Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Everyone wants to make
Speaker 1: their mark on the world, to leave something behind for
Speaker 1: others to remember them by. Some build giant companies or
Speaker 1: giant buildings with their names on them. Some write books
Speaker 1: about their lives as lessons to future generations. And then
Speaker 1: there's Plenty Windo. Plenty needed help. The Great Depression had
Speaker 1: shuttered his small Texas diner, and his options were few.
Speaker 1: His hometown wasn't exactly a bustling metropolis, but he needed
Speaker 1: to do something or his family would be out on
Speaker 1: the street. So he looked around at how there as
Speaker 1: we're getting by. There were breadlines and soup kitchens, but
Speaker 1: those wouldn't help him long term. An income was necessary,
Speaker 1: and FDR's new deal wouldn't be implemented for another several years.
Speaker 1: It was around this time when Plenty noticed an interesting
Speaker 1: trend among the desperate. Specifically, he saw their willingness to
Speaker 1: subject themselves to absurd and sometimes dangerous stunts for a
Speaker 1: little notoriety. Performing an odd trick in exchange for a
Speaker 1: bit of fame seemed like the only viable way to
Speaker 1: make any real money, especially for someone like Plenty who
Speaker 1: didn't have an agricultural background to rely on. There were
Speaker 1: men who spent days, sometimes weeks, at the top of
Speaker 1: a flagpole. One person pushed a peanut up the Rocky
Speaker 1: mountains with only his nose. Plenty took an inventory of
Speaker 1: the stunts that had been performed up till then, and
Speaker 1: it looked like everything worth doing had already been done
Speaker 1: by somebody else except one. No one had it tompted
Speaker 1: to walk the circumference of the Earth. Plenty saw a
Speaker 1: unique opportunity to chart a path for himself and his
Speaker 1: family by being the first man to circumnavigate the globe.
Speaker 1: He bought himself a pair of shoes, some glasses, and
Speaker 1: a good backpack. He also started training with a doctor
Speaker 1: because he'd never attempted such a strenuous feat before in
Speaker 1: his life. In fact, no one had, which was what
Speaker 1: made the stunt so fascinating. On April fifteenth, ninety one,
Speaker 1: Plenty began his journey east, leaving his wife and daughter
Speaker 1: behind in Texas. As he set out to make a
Speaker 1: name for himself, one step at a time. He had
Speaker 1: very little money on him, but with the help of
Speaker 1: people he met along the way, he was able to
Speaker 1: eat and sleep without too much to worry. He autographed
Speaker 1: postcards for twenty five cents a peace, and often stopped
Speaker 1: to chat with locals who would offer assistance. On his journey.
Speaker 1: To make his way overseas, Plenty took a job on
Speaker 1: a ship, working under a chief steward who made his
Speaker 1: life miserable. All part of the journey, he thought. Once
Speaker 1: in Europe, he continued his trek through Germany and down
Speaker 1: to Turkey, where authorities encouraged him to leave the city
Speaker 1: as quickly as possible. His efforts had sparked outrage among
Speaker 1: the local population and incurred death threats to them. What
Speaker 1: he was doing was unnatural, silly, stupid. But despite the
Speaker 1: danger as an occasional harassment by police for his ludicrous plan,
Speaker 1: Plenty continued on his route, eventually hiking all the way
Speaker 1: to Italy. If only his success in the United States
Speaker 1: had followed him across the Atlantic. Despite having his name
Speaker 1: in the papers, Plenty hadn't found the kind of hospitality
Speaker 1: in Europe that he'd had back in the US. Luckily
Speaker 1: for him, a wealthy Italian benefactor sympathized with his plight
Speaker 1: and helped him find his way back to the United States.
Speaker 1: A ship carried Plenty to California, where he resumed his
Speaker 1: walk back to Abilene in Texas to reunite with his family.
Speaker 1: By the end of the trip, eighteen months had past
Speaker 1: and the exhausted hiker had worn out thirteen pairs of shoes.
Speaker 1: The fame he'd earned from the stunt didn't last, though,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't long before he was looking for other
Speaker 1: ways to make a buck in a poor economy. Thirty
Speaker 1: years later, Plenty wrote a memoir about his experience of
Speaker 1: walking around the world, but just like the stunt itself,
Speaker 1: the book didn't earn him much of an income. This
Speaker 1: might not seem surprising, as a dozen more pedestrians had
Speaker 1: managed to walk or run around the world since his
Speaker 1: first step. What is surprising is that Plenty did it
Speaker 1: differently than anyone else. Those special glasses that he wore
Speaker 1: they had mirrors built in to allow him to see
Speaker 1: what was behind him. Plenty hadn't just walked around the earth,
Speaker 1: you see, He'd done the whole thing backwards. English historian
Speaker 1: John Dahlberg Acton is known for his oft quoted saying
Speaker 1: power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Many
Speaker 1: who have sat at the top have abused that position.
Speaker 1: But it isn't always just about power, because power tends
Speaker 1: to come with money, and money comes with its own
Speaker 1: kind of burden. It can make a person greedier, it
Speaker 1: can alienate them from their friends and family, and one man,
Speaker 1: John Bentink, put his wealth and status that came with
Speaker 1: it between himself and the rest of the world. Bentink
Speaker 1: was born in London in eighteen twenty four to Henrietta
Speaker 1: and William Bentinck. William was the fourth Duke of Portland
Speaker 1: and a pillar of the Bentinck political dynasty. His son
Speaker 1: John had no interest in politics, but the young Bentinck
Speaker 1: was eventually forced to take over as Marquis of Titchfield
Speaker 1: after his older brother's death from a brain abscess. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: the elder Bentinck wasn't the only family member with medical problems.
Speaker 1: John too was known to suffer from lethargy, short term
Speaker 1: memory loss, and sciatica, which affected his time in the
Speaker 1: military during his youth. However, that didn't stop him from
Speaker 1: moving up in the world, especially as more of the
Speaker 1: men and his family continued to die off. After his
Speaker 1: father passed away in eighteen fifty four, John became the
Speaker 1: fifth Duke of Portland, a title that also granted him
Speaker 1: a seat in the House of Lords. He didn't really
Speaker 1: want it, though his interest in politics was one of
Speaker 1: necessity not passion. John had no desire to live under
Speaker 1: a political spotlight and opted for solitude as much as possible.
Speaker 1: He spent most of his time at his estate, known
Speaker 1: as well Back Abbey. It's where his family had lived
Speaker 1: for generations, and now that John was in charge, it
Speaker 1: was time to make some changes. You see, John had
Speaker 1: a problem with people. He didn't like talking to them
Speaker 1: or being around them, so he kept to himself as
Speaker 1: much as possible. He spent quite a large sum of
Speaker 1: money modifying in the main house and surrounding gardens. All
Speaker 1: the furniture was removed and stored elsewhere, including every painting
Speaker 1: hanging on the walls. Then he commissioned the hundreds of
Speaker 1: oak trees his father had planted on the property to
Speaker 1: be used in constructing a sophisticated array of tunnels and
Speaker 1: rooms underground. It was estimated that roughly fifteen miles of
Speaker 1: tunnels were built that led to dozens of chambers all
Speaker 1: over the property. It was in these rooms where the
Speaker 1: portraits that used to be in the house were re hung.
Speaker 1: Some tunnels were tall and wide enough to allow horse
Speaker 1: drawn carriages through. Many of them were covered by glass
Speaker 1: roofs and connected the main house to the rest of
Speaker 1: the estate so that John wouldn't have to venture outside.
Speaker 1: All the underground rooms were painted pink, including a converted
Speaker 1: chapel that he used as a gallery in a ballroom,
Speaker 1: although he never held any gatherings or invited any went over.
Speaker 1: In addition to the numerous rooms he had built, there
Speaker 1: was also an extensive library, an observatory, and a room.
Speaker 1: Despite all the work he'd done on the house, he
Speaker 1: never spoke to any of his workers. They'd also been
Speaker 1: instructed not to speak to him either. He gave them
Speaker 1: their orders via notes on paper, and anyone who lived
Speaker 1: on the property was told to ignore him if he
Speaker 1: should walk past them. Even the duke's own doctor wasn't
Speaker 1: allowed to examine him in person. He kept his daily
Speaker 1: outdoor walks limited to the nighttime hours. After all the
Speaker 1: workers had left or gone to bed. If he was
Speaker 1: required to go out during the day, he covered himself
Speaker 1: with two overcoats, a large hat, and a high colored
Speaker 1: shirt that obscured most of his face. For extra protection,
Speaker 1: he hid behind a large umbrella. Travel to his other
Speaker 1: home in London required extensive planning and negotiation as well.
Speaker 1: He'd take his carriage to a nearby town and have
Speaker 1: it shipped by train to the other residents. The staff
Speaker 1: there were then instructed to hide until the Duke had
Speaker 1: hurried from the front door to his study, where he
Speaker 1: spent most of his time. It was where he ate
Speaker 1: all of his meals, which were wheeled in on tracks
Speaker 1: under the house. John Bentinck's money had afforded him the
Speaker 1: kind of isolation few people would ever know. In fact,
Speaker 1: his desire for underground solitude earned him quite a literary legacy.
Speaker 1: It's very likely that the Fifth Duke of Portland was
Speaker 1: the inspiration behind the character of Mr Badger and Kenneth
Speaker 1: Graham's The Wind in the Willows. In the story, Mr
Speaker 1: Badger entertains his friends Rats and Mole after they stumble
Speaker 1: upon his underground home in the wild Wood. According to
Speaker 1: Mr Badger, there's no security or peace or tranquility except underground.
Speaker 1: I can't help but think that John would wholeheartedly agree.
Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership
Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the
Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.