1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of curiosities. Mankind's fear of the other 5 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,639 Speaker 1: is dangerous. It has led to colonization and destruction, as 6 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: well as the erasure of entire cultures, all because differences 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: were perceived as threats. A people that looks different or 8 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: lives outside with the dominant culture deems as acceptable is 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: suddenly put on the defense. For example, Thanksgiving as taught 10 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: as a unity story between two different groups coming together 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: to celebrate the harvest. In reality, the Wampanoag tribe didn't 12 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: trust the Puritans, who had come ready to negotiate at 13 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: a protection treaty with the native people, in essence a 14 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: contract of mutually assured destruction. After all, the Puritans hadn't 15 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: left England just for religious freedom. They had also wanted 16 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: to establish a theocracy, and if the Wampanoag had gotten 17 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: in the way, they would have been removed through violence 18 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: by the Europeans. Hundreds of years later, another local population 19 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: would also come under fire, just not how they expected. 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: In eighteen fifty five, a rash of robberies and kidnappings 21 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: across the Midwest were being reported by the Choctaw tribe. 22 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: What had started out with the disappearance of livestock and 23 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: crops quickly turned darker as children started going missing. The 24 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: tribe organized a search party, led by a group of 25 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: seven foot tall warriors known as the Light Horsemen, who 26 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: ventured into the wilderness. They rode for hours, armed with 27 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: rifles and side arms, in the dead of summer, the 28 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: sun beating across their backs before they decided to stop 29 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: near a river and rest. After a quick meal to 30 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: refuel and recharge, they set back out for another long 31 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: journey through the woods. They were determined to find the criminals, 32 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: one way or another, and they would not return home 33 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: until justice had been served. Almost an entire day of 34 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: NonStop riding passed before something was spotted in the distance. 35 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: The leader of the party, a half Choctaw half French 36 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: general named Joshua la Fleur, told the men to stop 37 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: and wait. He pulled out the telescope he kept at 38 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: his side for a closer look. The horses moved around 39 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: in place, agitated by something no one else could see. 40 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: La Fleur spotted movement ahead. It must be them, he thought. 41 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: The Bandits had been known to hang around this area, 42 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: and now the time had come for the general and 43 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: his gang to exact their vengeance. They charged forward, their horses, 44 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: pounding the grass with their strong hoofs, while the men 45 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: shouted their arrival. And then it hit them, not a weapon, 46 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: nor a bullet, but an odor, powerful and nauseating, unlike 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,679 Speaker 1: anything they had ever smelled in their lives. The horses 48 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,519 Speaker 1: bucked and whinnied and protest Some of the men fell 49 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 1: to the ground, gasping for air, some sort of reprieve 50 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: from the stench. After a few minutes of frenzied coughing, 51 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 1: the men looked ahead to a clearing where they saw 52 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: the cause of the wretched smell. It was a mound 53 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: of dirt and mud, overflowing with human remains. The decay 54 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: had drawn out swarms of flies that hovered around like 55 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,639 Speaker 1: black clouds. Behind the mountain of death at the edge 56 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 1: of the woods across the clearing were three figures, the 57 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: Bandits themselves. The floor and his men gathered their horses 58 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: and pressed onward, holding their noses as best they could. 59 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 1: It was now or never, they thought, but the figures 60 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: refused to move, refused to run away from the fight, 61 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: and the Choctaw warriors, who rushed toward them with their 62 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: weapons drawn the floor got to them first, with a 63 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: saber and pistol held out in front of him. He 64 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: never saw it coming. His horse fell to the ground dead, 65 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: and the general rolled several feet away. He got a 66 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: better look at the bandits, who now appeared to be 67 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: as big as him, if not bigger, and covered in hair. 68 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: He fired on the one that had brought down his horse. 69 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: The bullets disappeared into his mat of fur, but didn't 70 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: stop it. It only angered it. The creature reached out 71 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 1: towards the floor, grabbed him by his head, and well, 72 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: that was the end of the general. The other men 73 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,799 Speaker 1: watched it happen and drew their rifles. They also fired 74 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: into the three bandits who had mass sacred the people 75 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: of their tribe, managing to bring down two of them. 76 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: The third tried to escape into the woods, limping away, 77 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,279 Speaker 1: but the soldiers wouldn't have it. What these men, these beasts, 78 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: had done, was unthinkable, and there was no way they 79 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,599 Speaker 1: were going to be allowed to do it again. One 80 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 1: of the warriors tackled the remaining bandits knife in hand, 81 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 1: and finished the job. When the dust had settled, the 82 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: survive members of the search party examined the bodies of 83 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: their attackers closely. They had stood upright like men. They'd 84 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: moved like men. But they've been stronger, bigger, harrier than 85 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: any men they'd set their eyes upon before. They were enormous, 86 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: hulking brutes who bore only a passing resemblance to actual 87 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,479 Speaker 1: human beings. Their bodies were brought back to the tribe 88 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: and burned, while the deceased Choctaw were given proper burials. 89 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,080 Speaker 1: The survivors waited for a reprisal from other members of 90 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: the beast's own tribe, but it never came. Instead, what 91 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: had transpired has gone down in history as the only 92 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,480 Speaker 1: battle on record of the human Bigfoot War of eighteen 93 00:05:44,560 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: fifty five. Desperation can be quite a motivator. In the 94 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: original Thousand and one Nights, a king finds out his 95 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: wife has been unfaithful and has her killed. He then 96 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: marries a series of women and orders the same fate 97 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: the morning after their wedding nights, so that they never 98 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: get a chance to commit the same infidelity. Once there 99 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 1: are no more women left in the kingdom. His adviser's daughter, Shaherazade, 100 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: volunteers to become his next bride. The advisor is hesitant, 101 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: but allows her to sacrifice herself. On their wedding night, 102 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:30,919 Speaker 1: she begins to tell a story to the king, but 103 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: she doesn't finish it. He refuses to kill Shahrazade until 104 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,280 Speaker 1: she can complete the story, which she does the following night. 105 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,720 Speaker 1: As soon as she's done, however, she begins another tale, 106 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: and the cycle starts over. And it's her desperation to 107 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: stay alive that gives birth to a collection of stories 108 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,360 Speaker 1: that have influenced cultures and literature all over the world. 109 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: Her desperation didn't just allow her to keep her head, 110 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: it gave her security. She became too important to discard, 111 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: much like a young Italian scientist in Scotland around. His 112 00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: name was John Damien, and he arrived promising great, big 113 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 1: things to King James, the fourth King. James allowed Damien 114 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: to set up a laboratory inside Sterling Castle in order 115 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: to carry out his experiments under a watchful eye. The 116 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: king was in search of something important, something that had 117 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: eluded rulers and explorers for thousands of years. Every culture 118 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: had a different name for it, the elixir of life, 119 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: the elixir of immortality, and occasionally the Philosopher's Stone, and yes, 120 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: for fans of a certain boy wizard, it's that Philosopher's stone. 121 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: The king gave Damien everything he needed, money, time, resources, 122 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: all in the pursuit of a substance that would not 123 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: only bring eternal life, but turn any other material into gold. 124 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: And Damien certainly took advantage of his benefactor's generosity. Records 125 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: from the time denote the purchases of all sorts of 126 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: scientific equipment, including cauldron's, glass, flasks, and other materials. He 127 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: spared no expense and bought whatever he needed whenever he 128 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: needed it, including copious amounts of whiskey. Like many rulers 129 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: throughout history, King James sought to control and maintain his 130 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: wealth by any means necessary. This often involved research into 131 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: the supernatural when realistic solutions proved too time consuming or unsuccessful. Unfortunately, 132 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,320 Speaker 1: after about seven years, it didn't look like Damien was 133 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: any closer to eternal youth than when he started. Instead, 134 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: he turned his eyes towards the heavens. Specifically, he wanted 135 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: to get as close to them as possible, dreams of 136 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: wealth and immortality were set aside as. The alchemist became 137 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,199 Speaker 1: obsessed with making man fly. He watched birds, how their 138 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: wings caught the wind and propelled themselves up higher and higher, 139 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 1: how they could glide on a current of air for 140 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: seconds before needing to flap it end. Damien studied the 141 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: mechanics until he thought he'd figured it out. He began 142 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: designing wings for himself based on his observations, even going 143 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: so far as to include feathers in the final product. 144 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: To that end, he ordered eagle feathers, but could only 145 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: get hen feathers at the time. No matter, feathers were 146 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: feathers right, and these would have to do. There was 147 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:26,199 Speaker 1: only one problem. Damien worked alone. He had no one 148 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: to test his theory or his new fangled contraption, which 149 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: left only one other possibility. He'd have to test it himself. 150 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: So at the end of September in seven, he strapped 151 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: his feathered wings to his back and climbed to the 152 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 1: top of Sterling Castle, and then he jumped Onlookers applauded 153 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: as Damien took to the skies. He was a man 154 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: of conviction who bravely tested his scientific advancements on himself 155 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: when no one else would. If only his conviction was 156 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: enough to keep him airborne. You see, Gluing feathers together 157 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: and flapping his arms didn't have the intended effect. He 158 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: felt like a stone just after takeoff. He managed to survive, though, 159 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,160 Speaker 1: thanks to a well placed pile of dung waiting below. 160 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: A bruised and smelly Damien blamed his failure on his 161 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: choice of feathers, claiming hen's feathers were more attracted to 162 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: the ground than eagles feathers would have been. That didn't 163 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: sound very scientific, though, perhaps he should have sought some 164 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 1: advice from a good friend of his back in Italy, 165 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: who had also been sketching plans for his own flying machines. Together, 166 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,679 Speaker 1: they might have had more success, or at least brought 167 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: more of their drawings to life. That friend, by the way, 168 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:48,280 Speaker 1: was none other than Leonardo da Vinci. I hope you've 169 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,319 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 170 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 171 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 172 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,680 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how stuff works. 173 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 174 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show and you can 175 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the world of Lore 176 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.