Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. History is full of daring escapes and near missus.
Speaker 1: One of the most famous involved in ninety four mass
Speaker 1: escape of Allied soldiers from a German pow camp. The
Speaker 1: story eventually became the subject of a book by one
Speaker 1: of the Royal Australian Air Force pilots imprisoned there. It
Speaker 1: was then adapted into a film in nineteen sixty three
Speaker 1: starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough. The Great Escape is
Speaker 1: remembered today as a cinema classic. A similar event occurred
Speaker 1: eighty years prior, during the Civil War. Hundreds of Union
Speaker 1: officers were being held at Libby Prison in Virginia, a
Speaker 1: Confederate prison where captives faced dismal living conditions. There wasn't
Speaker 1: enough food, disease ran rampant, and many men were crammed
Speaker 1: into cells shoulder to shoulder. The prisoners dug a tunnel
Speaker 1: for months, carving through the bricks behind the kitchen stove.
Speaker 1: On February nine, they got their chance. One nine Union
Speaker 1: prisoners of war crawled dozens of feet through the darkness,
Speaker 1: rats scurrying around them until they were able to breathe
Speaker 1: the fresh air of freedom. Though almost fifty were caught
Speaker 1: in the following days, about sixty made it back to
Speaker 1: Union lines, many by Valentine's Day. But there is another
Speaker 1: historical great escape, one that has eluded the publishing world
Speaker 1: and Hollywood. It's a tale of deception, cunning and bravery,
Speaker 1: and it occurred while the enemy watched the whole thing
Speaker 1: happened in front of him. In twelve sixty four, Lord
Speaker 1: Edward the Fist of England based off against Simon de Montfort.
Speaker 1: The Montfort had been an advisor to edwards father, King
Speaker 1: Henry the Third, but the two grew apart over Montfort's
Speaker 1: displeasure over Henry's ruling style. You see, Henry was a
Speaker 1: dictator who often went against the wishes of his barons,
Speaker 1: while Montfort preferred a more limited form of government, one
Speaker 1: where a monarch was kept in check by elected officials
Speaker 1: and barons. Simon de Montfort united the other barons and
Speaker 1: their armies against Henry's and edwards forces. The two sides
Speaker 1: confronted each other in the town of Lewis in Sussex.
Speaker 1: Henry's army was almost double the size of Montfort's. A
Speaker 1: truce was attempted, but the king was confident that he
Speaker 1: could overpower his former advisor with ease. With the formalities
Speaker 1: out of the way, Montfort ordered his forces to split
Speaker 1: into teams of four in order to attack from different sides.
Speaker 1: They struck at dawn. Edward managed to push one section
Speaker 1: of the baronial army into a neighboring town, but his
Speaker 1: efforts left his father's men wide open to an attack
Speaker 1: from the enemy. Simon de Montfort gained the upper hand
Speaker 1: and was able to overwhelm the King's forces. His army
Speaker 1: killed many Royalist soldiers while the others fled. Some were
Speaker 1: taking his prisoners. With the Royalists defeated, Simon had a
Speaker 1: few friars deliver a message to the King the time
Speaker 1: had come for peace. He would release all of the
Speaker 1: prisoners if Henry and Edward surrendered themselves. He didn't want
Speaker 1: to fight anyone. He only wanted what was best for England,
Speaker 1: and Prince Edward agreed. He gave up himself as requested,
Speaker 1: and though he was technically Simon's prisoner, he was afforded
Speaker 1: certain luxuries. For example, the prince often went out to
Speaker 1: ride horses with the few guards nearby, to make sure
Speaker 1: that he didn't escape well. One day, Simon was gifted
Speaker 1: a horse from a nobleman who had come to visit.
Speaker 1: It was strong and fast, the kind of horse that
Speaker 1: might serve well in battle, and Simon instructed one of
Speaker 1: his servants to take it along whenever Edward went on
Speaker 1: his rides, so as to catch him if he tried
Speaker 1: to flee. Edward caught a glimpse of the powerful creature,
Speaker 1: and he got an idea. He challenged the guards to
Speaker 1: a race. Each guard, one by one took off after
Speaker 1: the prince on horseback, before returning with him back to
Speaker 1: the starting point. After all the guards had raised him,
Speaker 1: Simon de Montfort's new horse was brought out last. Edward
Speaker 1: took the reins and mounted it himself, waving goodbye as
Speaker 1: he bolted away. The guards took off after him. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: Edward had already pulled one over on them in racing,
Speaker 1: their horses earlier he had exhausted them. The animals were
Speaker 1: too tired to give chase, and so the prince got away.
Speaker 1: A few months later, Edward met up with Simon de Montfort. Again.
Speaker 1: Things didn't go so well for Simon. This time his
Speaker 1: army was defeated in battle, and he was killed by
Speaker 1: a lance through the neck. Several years later, Edward ascended
Speaker 1: to the throne, all because his captor had loosened the
Speaker 1: reins and allowed him to make hay. When Tom Moore Jr.
Speaker 1: Died at the age of ninety eight, the people of
Speaker 1: McLean County, Texas remembered him for the colorful life he'd led.
Speaker 1: He had practiced law for nearly seventy years and showed
Speaker 1: up at the law firm every day well into his nineties.
Speaker 1: Those who met him said that he was compassionate, highly intelligent,
Speaker 1: and had a keen sense of humor. Because of his
Speaker 1: advanced age, judges allowed him and only him, to appear
Speaker 1: in court without a tie. He had earned the right,
Speaker 1: the judges said, although more still wore a tie if
Speaker 1: a jury was present. He had strong work ethics too.
Speaker 1: He'd worked his way up in life, starting at his
Speaker 1: father's lumber yard, where he continued to work while putting
Speaker 1: himself through college at Baylor University. He served in the
Speaker 1: army from nineteen forty three to forty six, and then
Speaker 1: from nineteen fifty two to fifty eight. He worked as
Speaker 1: the county's district attorney during the early days of television.
Speaker 1: In fact, he made the news when he served as
Speaker 1: the prosecutor for the first televised criminal trial case in
Speaker 1: the US in nineteen fifty five. The case was a
Speaker 1: national sensation. The local news reported that more women tuned
Speaker 1: into the trial during the afternoon than their favorite soap operas.
Speaker 1: More won the case by the way the accused murderer,
Speaker 1: Harry Washburn, was found guilty. In nineteen sixty seven, More
Speaker 1: was elected to the Texas House of Representatives, where he
Speaker 1: served until nineteen seventy three. He became part of a
Speaker 1: group labeled the Dirty thirty when he and others set
Speaker 1: aside party loyalty to oust their speaker, Gus Mutcher, who
Speaker 1: was involved in a stock fraud scandal. More said that
Speaker 1: he and the others considered themselves reformers, ridding their party
Speaker 1: of corruption. More returned to practicing law after that and
Speaker 1: mentored other attorneys. They recall his strong ethics and advice.
Speaker 1: If it smells, he told them, don't do it. But
Speaker 1: when most people retired, More kept going. In his later years,
Speaker 1: he took part in meals on wheels for aging citizens,
Speaker 1: although by this time he was older than most of
Speaker 1: the recipients, and when some of his legal clients couldn't pay,
Speaker 1: More just worked for free. He remained social too, playing
Speaker 1: cards with his friends for over forty years, rarely missing
Speaker 1: a night. But none of those accomplishments are what people
Speaker 1: remember about Tom Moore, from the serious to the mundane.
Speaker 1: Writing and voting on legislation was part of Moore's and
Speaker 1: his fellow representatives duties in the late sixties and early seventies,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't uncommon to pass resolutions to honor citizens
Speaker 1: for their hard work or their social contributions. Such was
Speaker 1: the case when Moore presented a resolution to the House
Speaker 1: of Representatives in nineteen seventy one. He wrote that his
Speaker 1: nominee had served the country, states, and community with dedication
Speaker 1: and devotion. More also was quick to point out that
Speaker 1: the state of Massachusetts had already officially recognized the nominees methods. However, unconventional.
Speaker 1: They might have been in population control and applied psychology. Sure,
Speaker 1: the facts and events surrounding the nominee service were vague,
Speaker 1: and more had intentionally and carefully worded the resolution. Still,
Speaker 1: the House voted unanimously in favor of it. Now, I'm
Speaker 1: sure that a lot of things ran through Moore's mind
Speaker 1: by then. Although slightly horrified, he also wasn't surprised in
Speaker 1: a strange sort of way. He also found it amusing
Speaker 1: and could barely contain his laughter. You see, he'd proven
Speaker 1: a point that no one he worked with actually read
Speaker 1: the resolutions they voted on, and that they hadn't for
Speaker 1: a very long time, and thanks to Moore's experiment, they
Speaker 1: literally had no idea who they had just honored for
Speaker 1: their work on population control. Within minutes of approval, he
Speaker 1: withdrew his proposal, and everyone appeared stunned that he would
Speaker 1: pull the resolution before the ink had even dried, and
Speaker 1: so they waited for an explanation. Now, back then, he
Speaker 1: still wore a tie to work, and he might have
Speaker 1: tugged at it just a little before reminding them of
Speaker 1: the date April one, and his resolution had been part prank,
Speaker 1: part test to see if these professional politicians actually paid
Speaker 1: attention to the job that they had been elected to perform.
Speaker 1: Considering the results of the vote, it was clear that
Speaker 1: they most certainly did not, because Moore's carefully rewarded proposal
Speaker 1: was designed to honor a man named Albert de Salvo,
Speaker 1: otherwise known as the famous serial killer from Massachusetts, the
Speaker 1: Boston Strangler. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until
Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.