1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: History is full of unpopular taxes. Some, like Britain's taxation 7 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: of colonial tea, were met with pushback or even revolution, 8 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: But a few taxes in history stand out for being 9 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: not just unpopular but downright strange, like a tax on 10 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: fireplaces in England during the Middle Ages, or one on 11 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: animal sacrifices in the time of the Roman Empire. Governments 12 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: have tried taxing everything from clocks to wallpaper and card games, 13 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: even newspapers and hats, but all of these pale in 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 1: comparison to a tax instituted by Czar Peter the Great 15 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: in the seventeenth century. The ruler stunned nobles and peasants 16 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: alike when he announced a new tax law that changed 17 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: the face of Russia forever, and I mean literally, because 18 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: Peter wasn't taxing a product. His target was beards. The 19 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: roots of the beard tax can be traced back to 20 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: sixteen ninety seven, when the twenty five year old Czar 21 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: embarked on a grand tour of Western Europe. The trip 22 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: was meant to be educational, a way for Peter to 23 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: learn about the culture, politics, and military prowess of his neighbors. 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,839 Speaker 1: For two whole years, he traveled the continent incognito, even 25 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: working as a day laborer in the dockyards of Britain's 26 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: Royal Navy. Peter quickly became enthralled with the culture of 27 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: Western Europe, which seemed infinitely more modern than his own country. 28 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: By the time he returned home in sixteen ninety eight, 29 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: he was convinced that Russia needed a serious makeover. First 30 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: thing on the chopping block men's facial hair. It seems 31 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: that those long beards that were common throughout Russia were 32 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: out of style in other countries. This was mostly practical too, 33 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: Like heavy coats, beards made more sense in a country 34 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: known for its brutal winters. But there was a religious 35 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: component too. The Russian Orthodox Church treated long beards as 36 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: a symbol of piety, and virtually all monks and priests 37 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: wore their facial hair untrimmed, but Peter didn't care. He 38 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: saw the beards as a symbol of the country's refusal 39 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: to modernize and decided that they had to go. At 40 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,839 Speaker 1: a party celebrating his return, he announced a nationwide ban 41 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: on beards. It was such a strange idea. At first, 42 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: people thought that the Tsar was joking, and that wouldn't 43 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 1: have been surprising. Peter the Great was a notorious jokester, 44 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,800 Speaker 1: known for throwing destructive feasts and parties. He kept a 45 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: close group of friends who called themselves the All Justting 46 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: and all Drunken Synod of Fools and Gestures. Heavily drinking 47 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: and participating in pranks was literally a requirement for being 48 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: in the club, and one of the main targets for 49 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: their jokes was the Orthodox Church. At times, they would 50 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,639 Speaker 1: even dress up as bishops and perform mock marriage ceremonies 51 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: to make fun of the clergy. So, knowing all of 52 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: that context, the beard tax probably seemed like yet another 53 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: joke aimed at riling up the church, but the Czar 54 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: was deadly serious. This time. He demanded that his noble 55 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: friends shave on the spot or have their beards ripped 56 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: out by the roots. Then he had the police to 57 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: hunt through the streets and perform forced shavings of the public. 58 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: Individuals who wanted to keep their facial hair could do 59 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: so as long as they paid a fee. Nobles were 60 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: charged more than peasants, but everyone who paid received a 61 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: token with the image of a beard engraved on it. 62 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: By showing it to the police, Russians could avoid being 63 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: shaved in the streets so long as they didn't forget 64 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: their token at home, and the Russian people, as you 65 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 1: might imagine, were appalled. Forced shavings felt like an affront 66 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: to their faith and their culture. A few years after 67 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: the tax was instituted, it sparked a bloody uprising. A 68 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: group of soldiers published a letter stating that they refused 69 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: to submit to foreign fashion. Hundreds of commoners and merchants 70 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: joined them, and they took over several towns. Peter responded 71 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 1: by sending two detachments of troops to crush the revolt. 72 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: Approximately three hundred and sixty five rebels were caught and 73 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: taken to Moscow, where they were tried, tortured, and executed. 74 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: And you have to say, anyone who wondered whether the 75 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: Tsar was serious now had their answer. Despite being wildly unpopular, 76 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: the Russian beard tax remained in place for decades, long 77 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: after Peter's death. It was finally repealed in seventeen seventy 78 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:50,039 Speaker 1: two by Catherine the Great. Modern historians might find it 79 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: ironic that a female ruler gave Russian men their beards back, 80 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: but the people didn't care. They were just happy to 81 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: have one less tax to pay. So much of our 82 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 1: history is hidden, buried under layers of dirt and silt. 83 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: It's just sitting there, waiting to be dug up, like 84 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: a toy in a sandbox. Thanks to hundreds of years 85 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: of excavation and study, we've been able to learn about 86 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: and understand the creatures and civilizations that came before us, 87 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: From dinosaurs and ancient burial practices to magnificent structures and 88 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: old tools. We know a lot more about our world 89 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: than we used to. But every once in a while 90 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: we unearthed something that defies explanation. It forces us to 91 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: confront the limits of our understanding. In eighteen thirty two, 92 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: in a town in Massachusetts, about fifty miles south of Boston, 93 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: a young woman named Hannah Cook had been digging in 94 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: a nearby sandbank. She was collecting sand for cleaning purposes, 95 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,039 Speaker 1: as it worked wonders as a scouring agent. But she 96 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: found much more than just some natural cleaning products. She 97 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: stumbled upon something big. It had been buried in the 98 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: sand for a long time. It was a human skeleton. 99 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: There was something strange about it. For one, the skeleton 100 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: had been discovered sitting down with its legs tucked under 101 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: its chin. But the other notable thing about it was 102 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: how it was dressed. According to a report written by 103 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 1: doctor Phineas W. Leland in eighteen forty three and I quote, 104 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: covering the sternum was a triangular plate of brass, somewhat 105 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: corroded by time, and around the body was a broad 106 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: belt made of small brass tubes four or five inches 107 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: in length. As for the body itself, an Illinois lawyer 108 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty seven noted how the skull had deteriorated, 109 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: but the teeth were mostly intact. They indicated the body 110 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 1: had been that of a young man. There was still 111 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: even a little bit of skin in certain places, like 112 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,680 Speaker 1: around the shoulders and on the back. This lawyer suggested 113 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: that the body might have been embalmed to some degree, 114 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: but the question remained, who did this skeleton belong to. 115 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: Could it have been a member of an indigenous tribe 116 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: from the area. A historian in the late eighteen hundreds 117 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: claimed that the body had been buried according to wamp 118 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: and Noah customs, so it was possible. Others argue that 119 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: the remains had been those of a Phoenician, or an 120 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: ancient Egyptian or a Carthaginian who had come to North 121 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: America many centuries earlier. By the way, this theory was 122 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: thrown around a lot at the time to explain how 123 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: the pre Columbian city of Chichenitza was built by other 124 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: cultures who had come and colonized the Americas. But that 125 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: theory didn't hold weight either. After all, we know the 126 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: Mayans built Chichenitza. And of course, it was even suggested 127 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: that the whole thing had been a hoax, although no 128 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: motive or culprit was ever determined. Eventually, the skeleton was 129 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: sent to the Fall River Athenaeum for further study, and 130 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: that's where it was observed by one man, in particular, 131 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The poets and author thought that maybe 132 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: the remains were Norse, meaning they had belong to a Viking. 133 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: He wrote a poem titled The Skeleton in Armour, which 134 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: told the story of a Viking warrior who sailed to 135 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: a new land with his bride and built a life 136 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: with her until her untimely death. The poem was published 137 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty one, two years before a tragic accident 138 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: that would change the fate of the actual skeleton forever. 139 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: You see, in eighteen forty three, two young boys had 140 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: been firing a small cannon when they ignited a fire. 141 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: That fire grew into an uncontrollable blaze that destroyed twenty 142 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 1: acres of Fall River. Numerous buildings were lost in the inferno, 143 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: including the post office, two hundred family homes, and the Athenaeum. 144 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: The skeleton was consumed by the fire. Then, six decades later, 145 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh three, the corner of Hartwell and Fifth 146 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: Street was honored with a bronze plaque. It read, a 147 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: skeleton in armor was found near this spot by Hannah 148 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: Cook in the month of May a d Eighteen thirty one. 149 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: Hannah probably appreciated being remembered for her discovery rather than 150 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: what came after it. You see, in eighteen ninety two, 151 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: her great niece was tried and acquitted for a horrible crime. 152 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: She had allegedly murdered her parents, and that girl's name Lizzie, 153 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:22,600 Speaker 1: Lizzie Borden. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 154 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 155 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 156 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 157 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 158 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,559 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 159 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 160 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: over at the Worldolore dot com. And until next time, 161 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: stay curious.