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 --> 00:00:11,200 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 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Everyone wants to make 5 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: their mark on the world, to leave something behind for 6 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: others to remember them by. Some build giant companies or 7 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: giant buildings with their names on them. Some write books 8 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: about their lives as lessons to future generations. And then 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 1: there's Plenty Windo. Plenty needed help. The Great Depression had 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,880 Speaker 1: shuttered his small Texas diner, and his options were few. 11 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: His hometown wasn't exactly a bustling metropolis, but he needed 12 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: to do something or his family would be out on 13 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: the street. So he looked around at how there as 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: we're getting by. There were breadlines and soup kitchens, but 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: those wouldn't help him long term. An income was necessary, 16 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: and FDR's new deal wouldn't be implemented for another several years. 17 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: It was around this time when Plenty noticed an interesting 18 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: trend among the desperate. Specifically, he saw their willingness to 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: subject themselves to absurd and sometimes dangerous stunts for a 20 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: little notoriety. Performing an odd trick in exchange for a 21 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: bit of fame seemed like the only viable way to 22 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: make any real money, especially for someone like Plenty who 23 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: didn't have an agricultural background to rely on. There were 24 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: men who spent days, sometimes weeks, at the top of 25 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: a flagpole. One person pushed a peanut up the Rocky 26 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,280 Speaker 1: mountains with only his nose. Plenty took an inventory of 27 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: the stunts that had been performed up till then, and 28 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: it looked like everything worth doing had already been done 29 00:01:55,640 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: by somebody else except one. No one had it tompted 30 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: to walk the circumference of the Earth. Plenty saw a 31 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: unique opportunity to chart a path for himself and his 32 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: family by being the first man to circumnavigate the globe. 33 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,679 Speaker 1: He bought himself a pair of shoes, some glasses, and 34 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: a good backpack. He also started training with a doctor 35 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: because he'd never attempted such a strenuous feat before in 36 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: his life. In fact, no one had, which was what 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: made the stunt so fascinating. On April fifteenth, ninety one, 38 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: Plenty began his journey east, leaving his wife and daughter 39 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: behind in Texas. As he set out to make a 40 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: name for himself, one step at a time. He had 41 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: very little money on him, but with the help of 42 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: people he met along the way, he was able to 43 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: eat and sleep without too much to worry. He autographed 44 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: postcards for twenty five cents a peace, and often stopped 45 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: to chat with locals who would offer assistance. On his journey. 46 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: To make his way overseas, Plenty took a job on 47 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 1: a ship, working under a chief steward who made his 48 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: life miserable. All part of the journey, he thought. Once 49 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: in Europe, he continued his trek through Germany and down 50 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: to Turkey, where authorities encouraged him to leave the city 51 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: as quickly as possible. His efforts had sparked outrage among 52 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: the local population and incurred death threats to them. What 53 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: he was doing was unnatural, silly, stupid. But despite the 54 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: danger as an occasional harassment by police for his ludicrous plan, 55 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: Plenty continued on his route, eventually hiking all the way 56 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: to Italy. If only his success in the United States 57 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: had followed him across the Atlantic. Despite having his name 58 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: in the papers, Plenty hadn't found the kind of hospitality 59 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: in Europe that he'd had back in the US. Luckily 60 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: for him, a wealthy Italian benefactor sympathized with his plight 61 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: and helped him find his way back to the United States. 62 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: A ship carried Plenty to California, where he resumed his 63 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: walk back to Abilene in Texas to reunite with his family. 64 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: By the end of the trip, eighteen months had past 65 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: and the exhausted hiker had worn out thirteen pairs of shoes. 66 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: The fame he'd earned from the stunt didn't last, though, 67 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: and it wasn't long before he was looking for other 68 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: ways to make a buck in a poor economy. Thirty 69 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: years later, Plenty wrote a memoir about his experience of 70 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: walking around the world, but just like the stunt itself, 71 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,840 Speaker 1: the book didn't earn him much of an income. This 72 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: might not seem surprising, as a dozen more pedestrians had 73 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,279 Speaker 1: managed to walk or run around the world since his 74 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: first step. What is surprising is that Plenty did it 75 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,480 Speaker 1: differently than anyone else. Those special glasses that he wore 76 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,679 Speaker 1: they had mirrors built in to allow him to see 77 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: what was behind him. Plenty hadn't just walked around the earth, 78 00:04:44,440 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: you see, He'd done the whole thing backwards. English historian 79 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: John Dahlberg Acton is known for his oft quoted saying 80 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Many 81 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: who have sat at the top have abused that position. 82 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,799 Speaker 1: But it isn't always just about power, because power tends 83 00:05:17,839 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: to come with money, and money comes with its own 84 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:24,840 Speaker 1: kind of burden. It can make a person greedier, it 85 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: can alienate them from their friends and family, and one man, 86 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: John Bentink, put his wealth and status that came with 87 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: it between himself and the rest of the world. Bentink 88 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: was born in London in eighteen twenty four to Henrietta 89 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: and William Bentinck. William was the fourth Duke of Portland 90 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: and a pillar of the Bentinck political dynasty. His son 91 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: John had no interest in politics, but the young Bentinck 92 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: was eventually forced to take over as Marquis of Titchfield 93 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: after his older brother's death from a brain abscess. Unfortunately, 94 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: the elder Bentinck wasn't the only family member with medical problems. 95 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: John too was known to suffer from lethargy, short term 96 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,919 Speaker 1: memory loss, and sciatica, which affected his time in the 97 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: military during his youth. However, that didn't stop him from 98 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: moving up in the world, especially as more of the 99 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: men and his family continued to die off. After his 100 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: father passed away in eighteen fifty four, John became the 101 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: fifth Duke of Portland, a title that also granted him 102 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: a seat in the House of Lords. He didn't really 103 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 1: want it, though his interest in politics was one of 104 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 1: necessity not passion. John had no desire to live under 105 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: a political spotlight and opted for solitude as much as possible. 106 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: He spent most of his time at his estate, known 107 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: as well Back Abbey. It's where his family had lived 108 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: for generations, and now that John was in charge, it 109 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 1: was time to make some changes. You see, John had 110 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,119 Speaker 1: a problem with people. He didn't like talking to them 111 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 1: or being around them, so he kept to himself as 112 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: much as possible. He spent quite a large sum of 113 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: money modifying in the main house and surrounding gardens. All 114 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,159 Speaker 1: the furniture was removed and stored elsewhere, including every painting 115 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: hanging on the walls. Then he commissioned the hundreds of 116 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: oak trees his father had planted on the property to 117 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: be used in constructing a sophisticated array of tunnels and 118 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: rooms underground. It was estimated that roughly fifteen miles of 119 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: tunnels were built that led to dozens of chambers all 120 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: over the property. It was in these rooms where the 121 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: portraits that used to be in the house were re hung. 122 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: Some tunnels were tall and wide enough to allow horse 123 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: drawn carriages through. Many of them were covered by glass 124 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: roofs and connected the main house to the rest of 125 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: the estate so that John wouldn't have to venture outside. 126 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: All the underground rooms were painted pink, including a converted 127 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: chapel that he used as a gallery in a ballroom, 128 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: although he never held any gatherings or invited any went over. 129 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: In addition to the numerous rooms he had built, there 130 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:02,080 Speaker 1: was also an extensive library, an observatory, and a room. 131 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: Despite all the work he'd done on the house, he 132 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: never spoke to any of his workers. They'd also been 133 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: instructed not to speak to him either. He gave them 134 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: their orders via notes on paper, and anyone who lived 135 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: on the property was told to ignore him if he 136 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: should walk past them. Even the duke's own doctor wasn't 137 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: allowed to examine him in person. He kept his daily 138 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: outdoor walks limited to the nighttime hours. After all the 139 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: workers had left or gone to bed. If he was 140 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: required to go out during the day, he covered himself 141 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,199 Speaker 1: with two overcoats, a large hat, and a high colored 142 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: shirt that obscured most of his face. For extra protection, 143 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 1: he hid behind a large umbrella. Travel to his other 144 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: home in London required extensive planning and negotiation as well. 145 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: He'd take his carriage to a nearby town and have 146 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,200 Speaker 1: it shipped by train to the other residents. The staff 147 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: there were then instructed to hide until the Duke had 148 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: hurried from the front door to his study, where he 149 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: spent most of his time. It was where he ate 150 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: all of his meals, which were wheeled in on tracks 151 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,440 Speaker 1: under the house. John Bentinck's money had afforded him the 152 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: kind of isolation few people would ever know. In fact, 153 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: his desire for underground solitude earned him quite a literary legacy. 154 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: It's very likely that the Fifth Duke of Portland was 155 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: the inspiration behind the character of Mr Badger and Kenneth 156 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: Graham's The Wind in the Willows. In the story, Mr 157 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: Badger entertains his friends Rats and Mole after they stumble 158 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: upon his underground home in the wild Wood. According to 159 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:37,359 Speaker 1: Mr Badger, there's no security or peace or tranquility except underground. 160 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: I can't help but think that John would wholeheartedly agree. 161 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 162 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 163 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 164 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership 165 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 166 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,439 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 167 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 168 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.