1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 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 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Coincidence has happened all 5 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:32,040 Speaker 1: the time. If you've taken a tour through the Cabinet 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: of Curiosities before, I'm sure you've noticed a few tales 7 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: of unexpected meetings or people in the wrong place at 8 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: the wrong time. Sometimes those coincidences are just that, the 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: unintended consequences of a random choice mining up with a 10 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: specific moment, no premeditation, no effort. These things, as some 11 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: might say, just happen. And sometimes the coincidence we find 12 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: ourselves in is a little too perfect, almost as if 13 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: fate had been planning it all along. That's how seventeen 14 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 1: year old Erskine Evan might have described what happened to him. 15 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: Erskine was a teenager in ninety He went to school, 16 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: hung out with his friends, and he swam in Bermuda's 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: shimmering blue water every day. You know, usual teenager stuff. Okay, 18 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: maybe not exactly typical. Because Erskine lived in Bermuda, a 19 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: group of islands often thought of as paradise, white sandy beaches, 20 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: water so clear you can see straight to the bottom, 21 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: and more than three hundred shipwrecks lying beneath the waves. Yes, 22 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: Bermuda is also home to one of the most mysterious 23 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: and dangerous parts of the Eastern Seaboard, the Bermuda Triangle. 24 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: But to the locals and thousands of yearly tourists, Bermuda 25 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: is merely a beautiful collection of beaches and British history. 26 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,559 Speaker 1: But it's definitely not like other places. Sure, people drive 27 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: cars to get from point A to point B, but 28 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 1: almost everyone trapped by bus, bicycle, taxi, or, in Erskine's case, moped, 29 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: a zippy little two wheeler that allows citizens and tourists 30 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: alike to navigate the island's narrow streets with ease. On 31 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: July twenty one, Erskine had been riding through the city 32 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 1: of Hamilton's British Territory, situated along one of Bermuda's main ports, 33 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: lined with colorful homes and shops along its wide roads. 34 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: Summer was a busy time to be out and about 35 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: on the island, and that meant that the roads were 36 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,119 Speaker 1: crowded for a tourist, that can be a frustrating thing. 37 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: But Erskine was not a tourist. No, he was a local. 38 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: He'd lived there his whole life and knew what to 39 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: expect from the vehicles that whizzed by him each day. However, 40 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: on this day, Erskine ran into some unfortunate luck. To 41 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: be more specific, a bit of bad luck actually ran 42 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: into him in the form of a taxi cab. On 43 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,080 Speaker 1: an island known for its high rate of traffic fatalities, 44 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:59,079 Speaker 1: Erskine became one of the twenty six automotive deaths reported 45 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,399 Speaker 1: in five We don't really know what caused the accident. 46 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: We don't know whose fault it was, or what sort 47 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: of mistake the driver has made. Maybe Erskine was in 48 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: the wrong place at the wrong time, or maybe it 49 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: was the cab driver who slipped up. We don't have 50 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: answers to a lot of the questions we might want 51 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: to have answered. All we know is that Erskine collided 52 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: with the taxi cab as they both reached the intersection. 53 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: He was thrown from his scooter and died a short 54 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,000 Speaker 1: while later from his injuries. Like I said, there are 55 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: a few details we don't know about this accident, but 56 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: there are other details that we do know, and they 57 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: are eye openers, to say the least, because this wasn't 58 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: the first time this taxi driver had been involved in 59 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: an accident. One year earlier, almost to the day. In fact, 60 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: the exact same taxi driver passed through the exact same intersection, 61 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: colliding with another vehicle. Even more bizarre, the CAB's passenger 62 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: in both accidents was the exact same person, which should 63 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: take the award for the most amazing coincidence ever, and 64 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: it would in any other story, but not this one, 65 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: because the victim in the earlier accident had also been 66 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: a young man writing the very same moped, not the 67 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: same model or color, the exact same moped. It was 68 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: all just too much of a coincidence to fathom. Yet 69 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: it happened nonetheless, which is why it's so memorable and 70 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: so fascinating. The same cab, the same passenger, the same 71 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: driver hitting two men writing the same mop head one 72 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: year apart. Some might call it a coincidence, but others 73 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: see it as something bigger. Some might even call it 74 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: a curse. Why because erskine Evan actually knew the first 75 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: man to die very well. In fact, you see his 76 00:04:50,760 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: name was Neville Eban Erskine Ebans brother. Variety maybe the 77 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 1: spice of life, but I like to think that there's 78 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: something comforting about routine. Routine is familiar, It keeps us 79 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:21,040 Speaker 1: on track focused. Even routine can be the difference between 80 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: exercising daily or gaining ten pounds in a month. Routine 81 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 1: can also be the difference between life and death. For 82 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: the choir members of the West Side Baptist Church in Beatrice, Nebraska, 83 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: routine was key to their daily lives. Every Wednesday afternoon, 84 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: at four thirty PM, Reverend Walter Klemple would like the 85 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: furnace so the church would be warm enough when practice started. 86 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: He'd go home enjoy dinner with his family, and then he, 87 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: his wife, and his daughter would go back to the 88 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,559 Speaker 1: church at seven fift PM for choir rehearsal. And every 89 00:05:55,560 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: Wednesday at pm, Mrs fe Paul, the director of the 90 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: West Side Baptist Choir, would begin practice for the fourteen 91 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,360 Speaker 1: other members who had arrived at seven twenty. This had 92 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: been their routine every single week for years until the 93 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: Wednesday of March one, nineteen fifty. That is, on that day, 94 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: Reverend Clemple lit the furnace, just as he had done 95 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: every Wednesday afternoon prior. Furnaces don't always stay on, however, 96 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:25,839 Speaker 1: They run for a time and fill the space with 97 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: heat until the desired temperature is reached. Then they shut 98 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: off and wait for the chill to return and begin 99 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: the process all over again. But when Reverend Clemple turned 100 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: on the furnace that afternoon, he was not aware of 101 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: the broken gas pipe behind the church. He had no 102 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: idea that when he turned on the furnace he was 103 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,279 Speaker 1: filling the church with natural gas rather than heat. The 104 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: reverend went home as usual. He relaxed for a little 105 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,280 Speaker 1: while before he, his wife, and his daughter enjoyed their 106 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: supper together. Afterward, his daughter changed out of her school 107 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:00,040 Speaker 1: clothes and into address her mother had ironed earlier, and 108 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: all three Clemples bundled up against the chilly pre spring 109 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: air for a walk to their weekly choir practice. PM, 110 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: the furnace started up once more. The gas had been 111 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: building up inside for hours, working its way into every 112 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: nook and cranny of the modest church. The gas ignited 113 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: in a fiery blast that shattered every window in the 114 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: building and sent the walls flying outward. The roof collapsed 115 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: straight down over where the choir stood during practice. The 116 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 1: explosion even took out a local radio station. Firefighters quickly 117 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: arrived to put out the blaze, and once the fire 118 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: had been extinguished, there was the task of recovering remains, 119 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: except there weren't any. Reverend Clemple's daughter had spilled something 120 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: on her dress that evening. Her mother ironed a new 121 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: one for her to wear, which kept the family home 122 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: much later than anticipated. They were still at home when 123 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: the church exploded. Choir member La Donna Vandergrift always arrived 124 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: practice early, but on that night, the high school sophomore 125 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: had been stuck on a particularly tricky math problem as 126 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: part of her homework. Rather than give up and head 127 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: to rehearsal, she decided to stay home and finish the 128 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: problem first. Acquires pianist Marylyn Paul was supposed to be 129 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: at the church by sixty five PM, but she'd fallen 130 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: asleep after dinner. Her mother, also acquire member, woke her 131 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: up at seven fifteen, and the two of them never 132 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: made it to practice. Every member of the West Side 133 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: Baptist Church choir had a reason for being late that night, 134 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: from car troubles to feeling under the weather. Not a 135 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: single one was in the church when the explosion happened. 136 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: A choir had never experienced such a night. I don't 137 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: mean the explosion, which was definitely a first, but an 138 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: evening when each person had been running late once in 139 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: a lifetime occurrence, definitely a break in the routine. Call 140 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: it a miracle or vine intervention, or even the luckiest 141 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: of coincidences, but you have to admit this may be 142 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: the only occasion of Acquire performing at its best, because 143 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:16,920 Speaker 1: it couldn't keep proper time. I hope you've enjoyed today's 144 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 145 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,319 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 146 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 147 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 148 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 149 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 150 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com. 151 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.