1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,279 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. The New York City skyline is iconic. It's 7 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: skyscrapers soaring over buildings of various sizes and time periods 8 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,560 Speaker 1: make the city both modern and timeless. For example, there's 9 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: the Gothic Revival style of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Neo 10 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: Gothic architecture of the Woolworth Building, and the more clinical 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: and angular style of the City Group Center, all of 12 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: which contribute to New York's eclectic and striking visual image. 13 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,759 Speaker 1: But one building stands above them all. Not literally, of course. 14 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: While it may have been the tallest building in this 15 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: city and the world at one time, it has been 16 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: surpassed by many others in the years since its completion. 17 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: Still a few structures are as recognizable or as renowned 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: as the Empire State Building, built between March of nineteen 19 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: thirty and May of the following year, the Art Deco 20 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 1: wonder rises to a towering fourteen hundred and fifty four feet. 21 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: It's impressive stature wouldn't be surpassed until the completion of 22 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: the World Trade Center in ninety The Empire State Building 23 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:38,279 Speaker 1: is located on Fifth Avenue between thirty third and thirty 24 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: fourth Streets in Manhattan, just down the road from the 25 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,559 Speaker 1: famous Macy's Department store. The American Society of Civil Engineers 26 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: listed the Empire State Building as one of the seven 27 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: Wonders of the Modern World. This is a designation shared 28 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: by such structures as the Golden gate Bridge and the 29 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: Panama Canal, and for good reason. It has one hundred 30 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: and two stories and was the first building anywhere to 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: cross the one hundred floor threshold. Of those one and 32 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 1: two floors, by the way, the first eight five are 33 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: home to various offices and commercial entities. Take the elevator 34 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: to the eighty six floor and you'll enter one of 35 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,919 Speaker 1: the buildings to observation decks, where you can look out 36 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: over the city, taking its breathtaking views, and watch yellow 37 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 1: cabs the size of ants drive up and down the street. 38 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,519 Speaker 1: The observatory today is surrounded by a giant metal fence 39 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: measuring eight feet high. Now. This fence was put in 40 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: after numerous individuals either attempted to jump or succeeded in 41 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: jumping from the eighty six floor to the street below. 42 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,239 Speaker 1: The number of attempted suicides from the top of the 43 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: Umpire State Building had been growing, and something had to 44 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,080 Speaker 1: be done to stop people from ending their lives this way, 45 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: people like el Vida Adams. It was nine and the 46 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: twenty nine year old Adams had been living in New 47 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: York for some time with her ten year old son. 48 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: She had recently lost her job and her only income 49 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: was her regular one dollar welfare checks. They weren't enough 50 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 1: to pay for her rent, her groceries, clothes, and everything 51 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: else that she and her son needed to get by. 52 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: With her landlord demanding the rent and nowhere else to turn, 53 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: Elvida fell into a deep depression. She traveled from her 54 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:16,959 Speaker 1: apartment to the Bronx all the way to the eighty 55 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: six floor of the Empire State Building in Midtown. The 56 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: fence had already been installed, and normally there would have 57 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: been several guards patrolling the observatory at that hour, but 58 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: somehow she had gotten past all of them and jumped 59 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: moments later, around eight fifteen pm, Elvida was discovered. Nobody screamed. 60 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: The sidewalk surrounding the building was clear. No throngs of 61 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: passers by had gathered around the place of impact because 62 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 1: there wasn't any. Elvida Adams hadn't reached the bottom somehow, 63 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: after she had jumped from the eighty six floor, she 64 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: landed twenty feet below onto a short ledge one floor down. 65 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: A guard named George Rees found her in severe pain 66 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: and called for an ambulance. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, 67 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: where doctors diagnosed her with a fractured pelvis. The police 68 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: thought that she might have been pushed off the observation 69 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: decade first, but Elvida was adamant that she had done 70 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: the jumping herself. No one else was involved. In a 71 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: later interview, she said that she had gone out there 72 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: to see the city lights. Compelled by their beauty, Alvida 73 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: had tried to touch them by climbing the fence. She 74 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: wound up on the eighty five floor instead. But how 75 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,479 Speaker 1: exactly did she survive? After all, jumping off the side 76 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,239 Speaker 1: of the Empire State Building should have guaranteed her death, 77 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: as it had so many times before her. According to 78 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: the authorities on the scene, it was the wind that 79 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: saved her. You see, gusts of wind at that height 80 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: could have reached over one miles per hour, strong enough 81 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: to blow her body back toward the building after she 82 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: had jumped. It just so happened that the wind had 83 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: carried her onto an open ledge, saving her life. Elvida 84 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,479 Speaker 1: supposedly went on to live into her seventies. Nobody really 85 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: knows for sure, though, because she led a very private 86 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: life in the aftermath of her fall. Rumor has it 87 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: that she went into stand up comedy sometime after the incident, though, 88 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: and that makes a bit of sense, after all, many 89 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: people use humor to get through the darkest moments of 90 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: their life. Although to be fair, what Elvida Adams experienced 91 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: that night back in nineteen seventy nine was no laughing matter. 92 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: So much of humanity's evolution is the result of cross 93 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: pollenization of knowledge and experiences from different cultures. Today's entertainment, 94 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: especially live theater, can trace its roots back to the 95 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: ancient Greek dramas. Costumes, the use of satire, and special 96 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: effects were all first witnessed in productions of Greek plays. 97 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: Prehistoric objects such as rocks and spears eventually became the 98 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: tools and weapons that we use today, like hammers and knives. Oftentimes, 99 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: cultures are subsumed or worse obliterated by colonization, and their 100 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: contributions are forgotten, even though those same contributions might be 101 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: used by the groups that take over. Still, in many cases, 102 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: time and exposure to other societies allow everyone to move ahead, 103 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 1: little by little, improving what came before. Except for the 104 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: Sentinelli Located in the Indian Ocean in the Bay of 105 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: Bengal is a series of islands. They're called the Andaman Islands, 106 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: and they have been inhabited for at least sixty thousand 107 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: years by different ethnic groups, including the Bamar, Jarrawa and 108 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,279 Speaker 1: the one. The native populations on several islands were all 109 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: but wiped out during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when 110 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: the British took them over and turned them into penal colonies. 111 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,359 Speaker 1: Many of these and Demonese were killed either for not 112 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: cooperating or they died from foreign diseases brought to the 113 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: islands by the British ships. But one indigenous tribe set 114 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: themselves apart from the rest due to how they chose 115 00:06:55,920 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: to live their lives in shorts. They rejected the arrival 116 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: of the English and everyone else violently. They're called the 117 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: Sentinellies or Sentinelli, and they live on the appropriately named 118 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: North Sentinel Island. Their homeland is only about twenty three 119 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: square miles in size and lush with tropical forests. Dive 120 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: into the waters off at shores and you'll be met 121 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: with miles of beautiful coral reefs below the waves. Unfortunately, 122 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,320 Speaker 1: it's almost impossible to know the exact population size of 123 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:28,559 Speaker 1: the Sentinelli due to their isolated nature. However, estimates placed 124 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: their numbers somewhere between fifty and two hundred people today. 125 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: A British research ship passing by first documented the islands 126 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: inhabitants in seventeen seventy one, but it would be another 127 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: one hundred years before anyone would set foot on its beaches. 128 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: An Indian merchant ship had run aground on a nearby reef, 129 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: and the one hundred six passengers and crew made it 130 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: to the island thanks to one of the lifeboats. They 131 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: remained there for just over two days until they were 132 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: attacked on the third. The captain made haste, rowing himself 133 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: away from danger in the only lifeboats and leaving everyone 134 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: else to be killed by the Sentinelli. After he was 135 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: rescued several days later, he described his attackers in great details, 136 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: saying the wild were completely undressed, he said, with short 137 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: hair and nose painted red, and their arrows had a 138 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: metal tip. It was believed that the native people had 139 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: salvaged metal from other ships that had crashed or sunk 140 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: in the waters off the coast. Thirty years later, an 141 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: Indian prisoner had been living in the Penal colony on 142 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: one of the other islands and managed to escape. He'd 143 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 1: built a makeshift raft and floated the fifty miles to 144 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: North Sentinel Island. Thinking that he had gotten away scott free, 145 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,400 Speaker 1: a recovery team found his body with arrows embedded all 146 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: over it. Several days later. Nobody set foot on North 147 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,079 Speaker 1: Sentinel Island again. After that, the Centineli did not adopt 148 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: any modern technology brought over by the British or the Indians. 149 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,719 Speaker 1: What scraps they did use were only meant to reinforce 150 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: their rudimentary weapons, such as bows and arrows and spears. 151 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: Some anthropologists believe that they still live the only true 152 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: paleo lifestyle on the planet to this day, and all 153 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: their food comes from the island, including fruits and vegetables 154 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: they picked themselves, as well as the fish and animals 155 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: they hunt. They don't grow anything deliberately. They merely eat 156 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: what freely grows on trees and in bushes around them. 157 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 1: No one outside the tribe is capable of speaking or 158 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: understanding their language either, and their manner of dress is limited. 159 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:30,520 Speaker 1: Men and women wear bark strings around their waists, but 160 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: are otherwise naked. And Indian anthropologist named Truluck Nath Pandit 161 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: landed on the island with a team of researchers on 162 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: a mission of peace. It was the first successful visit 163 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: to the Centinelli that didn't end in bloodshed. They welcomed Pandit, 164 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: accepted his gifts, and allowed him to interact with the 165 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: tribe unharmed. He was the only person to ever make 166 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: friendly contact with the reclusive tribe. Though the British didn't 167 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: believe that it could be done, but Pandit of them 168 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: wrong by showing them that great things could actually be 169 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 1: achieved when colonization wasn't the goal. I hope you've enjoyed 170 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 171 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 172 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 173 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 174 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 175 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 176 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 177 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Ye