1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. These are coming from the 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: T D I h C Vault, so you'll also here 4 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: two hosts. Consider it a double feature. Enjoy the show. 5 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Welcome to this day in History class from how Stuff 6 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff you 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 8 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 9 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy Vie Wilson, and it's January four. 11 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: Topsy the Elephant died on this day in nineteen o three, 12 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: which some people remember as a cruel publicity stunt orchestrated 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,520 Speaker 1: by Thomas Edison. That is not exactly what happened, though, 14 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: but all this does mean that animal cruelty is a 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: big part of today's episode. Topsy was a circus elephant. 16 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: She had been captured as a baby in Southeast Asia 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: sometime roughly around eighteen seventy five. She was sent to 18 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: the United States and sold to the Four Paw circus. 19 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: But even by the standards of the late nineteenth and 20 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: early twentieth centuries. The way she was handled and trained 21 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: was really cruel. She passed from trainer to trainer, on 22 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: circus to circus, and her training frequently involved being beaten 23 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: and otherwise mistreated. So by nineteen o two, after all 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: these years of abuse, she had developed a reputation for 25 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: being an aggressive animal. That year, Topsy killed a man 26 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: named James Fielding Blunt, and this was reportedly after he 27 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: had burned her with a cigar. Her owners, rather than 28 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: taking any steps to try to mitigate what was happening, 29 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: started marketing her as a man killer. Afterwards, she was 30 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: sent to Luna Park, which was a new amusement park 31 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: on Coney Island. This wasn't just to be part of 32 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: the entertainment there, it was also to work calling materials 33 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: that were being used in the park's construction, and, as 34 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: was the case leading up to this, her treatment they're 35 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: still involved a lot of beatings and other cruelty. By 36 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: late nineteen o two, Topsy's behavior had become unpredictable enough 37 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: that her owners thought she was too much of a 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: liability and that she needed to be put down. There 39 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: are some reports that she had killed two other people 40 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: in addition to Blunt, initially what they planned to do. 41 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: I'm hesitant to call this euthan asia because all the 42 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: methods that they were talking about were more violent than 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: is typically used to euthanize animals today. Initially they talked 44 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 1: about though a hanging for Topsy, but the Society for 45 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or spc A raised 46 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 1: some concerns that a hanging might take too long, it 47 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: might not work, it might just be inhumane, and trying 48 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:58,239 Speaker 1: to hang such a large animal did seem like it 49 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: would have a number of logistical issue us. So the 50 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: SPCA helped park officials work out what they thought would 51 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: be the most humane way to kill an elephant, and 52 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: this was this combination of poisoning, strangulation, and electrocution. They 53 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: believed that the electrocution would be a humane part of 54 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: this because of a series of experiments that had been 55 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: conducted at Edison Labs in the late eighteen hundreds. Ultimately, 56 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: this was carried out before a crowd of more than 57 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: a thousand people on January four, nineteen oh three. First, 58 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: they fed Topsy vegetables that were relaced with poison, and 59 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: then they connected two of her feet to electrodes and 60 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: electrocuted her. Afterward, a noose that had been leaped around 61 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: her neck beforehand was tightened in case she had not 62 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: died in the electrocution. Edison's name was definitely all over this. 63 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: Edison Manufacturing recorded the event and released the footage of 64 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: it later that year, and like all of the hundreds 65 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: of other films that they made, Edison himself was credited 66 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: at the end. Electricians from Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Brooklyn, 67 00:04:11,240 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: which was the local power company, were also the ones 68 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: who arranged the electrocution itself, including those electrodes that were 69 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: used in the process, But Edison himself was almost certainly 70 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: not there. He might not have been personally involved in 71 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: any way. These were all companies that had his name 72 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: on them, but by this point they were also so 73 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: large that he wasn't overseeing every element of day to 74 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 1: day operations. A lot of times this is also described 75 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: as something that happened during the War of the Currents, 76 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: and so Edison was trying to prove that Westinghouses alternating 77 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: current model was dangerous, But the War of the Currents 78 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: had really been over for years at this point. It 79 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:57,040 Speaker 1: was really the decision of Topsy's handlers not Edison to 80 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: kill her, and it was also the decision of Topsy's 81 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,039 Speaker 1: handlers and the s p c A to use electrocution 82 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: under the idea that it would be humane. This included 83 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: reports afterward that her death had taken less than ten seconds, 84 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: and one SPCA official said quote they had never seen 85 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: a more humane manner of causing death. So Topsy's execution 86 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: was certainly the result of all those years of cruelty 87 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: that she had endured, because those years undoubtedly contributed to 88 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: her unpredictable and aggressive behavior. So this wasn't something masterminded 89 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: by Thomas Edison to try to take down Westinghouse. Thanks 90 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: to Casey Pegram and Chandler Maze for their audio work 91 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: on this show. You can subscribe to This Day in 92 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,360 Speaker 1: History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google podcast, the I Heart 93 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:46,839 Speaker 1: Radio app, and wherever else you get podcasts, and you 94 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: can tune in tomorrow for the birth of a man 95 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: who made it a whole lot easier to scrape the 96 00:05:51,480 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: hair off your face. Hey, I'm Eves, and you're listening 97 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, a podcast that proves 98 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: history is always happening. The day was January four, eighteen 99 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: o nine, French educator Louis Brill, namesake of the Brill 100 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: reading and writing system, was born. Brell was born in Couvray, France, 101 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: a village near Paris. He was the youngest of four siblings, 102 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: born to Simon Renee Brill and Monique Baron. When he 103 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: was three years old, he injured his eye with a 104 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: sharp tool while playing in his father's workshop. His eye 105 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: soon became infected and the infection spread to his other 106 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: eye and what's believed to have been a case of 107 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 1: sympathetic a thomia. Sympathetic a thomia occurs when the uve 108 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: old tract and an uninjured eye becomes inflamed after trauma 109 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: or surgery in the other eye. By the time he 110 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: was five, he was completely blind. As a child, Braille 111 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: was taught to read by feeling studs hammered into wood 112 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: in the shape of letters. His parents sent him to 113 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,440 Speaker 1: the Royal Institute for a Blind Youth in Paris when 114 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: he was ten years old. Their students were taught to 115 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: read books that used embossed print letters and to write. 116 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: Students had to memorize the shape of letters and tried 117 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: to recreate them on paper. This of course, was a 118 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: difficult task. Conditions at the school were subpar, but the 119 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: environment and curriculum had their benefits for the students there. 120 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: Braill was considered a smart and creative student, and he 121 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: became a good cello player and organist. Around the same time, 122 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,679 Speaker 1: Charlotte Barbier, a retired artillery officer in Napoleon's army, created 123 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: a system of writing using a raised dot alphabet. Barbi 124 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: A attempted to sell the system, called night writing, to 125 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: the French army so that soldiers could pass notes in 126 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: the dark without striking a light. When the army proved 127 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: uninterested in the idea, Barbia turned his attention to the 128 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: Royal Institute for Blind Youth. Rail saw Barbia's demonstration and 129 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: was intrigued by night writing, but he thought that it 130 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:16,120 Speaker 1: needed many improvements. By eight four, Brail had devised his 131 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: own improved system. It was simpler than barbier system, and 132 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: it was better adapted for blind people. As Barbier was cited. 133 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 1: Rail's method used a six dot sil rather than a 134 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: twelve dot system. In it, six dots were arranged in 135 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: different patterns or sales that formed letters, numbers, and later 136 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: musical notes. Other students at the Royal Institute picked up 137 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: the system, but the school did not endorse it. Rail 138 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 1: became a teacher at the Institute and in eighteen twenty 139 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: nine he published the book Procedure for Writing Words, Music 140 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: and Plain, Song and Dots. But it took a while 141 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: for the Rail system to catch on. That was partly 142 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,199 Speaker 1: because Valentine a, a cited man who found at the 143 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: Royal Institute, worked on a principle that blind people should 144 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: not have a different alphabet than sighted people, and Pierre 145 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: Armand dufat the director of the Institute beginning in eighteen forty, 146 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: restricted use of the Brail system in the school and 147 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:19,440 Speaker 1: had books and braille writing equipment burned. Dufout eventually changed 148 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: his tune, but the Brail system was not officially adopted 149 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: in France until eighteen fifty four, two years after Braill died. 150 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: But during his lifetime Braill worked on improving his reading 151 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: and writing system. In eighteen thirty seven, he published a 152 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: revised edition of the system. In this edition, the raised 153 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: dash was eliminated, leaving just raised dots. Despite the system 154 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: not being widely accepted, students learned Brail on their own, 155 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: and Brail himself continued to teach history, geometry, and algebra 156 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: at the school. As the Brail system spread throughout Europe, 157 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: it met resistance from people who thought blind people didn't 158 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: need to know how to read, from people who thought 159 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: it was unnecessary because cited people could not read it, 160 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: and from those who have posted it for other reasons. 161 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 1: But since then, the Rail system has been modified by 162 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: Brail's successors and recognized as a universal language. I'm Eves 163 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,959 Speaker 1: Jeff Cote and hopefully you know a little more about 164 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: history today than you did it yesterday. If you'd like 165 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: to follow us on social media, you can do so 166 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: at t d I h C Podcast on Instagram, Twitter, 167 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: and Facebook. You can also email us at this Day 168 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: at i heart media dot com. Thanks again for listening, 169 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: and we'll see you tomorrow. For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, 170 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 171 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.