewis an 90 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: idea about what he would attempt next. Well after he 91 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 1: finished his education at least, Louis took a break from 92 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: his dairy nautical trials and went to college, studying law 93 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: at the University of Cape Town, before eventually returning to 94 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: England to practice maritime law. It seemed no matter where 95 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: he went, he always managed to stay close to the water. 96 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: Six years later, though, it was time to dive back in, 97 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: so to speak, but he did not ease into things slowly. 98 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 1: He swam across the English Channel in fourteen and a 99 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: half hours and then moved on to colder, harsher challenges 100 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: around the world. And maybe you've noticed, but Louis just 101 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: couldn't sit still. He needed to push himself with each 102 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: swim farther, faster, longer. Louis set a number of records 103 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: along the way, becoming the first swimmer to swim around 104 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: the Cape Peninsula, the southernmost point of Africa, and the 105 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: Cape of Good Hope, the northernmost point in Europe. He 106 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: even swam the length of the sun Ya Fjord, the 107 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 1: longest of Norway's fiords. At one seven miles. It took 108 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: him twenty one days to do it. Possibly his greatest 109 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 1: feat came in achieving the Holy Grail of swimming by 110 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: completing a long distance swim in all five of the 111 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: world's oceans, four of which were accomplished over the course 112 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: of only two years. Louis was an unstoppable force, and 113 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: his achievements gained him a bit of notoriety, notoriety that 114 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,920 Speaker 1: he used to bring awareness to environmental issues all over 115 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: the world, namely climate change. In fact, many of his 116 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: record swims since then we're done in an effort to 117 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: bring awareness to the effects of climate change on our ocean, 118 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: seas and glaciers, including one such feat in a glacial 119 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: lake on Mount Everest. To swim in such a frigid environment, 120 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: most people would have needed a special wetsuit or equipment 121 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: to regulate their body temperature, but there was something different 122 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: about Louis, something almost superhuman. A professor from the University 123 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: of Cape Town measured Louis's body temperature and found something astonishing. 124 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: Louis could actually increase his core body temperature by two 125 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: degrees just before a swim in cold waters, a phenomenon 126 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: he called anticipatory thermogenesis. No one else on earth has 127 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: been able to do it. All of this, compounded with 128 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: his long distance swims in all seven seas, has cemented 129 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: Louis Pew as an icon of environmental change. His act 130 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: of is m has sparked actual legislation in the UK 131 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: as well. That all happened in two thousand six when 132 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: Louis decided to swim the length of the Thames River. Yeah, 133 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: all two fifteen miles of it. All to raise awareness 134 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: of the growing drought across England as a result of 135 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: global warming. Louis dove into the water and took off 136 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: a human torpedo on a mission. But he had just 137 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: one stop to make first. He jumped out of the 138 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: river and took a quick detour to ten Downing Street, 139 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: the home of the Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair. 140 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: The two had a brief chat before Louis took his 141 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: leave back to the frigid Thames to complete his journey. 142 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: It might have been this herculean trial that convinced the 143 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: Prime Minister, after all, two fifteen miles is a long 144 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: way to swim to prove a point. Or it might 145 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: have been something he said to convince him to take action. 146 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,439 Speaker 1: But one thing is certain. Not long after Louis's visit 147 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: to ten Downing Street, Tony Blair introduced to Parliament what 148 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: is now known as the Climate Change Act of two 149 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: thousand eight. Louis Pew is still swimming for environmental causes today, 150 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: one body of water at a time. His efforts are 151 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: working too. Little by little. The awareness he's raising is 152 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: helping clean up our oceans and rivers, so future generations 153 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: might enjoy them. Sometimes if you want to make a change, 154 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: you just have to dive right in. I hope you've 155 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:31,319 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 156 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 157 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 158 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 159 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 160 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,719 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 161 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 162 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.