1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. We've all heard of planking. It took over 7 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,279 Speaker 1: the internet a while back. Then there was the rather 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,639 Speaker 1: short lived ice Bucket challenge, where friends challenge each other 9 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: to film themselves dumping a bucket of ice water over 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: their heads and of course then posted on social media. 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: Social media has a knack for making fads blow up, 12 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 1: after all, humanity becomes a much different species when put 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,279 Speaker 1: in front of an audience. But social media didn't make 14 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: trends happen. No long before the days of TikTok and Instagram, 15 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: there were examples of human beings doing ridiculous, pointless things 16 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: solely for the sake of saying that they had done it. Consider, 17 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: for instance, phone booth surfing. People took photos as they 18 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: crammed as many friends as possible into phone booths, with 19 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: a record being a seemingly impossible But there is another fad, 20 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: likewise pointless, that unnecessarily grabbed everyone's attention way back in 21 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 1: nineteen nine. It started, as these things often do, with 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,039 Speaker 1: a bet. A Harvard freshman by the name of Lowthrip 23 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: Whittington Jr. Bragged to his friends that he had once 24 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:44,679 Speaker 1: eaten a live fish. Being good college friends, they doubted 25 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: him and bet him ten whole dollars that he could 26 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: not do it again. Not wanting to be shamed at failing, 27 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: Whittington practiced for days, swallowing life tadpoles and baby goldfish. 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: After all, practice makes perfect right. The moment of truth 29 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: came on March three of nine, inside a building of 30 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: the revered Harvard University. The student was encircled by his 31 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: friends and by Boston reporters, and there he did what 32 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: fate determined he had to do. He swallowed the goldfish whole, 33 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,840 Speaker 1: after which he brushed his teeth, and then sat down 34 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: to a dinner of fried file at with tartar sauce. 35 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: Had this been in the modern era, the video would 36 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: have been liked and shared thousands of times, criticized for 37 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: its grossness, and undoubtedly blown up and spread to the 38 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: far corners of the Internet. But in the absence of 39 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: social media, all it did was well blow up and 40 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: spread to the far corners of the globe. Remember there 41 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: were reporters there, the social media of the day. Just 42 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:45,959 Speaker 1: a month later, Marie Henson, a journalism student at the 43 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: University of Missouri, became the first woman to engage in 44 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: the goldfish swallowing craze. At the University of Pennsylvania, a 45 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: student swallowed twenty five all on his own, but not 46 00:02:57,160 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: long after a student in m I t became the champion, 47 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: taking down forty two. His reign was short lived, though, 48 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: as a Clark University students swallowed eighty nine goldfish in 49 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: April eighty nine, Goldfish Down the hatch. Rivalries developed between schools, 50 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: like sporting events played out on fields and rinks. Students 51 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: overcame intercollegiate obstacles by swallowing more live goldfish than their 52 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: rival college and universities, proving once and for all that 53 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: they were the superior institution. Of course. Life magazine even 54 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: picked it up on their March ninety nine issue, making 55 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: this fad a piece of American culture for all eternity. 56 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: It didn't take long before a Massachusetts States Senator, Drew 57 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: up a bill to and quote preserve the fish from 58 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: cruel and wanton consumption. And it worked. The ridiculous activity 59 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: had been thoroughly shut down, and all wayward attempts to 60 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: reignite it were punished as well. Let's just say the 61 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: stupid acts they were. As the old saying goes, give 62 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: a man of fish, and you'll feed him for a day, 63 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: But teach him to swallow one alive and whole. And well, 64 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: I'm not sure how that one ends. All I know 65 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: is it's more than a little curious. By the nineteen seventies, 66 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet 67 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 1: Union had permeated nearly all of American pop culture, from 68 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: books like Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegutt to films like 69 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: Dr Strangelove, there was no escaping the threat of mutually 70 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: assured nuclear destruction. In nineteen seventy six, author Clive Kustler 71 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: published a thriller about a mission to the bottom of 72 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Ocean, where there existed a rare mineral that 73 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: could advance America's defense capabilities during the Cold War. The 74 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: only problem was that the mineral had been kept aboard 75 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: the Titanic, and so a plan was devised, per the 76 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: title of the book, to raise the Titanic. Mind you, 77 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: the book came out about a decade before Robert Ballard 78 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: found the ship and discovered it had actually split into 79 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: two when it sank. It was a wild, implausible scheme 80 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: to return one of the most well known shipwrecks to 81 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: the surface. The thing was, Kostler's idea wasn't far fetched, 82 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: at least not to Howard Hughes and the c i A. 83 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: It started back in March of nineteen sixty eight, six 84 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviets had deployed 85 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: a fleet of ships and aircraft to the Pacific Ocean. 86 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: They seemed to be looking for something. After some research 87 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: done by the U. S Office of Naval Intelligence, it 88 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: was believed that they were looking for a missing submarine. 89 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 1: The K one captain had stopped reporting in with updates, 90 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: and after three weeks without any word, the Russians feared 91 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: the worst. The vessel had been a Soviet ballistic missile 92 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: submarine carrying three nuclear warheads, each capable of reaching a 93 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:03,400 Speaker 1: distance of up to nautical miles. The Russians looked for months, 94 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: assuming the Americans had sunk it, but they couldn't prove 95 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: their involvement. Then, even worse, they couldn't find their own 96 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: missing sub. Eventually, they gave up and assumed that it 97 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: was gone for good. What they didn't know was that 98 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: the Americans had been listening. American intelligence had detected an 99 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: implosion about fifteen hundred miles up the coast of Hawaii 100 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: on March eight, and they knew the location. It was 101 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: clear that the missing nuclear sub had been found. All 102 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: that was left to do was go down there and 103 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: get it. Unfortunately, it was in over sixteen thousand feet 104 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: of water. For comparison, the Titanic currently rests at about 105 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: twelve thousand, six hundred feet a roughly two point five 106 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: miles below the surface of the ocean. This K one 107 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: was another three quarters of a mile under that, and so, 108 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: just as the fictional US government had done in raised 109 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: the Titanic, the real US government started coming up with 110 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:00,559 Speaker 1: options for recovering the Russian sub, including in one idea 111 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: that involved inflating giant gas balloons beneath it. Unfortunately, everything 112 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: they drafted up seemed impossible, so they turned to the 113 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: one man who knew all about making the impossible possible 114 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: Howard Hughes, but first the CIA needed to make up 115 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: a reason for the project. To the outside world. Hughes 116 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: would seem interested in mining the seabed for manganese, hence 117 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: the need for his new six and eighteen foot ship, 118 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: the Glomar Explorer. In reality, Hughes was going to pull 119 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: off the greatest heist in the world. He was going 120 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: to steal a Russian sub full of nukes. After testing 121 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: wrapped up in nineteen seventy four, a giant claw was 122 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: delivered to the Glomar Explorer via a fifty one thousand 123 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: ton barge. The plan was to have the claw mounted 124 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: under the ship, reached down and bring the sub back 125 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: to the surface, where it could be stowed in a 126 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: hollow moon pod in the lower decks. The recovery would 127 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: take place entirely underwater, too far from the prime eyes 128 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: of Soviet ships and airplanes. Unfortunately, the recovery didn't go 129 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: quite as planned. Hughes team worked for weeks to bring 130 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: up pieces of the sub while being observed by two 131 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: Soviet vessels in the area. Most of the sub was lost, 132 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: including the engine room and the control room. Pieces of 133 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: the claw arm broke as it was bringing the sub 134 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: to the surface, and what fell away was destroyed when 135 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: it hit the floor again. But he did manage to 136 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: salvage the torpedo compartment and its full array of nuclear weapons, 137 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: so the plan, dubbed Project as ore In, wasn't a 138 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: total loss. The Glomar explorer was able to bring up 139 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: several crew members as well, who were given official burials 140 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: at sea. At least that's the story the CIA told. 141 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: In fact, we wouldn't even know it all happened if 142 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: it hadn't been for a robbery at one of Hughes's 143 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: companies a while later, where the files for the project 144 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,679 Speaker 1: were being stored. The story leaked and hit the press 145 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: soon after. Despite its partial failure, Howard Hughes had done 146 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: what nobody thought possible. He saved part of a Russian 147 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,040 Speaker 1: submarine by treating it like a giant arcade claw machine game. 148 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: Who knows what would have happened if he had been 149 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: the one to find the Titanic. Maybe Kussler's novel wouldn't 150 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:17,199 Speaker 1: have seemed so far fetched after all. I hope you've 151 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,239 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 152 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 153 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 154 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 155 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 156 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 157 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 158 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.