1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,239 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Most people today know 5 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: at least the basics of the story of France's King 6 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,520 Speaker 1: Louis six He was the last king of France, and 7 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 1: when he died, the monarchy died with him. And of 8 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: course he was the grandson of Louis the Great, also 9 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: known as the Son King. Even his wife, Marie Antoinette, 10 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: was well known with one of the more recognizable names 11 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 1: from popular history. But what most people tend to skip 12 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: over is his childhood. Unlike his grandfather, the Son King, 13 00:00:56,480 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: who ascended to the throne at the age of just four, 14 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: Louis the sixteenth didn't become king until he was nearly twenty, 15 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 1: which means he had a lot of time before that 16 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: to experience life from his less lofty position. One moment 17 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:14,119 Speaker 1: in particular stands out. As a child, Louis was approached 18 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 1: by an astrologer who asked if he could make a prediction. 19 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:21,520 Speaker 1: When Louis agreed, this astrologer warned the future king to 20 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: be cautious of the twenty first day of each month. 21 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: This morning came with no further explanation, but despite that, 22 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: implanted itself firmly in the boy's mind. Later, after taking 23 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: the throne in seventeen seventy four, Louis organized his responsibilities 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: as king around that childhood fear. He avoided doing any 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: important business on the twenty one of each month, assuming 26 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: that if he never set the wheels in motion on 27 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: those days, there would be nothing to return and harm him. 28 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: Then again, what was coming down the pipeline was something 29 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: no one could have predicted. When the American Revolution broke 30 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: out in seventeen seventy six, Benjamin Franklin approached Louis for 31 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: help with defeating the British rule of the American colonies. 32 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: King Louis agreed and sent much support to their cause, 33 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,120 Speaker 1: and in the end it worked. The British were defeated 34 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: and the French gained a new powerful ally, but it 35 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,280 Speaker 1: also showed the French citizens that a country could exist 36 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: without a monarchy. In seventeen eighty nine, revolution broke out again, 37 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: this time in France. Inspired in part by the Americans, 38 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: the French overthrew their own king and set up a 39 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: republic in its place, which meant that King Louis the 40 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: sixteenth had to go. But here's where it gets weird. 41 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,480 Speaker 1: King Louis did his best to fight off the revolution, 42 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: but on June twenty, seventeen ninety one, he and his 43 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: family put on the clothing of servants and escaped into 44 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: the night, while their servants remained behind dressed as nobles. 45 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 1: The following day they were captured and arrested. That would 46 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: be June one for anyone keeping track. A little over 47 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 1: a year later, the new French government issued an official 48 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: pronouncement that abolished the French monarchy forever the date September. 49 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: It would take another few months before Louis met his fate. 50 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: It's the part most of us know the best. Louis 51 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: was led out into the Palace de la cour no Nod, 52 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,279 Speaker 1: where an enormous crowd had gathered to watch the execution. 53 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: There in front of the people he once ruled over, 54 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: Louis gave a brief speech and was then executed by guillotine. 55 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: The date sevent January one. Of course, that old astronomer 56 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: told Louis to avoid the twenty one of the month, 57 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: and looking back it seems like that was pretty solid advice. 58 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: The trouble was he couldn't control everything, no one, not 59 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: even a king and stop. The March of time, Tony 60 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: had arrived in London to take part in the production 61 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: of a new Hollywood film. It was an adaptation of 62 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: a popular novel, and because of that, Tony really wanted 63 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: to get a copy of the book for himself to 64 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: read and study and use as a resource for his 65 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: own performance. Shortly after arriving in the city, he headed 66 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: out to a local bookstore to see if they had 67 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 1: a copy, but left empty handed. He checked a few 68 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: more stores, but each visit resulted in the same outcome. Frustrated, 69 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: Tony decided to call it quits and head back to 70 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: his apartment. So he walked to the nearest subway station, 71 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 1: Leicester Square, and headed inside. While he waited for the 72 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: train to arrive, he took a seat on one of 73 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: the nearby benches. No one was sitting there, but as 74 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: he sat down, he noticed that someone had left a 75 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: small pile of papers at one end. His curiosity drove 76 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: him to pick up the pile and look through it, 77 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: which is when he made a fantastic discovery. There Inside 78 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: the papers was a copy of the very same book 79 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: that he'd been trying and failing all day to buy. 80 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: Tony took that book home and devoured it. It was 81 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:33,000 Speaker 1: clearly a well loved copy, with handwriting scrawled in pencil 82 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: throughout the pages, but it allowed him to fully understand 83 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: the author's vision for his character, and that gave him 84 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: the tools he needed to deliver his best as an actor. 85 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: After the filming was complete, he left London and took 86 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: the book with him. Roughly two years later, Tony was 87 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: in Vienna working on the film's production when he had 88 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 1: a chance to meet the author of that elusive book. 89 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: The writer George Peiffer than Tony for his performance and 90 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: help in bringing his novel to life, but also lamented 91 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 1: that he no longer owned a single copy of his 92 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:12,560 Speaker 1: own novel. Tony listened in surprise as George described loaning 93 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: his last copy to a good friend. But that friend, 94 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: George added, never returned my copy. In fact, she told 95 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:25,039 Speaker 1: me she lost it in the subway. Tony smiled and 96 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: then reached into his bag and pulled out the copy 97 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,039 Speaker 1: of the book he still carried with him. The cover 98 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: was still sharp and the title of the book was 99 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: printed across it the girl from Petrovka. George Peiffer, took 100 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: the copy in his hands with wide eyes, and then 101 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: opened it up to look at the pages. They're scribbled 102 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: in the margins for his own personal notes. This is it, 103 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: he exclaimed, smiling wide at Tony, Tony, understanding his place 104 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: in this wild coincidence, gladly past ownership of the book 105 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: back to George. So that's how an author rediscovered his 106 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: own missing novel, lost by random circumstances. It had returned 107 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: to him through the most unusual of events, and handed 108 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: over to him by one of Hollywood's most legendary leading men. 109 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: Our hero, the actor you see, wasn't listed in the 110 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: credits as Tony, but by the name all of us 111 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: know him by today, Anthony Hopkins. I hope you've enjoyed 112 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 113 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 114 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 115 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 116 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 117 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show. And you can 118 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the world of lore 119 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: dot com, and until next time, stay curious.