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 --> 00:00:11,480 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 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of curiosities. Evolution is nature's way of 5 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 1: upgrading biological hardware so animals can continue to thrive in 6 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: a changing environment. When swallows in Nebraska sauthern nests blown 7 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: off cliff faces during storms, they started building them on 8 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: highways and bridges instead. Unfortunately, passing cars and trucks would 9 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: flatten them before the birds had a chance to escape. 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: Nature's answer shorter wings. The cliff swallows wings eventually shrunk 11 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: by a few millimeters to make its liftoffs faster, allowing 12 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: it to escape imminent death from oncoming track think. African 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: elephants have also changed, but not due to cars. Poachers 14 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: have decimated the elephant populations in some areas in pursuit 15 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: of their tusks. Those tusks are used by the males 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: to fight off competition when looking for a mate. But 17 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: because the long tusked elephants have been hunted to near extinction, 18 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: short tusked elephants have prospered. How so they're passing down 19 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: their genes to their offspring, many of which will grow 20 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: up to not have tusks at all. A tuskless elephant 21 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: used to be an anomaly. Now they make up almost 22 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: half the elephant population in parts of Africa. Nature took 23 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: away what made them valuable to poachers, and I think 24 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: that's pretty darn cool. And then there's the common duck. 25 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: It flies, it floats, it eats bread in the park. 26 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: Female ducks have evolved to prevent let's just say, persistent 27 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: males from engaging in unwanted mating, but the males have 28 00:01:55,840 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: also evolved in unique ways. One particular duck in eighteenth 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: century France had advanced beyond all others to become a 30 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: big part of history, and it was all thanks to 31 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: a man named Jacques du Vocuson. Vocus On was one 32 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: of ten children born to an impoverished glovemaker. He had 33 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: wanted to become a clockmaker, but chose to pursue a 34 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: life within the church instead. It was only after an 35 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: encounter with French surgeon Claude Nicola Luquette that he rediscovered 36 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: his love of engineering and mechanics. Lecatte taught vocus In 37 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: about anatomy, which gave the aspiring clockmaker ideas about blending 38 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: the human body with the mechanical. For example, musicians were 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: known to be well trained experts in the art of 40 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: playing a particular instrument, but what if someone could play 41 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: music without ever having touched a violin or a guitar before. 42 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: In seventeen thirty seven, Vocusan got to work assembling bladders 43 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: to act as lungs that would blow air into a flute, 44 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: while gears and levers would move the players fingers over 45 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: the holes, creating the individual tones. There was a modern marvel, 46 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: but only a precursor to his next subject. The duck. 47 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: Focus On built an apparatus comprised of moving gears that 48 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: would allow a duct to bend its head down and 49 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: eat pellets, then digest those pellets into excrement. The duck 50 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: could also drink water, splash around with its bill, and 51 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: make a gurgling sound. You're probably wondering why Vocusan had 52 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: to get involved when the duck didn't do anything other 53 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: ducks couldn't already do, And that's because his duck only 54 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: looked like it was alive. In fact, neither the duck 55 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: nor the flute player had ever lived before they were automatons. 56 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 1: When it wasn't moving, the flute player looked like a 57 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,080 Speaker 1: well crafted marble statue, but as soon as Vocusan got 58 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: its gears turning, the statue took on an incredibly lifelike appearance. 59 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: Rumor had it that in order for its fingers to 60 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: properly cover the holes, they were covered in human skin, 61 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: but such claims have never been confirmed to be true. 62 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: The digesting duck, though, was even more realistic. Vocusan modeled 63 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: its movements on those of a real duck and worked 64 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: tirelessly to make it replicate actions like eating and digesting 65 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: as accurately as possible. When it ate a pellet, the 66 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: morsel would travel through the digestive system until it was 67 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: expelled as feces out the other end, just like a 68 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:23,919 Speaker 1: living creature. Vocus On created a third automaton, dubbed the 69 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: Tambourine Player, that was much like the flute player built previously, 70 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: but the duck seemed to be the real star of 71 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: the show. Focus On presented his creations to the French 72 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: Academy of Sciences as well as to the public in 73 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: seventeen thirty eight. Those who witnessed their movements and heard 74 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: their music were thrilled by such miraculous feats of mechanical engineering. Eventually, 75 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,159 Speaker 1: the machines made their way to various museums, but were 76 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: lost over time. The duck was presumed to have been 77 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: consumed by a fire at a museum and crack how 78 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: Poland in eighteen seventy nine. However, half a century later, 79 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: an employee at the Museum of Arts and Crafts in 80 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: Paris discovered photographs taken some time during the nineteen twenties 81 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: or thirties of a mechanical duck sitting on top of 82 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: a large gear filled box. Someone had written images of 83 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: Vocusan's duck received from Dresden on them, but their origin 84 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: was unknown. All we have left of the inventors three 85 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: creations are a set of questionable photographs, as well as 86 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,160 Speaker 1: illustrations from the nineteenth century of the machines assembled all 87 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: together on stage. One thing is certain, though Bocusan may 88 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 1: have figured out how to replicate a duck's movement, but 89 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: he couldn't give it a real digestive system. A magician 90 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty four managed to restore the digesting duck 91 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: to its former glory and discovered that the feces was 92 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: not comprised of digested pellets after all, it was made 93 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: of little pieces of bread dyed green that were then 94 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: dropped out of a separate compartment at the rear. Still, 95 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: despite his inability to create life from mechanical parts, Jacques 96 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: Duvocusan had managed to wile the world with the next 97 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: best thing, proving that he wasn't completely full of it, 98 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 1: even if his duck was. We have become quite the 99 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:28,559 Speaker 1: litigious society. Modern history is rife with frivolous lawsuits brought 100 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: on by people who thought they could exploit a legal 101 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:34,359 Speaker 1: loophole for a quick buck. Take Richard Harris, who in 102 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: sued Anheuser Bush for ten th dollars. His reason false advertising. 103 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: It seems that Harris didn't appreciate how the men and 104 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: beer commercials had success with beautiful women while he floundered 105 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: in the dating department while he drank. He also blamed 106 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: the company for getting him sick when drinking excessively. The 107 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: courts had no problem ruling on such an important legal case. 108 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: They tossed it out almost immediately. Another case of false 109 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: advertising hit the docket in twenty one year old John 110 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:10,480 Speaker 1: Leonard sued Pepsi over its bi Pepsi Gets Stuff campaign. Leonard, 111 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: like millions of others around the country, had watched an 112 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: ad that showed the kinds of products that could be 113 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: one if an individual earned enough points by buying Pepsi products. 114 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: A T shirt, for example, cost eight points earned by 115 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: drinking forty two liter bottles of Pepsi. However, among the 116 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: toys and clothes that the company was offering was something 117 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Speaker 1: that was never meant to be purchased, a Harrier jet. 118 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: It appeared at the end of the commercial as a 119 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: gag with a cost of seven million points. Pepsi had 120 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: never considered someone might actually earn that many points, nor 121 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: did they do the math on how much money seven 122 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: million points were worth. But John knew. He learned that 123 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: points could be purchased for ten cents apiece as long 124 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: as he had at least fifteen original points earned through 125 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: Pepsi cola. So he sent in a check for just 126 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: over seven hundred thousand dollars as well as his fifteen points, 127 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: and waited for his plane to be delivered. But Pepsi 128 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: refused to pay up. Leonard took them to court, arguing 129 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: that the company had committed fraud. A New York judge 130 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: felt differently, stating that no reasonable person could have assumed 131 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: that such an offer was realistic. The Pentagon also got involved, 132 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: explaining that their thirty four million dollar Fighter jet planes 133 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: could not be sold in flying shape to the public. 134 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: So John Leonard and his dreams of flying to class 135 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: were grounded for good. But Gerald Mayo of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 136 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,559 Speaker 1: didn't have a beef to settle with a big evil company. 137 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: His complaint veered more into the ethereal territory. He wanted 138 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 1: to sue evil itself. In nineteen seventy one, the twenty 139 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: two year old Mayo was an inmate at Pennsylvania's Western Penitentiary. 140 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: But it wasn't his fault, you see, according to the 141 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: claim he filed with the courts, it was Satan who 142 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: was responsible for his downfall. He alleged that Satan had 143 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: caused him misery and placed deliberate obstacles in his path 144 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: to eat him down. Therefore, it was the devil himself 145 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: who had and my quote, deprived him of his constitutional rights. 146 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,960 Speaker 1: But he didn't just slap a lawsuit on the prince 147 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: of Evil, but complaints included both Satan and his minions. 148 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: The court could have immediately thrown the case out on 149 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: the basis that you can't sue a spiritual being, but 150 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: Judge Gerald Weber took the complaints seriously. It was literally unprecedented, 151 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: as no one had ever formally sued the Devil before, 152 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: nor had Satan ever brought a case against anyone else. 153 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: It was possible. The judge argued that Satan could be 154 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: considered a foreign prince given his title and place of residence. 155 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: If he did appear, he could claim sovereign immunity and 156 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: therefore avoid all charges. That still wasn't enough to get 157 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: the case tossed out, though surprisingly, Mayo had fulfilled three 158 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: of the four requirements needed in order to file a 159 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: class action lawsuits. He was suing on behalf of a 160 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,079 Speaker 1: large enough population that individual suits would be impossible, His 161 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: claims could easily be applied to all other members of 162 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: the class, and there were questions of law and fact 163 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,439 Speaker 1: that were common to the class as a whole. There 164 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: were only two things holding Mayo back. First, the court 165 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: couldn't determine whether he was an adequate representative for the 166 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: class named in the complaint, and second, the U S. 167 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: Marshals had no way to serve Satan with notice of 168 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: the suit. For those two reasons alone, a claim was 169 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: denied from proceeding further. It seemed that the devil really 170 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: was in the details. Gerald Mayo just couldn't find him. 171 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 172 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 173 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 174 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 175 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 176 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 177 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over the world 178 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: of Lore dot Come and until next time, stay curious.