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 --> 00:00:11,200 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 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Fame is a strange creature. 5 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: It is both elusive and lucrative, and some people seek 6 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 1: it by any means necessary. Nowadays, there's no such thing 7 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: as bad publicity if it means keeping your name in 8 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: the news. But for Helen, fame came at a steep price. 9 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: She was born in in central Scotland, and from a 10 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: very young age, the people around Helen knew something was 11 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: off about her. She often scared classmates with grim warnings 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: of the future, and she convinced many of them that 13 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: she could talk to the dead. As she got older, 14 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: Helen's um gifts garnered her much acclaim and popularity among 15 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,199 Speaker 1: her neighbors. She often held seances in her home, where 16 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: she would not only conjure spirits related to those in attendance, 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: but she would also produce ectoplasm from her mouth, as 18 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:24,199 Speaker 1: though the dead were speaking through her. On rare occasions, 19 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: phantoms would appear behind her, including some Helen referred to 20 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: as her spirit guide to the other side. This spirit 21 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 1: guide was a child named Peggy, who would float above 22 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: the crowd, her spectral gown flowing overhead. Unfortunately, Helen and 23 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: the spirit world shared a common enemy, flash photography. During 24 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: one of her seances, while Helen was blindfolded, a photographer 25 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: in attendance snap some pictures of the so called phantoms 26 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: the host had managed to summon. They were moving around 27 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: behind her, wearing long white robes and stiff, cherubic faces. 28 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: It was hard to see in the dark, but once 29 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: illuminated by the photographer's flash, it became clear exactly what 30 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: the famous medium had actually managed to call forth masks 31 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: on coat hangers, wrapped in long white nightgowns. Oh and 32 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: that ectoplasm or spiritual energy that Helen would sometimes spit 33 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: up that was nothing more than cheesecloth and egg whites. 34 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: But Helen wasn't about to give up that easily. She 35 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: honestly believed she had a talent, and during November of 36 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: ninety she put that talent on full display. Helen and 37 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: her husband had recently moved to Portsmouth, the home of 38 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: the Royal Navy, and during one of her sessions, she 39 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: managed to conjure a sailor from the battleship h M. 40 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: S Barham. The sailor told the audience he had been 41 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: killed in battle and gone down with the ship, a 42 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: miraculous feat for anyone present, except for one problem. Nobody 43 00:02:55,639 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: knew about that accident. Given her history, most people didn't 44 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,839 Speaker 1: put much faith in her powers. However, the Navy certainly did. 45 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: As it turned out a German sub really had sunk 46 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: the h M. S Barham months earlier and killed almost 47 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: nine hundred of her crew. News of the sinking had 48 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: been kept under wraps to fool the Nazis. The only 49 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: people who knew were the relatives of the deceased, so 50 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: there was no reason Helen would have known anything about 51 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: what had transpired. Word about Helen's prediction spread, and a 52 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 1: short while later, a Navy lieutenant attended a seance to 53 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: get a look for himself at the wondrous Mrs Duncan 54 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: and was shocked by what he found. She had manifested 55 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: an apparition of his late aunt, as well as his sister, 56 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: who had recently passed away. The lieutenant left angry and confused, 57 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: and contacted a police officer soon after, and that's because 58 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: he had no aunt nor a sister. The jig was up, 59 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,520 Speaker 1: as they say, and Helen found herself in a lot 60 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: of trouble. You see, certain laws on the books hadn't 61 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,840 Speaker 1: been updated with the times. Mediums were popular in nineteen 62 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: forties England, but many had been exposed as con artists 63 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: and were often charged under antiquated edicts such as the 64 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: Vagrancy Act of eighteen twenty four, as well as various 65 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: conspiracy and larceny laws. After all, they were swindling well 66 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: intentioned folks out of hard earned money. Helen's case, however, 67 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: proved difficult. She protested aggressively on behalf of her innocence. 68 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: She didn't see herself as a liar or a cheat. 69 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: In her mind, she was the real deal, providing a 70 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: much needed service and form of relief to mourning loved ones. 71 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: So prosecutors found another way to get her. They convicted 72 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: her under the Witchcraft Act of seventeen thirty five, and 73 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: that earned her a jail sentence of nine months. Upon 74 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: her release, she promised to not conduct another seance as 75 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: long as she lived. She held on to that promise 76 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: for fifteen years until nineteen fifty six, when she was 77 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 1: arrested again after violating the Fraudulent Media Him's Act of 78 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one, the act that had replaced the Witchcraft Act. 79 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: Perhaps Helen Duncan was a fraud, or maybe she was 80 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,600 Speaker 1: the real deal. No one has been able to prove 81 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: how she obtained her knowledge of the h. M. S. 82 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: Bar Um, but one thing is for sure. According to 83 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: English history, she was the last witch whoever have her 84 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:39,920 Speaker 1: day in court. Like most of us, Annie had big 85 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: plans for her life. But plans don't always work out, 86 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: do they? An upstate New York in the eighteen fifties, 87 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: and thee's prospects were slim. She came from a big 88 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: family with big needs, and after her father's death in 89 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, Annie struck out on her own. She sought 90 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:59,760 Speaker 1: an education to become a school teacher. It was during 91 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 1: this time when she met David. The two fell in 92 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: love and eventually married, But like I said before, plans 93 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 1: don't always work out. The couple had a child who 94 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: didn't survive past infancy. David died a short time later, 95 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: and poor Annie spent the next several decades floating from 96 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: one odd job to the next. She opened her own 97 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: dance studio in Michigan, then left to teach music up north, 98 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: eventually making her way to San Antonio, Texas, and Mexico 99 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:32,560 Speaker 1: City before finally settling back in Michigan. Times were changing, 100 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 1: America had entered the twentieth century, and Annie was getting older. 101 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: She had no long term financial solution to fall back on, 102 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: and retirement was out of the question. Most women at 103 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: the time would have looked for simple ways of keeping 104 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: their situation, but not Annie. She needed to make a 105 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: splash to stay afloat. Literally. Her idea was simple. On 106 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: October nineteen o one, her sixty third birthday. In fact, 107 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: she would pack herself into an oak pickle barrel and 108 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: launched herself over Niagara Falls. Like I said before, simple 109 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: right now. Understandably, she had trouble finding people to help her. 110 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: Few wanted to be responsible for a woman killing herself 111 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: in the most ostentatious way possible. Yet she continued with 112 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: her plan and even did a test run a few 113 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: days before the main event. Not with herself, mind, you know, 114 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: she used a cat, and don't worry, the cats survived, 115 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: and forty eight hours after it emerged from the barrel, 116 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: Annie stepped inside her own. It was lined with a 117 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: mattress to absorb some of the impact, and a rescue 118 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: team was established at the base of the falls to 119 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: retrieve her. Once the barrel reached the bottom. She planned 120 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: for everything, it seems. Annie and the barrel rode out 121 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: toward Goat Island, situated at the top of the falls, 122 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: along with some of her friends. She tossed the barrel 123 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: overboard and climbed inside while her associates screwed the lid 124 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: down tight. Then they used a by bicicle pump to 125 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 1: compress the air inside the barrel, which they then sealed 126 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: off with a cork. And that was it. The time 127 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: had come for Annie to make good on her promise 128 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: and hopefully make a little money at the same time. 129 00:08:15,080 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: The current carried the barrel down the river and over 130 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: the falls, where it plummeted to the waters below. The 131 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: team of rescuers found her, and, fearing the worst, pride 132 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: the barrel open. They peered inside. There was Annie, her 133 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: head smeared with blood, a little worse for wear, but 134 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: she was still alive. She'd done it. Annie Edson Taylor 135 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: had become the first woman to go over Niagara Falls 136 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: in a barrel and live to tell the tale, which 137 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: she did often, of course. Not long after her stunt, 138 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: Annie went on a brief speaking to her When asked 139 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,319 Speaker 1: whether she'd ever try it again, she was quoted as saying, 140 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: I would sooner walk up to the mouth of a 141 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: cannon knowing it was going to blow me to pieces 142 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:04,120 Speaker 1: than another trip over the falls. Still, her speaking engagements 143 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: didn't garner her the financial security that she hoped for. 144 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: She took the posing for pictures with tourists and planned 145 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: on doing another plunge several years later, but nothing ever 146 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: came of it. She spent her final years once again 147 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: bouncing around from job to job, at one time finding 148 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: herself conducting seances as a medium, before passing away in 149 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: in relative obscurity. Since her stint, Annie's life and experiences 150 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: have inspired numerous stories, television specials, and even a stage musical. However, 151 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:41,800 Speaker 1: it has inspired rumors as well. One such rumor involved 152 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,959 Speaker 1: a stowaway inside her barrel. According to reports at the time, 153 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: the cat that went over the falls days before Annie 154 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: stunt hadn't been the only feeline involved. Apparently, a black 155 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: cat had been placed beside Annie before she was sealed 156 00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:00,320 Speaker 1: inside her barrel. And when that barrel was recovered and opened, 157 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: they say the cat emerged unharmed, except for one small change. 158 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: All it's black fur it turned white. I hope you've 159 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,359 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 160 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 161 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 162 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,679 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. 163 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 164 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:36,760 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 165 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore 166 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.