Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting
Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: On July eighth of eighteen fifty three, American commodore Matthew
Speaker 1: Perry sailed four ships into Tokyo Bay, essentially declaring Japan
Speaker 1: open to Western business. Whether they wanted it or not.
Speaker 1: Japan had been relatively isolated for about two hundred years,
Speaker 1: but Perry's unceremonious gate crashing led to huge changes for
Speaker 1: the country and the world at large. Now I doubt
Speaker 1: very much that Perry and tissated that his actions, however indirectly,
Speaker 1: would lead to thousands of lives being saved. But let's
Speaker 1: make sure creda goes to those who deserve it. In
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine, the Axis Powers faced down the Allies
Speaker 1: for the revenge sequel no one really wanted. Germany had
Speaker 1: created an alliance with the Soviet Union, which absolutely no
Speaker 1: one thought would last, including the Soviets and the Germans.
Speaker 1: As the Germans rolled over Europe, Japan was dominating the Pacific,
Speaker 1: but there were a few Japanese officials posted in Europe
Speaker 1: as well, including Shiyuni Sugihara. Now. Sugihara was a career diplomat,
Speaker 1: and in November of nineteen thirty nine was posted to
Speaker 1: the then capital of Lithuania to serve as Japanese consul.
Speaker 1: Part of that job included monitoring the Germans movements so
Speaker 1: that the Japanese could prepare for the Germans attack on
Speaker 1: the Soviets. Remember, Japan had their own beef with the
Speaker 1: Soviets and it wouldn't do well for them to be
Speaker 1: caught unawares. Sugihara was born on January first of nineteen
Speaker 1: hundred and grew up at a time when Japan was
Speaker 1: asserting itself globally. Unlike many Japanese children, Sugihara was exposed
Speaker 1: to different cultural influences from a young age, even choosing
Speaker 1: to study English literature in Tokyo rather than becoming a
Speaker 1: doctor like his father wanted. He received diplomatic training after graduation,
Speaker 1: becoming deputy consul in Manchuria and helping the Soviet Union
Speaker 1: win control over the Manchurian Railroad, which neded Japan a
Speaker 1: fat profit. But the Chinese living in the area were
Speaker 1: treated terribly by the Japanese, and that turned Sugihara's stomach.
Speaker 1: He resigned in nineteen thirty four, returning to Tokyo to
Speaker 1: ask for hopefully quieter assignments in Europe. He had no
Speaker 1: idea what was coming, though. While he was in Tokyo
Speaker 1: he met a woman named Yukiko Kikuchi and married her
Speaker 1: before he was shipped out to his next post. Of course,
Speaker 1: Lithuania was about to suffer a double occupation by the
Speaker 1: Soviets and the Nazis, but for about ten months at
Speaker 1: the start of the war, it was still an independent
Speaker 1: country full of spies and refugees fleeing the destruction wrought
Speaker 1: by world powers. Nineteen thirty nine found the Sugihara fans
Speaker 1: in the city of Canues now with two young children,
Speaker 1: and they became close with many of their neighbors. Some
Speaker 1: were Jewish families who quietly explained their fears of the Nazis.
Speaker 1: Maybe it was this close contact that pushed Sugihara to act,
Speaker 1: or maybe he was just trying to be a good
Speaker 1: person in the face of unimaginable evil. Sugihara began interfacing
Speaker 1: with the Polish underground, getting information from the resistance as
Speaker 1: he watched the Jewish refugees from Poland and other areas
Speaker 1: pour in by the day and begin flocking to the
Speaker 1: Japanese consulate that doubled as the Sugiharas home. Now, before
Speaker 1: we continue, it's important to point out that World War
Speaker 1: II has a nasty history with refugees, even without the
Speaker 1: benefit of hindsight that we have today. It's difficult to
Speaker 1: read all the articles that discussed how the mighty United States,
Speaker 1: you know, the land of give me your poor, you're
Speaker 1: tired your huddled masses, was turning refugees away. But it's
Speaker 1: true the United States turned away hundreds of thousands of
Speaker 1: Jewish refugees before, during, and even after the war. Most
Speaker 1: returned to Europe to their doo. Sugihara's position was complicated. Technically,
Speaker 1: he could give out visas, but there were protocols and
Speaker 1: his government would certainly never accept the number of people
Speaker 1: who turned up daily begging for an escape. One of
Speaker 1: the only ways out was through the Soviet Union to Japan.
Speaker 1: There was very little safety, but there was a chance,
Speaker 1: and so Sugihara decided that he would do what he could,
Speaker 1: in clear violation of repeated orders. He sat down, picked
Speaker 1: up a pen, and began to write, and he didn't
Speaker 1: stop for days. His wife joined in too, working day
Speaker 1: and night to give visas to anyone who came. Sugihara
Speaker 1: knew that he didn't have much time. The Soviets were
Speaker 1: closing in and there was a rapidly approaching deadline for
Speaker 1: foreign staff to get out of the country. He worked
Speaker 1: right up until he was forced out. According to one story,
Speaker 1: he was still writing and stamping visas as he was
Speaker 1: loaded onto the train when it began to pull away,
Speaker 1: throwing the precious papers out the window to the folks
Speaker 1: who were waiting for them. From there, Sugihara and his
Speaker 1: family returned to Ja Pan and he was assigned to
Speaker 1: several Nazi occupied territories. When the Soviets took Romania his
Speaker 1: final posting, the Sugihara family was arrested, although not treated badly.
Speaker 1: Rather than receive a hero's welcome, when he returned to
Speaker 1: Japan in nineteen forty seven, he was pressured to resign.
Speaker 1: He always believed that it was because of those visas.
Speaker 1: We don't know exactly how many people Sugihara managed to save.
Speaker 1: Some estimated it could have been as many as six thousand,
Speaker 1: well worth a few ignored telegrams and a reprimand he
Speaker 1: spent the rest of his life in relative obscurity. The
Speaker 1: world moved on from the war, and he worked odd
Speaker 1: jobs to keep his family afloat. He never even spoke
Speaker 1: of what he did in Lithuania, but some never forgot.
Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty eight, one visa recipient tracked him down,
Speaker 1: and Sugihara even visited Israel shortly before he passed away
Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty six, and there the country honored him
Speaker 1: at their official Holocaust memorial with the title Righteous among
Speaker 1: the Nations, which goes to show you sometimes the Kuri
Speaker 1: path is the best one to take. Humans have a
Speaker 1: tendency to look for patterns and meaning where there shouldn't
Speaker 1: be any. For example, we might look at the holes
Speaker 1: on a wall outlet and see a face, or stare
Speaker 1: at a cloud and see an animal of some kind.
Speaker 1: That's called paradolia. But there's a related concept called apophenia,
Speaker 1: which are connections made between unrelated stimuli, like the recurring
Speaker 1: appearance of a certain number. Back in nineteen sixty four,
Speaker 1: two California college students set out to prove that one
Speaker 1: particular number shows up far more than any other, and
Speaker 1: as a result, their academic exercise took on a life
Speaker 1: of its own. Lori Metz and Bruce Elgin joined forces
Speaker 1: on a research project while attending Pomona College in Claremont, California.
Speaker 1: Their premise whether the number forty seven appears more regularly
Speaker 1: in the world than it should be expected to Now,
Speaker 1: the number forty seven is interesting in its own rights.
Speaker 1: It's a prime number. It also appears in the Lucas sequence,
Speaker 1: a sequence of integers named after mathematician Frescois Eduard Anatol Lucas,
Speaker 1: as its sixth prime number. But look deeper and you
Speaker 1: might begin to understand what Metz and Elgin we're getting at.
Speaker 1: Because the number forty seven is more than a mathematical digit.
Speaker 1: It's a world unto itself. The planet Mars slides into
Speaker 1: the same position relative to the Sun and the Earth
Speaker 1: every forty seven years. One of the most used military
Speaker 1: rifles on the planet is the AK forty seven. There
Speaker 1: is also the CH forty seven, Chinook tandem rotor helicopter
Speaker 1: and the P forty seven Thunderbird fighter plane, which was
Speaker 1: used during World War Two. The number also occurs throughout
Speaker 1: pop culture. For example, on the television series Lost, forty
Speaker 1: seven people initially survived the crash of Oceanic Flight eight fifteen.
Speaker 1: Then in the Pixar movie Monsters, Inc. There's a sign
Speaker 1: at the Scare Factory that reads accident free for forty
Speaker 1: seven days. But what was it about this number that
Speaker 1: made it so appealing to two college students in California, Well,
Speaker 1: because it was important to the school. You see exit
Speaker 1: forty seven off the sand Berddino Freeway will take you
Speaker 1: straight to Pomona College, and the organ in the Ralph H.
Speaker 1: Lymanhall Auditorium is equipped with forty seven pipes on its
Speaker 1: top row. Perhaps most intriguing is the fact that in
Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four, the year of the school's first graduating class,
Speaker 1: forty seven students were enrolled at the college. Over a
Speaker 1: century later, the freshman class of the year two thousand
Speaker 1: had forty seven valedictorians. Meanwhile, forty seven even appears in
Speaker 1: places that you might not expect. The tropic of Cancer
Speaker 1: and the Tropic of Capricorn are forty seven degrees apart
Speaker 1: on a map. Depending on the version, forty seven sentences
Speaker 1: have been tabulated within the Declaration of Independence, and Julius
Speaker 1: Caesar was believed to have coined the phrase ven a
Speaker 1: vdvici in the year forty seven BC. It's no wonder
Speaker 1: that Elgin and mets decided to focus their efforts on
Speaker 1: this strangely popular number, but they didn't exactly go into
Speaker 1: it with scholarly intentions. You see, Lori Metz and Bruce
Speaker 1: Elgin approached their research project with their tongues firmly planted
Speaker 1: in their cheeks. It was kind of a joke. Even
Speaker 1: a professor at the school was in on it. By
Speaker 1: creating false mathematical proof where forty seven was equal to
Speaker 1: every other integer, and they didn't have the Internet to
Speaker 1: spread their satirical project to the rest of the school,
Speaker 1: they went viral organically, eventually becoming a meme among other students,
Speaker 1: even those who would enroll at Pomoma later on. What
Speaker 1: started in nineteen sixty four carried on for decades to come,
Speaker 1: which is partly why the number forty seven shows up
Speaker 1: in so many TV shows and movies. Television writer Joe
Speaker 1: Minoski wrote for several Star Trek shows in the eighties
Speaker 1: and nineties. He managed to squeeze the number forty seven
Speaker 1: into practically every script he wrote. He also grat situated
Speaker 1: Pomona College in nineteen seventy nine. Since then, other Star
Speaker 1: Trek riders have carried on the tradition, even those who
Speaker 1: never attended Pomona. And if you watch the old Disney
Speaker 1: film The Absent Minded Professor, you might notice the number
Speaker 1: show up on the scoreboard of a scene set at
Speaker 1: a college basketball game. The final score is forty seven
Speaker 1: to forty six. Oh and one last thing. That scene
Speaker 1: was shot at Pomona College, but three years before Metz
Speaker 1: and Elgin's research project had even started. Was it just
Speaker 1: a coincidence or is there something about the school that
Speaker 1: attracts the number forty seven? The debate rages on to
Speaker 1: this day, and it probably will for another forty seven years.
Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership
Speaker 1: with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
Speaker 1: called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television
Speaker 1: show and you can learn all about it over at
Speaker 1: Theworldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.