1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke'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 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: Humans are social creatures. Ever since our ancestors first walked 7 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: on two legs, we've depended on each other to survive. 8 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: Not only that, but to thrive. We need people to 9 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: talk to, to relate to, to share our thoughts and 10 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: emotions with. Life is already hard enough. We don't want 11 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: to go it alone. Sometimes, though we don't have a choice, 12 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: we could be forced to venture out on our her own, 13 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: or we might be cast out of society, or sometimes, 14 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: like in the case of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas, 15 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: we are left behind. In the summer of eighteen fifty three, 16 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: hunter George Nidiver landed on the tiny windswept island of 17 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: San Nicholas, off the coast of southern California. He had 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: come to the island on a mission to finally find 19 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 1: the woman rumored to live there before long, they came 20 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: upon a small hut where two dogs growled at the intruders. 21 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: Sitting in the yard by a small cook fire was 22 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: a figure in a dark cloak. As she rose to 23 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: her feet to greet them, nidover realized that it was 24 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: a woman wearing a dress made from cormorant feathers, and 25 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: they were the first humans to interact with her in 26 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: nearly eighteen years. The Lone Woman of San Nicholas did 27 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: not begin her life in isolation. When she was born 28 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: in the early eighteen hundreds, she was a member of 29 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: the Nicolana. They were an indigenous group of about three 30 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: hundred people who had lived on the island for thousands 31 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: of years. Shortly after the Lone Woman's birth, their way 32 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: of life came to a violent end. In eighteen eleven, 33 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: a ship full of Russian and Native Alaskan seal hunters 34 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: landed on the island in search of first to trade. 35 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: A conflict broke out, and the Alaskans and Russians massacred 36 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: most of the Nicolinea men on the island. After they left, 37 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: the population dwindled until in eighteen thirty five, there were 38 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: only seven people left. That November, the missionaries in Santa 39 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: Barbara on the mainland sent a ship for the remaining Nicolinya's. 40 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: It might have been a humanitarian mission, seeing them struggling 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: after the massacre. It may also have been to claim 42 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: more converts for the Catholic Church and with that more 43 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: workers to labor at the mission. The sailors rounded up 44 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: six of the Nicolineas, but grew nervous when a storm 45 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: started to brew, so they cast off, leaving the seventh person, 46 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: a young woman, behind. It's hard to say what happened 47 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 1: to the woman during the next eighteen years, because when 48 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: she was finally contacted by night of her in eighteen 49 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: fifty three, she wasn't able to communicate. The only other 50 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: people who spoke her language, the other six Nicolanos had 51 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: either moved to Los Angeles or passed away. She could speak, 52 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: but no one could understand her. What we do know 53 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: about her is that she adapted well to solo life. 54 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: She hunted seals and seabirds, fished in the sea, and 55 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: foraged for roots on the island. She carved stone fish hooks, 56 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: woven fiber baskets, and even braided ropes of animal sinew. 57 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: Perhaps the hardest part of survival for her, though, was 58 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: the loneliness. She trained two wild dogs as pets, who 59 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: undoubtedly kept her company over the long years. Still it 60 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: must have been hard. San Nicholas was not a remote island. 61 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: On a clear day, she could likely see the other 62 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: nearby islands, even the mainland, but she couldn't reach them. 63 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: Night of HER's expedition spent several weeks on the island, 64 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: and the Lonely Woman grew to like them. It seemed 65 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: that even for her, the loneliness was getting to be 66 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: too much, so when Night of Her and his crew 67 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: set sail for Santa Barbara, she came with them. Just 68 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: weeks after leaving her island, The Lonely Woman contracted dysentery 69 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: while living on Santa Barbara. Shortly before death, the missionaries 70 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: baptized Herjuana Maria. Due to the language barrier, no one 71 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: ever learned her real name. Over the years, the story 72 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,119 Speaker 1: of the Lone Woman inspired many, including Scott O'Dell, author 73 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: of the nineteen sixty novel The Island of the Blue Dolphins. 74 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: In recent years, however, a surprising twist has appeared in 75 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: her take. It seems that she was not alone. According 76 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: to new contemporaneous accounts unearthed by researchers, she may have 77 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: had a reason to stay behind. In eighteen thirty five, 78 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: a baby boy the lone woman allegedly remained on the 79 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,119 Speaker 1: island to care for her son, and the two lived 80 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: together for years until the teenage boy was killed by 81 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: a shark attack. This is probably the reason why, after 82 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: years of hiding from visitors to Sant Nicholas, she finally 83 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: decided to come to Santa Barbara. For eighteen years, the 84 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: a woman and her son may have been alone, they 85 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: were never lonely. The fall of nineteen forty is often 86 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: remembered as the darkest hour of World War two. France 87 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: had just surrendered to the Nazis, the Allied forces had 88 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:31,799 Speaker 1: evacuated from Dunkirk, and England stood alone as the only 89 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: major power facing Germany and Italy. In this moment of desperation, 90 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: when victory seemed impossible, some British intelligence officers looked to 91 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: the stars for hope, or at least, they turned to 92 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: a man who claimed to be able to read them. 93 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: His name was Lewis de Wall, a German born author 94 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 1: of Hungarian and Jewish descent who had fled to London 95 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: before the start of the war. After struggling for years 96 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: as a novelist and screenwriter, he found success as a 97 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: high society astrologer, performing private horoscope readings for wealthy clients. 98 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: His career really took off when he published a book 99 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: containing Hitler's horoscope. By analyzing the fearers star sign Taurus 100 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: with Libra Rising, he concluded that Hitler's success was all 101 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: thanks to the positions of heavenly bodies, especially Saturn and Jupiter. 102 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: Fortunately for the Allies, the stars foretold that Hitler's luck 103 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: was about to run out. The book sold like hotcakes 104 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: and eventually got the attention of mi I five, Britain's 105 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: domestic intelligence agency. They saw Dewall's work as a powerful 106 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: propaganda tool, which would be made even more effective by 107 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: bringing him on in an official capacity. Besides, it was 108 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,359 Speaker 1: already widely believed that Hitler took advice from a team 109 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: of astrologers. Wasn't at high time that the Allies had 110 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: their own stargazer. Churchill decided that it was at least 111 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: worth a shot. Dewall was given a paycheck and an 112 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: office which he the Psychological Research Bureau. He took to 113 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: the role with Gusto strutting about London in his new 114 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: military uniform while continuing to published astrology essays that predicted 115 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: Germany's collapse. At least at first, that's all the intelligence 116 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: agencies wanted from him. They saw astrology as a way 117 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: of distracting the populace from the grim monotony of war, 118 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: and by encouraging Dwall to continue predicting Hitler's demise, they 119 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: could help him keep the nation's spirits up. But Dwall 120 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: wanted to be more than just a propaganda tool. He 121 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: badgered his handlers with suggestions, promising that he could help 122 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: them by predicting Hitler's next attack or by telling them 123 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: when they should attack, to catch Hitler at his most fearful, 124 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: and some of his superiors were eager to take him 125 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: up on the offer. As the director of Naval Intelligence argued, 126 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: you didn't have to believe in astrology to use it 127 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: against Germany. If Hitler was making decisions based on the 128 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: movements of stars and planets, then someone with Dewall knowledge 129 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: could get inside his head. But there was one major 130 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: flaw in this thinking. Hitler had already lost faith in 131 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: astrology after a falling out with a Cabinet member who 132 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: had supported its use. In nineteen forty one, he ordered 133 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 1: a purge of astrologers, occultists, and faith healers. His top 134 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: astrologer was arrested and sent to a concentration camp, dying 135 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: from the poor conditions before he even got there. As 136 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: a result, Duwal had very little useful insight into Hitler's mindset. 137 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: Few of his predictions panned out, and British intelligence quickly 138 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: lost faith in his value as a seer. MI five 139 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: documents reveal that he was internally viewed as a huckster 140 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: and a charlatan, possibly even a Nazi plant. To get 141 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: him out of their hair, they sent him on a 142 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: tour of the United States, where he gave a series 143 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: of presentations predicting Germany's defeat. It was far from the 144 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: impressive role Duwall wanted, but he did end up having 145 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: a massive impact on the war, even if he wasn't 146 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 1: aware the whole time that he was on their payroll. 147 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,679 Speaker 1: You see, British intelligence used the wall as a smoke 148 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: screen to cover for work being done by their code breakers. 149 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: Whenever the Allies foiled an attack that they shouldn't have 150 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: known about or landed their troops at exactly the right place. 151 00:09:16,280 --> 00:09:18,199 Speaker 1: They spread the word that it was all thanks to 152 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: Dwall's psychological research Bureau. In reality, the Allies didn't need 153 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: astrology to predict Hitler's decisions. Alan Turing and a team 154 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: of British mathematicians had already cracked the German Enigma code, 155 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: allowing them to decipher messages radioed between Nazi commanders. The 156 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: team decoded thousands of messages each month for several years, 157 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: leading to critical Allied victories and ultimately shortening the war 158 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: by an estimated two to four years. Of course, if 159 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: the Nazis had known their code was cracked, they would 160 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: have stopped using it immediately. By serving as a plausible 161 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: cover to explain how the Allies were always one step ahead, 162 00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: Dwall helped change the course of history. So, no matter 163 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: how many times his predictions missed the mark, he was 164 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: right about one thing. Hitler's defeat was indeed written in 165 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: the stars. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 166 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 167 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 168 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 169 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works, I make another award 170 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:36,679 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 171 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: and television show and you can learn all about it 172 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,839 Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, 173 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: stay curious.