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 --> 00:00:11,200 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 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Sleep is a vulnerable state. 5 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: While we slumber. Any number of things can happen. We 6 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: might not hear the pop of a pipe as it 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: fills the basement with water, or the subtle steps of 8 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: a burglar hunting for whatever is within reach. Some of 9 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: us might even raid the fridge in a half conscious state, 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 1: hunting for a snack that will satisfy our midnight cravings. 11 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: And then there's Ansel. He was a man with a 12 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: complicated relationship with sleep. In the late nineteenth century, Ansel 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: worked as a carpenter and an evangelical preacher in Rhode Island. 14 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: He had a wife and two adult daughters with families 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: of their own. He was well known around town too, 16 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: but not for his woodworking skills or even his sermons. No, 17 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: Ansel was prone to certain episodes ones where he would 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,320 Speaker 1: briefly forget who or where he was. It was a 19 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: form of temporary amnesia known as dissociative fugue or sleepwalking. Now, 20 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: some at the time might have called it somnambulism, which 21 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: was a scary word. Those who suffered often fell downstairs 22 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: or hurt themselves due to their semi consciousness, but ansel 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: usually came back to himself after a short time. That 24 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: is until one day in March of eighteen eighty seven, 25 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,960 Speaker 1: when locals noticed the preacher had disappeared. Meanwhile, two d 26 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: fifty miles away, the small town of Norristown, Pennsylvania, was 27 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,279 Speaker 1: trying to solve a mystery of their own. It seemed 28 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: that an older gentleman named A. J. Brown had been 29 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: running a stationary and confectioner shop, and he was a 30 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: bit confused. He'd taken to showing up on his landlord's 31 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: door asking him questions like who am I and how 32 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,920 Speaker 1: did I get here? It just so happened that Mr. 33 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: Brown had woken up in the middle of ringing a 34 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: customer in his store, and he couldn't remember how he 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: got there. In fact, his situation was so unusual and 36 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: frightening to him that he called a local doctor for help, 37 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,119 Speaker 1: a man by the name of Louis Reid, and soon 38 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: enough they got to work looking for answers. The story Mr. 39 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: Brown told him was a wild one. It was the 40 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: story of a man who had gone into a FuG 41 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: state and traveled south from Rhode Island into Pennsylvania, where 42 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: he ran his own store for two months as a 43 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: completely different person. Dr Reid then asked him about the 44 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: last thing he remembered before he woke up. It had 45 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: been January eighteenth, and he had taken a horse and 46 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: carriage to a bank in Providence. He was on his 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 1: way to visit his son. He remembered the ride to 48 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,519 Speaker 1: the bank, withdrawing the money, and even the street signs 49 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:00,079 Speaker 1: he passed on the way, but after a brief it 50 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: with a nephew, it was all blank. The next thing 51 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: Ansel knew two months had gone by and he'd become 52 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 1: the owner of a new business. Ansel's amnesia was obviously 53 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: worse than he'd known, so his nephew was called to 54 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: collect him, and not long after returning home, he was 55 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: able to learn more about his condition. Because it just 56 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: so happened that William James, often called the father of 57 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: American psychology, was teaching at Harvard University. He heard about 58 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: Ansel's incidents and traveled from Massachusetts to Rhode Island to 59 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: study him. Using hypnosis, Dr James was able to draw 60 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: out either Ansel or Mr Brown from the poor man's consciousness, 61 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: and neither personality had any recollection of what the other 62 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: had done. It was as if Ansel had a whole 63 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: other person living a completely separate life right inside his mind. 64 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: But there's something else. Ansel's story was so interesting that 65 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: other people started to take notice outside of academic circles. 66 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: One of those people was an author with an idea 67 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: for a character suffering from amnesia, a character who, upon 68 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: waking on board a fishing boat with no memory of 69 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: what happened to him, would end up traveling the world 70 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: to learn who he really was. Oh and if I 71 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: told you that Ansel's last name was Born, you might 72 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: be able to guess the name of the writer. But 73 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: if your memory has failed you, you're not alone. The 74 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: writer was none other than Robert Ludlam, author of The 75 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:45,280 Speaker 1: Born Identity. William Buckland wanted to do it all. One 76 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: look at his life and it's clear that he had 77 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: a dream to be the most interesting person in the world. 78 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: Born in England in four William found a home and education, 79 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: but he wasn't content with merely being a teacher. He 80 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 1: also named the non avian dinosaur Megalosaurus, and then in 81 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty three, while exploring a cave in South Wales, 82 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: he came across a skeleton that he dubbed the Red 83 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 1: Lady of poppy Land, known today as the oldest modern 84 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: human found in the United Kingdom. William was also unique 85 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: in his teaching style, as he was prone to shouting 86 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: questions at his students while shoving a hyenas skull in 87 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: front of them to throw them off. Obviously, William had 88 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:27,359 Speaker 1: a knack for standing out, but he felt there was 89 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 1: more for him out there, another way to be the 90 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: first to rise above his peers in a meaningful and 91 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: lasting way, So he turned to one of his greatest 92 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: passions food. It's probably safe to say that William was 93 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 1: the only man around known for eating mice on toast. 94 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: He often threw parties where he served panther and dolphin, 95 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: among other unconventional meats to his guests, and his friends 96 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 1: didn't seem to mind. In fact, they supported him in 97 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: his ultimate goal to eat one of every animal on earth. 98 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: He sampled cea slugs, crunched on kangaroo, and munched on mole, 99 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: the last of which he claimed was one of the 100 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,840 Speaker 1: worst things that he had ever tasted. Well, that and 101 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: the blue bottle fly. No animal was off limits, though, 102 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: including hedgehog, ostrich and even crocodile. But William didn't just 103 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: eat animals. He kept many of them as pets too. Sure. 104 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: There were guinea pigs and frogs and ferrets, the usual 105 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,359 Speaker 1: fair that you might find in a child's bedroom or 106 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: kindergarten class, but he also kept hawks, owls, and a 107 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: pet hyena in his house. It seemed his eccentricities were 108 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: not limited to the dinner table or the classroom, But 109 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: eventually William's palette grew tired of even the most exotic 110 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: creatures he could get his teeth on. On a trip 111 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: to Italy in the early eighteen hundreds, he was touring 112 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 1: a local cathedral and asked about the wet floor. It 113 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: was slippery, but not from water. The priest told him 114 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,280 Speaker 1: about the blood spilled by saints that slashed beneath their feet. William, 115 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: skeptical of the priest story, dropped to the floor and 116 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,599 Speaker 1: lapped up some of the fluid, only to realize that 117 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: it hadn't been blood at all. It was bat yurine. However, 118 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: perhaps the most egregious act William Buckland ever performed came 119 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: during a visit to see British politician Lord Hardcourt. The 120 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: Lord was in possession of a locket that held within 121 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: it a small parcel of brown pummus, a stone by 122 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: the looks of it. One evening, the Hardcourts held a 123 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: dinner party for many important guests and put the piece 124 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: on display for all to admire. And eventually, perhaps while 125 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: they served assert and brandy, the locket was passed around 126 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: the table for everyone to admire. Each dinner guest took 127 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: turns opening it to gaze upon the hardened walnut size 128 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: remnant of King Louis the fourteen mummified heart. But William, 129 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: not one to let the attention drift away from himself, 130 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: didn't merely want to look at the piece of heart, ever, 131 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,679 Speaker 1: the showman, He announced to the group, I have eaten 132 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: many strange things, but I have never eaten the heart 133 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: of a king before, and then popped the little nugget 134 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: into his mouth. Believe it or not, the eccentric gourmand 135 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: wasn't immediately ostracized from high society. No one knows how 136 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: the hard courts handled their prized king's heart being devoured 137 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: like a common peanut. But William Buckland eventually went on 138 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: to great success in a claim as a scientist and 139 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: an educator. Upon his death in eighteen fifty six, he 140 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: was buried in Westminster Abbey, and his son Francis, continued 141 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: his father's legacy by also eating as many different animals 142 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:37,520 Speaker 1: as possible. He also tried becoming a full fledged scientist 143 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: just like his father, but decided a life spent traveling 144 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:43,599 Speaker 1: the world and writing about the animals he ate was 145 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,559 Speaker 1: much more fulfilling. William had been an academic, a man 146 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: of letters who enjoyed teaching and discussing his field of 147 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: study with his peers. His son, though it turns out 148 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: he just didn't have the stomach for it. I hope 149 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 150 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 151 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 152 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with How 153 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 154 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show. And 155 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the world 156 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: of lore dot com, and until next time, stay curious.