1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,159 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: It was a clear spring day in eighteen seventy six, 7 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: and Missus Crouch was outside in the front yard of 8 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,239 Speaker 1: her home making soap. She took a gray scoop of 9 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: lye from the barrel to her right and added it 10 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: to the kettle over a fire in front of her, 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: And then she reached over to her left and cut 12 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: off a big white piece of hog fat from the 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: block she had placed there. She then added this to 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: the kettle as well, and then started to stir. And 15 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: as she watched the solution boil, she thought that it 16 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: looked like it could use a bit more animal fat. 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 1: She reached her hand back over to the table, but 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: was shocked when a mysterious red, gelatinous substance suddenly splattered 19 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:15,960 Speaker 1: against the top of her hand, staining the white animal 20 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: fat beneath. Now, at first she thought that she might 21 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: have been injured somehow, or that someone, maybe her husband, 22 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: was throwing some sort of food at her. When she 23 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: looked around, though, there was nobody in sight. But what 24 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: she did see made her stomach churn more. Red globs 25 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: of mysterious substance were falling all over her yard. They 26 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: smacked against the fence, the porch, and the roof with 27 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: a sickening squelch. And they weren't being thrown, No, they 28 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: were falling from the sky. Now I have to pause 29 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: for a moment, for just a little bit of housekeeping. 30 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: In a turn that was sadly really typical for her era, 31 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: missus Crouch's first name was never recorded, so just for today, 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: for this story, to lend her a bit more humanity, 33 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: let's call her Margaret. It was a very common name 34 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: at the time, and if her husband can have a 35 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: first name, well then so can she. Right, So back 36 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: to the strange shower. It only lasted a few seconds 37 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: and it was over before Margaret could even think to 38 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: run inside. As soon as the red globs stopped falling, though, 39 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: she called out for her husband Alan, because honey, he 40 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: was not going to believe this, But the red globs 41 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,399 Speaker 1: were too many and too large, about two to four 42 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: inches across to ignore. Alan called up some of his friends, 43 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: and soon enough there were several people from town in 44 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: their yard trying to identify the mysterious substance. Most people 45 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: thought that it looked like red meat. In fact, two 46 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: young men there were brave enough to even eat some 47 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: of it, and they said that it tasted a bit 48 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: like venison. Of course, Margaret and Alan weren't about to 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: go that far. Instead, they preserve some of the substance 50 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: in a jar, and they sent it off to a 51 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: man named Leopold brandeis Now his credentials are lost to time, 52 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: but it seems that he was somehow a member of 53 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: the scientific community. He analyzed the substance, which at this 54 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 1: point had turned a dark color, and put forth the 55 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: explanation that it was nostoc, a type of bacteria that 56 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,359 Speaker 1: blooms when it rains. The only problem with this explanation 57 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: is that it hadn't been raining at the time of 58 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: the event. The stuff literally was raining down by itself. 59 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,679 Speaker 1: It was also reddish when it first fell before drying out. 60 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: Gnostic is always a dark green, and it doesn't fall 61 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: from the sky. Although that was a common misconception in 62 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: ancient times. Basically, Leopold Brandeis was providing an easy explanation 63 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: from an unrelated phenomenon, but he still did play an 64 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: important role in the story because he sent samples of 65 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: the substance to two different histologists, which is a type 66 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: of doctor that studies tissue. According to them, the samples 67 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: were definitely animal remains. However, the odd thing was that 68 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: the different samples appeared to be from different animals and 69 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: different body parts. There was lung tissue, cartilage, muscle, fiber. 70 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: Some was probably from a horse, but it was hard 71 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: to tell. But that was enough for one of the 72 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: doctors to reach a different conclusion. He believed the substance 73 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: was partially digested meat regurgitated from an animal's stomach, and 74 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: since it had come from the sky, his theory was 75 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: that it had been regurgitated by a vulture. Now, for 76 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: those of you who love weird niche facts that are 77 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: fun to bring out at parties, this one is a 78 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: doozy is he. Vultures are known to spit up their 79 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: food when they're startled or when they need to become 80 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: lighter for flight. They're also sympathetic vomitters, meaning that if 81 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: the group sees one vomit, the others will follow suit. 82 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 1: Looking back, it seems that Margaret simply got really lucky 83 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: that day out in the yard. There was apparently a 84 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: group of vultures flying overhead, and they all sympathetically vomited 85 00:04:43,839 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: on her after eating a big meal of dead horse. 86 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,919 Speaker 1: And yes, that also means that those two neighbors of 87 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: hers sampled vulture vomit. Today the event is known as 88 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: the Kentucky meat Shower, quite possibly the single most descriptively 89 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: gross title in all of history, all because a few 90 00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: vultures happened to lose their lunch. I guess what they 91 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: say is true. What goes up must come down in 92 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 1: more ways than one. It was November twenty second of 93 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: seventeen eighteen on an island off the coast of North Carolina. 94 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:33,799 Speaker 1: The sounds of cannon and musket fire filled the air. 95 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: Within a small inlet, a pirate ship called the Adventure 96 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: was beset by a pair of Royal Navy sloops. The 97 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: skirmish that followed would be one of the most iconic 98 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: and pirate history. The captain of the Adventure, a guy 99 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: named Edward Teach was slain on deck along with around 100 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,760 Speaker 1: a dozen of his men. Now, those that were not 101 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: killed during the fight would stand trial for piracy. Their leader, 102 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: who went by the name Blackbeard, was infamous for taking parts, 103 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: would be steep among the men put on trial with 104 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: someone whose existence still frustrates historians to this day, a 105 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: sailor of African descent who went by the name Caesar. 106 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: According to Captain Charles Johnson's book A General History of 107 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: the Pirates, Caesar was left in the hold by Teach 108 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: during the fighting, and he was given a match and 109 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,839 Speaker 1: told to ignite the ship's gunpowder stores if they lost 110 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: the battle. Prisoners kept nearby in the Adventures brig implored 111 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: Caesar to stay his hand, and so he did. It 112 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: seems that Caesar was not the sort of man who 113 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: threw his life away on the orders of his captain. 114 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: No matter how fearsome Blackbeard might have been, he was 115 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: a legend in his own right, one that would be 116 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:48,359 Speaker 1: memorialized in Florida folklore centuries after his death. He was 117 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: known by the moniker Black Caesar, and it said that 118 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: he left a vast trove of silver in the area 119 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: that is now Biscayne National Park. One of the rivers, 120 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: Caesar Creek, was named for him, as was Caesar Rock 121 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: and imposing boulder at the end of the creek. According 122 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: to history, Caesar was once a chiefs in back in Africa. 123 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: Like many of his family, he found himself captured by 124 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: slave traders during the voyage across the Atlantic. However, his 125 00:07:14,720 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 1: ship was struck by a storm off the coast of Florida, 126 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: which provided Caesar the opportunity to escape on a longboat. 127 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: He and one other man were the only survivors. Using 128 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: weapons they'd taken from the ship, the two men started 129 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: a career of piracy. They would pretend to be shipwrecked 130 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: sailors and then break out their muskets and cutlasses when 131 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: a ship attempted to rescue them. Carried out in this 132 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: small Florida channel, it was less like the daring scenes 133 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: that we might imagine in pirate fiction and more like 134 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: basic highway robbery. Over the many years, their wealth began 135 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: to grow, and so too did their ambitions. More men 136 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: joined their enterprise and their ship became a bigger one. 137 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,720 Speaker 1: In turn, Caesar and his original partner in piracy would 138 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: have a falling out some years later, leaving Caesar to 139 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: go to a lie for many years to come. But 140 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: if Florida lore is to be believed, he did very 141 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: well by himself. He had a whole island as well, 142 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: where he eventually buried his treasure. So how did such 143 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: an enterprising, successful pirate wind up in the bottom of 144 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: Edward Teach's hold in seventeen eighteen. Well, that's the thing 145 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,840 Speaker 1: that Vex's historians. It's very likely that he didn't. There 146 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: is no historical evidence to corroborate the existence of Black 147 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: Caesar as a fearsome solo pirate who had escaped enslavement. 148 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: The man who joined Blackbeard's crew was most likely a 149 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: slave himself whose enslaver happened to join up with Teacher's 150 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: crew out of curiosity. He was in the wrong place 151 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: at the wrong time. Fortunately, by the time the rest 152 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: of Blackbeard's crew was sentenced to hang, this man, whatever 153 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: his real name was, was acquitted of piracy. He subsequently 154 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: vanishes from the historical record, and the name Black Caesar 155 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: would then later appear in early twentieth century as the 156 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: hero of a pirate novel. Trust spots in Florida began 157 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: spreading the legend, and soon it overtook the lack of facts. 158 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: The Golden Age of piracy was in some ways a 159 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: reflection of how we want to see history. Most of 160 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: the men who became household names led extremely short careers 161 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: and died in disgrace. It would take centuries for brief 162 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: criminal conspiracies to turn into the stuff of legend. Black Caesar, 163 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: even if he did or did not exist, represents an 164 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: aspirational view of this period of time. Many African men 165 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: could not go home after they'd been taken by enslavers, 166 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 1: and thus had to find the best circumstances they could. 167 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: Service on a pirate ship meant that they could vote, 168 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: had an equal share of treasure and a certain degree 169 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: of protection in the form of a common enemy. Sadly, 170 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: most of these men's names are lost to time. But 171 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: if history leaves us gaps, it's the role of folklore 172 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: to fill those in. It's a common human impulse yearning 173 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,680 Speaker 1: for underdog stories that we can root for, swashbuck tales 174 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: that ignites our imaginations and remind us that empires do 175 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: not rule our hearts, even when they control the Seven Seas. 176 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 177 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: of Curiosities, subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 178 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 179 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 180 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 181 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 182 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 183 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.