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 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to the cabinet of curiosities. Our memories, not the 5 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: memories themselves, but the act of remembering, are fragile. As 6 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: we get older, it gets harder for us to hold 7 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: onto our past. It starts simply, sometimes without us even 8 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: noticing what's going on. We forget to pick up an 9 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: item at the store, or it wasn't on the list. 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: We'll just at it next time, but we never do. 11 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: Or we walk into a room and forget why we're 12 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: there in the first place. We look around for clues 13 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: as to what brought us there, only to leave empty 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: handed until we can remember again. There is a fickle thing. However, 15 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,199 Speaker 1: that fickleness can go both ways. Just ask Daniel McCartney 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: in the mid eighteen eighties. Daniel's brain was a bit 17 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 1: of a celebrity. He began his life in Muscotine, Iowa, 18 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 1: but moved to Morrow County, Ohio, where he spent most 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: of his life. And if you were to ask him 20 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: about that life, he could tell you anything. You wanted 21 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: to know the weather conditions of a particular day, or 22 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: what he had for every meal, or how he occupied 23 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: his time from the moment he woke up until he 24 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: fell asleep. You see, Daniel McCartney had a special skill. 25 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: What used to be called hyper thymesia is now known 26 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: today as h S a m highly superior autobiographical memory, 27 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: and from the age of nine years old, it gave 28 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: Daniel the ability to recall every detail from every day 29 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: of his life. He could even tell you the day 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: of the week certain events fell on. Ask him what 31 00:01:57,320 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: he was doing on March six of eighteen eighty, and 32 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: Daniel could recount his breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well 33 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: as who he spoke to, what they talked about, whether 34 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,840 Speaker 1: it was raining, and more. Within Daniel's head resided a 35 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: complete encyclopedia of his own life available to him within seconds. 36 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: He was also known as a human calculator. Mildly challenging 37 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:22,920 Speaker 1: equations could be solved in seconds without need for pencil 38 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: and paper, although the truly difficult ones would take him minutes. 39 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,679 Speaker 1: In eighteen seventy, mathematicians in Salem, Ohio, asked Daniel to 40 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: calculate eighty nine to the sixth power, it took him 41 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 1: ten minutes to work out the correct answer. On another occasion, 42 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,080 Speaker 1: he was asked to find the cube root of four 43 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:45,399 Speaker 1: million seven Hunt one thousand, sixty two. Three minutes later, 44 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: he rattled off the solution. If it sounds like Daniel 45 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: was a kind of mental superhero, that's because he was. 46 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: Only Twelve people in the world currently possess h s 47 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: a M, including actress Mary Lew Henner and author Jill Price. 48 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: When a newspaper asked Jill in two thousand seventeen what 49 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,840 Speaker 1: she was doing on August twenty nine of nineteen eighty, 50 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: she had no problem remembering that it was a Friday 51 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: and that she was with her friends and their family 52 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: on a Labor day trip to Palm Springs. Nor had 53 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: she forgotten about the spa she and those girlfriends had 54 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: gone to before they arrived at Palm Springs. She'd been 55 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: just fourteen years old at the time. The third time 56 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: she drove a car, she remembered that one too, January 57 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: tenth of nineteen eight one. It was a Saturday, and 58 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 1: she just turned fifteen two weeks earlier. Surprisingly, all of 59 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: the men who have been diagnosed with the condition have 60 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: turned out to be left handed. And while all people 61 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: with h S a M can recall personal memories and 62 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: minute details, that doesn't mean they have photographic memories for 63 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: the purpose of retaining information. For example, Daniel McCartney couldn't 64 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: cram for an exam the night before and simply expect 65 00:03:57,240 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: to remember everything he'd read. Ask anyone with a condition, 66 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: and they might tell you how hard their lives can be. 67 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: Every conversation, every cringe, every misspoken sentiment that has ruined 68 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: a relationship can never be forgotten. What some might look 69 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: at as a blessing can sometimes also be a curse 70 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: to the person living with it. But in the late 71 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, Daniel McCartney made the best of it. He 72 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: entertained crowds of people who had never seen someone with 73 00:04:27,279 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: such insight into their own brain, who could perform mental 74 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: calculations faster than most mathematicians. Daniel was a force of 75 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 1: nature and the epitome of that age old adage Knowledge 76 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: is power. Fate has a funny way of messing with people. 77 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: For example, Gary Hoy was a well known Toronto lawyer 78 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: who liked to demonstrate the unbreakable nature of his boardroom's windows. 79 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: He would throw himself into them and bounce off, landing 80 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: safely on the boardroom's carpeted floor. Then, one day, while 81 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: trying to impress a group of visitors, he tested the 82 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: window one more time. Glass finally gave way, and Gary 83 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: felt twenty four stories to his death. Pete Maravich also 84 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: had an unconscious run in with fate. He was born 85 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,160 Speaker 1: in Ninete, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and knew from a very 86 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: young age exactly what he wanted to do with his life. 87 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: He shared a close relationship with his father, who pushed 88 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,039 Speaker 1: him to excel at many things, but especially basketball. It 89 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: was only natural, considering how Mr. Marovich played professionally before 90 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:52,479 Speaker 1: becoming a coach himself, Pete took to the game immediately. 91 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: He practiced for hours with his dad, who had him 92 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: working on controlling the ball, passing head fakes, and taking 93 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: shots from half court. By the time he made it 94 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,200 Speaker 1: to high school, he was ready for varsity. His family 95 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: moved from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, where Pete played on 96 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: the Daniel High School basketball team from nineteen sixty one 97 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: to nineteen sixty three. For a senior year, his family 98 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: moved to Raleigh, North Carolina for his father's new coaching job. 99 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: That's where he earned the nickname Pistol Pete due to 100 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,360 Speaker 1: his tendency to pass the ball from his hip like 101 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: he was firing a six shooter. After Pete graduated high school, 102 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: he attended the Edwards Military Institute, followed by L. S U. 103 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: In only three years, his skills on the court earned 104 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: him a record breaking three thousand, six hundred sixty seven points. 105 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,120 Speaker 1: In fact, most of his n C double A scoring 106 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: records still stand forty years later. Pete's talents took him 107 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: all the way to the NBA, where the Atlanta Hawks 108 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: chose him as their third pick in the first round 109 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: of the nineteen seventy draft. He did well during the 110 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: first several seasons he played for the Hawks, but another 111 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: team was entering the fray down south and they were 112 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: looking for a star. The New Orleans Jazz snatched him 113 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: up and he gave them his all for another six years, 114 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: but growing knee problems kept Pete on the bench from 115 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: much of his last season with the Jazz. In nineteen eighty, 116 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: he was traded to the Boston Celtics as a part 117 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: time contributor who would jump in and substitute as necessary. 118 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: With his knee problems showing no sign of healing, Pete 119 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,239 Speaker 1: had to make a decision. Ten years and six hundred 120 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: fifty eight games later, it was finally time for Pete 121 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: to retire. After he left the NBA, Pete disappeared for 122 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: a few years. He explored the spiritual side, practicing yoga 123 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: and studying Hinduism. He became a vegetarian before accepting Evangelical 124 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 1: Christianity into his life. The NBA inducted him into the 125 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: Naysmith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in nineteen seven. His 126 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 1: jersey numbers were retired by all the teams he played for. 127 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: Pete Maravich had become a basketball hero and too many 128 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: a legend. Then, in one year after his induction into 129 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: the Hall of Fame, a forty year old Pete died 130 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: of an apparent heart attack. He'd been playing in a 131 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: pickup game at a church in Pasadena, California, when an 132 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: undiagnosed congenital defect caused his heart to stop beating. According 133 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: to those who had been playing with him at the time, 134 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 1: his last words were, I feel great. I just feel great. 135 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: It's eerie, I know, but that's not what makes pete 136 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: story so odd? You see, back in nineteen seventy four, 137 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: just before he was traded to the New Orleans Jazz, 138 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: Pete gave an interview to the Beaver County Times, his 139 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: hometown newspaper. During the interview, he made a passing comment 140 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: about his career and how he wanted to live his 141 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: life once he'd stopped playing basketball. He told sportswriter Andy News, Oh, 142 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: I don't want to play for ten years in the 143 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: NBA and diet a heart attack at forty. Unfortunately, for 144 00:08:56,679 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: Pete Maravich, NBA star from n seven D to night, 145 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: that is exactly what he did. I hope you've enjoyed 146 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 147 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 148 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 149 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 150 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 151 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 152 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 153 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.