1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: World War One was a uniquely violent conflict. It existed 7 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: at a strange intersection between the past and the future, 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: where horses and swords clashed on the battlefield with tanks 9 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: and machine guns. As much of that dichotomy wreaked havoc 10 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: on the battlefield, it also caused problems at home. Civilian 11 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: life struggled to keep up with rapid changes in technology, 12 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: and in nineteen seventeen, in Hall Facts Nova Scotia, the 13 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: past and the future collided to disastrous results. During this time, 14 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 1: Halifax was already a prosperous Atlantic harbor town. In fact, 15 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: it was the closest large North American port to Europe. 16 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: As such, thousands of ships passed through carrying weapons, supplies, 17 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,560 Speaker 1: and soldiers for the war. The city grew quickly without 18 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: much planning for it. The small stretch of harbor that 19 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: the community crowded around was called the Narrows. It was 20 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: a name that was accurate and, as it turns out, 21 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: also an ominous warning. On the morning of December sixth, 22 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: the Norwegian ship the Imo was exiting the harbor after 23 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: a few delays. It wasn't carrying much, but it was 24 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: instead headed to New York to pick up supplies. Its captain, 25 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: William Hayes, allowed the ship to go over the speed 26 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: limit to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, many regulations 27 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: seemed to be poorly enforced in order to serve the 28 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: war effort. For example, ships were supposed to sail on 29 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: the right side of the harbor, kind of like driving 30 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: on the right side of the road in America. But 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: on that day the Imo came upon two ships that 32 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: were sailing on the wrong side, heading straight toward them, 33 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: so the Imo had to correct course. Both times, it 34 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 1: sailed farther and farther to the left, but this put 35 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: it at further risk of collision. Another ship, the French 36 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: vessel mont Blanc, was traveling into the harbor at the 37 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,799 Speaker 1: same time, only it was on the correct side of 38 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: the harbor for incoming vessels. Its captain Francis Mackie seemed 39 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: to be just about the only one following the rules, 40 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: but this, of course meant that he was on a 41 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: collision course with the IMO. Unfortunately, by the time the 42 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: ships came upon each other, there was nothing the two 43 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:40,600 Speaker 1: captains could do to avoid collision. The IMO scraped up 44 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: against the mont Blanc, leaving a gash in its hull, 45 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: a hull that was not empty like the IMO, it 46 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: was full of explosives intended for the war. The collision 47 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: created a spark that started a fire on the mont 48 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: Blanc and ignited barrels full of volatile chemicals on the deck. 49 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: They exploded into the air like pockets, leading to a 50 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: huge cloud of smoke above the wreck. The fire on 51 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,399 Speaker 1: the deck spread too. The ship's crew all evacuated, screaming 52 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: in French about the danger, but few could understand them. 53 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: Local firefighters raced to put out the fire. However, they 54 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: weren't fast enough, and after about twenty minutes the rest 55 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: of the explosives in the ship's hull ignited. The blast 56 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: had the explosive force of three thousand tons of T 57 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: and T for comparison, the atomic bombs that were dropped 58 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: decades later on, Nagasaki and Hiroshima had a force of 59 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: just three times that. The shockwave traveled faster than the 60 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: speed of sound and instantly killed sixteen hundred people. The 61 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: closest to the blast were vaporized. Those slightly further away 62 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: were crushed as the force threw them up against buildings 63 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: or collapsed those buildings on top of them. Those on 64 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: the outskirts of the blast were perforated by shards of 65 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: glass from shattered windows. The glass was absolutely deadly, too, 66 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: traveling so fast that it severed heads and limbs or 67 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: just blinded those who were lucky. Twelve miles away, windows 68 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: continued to shatter and people felt themselves pushed backwards. Sixty 69 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: two miles away, windows shattered and people could still hear 70 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: the blast. Hundreds of miles away in Massachusetts, some fishermen 71 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: heard a strange boom on the horizon, and back in 72 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: Halifax Harbor, the water vaporized by the explosion left a 73 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: vacuum that was filled by a tsunami that killed even 74 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 1: more people and leveled more buildings. When it was all 75 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,039 Speaker 1: said and done, nearly two thousand people were dead, nine 76 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: thousand were horrifically injured, and twenty five thousand were left homeless. 77 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: A blizzard ravaged the area the next day, hindering recovery 78 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: efforts for the teams. It was a terrible moment of 79 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: the past and future colliding, of a city failing to 80 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: maintain safety standards while keeping up with its own growth. 81 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: Halifax had braced for German u boat attacks, but the 82 00:04:53,839 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: biggest threat had turned out to come from within. The 83 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: Himalayan Mountain Range is one of the most daunting features 84 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,920 Speaker 1: on planet Earth. Some fifteen hundred miles long, it contains 85 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: Earth's tallest mountain and also holds some of humanity's most 86 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,919 Speaker 1: chilling secrets, because we're drawn to explore every inch of 87 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:27,680 Speaker 1: our world, even if that means reaching for heights that 88 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:30,840 Speaker 1: can prove fatal for us. In the winter of nineteen 89 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: forty two, a forest ranger named Hari Kishen Madhwal was 90 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: hiking through the Himalayans when he made a shocking discovery. 91 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: Among these icy peaks, a five day trek from the 92 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: nearest village was a glacial lake surrounded by bones, hundreds 93 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: of them, some with flesh still attached. The lake was 94 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: named Rupkun, but in popular lore it's become known as 95 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: skeleton lake. After discovering what seemed to be a mass grave, 96 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: Madhwal reported this to the Indian government, which at the 97 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: time was under British rule. There was an immediate panic 98 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,480 Speaker 1: among the British as they suspected that this grave could 99 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: be the remains of an attempted invasion of India by 100 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: Imperial Japan. For context, this was the height of the 101 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: Second World War and the British Empire was not prepared 102 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,839 Speaker 1: for that kind of attack. This initial theory was, of 103 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: course incorrect. The bones were too ancient to be Japanese soldiers, 104 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: and besides, other than one iron spearhead, there was no 105 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 1: evidence of weapons among the remains, either ancient or modern. 106 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: The snow and ice melted the following summer, revealing that 107 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: Madwal's discovery had only been part of the picture. The 108 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: lake was three meters deep and there were even more 109 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: bones at the bottom visible from the surface. So who 110 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: were these people and how had they come to die 111 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: in such a remote location. Rukund is sixteen thousand feet 112 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 1: above sea level, an altitude which is incredibly hostile at 113 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: the best of times. Over the years, various expeditions attempted 114 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: to catalog and study these bones in an attempt to 115 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: ascertain their origin. In nineteen fifty six, they were carbondated 116 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: and determined to be between five and eight hundred years old. 117 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: Speculation ran wild, of course, was Roupcooned, once a remote 118 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: place where holy men committed ritual suicide, was at the 119 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: final resting place of a thirteenth century army, an open 120 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: air grave for the victims of a plague. The bones 121 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: showed no evidence of violent deaths, and there were no 122 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: horse skeletons among the dead, which meant that it was 123 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: unlikely to be an army, even if their weapons had 124 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: disintegrated over time. Most of the bodies analyzed were between 125 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: eighteen and thirty five years old at the time of 126 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: death and showed no evidence of disease men, women, and children. 127 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: Adding to this mystery was the fact that there had 128 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: never been any trade routes through the region, so these 129 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: must have been individual travelers. One hint at the truth, though, 130 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: came from folklore. The closest villages claimed that a ridge 131 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: above Roupcoon was once part of a pilgrimage to honor 132 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: Non d Devi. It was a deadly route that came 133 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: up often in local stories. Finally, a breakthrough in the 134 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: case came from analyzing the skulls that were found there. 135 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: They showed small compression fractures, evidence of sudden blunt trauma 136 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: to the skull before death. The theory became that a single, 137 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: large group of pilgrims had fallen victim to one of 138 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: the region's violent hailstorms. In the early two thousands, Rupcund 139 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: became a pilgrimage site, all of its own visitors flocking 140 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: to the famous skeleton lake. Even as researchers worked away 141 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: analyzing the bones, tourists were there paying to see what 142 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: was left behind. It seemed for a long time that 143 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: the cryptic mystery was just to become another tourist trap, 144 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: until twenty nineteen. That is, modern testing revealed that the 145 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: remains were far more diverse than originally theorized. The bones 146 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: were not just of South Asian origin, but from Crete 147 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: and the Mediterranean as well. Skeletons belonging to three separate 148 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: genetic groups were identified, having then deposited over a period 149 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: that star banned a thousand years. It was not a 150 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: single group of pilgrims after all, Given that it's unlikely 151 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 1: that Greek islanders were part of a pilgrimage to honor 152 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 1: Nanda Devi. With the location's current status as a tourist destination, 153 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: the bones around Rupcoond are at increased risk of contamination 154 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: as visitors actually rearrange them, take some away, and leave 155 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: trash among the dead. Even today, research among these remains 156 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: is ongoing, but it's uncertain whether we will ever find 157 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,200 Speaker 1: out where all the remains came from. In the meantime, 158 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: it's a helpful reminder that even in the most remote 159 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: parts of the Earth, there are stories that remain untold. 160 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: While human nature has always led us into the unknown, 161 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,640 Speaker 1: that adventurous spirit has also left us some curious mysteries. 162 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 163 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 164 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,600 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosity's podcast dot com. 165 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 166 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 167 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:12,800 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 168 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 169 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.