1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 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 --> 00:00:18,400 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 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: Virginia shivered as she limped along the mountain road, her 7 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 1: prosthetic leg dragging in the deep snow. There was nothing 8 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: but danger and death behind her. In France, the Gestapo 9 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: had learned her identity, and she'd woken days ago to 10 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: find her own face staring back at her from thousands 11 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: of posters that blanketed the city. Her only hope now 12 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: was Spain. She wondered what would happen if she died 13 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: out here, crossing the Pyrenees on foot. Would anyone find her? 14 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: Would her body make it back to America? Because if 15 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: Virginia had done her job well, no one would ever 16 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: know who she was. And Virginia was very, very good 17 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: at her job. Born in nineteen oh six in Baltimore, Maryland, 18 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: to a middle class family, Virginia discovered early on that 19 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: she longed for adventure. She was great with languages, so 20 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: after studying French, Italian, and German in college, she ended 21 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: up moving to Poland. There she worked as a clerk 22 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,680 Speaker 1: in the US embassy in Warsaw. Her real ambition, though, 23 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: was to be a diplomat. Virginia thought that she could 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: be useful in international relations. Yet, despite multiple applications and 25 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: an appeal to Franklin Delano Roosevelt himself, the State Department 26 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't make her an ambassador. There's a big chance gender 27 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: played a role in that, at the time, only six 28 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: US ambassadors were women. Around the same time that Virginia 29 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: was petitioning the State Department, an incident happened that defined 30 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: her young life. When she was twenty seven years old, 31 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: she shot herself in the foot while hunting in Turkey. 32 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: The wound quickly developed gangreen, and to save her life, 33 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: doctors amputated her leg. For the rest of Virginia's life, 34 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: she walked using an ill fitting wooden prosthetic that she 35 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: nicknamed Cuthbert, which gave her a pronounced limp. Virginia continued 36 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: to work in US embassies in Turkey, Italy, and Estonia 37 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:26,079 Speaker 1: until World War II broke out. Across Europe, constantly denied 38 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: an opportunity to be an ambassador. Now, Virginia believed that 39 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: she could do something that made a difference. Starting in 40 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: nineteen forty, she volunteered as an ambulance driver in France. 41 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: She quickly met a British spy who recognized Virginia's tenacity, 42 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:43,639 Speaker 1: then put her in touch with British intelligence. By nineteen 43 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: forty one, she was one of their first female undercover 44 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: agents in France. Posing as a New York Times reporter, 45 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: Virginia relied on the Nazis' misogyny. You see, at the time, 46 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: the Nazis refused to believe that women were capable of 47 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: being a spy. Stationed in Lyon, France, she befriended both 48 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: nuns and sex workers, and that way she heard information 49 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: that the Germans dropped at church and at the brothel. 50 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: She used this intelligence to secure safe houses for the 51 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: French resistance and help them plan attacks. Before long, Klaus Barbie, 52 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: the infamous Gestapo officer in charge of intelligence in Leon, 53 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: became aware that someone was spying on the Nazis. When 54 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: he figured out that it was Virginia, he set his 55 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: Gestapo officers after her demanding that they bring the limping 56 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: lady to him. Although Virginia was able to evade capture 57 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: by wearing a number of disguises, by nineteen forty two 58 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: she was forced to flee to Spain, walking through the 59 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: Pyrenees Mountains in the dead of winter. After her great escape, 60 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: England wouldn't send her back into the field, but the Americans, 61 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: with their brand new Intelligence office, were looking for a 62 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: woman with her experience, so in nineteen forty four, Virginia 63 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: returned to France as an American OSS agent. Knowing that 64 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: Klaus Barbie had her description, Virginia went deep undercover. On 65 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: her SAE second tour, she dyed her hair gray and 66 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: drew wrinkles on her face to appear as an old woman. 67 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: She ground down her two perfect American teeth and disguised 68 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: her limp with long skirts and an old woman's shuffling steps. 69 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: On her second tour, Virginia organized fighters to blow up bridges, 70 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: derailed trains, and sabotage phone lines. On D Day, Virginia's 71 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: efforts directly prevented reinforcements from reaching the Nazis in Normandy 72 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: and stopped the troops on the beach from retreating. When 73 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: Virginia returned home after the war, she refused to talk 74 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,799 Speaker 1: about her service. She reasoned that many of her spy 75 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: friends had lost their lives after coming clean to the 76 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: wrong person, even when she received a Distinguished Service Cross. 77 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: The only witness that Virginia allowed at the ceremony was 78 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: her own mother. Virginia spent the next decade working for 79 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,719 Speaker 1: the CIA before retiring. She passed away in nineteen eighty 80 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:57,839 Speaker 1: two with her story still unknown in the intelligence circles, which, 81 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: in her line of work wasn't really bad thing. After all, 82 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: a good spy is someone who doesn't attract attention, which 83 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:08,679 Speaker 1: is why Virginia Hall is probably the greatest spy you've 84 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: never heard of. We've all heard of royal food tasters, 85 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: unlucky peasants whose job it was to taste the food 86 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: of kings and queens to see if it had been poisoned. 87 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:33,799 Speaker 1: It wasn't a great job, and it wasn't a fool 88 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: proof method of preventing poisoning. I mean, what if the 89 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: taster simply had more immunity to the poison than the ruler. 90 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: What if the tasters bite of food happened to be 91 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 1: poison free? But the rest of the dish was still deadly. 92 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: What if the taster just threw their spoonful of food 93 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: over their shoulder when the king wasn't looking well. One 94 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: ancient ruler considered all of this and developed a method 95 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: of poison prevention that remains one of the most curious 96 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: in history. Mithridatees the sixth learned of the dangers of 97 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: poison from a young age. In one twenty BC, when 98 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: he was still in his adolescence, his father, Mithridatees the 99 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: fifth died of poisoning at a massive banquet. It was 100 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: a violent and dramatic death too, that stayed with his 101 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 1: son for the rest of his life. The younger Mithridates 102 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: had his mother, who was also his aunt, locked in 103 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: prison along with his brother. He then married his own 104 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: sister and officially became king of Pontus. For those who 105 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: don't know, Pontus was a Greek kingdom about as far 106 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,480 Speaker 1: from Greece as could be. The capital, Sinop, was the 107 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: exact center of the southern coast of the Black Sea. 108 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: Mithridedes knew that he would have to be tough to 109 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: survive against the Armenians to the east, the Romans to 110 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: the west. He exercised constantly, but he also prepared his 111 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: body in other ways. Not wanting to meet with the 112 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: same fate as his father, he allegedly developed a mixture 113 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: that contained every known toxin, but just in tiny amounts. 114 00:06:57,839 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: He mixed it with honey, and then he let it 115 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,359 Speaker 1: hardened and consumed one every day as a little piece 116 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: of candy. This supposedly made him immune to every poison, 117 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: and he made this fact known throughout public demonstrations, where 118 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: he would drink whole bottles of poison and walk away 119 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:18,240 Speaker 1: without issue. With his legend secured, Mithridates led the armies 120 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: of Pontus north along the eastern coast of the Black Sea, 121 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: conquering modern day Crimea. Not satisfied with this, he returned 122 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: south to Sinop and then went west and conquered most 123 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: of modern day Turkey. This was a bold move, as 124 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: part of Asia Minor belonged to the Roman Empire, and 125 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: thus began the first of not one, not two, but 126 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: three wars between Mithridates and Rome. These three conflicts are 127 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: known collectively as the Mithridatic Wars, showing what a legendary 128 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: and persistent enemy he was to the Romans. He once 129 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: conquered so far west that he was able to connect 130 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: his kingdom to the Greek homeland, finally reuniting with fellow 131 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: Greeks in city states like Athens and Macedonia. Now, truth 132 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: be told, part of his success came down to good timing. 133 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: The Romans were engaged in a chaotic civil war at 134 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:07,920 Speaker 1: this time, which led to their leaders making peace with 135 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: Mithridates when they otherwise would have kept on fighting him. 136 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: They were further distracted by wars with other enemies, including 137 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: the legendary slave uprising led by Spartacus. By seventy two BC, 138 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: many of these conflicts had been settled, though the Romans 139 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: were finally ready to take revenge. Roman general Lucullus began 140 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: a now legendary military campaign wherein he rapidly took back 141 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: most of the territory that Mithridates had conquered. He did 142 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: so with a speed that seems more appropriate for a 143 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: board game than real life. When Lucullus was called back 144 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,719 Speaker 1: to Rome, another famous Roman general, Pompey the Great, continued 145 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,959 Speaker 1: his work chasing Mithridates all the way to his last 146 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: remaining conquests north of the Black Sea. In sixty five BC, 147 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: Mithridates had left his part of his kingdom under the 148 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: rule of one of his sons, who refused to fight 149 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: the Romans any further. Knowing that it was a lot cause, 150 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: Mithridates then killed him in response, which proved a step 151 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: too far for another of his sons, who led Mithridates's 152 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: remaining army in a revolt against their king. Finding himself 153 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: truly cornered, Mithridates realized that his long life of poison, betrayal, 154 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: and conquest had all been for nothing. It turns out 155 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: that he kept a dose of the one poison that 156 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: could still kill him in his sword hilt, and he 157 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: prepared to take it. But he happened to have a 158 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: few of his daughters with him, and they begged him 159 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: to share the poison, knowing that they would not be 160 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: treated well by their brother if he captured them, and 161 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: so being a good father, I guess he shared the poison. 162 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,199 Speaker 1: But in doing so he made a mistake, because now 163 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: when he drank the remainder, he found that it wasn't 164 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: enough to overwhelm his already toxic blood. Instead, he had 165 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: to take a dagger and plunge it into his own chest. 166 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: It's ironic, really, he had worked his entire life to 167 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: avoid assassination by poison, so when death finally did come knocking, 168 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:06,199 Speaker 1: that death was so much more painful. I hope you've 169 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:10,239 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 170 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,839 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 171 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:17,680 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 172 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 173 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 174 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 175 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. 176 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:36,839 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.