1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: Imagine this. The year is eighteen thirty and you have 7 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: a horn growing out of the center of your forehead. 8 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: It's the color and texture of tree bark. It started 9 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: forming six years ago and now it's nearly ten inches long. 10 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 1: You want this weird growth gone, but the doctors all 11 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: tell you the same thing. Surgery is going to be 12 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: horrifically painful. However, after six years of living with this 13 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: thing growing out of your head, you don't really care anymore. 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: You go in for surgery to handle the pain you 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: know is coming. You're given whiskey that's it, drunk, but 16 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: fully aware that a scalpel is aimed at your face. 17 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: You lay back, bite down on a towel and hope 18 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: for the best. It's the most excruciating thing you have 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: ever experienced, but you survived the ordeal, and because of 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: that you become famous for being one of the first 21 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: successful plastic surgery patients ever. And I'm sure you've guessed 22 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: by now that this is a true story. The patient 23 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: in question was Madame Demanche of Paris. She had a 24 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: cutaneous horn, which is a large tumor formed out of keratin. 25 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,320 Speaker 1: After her successful operation, she became a poster child for 26 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: plastic surgery. A wax model of her face, horn and 27 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: all was purchased by an American medical school graduate while 28 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: he worked abroad. His name was doctor Thomas Mooder, and 29 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: he would become one of the most important surgeons in 30 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: the world. Born in Virginia in eighteen eleven, Thomas's boyhood 31 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: was marked by tragedy. By the time time he was 32 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: seven years old, his brother, mother, and father had all 33 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: passed away from illness. He was sent to live with 34 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 1: his grandmother, but soon she too died. He was then 35 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: raised by a family friend until at fifteen years old, 36 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: he left to go to college, and Thomas flourished in school. 37 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: He flew through his undergrad studies and soon moved to Philadelphia, 38 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: where he attended the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. At 39 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: just twenty years old, he officially became doctor Muder. The 40 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: next year, he took a trip to Paris to study 41 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: the burgeoning field of plastic surgery. Now, just to be clear, 42 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: doctor Mud wasn't doing facelifts. In the eighteen hundreds, plastic 43 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: surgeons were most often focused on helping patients with congenital deformities, 44 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: body growths, or injuries from severe accidents. Usually they worked 45 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: with very extreme cases, like that of Madame Demnche. Doctor 46 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: Mud purchased the wax model of her face while working 47 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: in Paris and brought it back to Philadelphia the following year. 48 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,720 Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty two, he established his own medical practice. 49 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: He soon gained a reputation as someone who truly cared 50 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: about his patient's comfort and safety when he operated. He 51 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: tried to keep the surgery clean and quick to minimize 52 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: his patient suffering. But still, the sculpture of the horned 53 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: woman served as a sad reminder people tended to avoid 54 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: surgery even when they desperately needed it. It was just 55 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: too painful, and a lot of nineteenth century doctors didn't 56 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: seem to care. They viewed pain as a natural part 57 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: of surgery, something to be accepted rather than avoided. But 58 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: doctor Mutor disagreed if surgery wasn't so agonizing, people would 59 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: be more likely to get the help that they needed, 60 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: and that's why when he learned about a new medical 61 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: technology in eighteen forty six, he was desperate to try it. 62 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: He was called ether. Now, for those who don't know, 63 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: ether was in early form of anesthesia. It knocked patients 64 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,119 Speaker 1: unconscious during surgery, preventing them from feeling any pain. Many 65 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: physicians were opposed to its use, though, believing that it 66 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: could be dangerous, but doctor Mutor saw it as an 67 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: opportunity that couldn't be passed up. That same year, doctor 68 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: Mudor became the first surgeon in Philadelphia to administer anesthesia. 69 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: It was a huge success, and people begin flocking to 70 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: him for pain free or at least far less painful 71 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: medical care. Over the next few decades, the practice of 72 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: administering anesthesia before surgery caught on. Meanwhile, doctor Muder became 73 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,679 Speaker 1: a professor at the local Jefferson Medical College. He lectured 74 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: on the benefits of ether, inspiring a generation of physicians. 75 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: By the time he died in eighteen fifty nine, he 76 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: had become a symbol for a more humane, patient centered 77 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: approach to medicine. He'd also amassed an impressive collection of 78 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: medical specimens, which were eventually used to found Philadelphia's Moodor Museum. 79 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: In these days, the museum is considered one of the 80 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: nation's foremost collections of historical medical oddities. It houses a 81 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: mixture of doctor MUD's belongings and other curious acquisitions like 82 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: cross sections of Albert Einstein's brain, a tumor from US 83 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: President Grover Cleveland's jaw, and of course that wax model 84 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: of Madame Dimanche. So if you ever have to go 85 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: to the oar, spare a thought for the horned woman 86 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,360 Speaker 1: and the surgeon she inspired, and be thankful that doctors 87 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: can knock you out with more than just a stiff drink. 88 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: On Valentine's Day in nineteen eighty one, twelve year old 89 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: Todd Dombowski was walking down the streets in his Pennsylvanian hometown. 90 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 1: His tennis shoes hit the asphalt with each step. Todd 91 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: knew to never walk around barefoot. That was something that 92 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,520 Speaker 1: you just didn't do. There. He glanced up at the trees, 93 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: admiring the first hint of green as winter turned into spring. 94 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: Then suddenly he heard a cracking sound his heart leapt 95 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: as the ground dropped out from beneath him, creating a 96 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: sinkhole that was one hundred and fifty feet deep. Smoke 97 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: billowed out of the fissure in the earth, and Todd 98 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: fell right in. He flailed his arms desperately, only just 99 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: managing to grab hold of an exposed tree root underneath 100 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: the broken concrete. He held on for dear life, trying 101 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: not to inhale the smoke, and of course he screamed 102 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,360 Speaker 1: for help. Thankfully, Tod's cousin was just up the road, 103 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: and he ran down to poll Tod out of the sinkhole. 104 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,039 Speaker 1: Shaken by the close call, both boys rushed home. The 105 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:26,039 Speaker 1: worst part was this was just another day in Centralia. 106 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: It had all started nineteen years earlier. In May of 107 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty two, the city's landfill was starting to overflow. 108 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,799 Speaker 1: Their annual Memorial Day celebration was coming, and the last 109 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: thing they wanted was to make citizens parade past a 110 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: giant mountain of garbage. So the city council came up 111 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: with a solution, burn all the trash. It seemed simple enough. 112 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: The fire department surrounded the landfill with flame resistant material, 113 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: then set the rubbish ablaze. When all the garbage had 114 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: been reduced to ash, they doused the area with water 115 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,320 Speaker 1: and snuffed out any remaining embers, or so they thought. 116 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: Two days later, the landfill was somehow on fire again. 117 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: Firefighters sprayed more water, but it didn't seem to help. 118 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: The following week, more flames arose. Confused, the fire department 119 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: sifted through the ash to find out where these seemingly 120 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: immortal flames were coming from. That's how they discovered that 121 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: they had made a horrible mistake. You see, in the 122 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: early twentieth century, Centralia was a mining town, but that 123 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: was so long ago that when the officials lit the 124 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: landfill on fire, they didn't think to check underneath it first. 125 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: If they had, they would have noticed that all the 126 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: trash was stacked on top of an opening of a 127 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: coal mine. Completely by accident, the fire department had ignited 128 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: that coal and it wasn't just a single mine. It 129 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: was a labyrinth of them, stretching out beneath the city 130 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: in all directions, all ablaze. Over the following months, a 131 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: fire raged underneath people's homes and businesses. The ground was 132 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: hot to the touch. Smoke rose out of cracks in 133 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: the concrete, and people started getting sick because carbon monoxide 134 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: levels became unnaturally high. Of course, the fire department tried 135 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: to stop the blaze, but your regular run of the 136 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: mill fire hoses were weak weapons when it came to 137 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:11,120 Speaker 1: putting out miles long underground coal fire. They sought outside 138 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: help and ended up spending seven million dollars trying to 139 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: put the fire out. But by nineteen eighty one, when 140 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: twelve year old Todd almost fell into a flaming sinkhole, 141 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: the mines were still burning. In nineteen eighty three, twenty 142 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: one years after the fire began, the federal government stepped in. 143 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: US officials spent forty two million dollars to purchase the 144 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: entirety of Centralia, demolishing all the buildings and relocating the 145 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: twenty five hundred people who once called the city home. 146 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: The government even revoked the city's zip code, officially wiping 147 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: it off the map, and just like that, Centralia turned 148 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:48,719 Speaker 1: into a ghost town, a smoky, abandoned abyss of a 149 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: ghost town. However, sixty three determined citizens insisted on staying put. 150 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: They remained in Centralia for another decade until the state 151 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania invoked eminent domain in Nighttien ten ninety three, 152 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: forcing the remaining locals to leave, well most of them. 153 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,839 Speaker 1: If you can believe it, exactly six people refuse to 154 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: leave Centralia, even though it had become a dangerous ghost 155 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: town where the streets routinely opened up to reveal the 156 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: flaming mines below. In twenty thirteen, these remaining Centrallians sued 157 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: the state of Pennsylvania for rights to their property. They 158 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: each received a settlement of nearly three hundred and fifty 159 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: thousand dollars and the right to stay in their homes 160 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: for as long as they lived. And you have to 161 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,680 Speaker 1: admit it's a spooky image. Six people living in a 162 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: town that doesn't officially exist, their homes nestled in between 163 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: the rubble of raised buildings in the ash of a 164 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: fire that's still burning. In fact, it was so spooky 165 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: that it inspired the creators of a well known horror 166 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: movie franchise. The setting of Silent Hill was inspired by Centralia, 167 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: and these days the city is more commonly known as 168 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: the real life Silent Hill. Sadly, it doesn't look like 169 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: Centralia will be getting a new reputation anytime soon. The 170 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: fire beneath the city has been going for sixty one years, 171 00:10:01,320 --> 00:10:03,959 Speaker 1: and according to experts, there's enough coal in the minds 172 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: to keep it burning for two hundred and fifty more. 173 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: I guess that doesn't technically qualify as an eternal flame, 174 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: but it's pretty darn close. I hope you've enjoyed today's 175 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 176 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,079 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 177 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. This show was created by 178 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 179 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 180 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 181 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until 182 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.