1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Niagara Falls isn't the tallest waterfall in the world. 7 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: There are roughly five others that are taller, but Niagara 8 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,280 Speaker 1: stands out from all of them for a few specific reasons. First, 9 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: it turns a lot of water, with over six million 10 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: cubic feet going over the crest line every minute, and 11 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,319 Speaker 1: with it also goes sixty tons of minerals that are 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: dissolved into a fine powder, giving the water it's unique 13 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: green color. Though over eight million people visit the falls 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,320 Speaker 1: each year, it's much more than just a tourist site. 15 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: The Niagara River provides drinking water and hydro electricity to 16 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: over a million people in both the United States and Canada. 17 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: The falls draw many people to their majestic and breathtaking waters. 18 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: These are folks who come to admire what the Earth 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: has naturally created and what has endured for thousands of years. 20 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: But Niagara also attracts attention seekers who want nothing more 21 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: than to go down in history for dangerous and foolish stunts, 22 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:36,200 Speaker 1: and down is exactly where many end up, including one 23 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: Charles Stevens. Stevens was born in eighteen sixty two and 24 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: he was from Bristol, England, where he worked as a 25 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: barber to support his wife Annie and their eleven children. However, 26 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: despite his steady employment and family obligations, the haircutter longed 27 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: for fame and fortune. When he wasn't in his barbershop, 28 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,280 Speaker 1: the fifty eight year old Stevens could often be found 29 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: leaping from tall points with a parachute on his back, 30 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: or high diving into a pool of water. His nickname 31 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: the Demon Barber of Bristol, most likely due to his 32 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: dare devilish nature and not because he liked to kill 33 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: clients with straight razors or anything like that. Eventually, England 34 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: felt like small potatoes for the kind of stunts that 35 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: Stevens wanted to perform. He needed bigger, more exciting places 36 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: with bigger, more exciting audiences, and so in nineteen twenty 37 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: he packed his things and hopped across the pond to America, 38 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,600 Speaker 1: where a new opportunity awaited him. You guessed it, Niagara Falls. 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,399 Speaker 1: His plan was simple. Stevens was going to travel down 40 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: the Niagara River in a barrel until he reached the 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: Horseshoe Falls, where he would go over the edge and 42 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: emerge from below victorious. Of course, he wouldn't have been 43 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: the first person to accomplish this. That honor belonged to 44 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: Annie Taylor, who had performed her own version of the 45 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: stunt two decades earlier. In nineteen eleven, Bobby Leech did 46 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: it in a metal barrel of his own design. This time, however, 47 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: Stevens was going to do it his way. He would 48 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 1: travel over the fall is in a modified Russian oak barrel. 49 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,920 Speaker 1: Bobby Leach tried to advise him, telling the would be 50 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,919 Speaker 1: daredevil that he shouldn't attempt the drop until his barrel 51 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: design was just right. Stevens ignored him, however, believing Leech 52 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: just didn't want him to have any of the spotlight. 53 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: Leech then reached out to another performer named William Hill Senior, 54 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: who went by the nickname Red and had traversed the 55 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: Niagara River in a steel barrel himself. Red knew the 56 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: falls well, and encouraged Stevens to literally test the waters 57 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: with an empty version of his Russian oak barrel to 58 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: see how it would fare. The demon barber still wouldn't listen. Instead, 59 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: at eight fifteen in the morning on July eleven of 60 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty, Charles Stevens loaded himself into his barrel. It 61 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: had been outfitted with arm straps so that he could 62 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: brace himself inside. He also tied an anvil to his 63 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: feet for better steering, and despite his protests, he agreed 64 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: to take along with him a portable oxygen tank. Forty 65 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: minutes later, after traveling down the river, the barrel went 66 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: over the edge of the falls. Bobby Leach left just 67 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: before it did, choosing not to witness the inevitable. The 68 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: barrel hit the water hard and sent the anvil, still 69 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: tied to Steven's feet, straight to the bottom. The barrel 70 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: had blown apart. A rescue team looked for any sign 71 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,479 Speaker 1: of the daredevil, but couldn't find him. Instead, they found 72 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: one of his arm straps that had been affixed to 73 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: the inside of the barrel. How did they know that 74 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: it had belonged to Steven's because they also found his 75 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: arm still attached to it, burying a tattoo that read 76 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: forget me not Annie. My guess is that she never did. 77 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: It's probably safe to say that nobody who witnessed Charles 78 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,840 Speaker 1: Stevens go over the falls that day would have forgotten 79 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: him either. Air travel has often been positioned as a 80 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: way to get people from one place to another as 81 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,239 Speaker 1: quickly and as safe as possible. Of course, some people 82 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: don't see it that way. For those brave souls, airplanes 83 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: are meant for endurance. Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh made 84 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: waves for their transatlantic solo flights, and the current record 85 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 1: holders for the longest endurance flight traveled around the world 86 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: in nine days on a single tank of gas. But 87 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: one airplane had them all beat. It was designed to 88 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: spend as much time in the air as possible without 89 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: ever having to land, a feat that was seen as 90 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: a gamble, which was probably why one man decided to 91 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: try it in the first place. It started back in 92 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: the late nineteen fifties, while Bob tim was working at 93 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,239 Speaker 1: the Hacienda Casino in Las Vegas. He repaired slot machines 94 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: during a time when the Hacienda was fairly unpopular compared 95 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: to other places on the Strip. It had positioned itself 96 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: as a family friendly resorts amid a sea of mobster 97 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: run hotels and casinos. The Hacienda lacked glitz, it lacked glamour, 98 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 1: and most of all, it lacked customers. There was a 99 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: reason it had earned the nickname the a Seed Heaven. 100 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: The owners, Judy and Doc Bailey, were often on the 101 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: hunt for new ways to drum up business, and they 102 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 1: were not particular about where those ideas came from. If 103 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: anyone at the Hacienda, be at the cooks or the maids, 104 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: came up with a decent plan, the Bailey's were always 105 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: ready to hear it. Tim had been a pilot in 106 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: the Army and brought an idea to Doc. What if 107 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: the Hacienda sponsored a record setting endurance flight. At the time, 108 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: the record was held by two former Navy pilots who 109 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,119 Speaker 1: managed to stay in the air for forty six days 110 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: in Tim thought that he could do better. Bailey was 111 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: worried that the flight would be viewed unfavorably in the press, 112 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: given that it was being done on behalf of a 113 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: Las Vegas casino. Instead, he promised him that he would 114 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,919 Speaker 1: fund the whole project. Under the condition that any money 115 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: had generated go to a cancer fund instead. Bailey even 116 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 1: came up with the way to let people get in 117 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: on the action. Donors could mail their checks along with 118 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: a guess as to how many days the plane could 119 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: stay airborne. The person who guessed the closest would win 120 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: ten thousand dollars and the hacienda would get some much 121 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: needed attention. So Tim brought on a copilot and a 122 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: mechanic and the three of them got to work modifying 123 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: Assessna one seventy two Skyhawk. The one seventy two came 124 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: as a four seat, single engine plane, but it's paltry 125 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: fuel tank only capable of carrying about forty seven gallons 126 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: of fuel, needed some serious help. Tim affixed a ninety 127 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: five gallon tank to the plane's belly, bringing the total 128 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: capacity to one two gallons. The men also tweaked the 129 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: engine system to allow for midair oil and filter changes 130 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: as necessary. They then removed much of the interior to 131 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,680 Speaker 1: reduce weight and install the platform on one side that 132 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: allowed the copilot better access to the gas tank when refueling. 133 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: In fact, the refueling process was the trickiest part of 134 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: the whole plan. It had to be done while the 135 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: plane was still in the air. Landing was out of 136 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: the question, so the men rigged up a hook attached 137 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 1: to a rope that they could lower to a gas 138 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: truck driving below. Someone would attach a hose to the hook, 139 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: which was then winched up to the plane so that 140 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: the co pilot could fill it. The hook was also 141 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: used to bring up other things like food and a 142 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: change of oil. The two pilots had basically built a 143 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: flying treehouse. Unfortunately, their first few attempts to stay in 144 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: the air were met with turbulence, The engine suffered exhaust problems, 145 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: the men got on each other's nerves, and constant mechanical 146 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: issues meant the Cessna could only stay in the air 147 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: for a handful of days at a time. Meanwhile, to 148 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: other pilots, Jim Hef and Bill Burkhardt had made news 149 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: by keeping their Cessna airborne for fifty days, breaking the 150 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: original record by four days. Tim and his crew made 151 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:45,839 Speaker 1: a few more modifications to the plane, and the co 152 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: pilot was replaced with a man named John Wayne Cook, 153 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: thirty three year old pilot and mechanic, not a bad 154 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: combination to have on a long haul flight. One year 155 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: had passed since Tim had started on the project. Finally, 156 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: on December four, nineteen fifty eight, the Cessna took off 157 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: from mccaren field, just across the way from the Hacienda. 158 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: Meals for the pilots were made at the hotel each 159 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: day by the cooks there. The food had to be 160 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: chopped into small pieces, though, and poured into thermoss before 161 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: being sent up to the plane. When the men had 162 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom, they relied on a portable 163 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: travel toilets and plastic bags, which were then dropped over 164 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: the Nevada Desert. The plane also featured a sink so 165 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: men could shave and brush their teeth. They bathed outside 166 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: the plane, standing on the refueling platform and washing themselves 167 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,719 Speaker 1: with the bottle of water. Tim and Cook didn't fly 168 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,959 Speaker 1: across the country or even around the world. Their test 169 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 1: was not of distance but of length, so they spent 170 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: their time over Nevada close to home. By the time 171 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: they finally landed on February seven of nineteen fifty nine, 172 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,439 Speaker 1: sixty four days later, they had clocked over one hundred 173 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: fifty thousand miles, performed one d twenty eight mid air refuelings, 174 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,599 Speaker 1: and broken the endurance record set months earlier. Today, the 175 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: hus Cienda Resort and casino is long gone, but the 176 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 1: plane that put it on the map is still around, 177 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: on display at Harry Read International Airport in Nevada. It 178 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,000 Speaker 1: used to be called McCarron International Airport, and before that 179 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: it was just known as McCarron Field, the same runway 180 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: that launched two pilots in straight into the record books. 181 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 182 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 183 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 184 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 185 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:42,319 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 186 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 187 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:48,640 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 188 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:53,599 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.