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 are right there on display, just
Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: It's impossible not to cheer at a one in a
Speaker 1: million shot, whether it's an ace from across the green
Speaker 1: or a game winning half court basket right at the buzzer.
Speaker 1: People love a long shot. Well, most people you see
Speaker 1: a few soldiers in Battery b first Rhode Island Light
Speaker 1: Artillery during the Civil War weren't huge fans of a
Speaker 1: particular hole in one. They were in Pennsylvania in early
Speaker 1: July eighteen sixty three to take on the Confederates at
Speaker 1: the Battle of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee and his
Speaker 1: Army of Northern Virginia had already defeated the Army of
Speaker 1: the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville months earlier. Lee
Speaker 1: then started moving north from Fredericksburg, Virginia, with seventy five
Speaker 1: thousand men in tow. They were feeling pretty good ready
Speaker 1: to take over the northern territory. Meanwhile, Major General Joseph
Speaker 1: Hooker and the Union side was also heading north, but
Speaker 1: he wasn't so keen to take on Lee again. He
Speaker 1: was still reeling from his defeat at Chancellorsville. President Lincoln
Speaker 1: refused to let Hooker carry on in command of the
Speaker 1: Army of the Potomac. He put Major General George Mead
Speaker 1: in charge instead, who took control of the ninety thousand
Speaker 1: strong army and moved them northward. They had one goal,
Speaker 1: keep Lee out of the nation's capital of Washington, DC. Mead, however,
Speaker 1: wasn't going to just act as a roadblock to the Confederacy.
Speaker 1: He also wanted to take down his rival. By the
Speaker 1: end of June, General Lee had already made it to Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: Spy General Jeb Stewart let him know that Union troops
Speaker 1: were close behind, so Lee packed up and headed toward Gettysburg.
Speaker 1: The battle kicked off early on the morning of July first,
Speaker 1: as Confederate Major General Henry Heath took the Union cavalry
Speaker 1: while on his way to Gettysburg for supplies. Pretty soon,
Speaker 1: reinforcements on both sides arrived, and the fight was officially underway,
Speaker 1: thirty thousand Confederates against twenty thousand Union troops. Union soldiers
Speaker 1: retreated towards Cemetery Hill in the south, where they took
Speaker 1: up a fortified position. The next day, General Lee sent
Speaker 1: Lieutenant General James Longstreet to take on the Union's left flank,
Speaker 1: while various landmarks in and around Gettysburg became bloodsoak battlegrounds,
Speaker 1: but the Union held firm against the Confederate traders, staving
Speaker 1: off as Southern victory for one more day, although the
Speaker 1: final day of the battle would become the most crucial
Speaker 1: of all and the most bizarre. You see. On July third,
Speaker 1: Lee picked up the fight at Culp's Hill, where meads
Speaker 1: men were trying to take back the ground they had
Speaker 1: lost the day before. Smoke in the smell of gunpowder
Speaker 1: filled the air as the Blue and Gray went head
Speaker 1: to head. Bayonets pierced flesh, while musket balls and bullets
Speaker 1: found their marks or wound up in nearby tree trunks,
Speaker 1: and cannons let fly with grapefruit sized balls of bronze
Speaker 1: and iron. It was one of these cannon balls that
Speaker 1: did something unexpected, as Private Alfred Gardner of Battery b
Speaker 1: first Rhode Island Light Artillery was reloading his cannon. An
Speaker 1: enemy shell struck it, killing both gardener and Private William Jones.
Speaker 1: And not only were the two men killed in the blast,
Speaker 1: but the impact also dented the cannon's muzzle. Sergeant Albert
Speaker 1: Straight had been behind it waiting to fire it when
Speaker 1: it happened. He hurried around to the front in an
Speaker 1: attempt to reload it himself, but quickly realized that the
Speaker 1: cannon wasn't just damaged, it was burning hot. It seems
Speaker 1: that when the enemy shell has struck the muzzle, it
Speaker 1: caused the barrel to rapidly heat up, and as Straight
Speaker 1: tried to push the new melon size twelve pound cannon
Speaker 1: ball down its shaft, the heavy sphere melded with the metal.
Speaker 1: He tried every thing to get it to go in,
Speaker 1: including hitting it with an axe and then a hammer,
Speaker 1: but the shell refused to budge. It was now a
Speaker 1: part of the canon. Luckily, this one cannon was not
Speaker 1: meant to decide the fate of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Speaker 1: Union forces successfully defeated the Confederates and eventually went on
Speaker 1: to win the war, but the cannon remained unaltered today,
Speaker 1: the Gettysburg Gun, as it's now called, now resides in
Speaker 1: the Rhode Island Statehouse, where visitors can see it on
Speaker 1: full display. It still bears the axe marks made by
Speaker 1: Sergeant Strait, as well as the dent in the muzzle,
Speaker 1: and the cannon ball is still there too. Just don't
Speaker 1: try to fire it unless you want to end up
Speaker 1: looking like Yosemite Sam in a bugs Bunny cartoon. Politics
Speaker 1: can be tough for even the most seasoned veteran nasty business,
Speaker 1: with mud flying in both directions, sordid pasts coming to light,
Speaker 1: and heated debates that can quickly turn ugly. People enter
Speaker 1: politics for a number of reasons, such as helping their community,
Speaker 1: gaining power over others, or even just to get rich.
Speaker 1: Money doesn't just talk in Washington, it screams. But before
Speaker 1: they became senators or members of Congress, many politicians got
Speaker 1: their start at the local level, as representatives in towns
Speaker 1: and cities where they could hopefully do the most good,
Speaker 1: and not just in America, but all over the world.
Speaker 1: In fact, in one small town in Ecuador, two mayoral
Speaker 1: candidates went up against a third party choice who had
Speaker 1: come out of nowhere a candidate who had swept everybody
Speaker 1: in town off their feet. It was nineteen sixty seven
Speaker 1: and a small Ecuadorian village was facing a dilemma. It
Speaker 1: was called Picawasa, a parish near the Pacific coast. Today,
Speaker 1: it's known as a prominent historical site, home to several
Speaker 1: archaeological discoveries, including an ancient settlement dating back to before
Speaker 1: Christopher Columbus was even born. Unfortunately, Picawasa was also an
Speaker 1: impoverished area that lacked many of the basic necessities its
Speaker 1: residents needed to thrive, including clean drinking water in a
Speaker 1: proper sewage system. But nineteen sixty seven marked a time
Speaker 1: of change in the town. They were electing a new
Speaker 1: mayor that year, one who would hopefully usher in a
Speaker 1: new era of success and prosperity for the people who
Speaker 1: lived there. The voters, on the other hand, felt differently.
Speaker 1: It seemed that no such person existed. It's hard to
Speaker 1: know why they didn't vote for one of the two
Speaker 1: main candidates who had been vying for the position, but
Speaker 1: one must assume that people just didn't like them. Maybe
Speaker 1: it was their policies, or perhaps they simply didn't understand
Speaker 1: the plight of the Picawasan people. Whatever the case, the
Speaker 1: citizens drifted toward a third contender, a newcomer who entered
Speaker 1: the mayoral race late in the game. His name was Pulvapis.
Speaker 1: He was new to the political scene and decided to
Speaker 1: get his feet wet in this local election. He started
Speaker 1: by distributing literature throughout the town, such as leaflets and flyers,
Speaker 1: and they bore the slogan vote for any candidate, but
Speaker 1: if you want well being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapis.
Speaker 1: It was an odd message for someone running for mayor,
Speaker 1: but it made an impact on the people. They bought
Speaker 1: into the straightforward and wholesome nature of his campaign. This
Speaker 1: wasn't someone looking to drag others down to get ahead.
Speaker 1: Pulvapis only cared about the voters and their well being,
Speaker 1: and it worked. Come election day, the people of Pikawasa
Speaker 1: knew who they wanted to be their new mayor. But
Speaker 1: there was just one problem. He wasn't on the ballot.
Speaker 1: But as anyone who has participated in a democratic election
Speaker 1: would tell you, that wasn't the end of the story
Speaker 1: for Pulvapis. Rather than default to one of the other
Speaker 1: two candidates, voters began to fill in this dark horses
Speaker 1: name as a rite in choice. One by one, the
Speaker 1: Pikawasans added Pulvapi's name to the ballot, and when the
Speaker 1: election had ended, the votes were tallied up and the
Speaker 1: winner was declared. There was no denying it. Pulvapis had
Speaker 1: been elected mayor of Pikawasa. Unfortunately, he was unable to
Speaker 1: fill the position. Despite fighting a clean and hard won campaign,
Speaker 1: Pulvapis was not eligible to serve as the town's mayor
Speaker 1: because he was not a person. He was a foot powder.
Speaker 1: You see, during the election cycle, the company that made
Speaker 1: Pulvapis started advertising in the town, and their efforts bore
Speaker 1: a striking resemblance to an actual political campaign. It was
Speaker 1: enough to influence the local population into ignoring the two
Speaker 1: actual human being candidates and write in their foot powder instead.
Speaker 1: We don't know if Pulvapi's success led to an increase
Speaker 1: in sales of the product, but it's clear that when
Speaker 1: voters are unhappy with the choices they're given, they won't
Speaker 1: settle for anything less. They'll think on their feet and
Speaker 1: look for a better option, one who cares about the people,
Speaker 1: heart and soul. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
Speaker 1: of 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 Mankey
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 Worldoflore dot com. And until next time,
Speaker 1: stay curious.