1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:30,319 Speaker 1: to the Cabinet of Curiosities. As World War Two was 5 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: coming to an end, US forces were making plans to 6 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: invade the Japanese mainland. On August six, after months of 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: air raids conducted against the Japanese people, the United States 8 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: dropped the atom bomb over Hiroshima, followed by another bomb 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: over Nagasaki a few days later. Hundreds of thousands of 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: civilians were killed. Those who survived were subjected to horrible 11 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: side effects such as cancer and severe burns, while children 12 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: born in the aftermath had numerous complications and birth to 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: x and While those two bombs remain the only times 14 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: nuclear force has been used during war, countries all over 15 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: the world continue to threaten mass destruction with similar weapons 16 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: to this day. In fact, in nineteen fifty eight, a 17 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: nuclear incident occurred in a very unexpected location, South Carolina, 18 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: and most people have never heard of it. In March 19 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: of that year, a Boeing B forty seven bomber departed 20 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia bound for the 21 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: United Kingdom. Safely tucked inside its cargo bay was a 22 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: Mark six nuclear bomb, an explosive based on the original 23 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,959 Speaker 1: bomb that leveled Nagasaki thirteen years earlier. The bomber's mission 24 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: was simple, fly over Great Britain, deliver the payload, and 25 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,559 Speaker 1: continue on to a base in North Africa for refueling. 26 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: Anti briefing. During the flights, Air Force Captain Bruce Kolka 27 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: was called by the pilot of the plane, Captain Earl Kohler. 28 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: Earl noticed a life in the cockpit, indicating the bomb 29 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: harness locking pin hadn't engaged, meaning the bomb could roll 30 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 1: about the cabin freely in the event the plane suddenly 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,679 Speaker 1: shifted too hard in one direction. He sent Bruce to 32 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: the cargo area to fix the pin. With no easy 33 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: way to re engage the pin, Bruce took hold of 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: the straps keeping the bomb in place. As he pulled 35 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: himself up, he accidentally triggered the emergency release pin. The 36 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: bomb fell out of its harness and down to the 37 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: bomb bade doors below. Thankfully, it didn't detonate, but the 38 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: impact combined with the object's massive weight and forced the 39 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: bay doors open. The bomb plummeted toward the earth from 40 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: fifteen thousand feet above. Meanwhile, in mars Bluff, South Carolina, 41 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: two young girls were playing with their cousin near a 42 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: playhouse their father had built for them in the woods 43 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: next to their home. The bomb hit the playhouse and 44 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: when it went off, it disintegrated the structure. Both girls 45 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: were thrown back, and their father, a former woolwarts to paratrooper, 46 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: was also injured, as were his wife and son. Seven 47 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: buildings within the vicinity saw significant damages as well. A 48 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: nuclear blast is capable of decimating anything within sixteen square miles, 49 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: and yet not a single person died. The only structure 50 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: that fell was the playhouse in the woods. And how 51 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: could it be simple? The bomb hadn't been loaded with 52 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: its nuclear core, which was still up above on the plane. 53 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: The B forty seven's mission hadn't been to eradicate the 54 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: United Kingdom, but to use it as a testing site. 55 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: Despite our differences, we haven't been at war with England 56 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: in many many years. During the nineteen fifties, the United 57 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: States and the UK worked out a deal which would 58 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: allow the US Air Force to test nuclear bombs on 59 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 1: British soil. In order to record the accuracy of the drops. 60 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: This time, though, the plane hadn't even left United States 61 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: airspace before the problem was noticed, nor had its danger 62 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: as cargo been primed for a full scale nuclear assault. Instead, 63 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: when the Mark six landed on the South Carolina playhouse, 64 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: the regular explosives inside detonated, which obliterated that playhouse and 65 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: left an impressive seventy ft crater in the family's backyard. 66 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 1: Like I said before, no one was killed, although the 67 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: injuries the family endured earned them roughly fifty dollars from 68 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: the US government close to half a million dollars today, 69 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: the crater is still there too, indicated by a historical 70 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: marker and an access sign. So even though the United 71 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,720 Speaker 1: States hasn't dropped in nuclear bomb on another country in 72 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: almost eighty years, it was responsible for the first and 73 00:04:44,480 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: hopefully last nuclear attack on its own soil. The U 74 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: S S C Dragon was a skate class nuclear powered submarine, 75 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: meaning it was designed to be smaller and cheaper to 76 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: produce for the U. S. Navy than other subs like 77 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 1: the U S S Nautilus. It was launched in nineteen 78 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,679 Speaker 1: fifty eight and ran until it was decommissioned in During 79 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: those twenty six years, the Sea Dragon conducted a series 80 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: of missions on behalf of the United States military. It 81 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: made quite a name for itself thanks to its smart 82 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: and resourceful crew, led by Captain George Peabody Steel. The 83 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: second the Sea Dragon, was built as an attack sub 84 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: intended for Arctic waters, meant to destroy enemy submarines near 85 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: and under the Polar ice cap. For her first mission, 86 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: the Sea Dragon was ordered to travel from the Atlantic 87 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: Ocean to the Pacific via the North Pole. She was 88 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 1: supposed to navigate through the Davis Strait between Greenland and 89 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: Canada before entering the Perry Channel in the Canadian Arctic. 90 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: This route was more commonly known as the Northwest Passage, 91 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 1: and very few ships had ever made it through successfully. 92 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: Almost every ship Antarctic explorer who attempted it in the 93 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 1: past had ended up turning back, deterred by the massive 94 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: amounts of ice blocking the way. The Sea Dragon, though, 95 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 1: was different. It had no intention of going through the ice. 96 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: It would instead slip beneath it. Now. This of course, 97 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: presented its own problems. Since no large vessel above or 98 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: below the water had ever navigated the passage before. No 99 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: one knew what to expect. Charts and maps of the 100 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: area were almost non existence, and the passages depth was unknown. 101 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: There was a good chance the Sea Dragon could get 102 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: stuck in a channel that was either too narrow or 103 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: too shallow to pass through, and the mission would be over. However, 104 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: rather than relying on sonar to help guide them through, 105 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: Captain Steele decided to supplement modern technology with something a 106 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: little more old school. He pulled out his copy of 107 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: Sir William Edward Perry's eighteen nineteen journal, which described the 108 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: methods he used in navigating the channel. Steele also had 109 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: a dedicated team on board whose job it was to 110 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 1: chart all icebergs they passed so they could find their 111 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: way back, as well as make things easier for the 112 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: next sub to attempt the trip. It took almost a month, 113 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 1: but after a series of close calls with some massive icebergs, 114 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: the us SC Dragon successfully completed its journey through the 115 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: Northwest Passage on August one of nineteen sixty. Four. Days later, 116 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: it arrived at the North Pole. Now Captain Steele didn't 117 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: just want the Sea Dragon to be the third submarine 118 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: to have ever reached the North Pole. He wanted his 119 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: trip there to be special, so he enlisted the crew 120 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: to participate in a unique test of skill and ingenuity. 121 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: He had them draw out a large diamond on the ice, 122 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: a baseball diamond that alone would have made the voyage 123 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: unique for sure, the first baseball game ever played at 124 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,559 Speaker 1: the North Pole, but Captain Steele took the idea even further. 125 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 1: He had the crew set up the diamond as close 126 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: to the pole as possible. The result was a baseball 127 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: game unlike any other. It literally couldn't be played anywhere 128 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: else on Earth. Because of the diamond's position, the batter 129 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: who hit a home run would end up circumnavigating the 130 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: globe as he rounded the basis. A ball hit into 131 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: right field would cross the international dateline into the next day, 132 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: while a ball hit to left field was caught on 133 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: the same day. However, if it was thrown to first base, 134 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be caught until tomorrow. It gets better, though, 135 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,319 Speaker 1: If a fly ball was caught in right field, then 136 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: the batter wouldn't technically be out until the next day. However, 137 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: a ball thrown to second or third base would have 138 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,559 Speaker 1: been thrown back in time twenty four hours. So now 139 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: a game that normally took a few hours to play, 140 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: ended up taking several days until a winner could be declared. 141 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: Now a lot of sports announcers like to say that 142 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: it all comes down to how the game was played, 143 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: but just this once something different. It took priority over 144 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 1: the skills of the players. It's not always how you 145 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: play the game that makes the difference, but where you 146 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: play it. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of 147 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,559 Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 148 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 149 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky 150 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 151 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 152 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 153 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 154 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.