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 --> 00:00:18,440 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 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: Midnight release parties, book themed Halloween costumes, author tour events. 7 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,559 Speaker 1: People have always found ways to pay homage to their 8 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: favorite works of fiction. Sometimes they even travel hundreds or 9 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: even thousands of miles to see the place that inspired 10 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: their favorite works, or, in the case of one eighteenth 11 00:00:54,920 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: century protagonist, her untimely death. In the late eighteen hundred, 12 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: a family of mourners gathered around a headstone at Trinity 13 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: Church Graveyard in New York City. A mother wept as 14 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: her teenage daughter laid a small bundle of flowers on 15 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 1: the long gray stone slab that marked the grave. The 16 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 1: stone was already decorated with other small bouquets and cards 17 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: gifts from other mourners. The family commented on how nice 18 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: it was that so many people had come to pay 19 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: their respects. In fact, this was the most visited grave 20 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: at Trinity Church. Well wishers from all over the country 21 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: came to visit the burial plot. Not because the person 22 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: lying beneath the stone slab was a political hero or 23 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: an industrial pioneer. No, she was the protagonist of a 24 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: novel called Charlotte, A Tale of Truth. The book was 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: written by Susannah Rausen and published in seventeen ninety one. 26 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: It was a bit melodramatic, but a tear jerker all 27 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: the same. It followed sixteen year old Charlotte Temple, who 28 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: was seduced by a villainous playboy named Lord Montraville. He 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: brought her to America, then a banded her to marry 30 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: another woman and fight with the British in the Revolutionary 31 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: War Penny Listen alone, Charlotte soon learned that she was pregnant. 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: Her father arrived in New York hoping to find and 33 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: save Charlotte's only to learn that he was too late. 34 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: She had died shortly after childbirth, and Americans loved the novel. 35 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: At the time, the US was a brand new nation, 36 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: as wide eyed and vulnerable as Charlotte herself. Something about 37 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: her ordeal after being betrayed by a powerful englishman resonated 38 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: with them. Charlotte became the best selling novel in the 39 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: US for more than fifty years until the release of 40 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: Uncle Tom's Cabin in eighteen fifty two. Now Here's the Kicker. 41 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: The author, Susanna Roussen, always said that the book was 42 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: based on a real person, even though multiple historians in 43 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: the eighteen hundreds disputed that fact. Then one day in 44 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: the eighteen fifties, visitors to the Trinity Church in New 45 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: York City noticed a simple, weathered grave in the corner 46 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: of the churchyard with the name Arlotte Temple etched into 47 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: the stone. One of the visitors asked the nearest groundskeeper 48 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: if the grave belonged to the Charlotte Temple, and the 49 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: groundskeeper said yes, that it was, in fact her tomb. 50 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: Words spread like wildfire that the real Charlotte Temple was 51 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: buried there at Trinity Church, and soon Charlotte's Grave became 52 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:24,399 Speaker 1: a tourist attraction. Groundskeepers were peppered with questions about Charlotte's 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: but they knew nothing about her as a person. At 54 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: one point, Charlotte's grave was the most popular site in 55 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: Trinity Church, even more than the graves of founding fathers. 56 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: Like Alexander Hamilton and James Monroe. Charlotte's Headstone remained an 57 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: attraction until the book fell out of popularity in the 58 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: twentieth century. But even today, those who know its history 59 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: stopped by to see the grave while visiting the church. 60 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: Except there's just one problem with Charlotte's Grave. In two 61 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: thousand and eight, the Trinity Archives team received permission to 62 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: lift the stone slab and see if there was a 63 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: burial vault underneath, but all they found was packed dirt. 64 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: So they inserted a scope into the ground to find 65 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: any remains that might be resting in the plot, and 66 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: again they came up empty. Soon the team was able 67 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: to conclude that nobody, and especially not Charlotte Temple, was 68 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: buried beneath the gravestone. That probably that the grave was 69 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: a hoax, which makes sense. It was first noticed in 70 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: the eighteen fifties, not long after the current Trinity Church 71 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: was rebuilt, and it's made from the exact same brownstone 72 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: as the new building. One archivist suspects that Charlotte's Grave 73 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: was crafted by one of the stonecutters. Maybe he intended 74 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: for the gravestone to be a small tribute to the book. 75 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: He loved, But archivist Katherine Hurwitz has another theory. In 76 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,360 Speaker 1: the eighteen forties, tourism as a business was just beginning, 77 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: and a lot of New York residents were looking to 78 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: profit from this budding industry. Hurwitz wonders if the grave 79 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: was created by someone looking to sell tourism maps with 80 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: Charlotte's Grave listed as an attraction, and how popular the 81 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: site became. The hoax clearly worked. Will likely never know 82 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: who planted the fake grave that drew so many unsuspecting fans, 83 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: but for the time being, Trinity Church intends on keeping 84 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: the grave where it's at. It might be a work 85 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: of fiction, but just like Charlotte Temple, it's a good 86 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: story worth keeping around. Today, we're traveling back in time 87 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: to the seventeen nineties in Lyon, France, to a man 88 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: whose hunger never ceased. In fact, his biology has given 89 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: rise to one of the most curious medical mysteries in history. 90 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 1: Although his true name is lost to time, the man 91 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: is now known as Tarare. The name is thought to 92 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: be a reference to the loud explosions of canons during 93 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:59,279 Speaker 1: military parades. Tarrare's powerful farts reminded people of this sound 94 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: and that was actually one of the less remarkable things 95 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,679 Speaker 1: about him. He also had a massive mouth that stretched 96 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: so far across his face that he didn't even really 97 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: have lips. This gaping maw led to his stomach, which 98 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: hung loose around him except for when he ate. You see, 99 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,600 Speaker 1: Tarare was always hungry. He could down an entire barrel 100 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: of apples, swallowing each one whole, and still be ready 101 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: for more. He ate as much meat as he could 102 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: get his hands on, fighting with dogs for the scraps 103 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,440 Speaker 1: outside of butcher shops. He would even eat wood chunks 104 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,720 Speaker 1: or corks if he couldn't get his hands on any 105 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: actual food. After he ate, his belly would distend like 106 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: a balloon and he would fall into a deep sleep. 107 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: His entire body would become drenched with sweat, and a thick, 108 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,279 Speaker 1: pungent vapor would literally rise up off of him. The 109 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: smell was so bad that no one could stand to 110 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 1: be within sixty feet of the guy. Once Tarare's horrible 111 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: meals had finished digesting, he would emit what has been 112 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: described as a nightmarish diarrhea for several minutes before hitting 113 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,599 Speaker 1: back up and looking for more food. When the French 114 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: military got word of this strange man, they decided to 115 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: press him into service. They had him swallow a wooden 116 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: box with secret orders written inside, and then they sent 117 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: him into Germany to contact French troops there. This ended 118 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: up being a terrible idea, though, as Tare didn't speak German, 119 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: so he was immediately discovered as a spy, captured and beaten. 120 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,160 Speaker 1: The Germans did eventually let him go, realizing he knew 121 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: very little about his government's plans. Once back in France, 122 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: Terrare was traumatized enough by the experience to finally seek 123 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: help for his medical condition. Doctors were shocked to find 124 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: that Tarare was truly capable of eating anything, so they 125 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: tried giving him the only appetite suppressants that they knew 126 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: of at the time, which included common things like tobacco 127 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: and eggs, and some stranger things like opium and various 128 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: kinds of acid. None of these things worked, though, and 129 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 1: Tarare was slowly becoming a problem around the hospital. Ually, 130 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: the rumors became too terrible and he had to flee 131 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: the hospital. He was heard from just once more. A 132 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: few years later, when he checked into a different hospital 133 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: with new worsening symptoms. He became very weak, and for 134 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: once he couldn't eat at all. He started to have 135 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: seemingly endless diarrhea, which continued until he finally passed away. 136 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: He was just twenty six years old. The autopsy revealed 137 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: that Terrare's organs were all much larger than normal. His 138 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: body cavity was also filled with some kind of putrid 139 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,839 Speaker 1: substance that kept doctors from being able to explore much further. 140 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: It was as if he had rotted away much more 141 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: quickly than a normal corpse. Today, doctors do acknowledge that 142 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: Terrare's case is well documented enough to be taken as 143 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: legitimate history, although many of the rumors about the things 144 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: that he did eat to have no evidence to back 145 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: them up. The most likely explanation for his condition is 146 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: some kind of brain disorder that led him to be 147 00:08:54,559 --> 00:09:00,040 Speaker 1: constantly hungry. All his other characteristics were likely secondary to this. 148 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 1: Massive mouth and stomach possibly stretched over time to accommodate 149 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: his lifestyle, and the toxicity that seemed to permeate his 150 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: body was probably a result of him eating tons of 151 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: absolutely disgusting things, from rotting animal carcasses to actual feces. 152 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: Unlike Terrari's hunger. I'm guess seeing that everyone's curiosity is 153 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: probably satiated for the day. I want you to be 154 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: thankful the next time you have a meal and feel full. 155 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: But I'm probably sure that none of us want to 156 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: think about this story ever again, especially while we're eating. 157 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 158 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,719 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 159 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 160 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 161 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 162 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 163 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:00,599 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 164 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.