1 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,479 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,159 Speaker 1: We don't often think about the impacts our jobs have 7 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: on the wider world around us. A truck driver delivering 8 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 1: meat to a grocery store isn't aware that she might 9 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: be contributing to the inhumane factory farming industry. The oil 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: rig worker doesn't understand his role in climate change either. 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: It's not their fault. They aren't to blame for these things. 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: It's just the nature of the world in which we live. 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: Every choice we make comes with sequences, no matter how 14 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: big or small. The Cauldron Girls of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 15 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: couldn't begin to fathom what their work would eventually lead to. 16 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 1: All they wanted to do was help the war effort. 17 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: When America entered World War Two, many men of fighting 18 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: age were sent overseas. They left their homes and families 19 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: behind to take on an immensely evil power, and that 20 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: meant their partners were left to take care of themselves 21 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 1: and make ends meet. And so in nineteen forty four, 22 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: thousands of young women in need of work flocked to 23 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: the city of oak Ridge, Tennessee. A new facility had 24 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: recently opened up, called the Y twelve Electromagnetic Isotopes Separation Plant, 25 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: run by the Tennessee Eastman Company. The women were trained 26 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: to do very specific tasks while working there. They would 27 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: turn dials, monitor gauges, and keep tabs on mass spectrometers 28 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: called cauldrons, which had been specifically developed for the separation 29 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: of uranium two thirty five from uranium two thirty eight, 30 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: which had been mined out of the ground. Cauldrons combined 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: uranium and chlorine, creating a new compound called uranium tetrac chloride. 32 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: That compound was then ionized and placed inside a special 33 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: vacuum chamber where it was surrounded by a magnetic field. 34 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: In other words, the women employed at Y twelve were 35 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: responsible for enriching uranium. None of them had any extensive 36 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: education in physics or chemistry, and not a single one 37 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: ever laid eyes on a mass spectrometer before they were there. 38 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: For one reason and one reason, only because they were 39 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: not scientists. You see, these young women were better suited 40 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: to the task of enriching uranium because of their lack 41 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: of expertise. They had been trained only to watch the 42 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: meters and adjust the dials accordingly. At the time, most 43 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: of the men were off fighting, so scientists were scarce. 44 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: But also it was believed that if the male scientists 45 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: had been put in charge of the cauldrons, they would 46 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: have spent their time trouble shooting errors and messing with 47 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: the dials, rather than focusing on the enrichment of the 48 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: uranium itself. Of course, there was also quite a bit 49 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: of misogyny behind this thinking. The women who were hired 50 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: were often farm girls, chosen because they were believed to 51 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: follow directions without question, and that was the most difficult 52 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,959 Speaker 1: part of the whole operation. Separating uranium isotopes was easy. 53 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: Keeping an inquisitive mind at bay that was hard. Many 54 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: women wanted to know why they were adjusting the dials 55 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,600 Speaker 1: and watching the gauges, and those who asked too many 56 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: questions were removed without hesitation. One woman who had tried 57 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: to find out more about her role at oak Ridge 58 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: was disappeared without hesitation. The Tennessee Eastman Company told the 59 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: other girls in her dorm that she had and I 60 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: quote died from drinking some poisoned moonshine. And so the 61 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 1: less they knew about their jobs, the better off they'd be. 62 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: That was probably a good thing, too, because if the 63 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: women had known why they were enriching uranium, they might 64 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: have quit anyway. The uranium harvested from Y twelve was 65 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 1: eventually inserted into a special kind of device, the kind 66 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: that reigned death and destruction on whatever it touched. This 67 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: device was then loaded onto a Boeing B twenty nine 68 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: super fortress named Enola Gay, which was flown over the 69 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: Japanese city of Hiroshima on August sixth, nineteen forty five. 70 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: The Cauldron Girls had no idea their work was instrumental 71 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:21,480 Speaker 1: in creating the Little Boy atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima 72 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: and killed over seventy thousand people. All they wanted to 73 00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: do was support the war efforts overseas. They just didn't 74 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: count on what that support would cost. It's something a 75 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: few of us have probably thought about, the idea that 76 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:52,239 Speaker 1: we can start over, change who we are, and begin 77 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: a new chapter in our lives. Or more accurately, begin 78 00:04:56,279 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: our lives over again. It's happened before. In the sixt century, 79 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: there lived a French peasant by the name of Martin Gere. 80 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: He'd been married with a son when he suddenly vanished 81 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: in fifteen forty eight. Eight years later, gare reappeared ready 82 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: to be welcomed back by the family that he had 83 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: left behind. Except this wasn't actually gare It was an impostor, 84 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: and he was eventually hanged for his deceit. The story 85 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: of Martin Gere has inspired films, books, and even a musical, 86 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: but his story was surprisingly not unique. Something similar happened 87 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: again several hundred years later in Victorian England. It started 88 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:34,799 Speaker 1: with a family, a very wealthy and well known family 89 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: known as the Titchbourn's. They had been a part of Hampshire, 90 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: England since at least the eleventh century, and for the 91 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: most part had stayed loyal to the British Crown, although 92 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: one family member did go rogue in the sixteenth century 93 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: and plotted to assassinate the Queen. Despite that one hiccup, though, 94 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: Benjamin Titchbourne was made a baronet in sixteen twenty one 95 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: and the family enjoyed the perks of nobility from then on. 96 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: In eighteen twenty nine, Benjamin's descendant, Roger Tichbourne, was born. 97 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: He was raised in Paris and enjoyed a childhood in 98 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: the lap of luxury, studying at the finest schools across 99 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: Europe and growing up with a French accent despite speaking 100 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: fluent English. When he was twenty four years old, Roger 101 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: embarked on a voyage to South America by himself. He 102 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: landed in Valparaiso on the Chilean coast in eighteen fifty three. 103 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: Several months after the start of his trip, he received 104 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: a communication that his uncle had passed away, allowing his 105 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: father to succeed to the baronetcy. Following this news, Roger 106 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 1: spent the next ten months traveling throughout South America, eventually 107 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: crossing the Andes Mountains in eighteen fifty four. But his 108 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,000 Speaker 1: travels would soon be cut short because in April of 109 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: that year, Roger was met with an unfortunate twist of fate. 110 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,039 Speaker 1: He had a book passage to Jamaica on a ship 111 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: called the Bella. It set sail on the twentieth of April, 112 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: but its capsized remains were discovered only four days later. 113 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: There was no one on board. It was presumed that 114 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: Roger Tichbourne had died in the wreck. There was a 115 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: possibility that survivors had been scooped out of the water 116 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: by another ship, but that was nothing more than a rumor, 117 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: a taste of hope in a hopeless situation. The family 118 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: was told that Roger had perished. Several years later, his father, 119 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: Sir James, also passed away. Roger was meant to take 120 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: over the baronetcy, but the title went to his younger 121 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: brother Alfred instead. Alfred hemorrhaged the family's fortune, nearly bankrupting 122 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: them in a handful of years. While their mother consulted 123 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: with clairvoyance for a sign that Roger might still be alive. 124 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: She took out newspaper ads all over the world, hoping 125 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: that someone somewhere might know something. While in October of 126 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty five she got her answer, three years after 127 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: Roger had been declared dead, an Australian man named Arthur 128 00:07:45,880 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: Cubitt informed her that her son was actually alive. He 129 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: was a rotund butcher working down under going by the 130 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: name of Thomas Castro. It didn't matter that his hair 131 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: was different, that he couldn't speak French, and that his 132 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: accent was gone. This man could be her son, so 133 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,239 Speaker 1: she arranged to have him sent to London in eighteen 134 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: sixty six. Castro got to know the Titchborns and their 135 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: associates quite well, many of whom vouched for his identity. 136 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: After spending some time with them. His mother, Lady Titchborne, 137 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: was no different. She and the rest of the family 138 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: welcomed him in with Oakland arms, and Castro made good 139 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: use of his time with them. He asked them all 140 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: kinds of questions about the family, Roger's upbringing, and other 141 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: details that he could use to jog his memory, well, 142 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: not really jog his memory, but rather pad his portfolio 143 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: of lies to feed the Titchborns. You see. Some of 144 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: those in the family's inner circle weren't convinced by Castro's performance, 145 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: so they did some digging, and they found out that 146 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: Thomas Castro was actually London born Arthur Orton. Orton had 147 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: been in Chile just like Roger, and knew enough to 148 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,960 Speaker 1: tell Lady Titchborne all about his adventures as though he 149 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: were her son. After the matriarch's death in eighteen sixty eight, 150 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: Orton went to court to prove his identity and claimed 151 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: the Titchborne Fortune, and despite all the evidence to convince 152 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: them that he was not, in fact, Roger Tichborne, Orton 153 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: managed to get nearly one hundred people to testify on 154 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: his behalf. His story, though, fell apart when he was 155 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,440 Speaker 1: asked to speak French. The real Roger could speak it fluently, 156 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 1: this impostor could not. After a year long trial, Orton's 157 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: case was tossed out and he was subsequently arrested for perjury, 158 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: of which he was found guilty. The trial was so 159 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: newsworthy Mark Twain himself came to court a few times 160 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: to watch as well. Orton served ten years in prison 161 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,120 Speaker 1: for his crimes and died penniless. But that wasn't the 162 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: end of his story, because even though his tale of 163 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: identity theft inspired films like The Titchborne Claimant, it also 164 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: influenced one of the most notable episodes of television ever crafted. 165 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 1: It aired in nineteen ninety seven and told the story 166 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: of a stranger arriving at Springfield Elementary with a bold 167 00:09:56,320 --> 00:10:00,199 Speaker 1: claim that he was the real principal, Seymour Skinner. Over 168 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: the course of the episode, it was revealed that the 169 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: principal Skinner that audiences and his mother had come to 170 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: love over the eight previous seasons was in fact a 171 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: man named Arman Tamsarian, proving yet again that art often 172 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: imitates life, even when that art is The Simpsons. I 173 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,479 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 174 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 175 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 176 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mank in partnership with how 177 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 178 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 179 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 180 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.