Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. In sixty six a d.
Speaker 1: The Eastern Mediterranean became the site of a major conflict
Speaker 1: between the Jews and the Roman Empire. The Jewish people
Speaker 1: had endured enough of the Roman successive taxation practices, and
Speaker 1: so they revolted and the Romans retaliated. The fighting carried
Speaker 1: on for four long years, with the conflict reaching its
Speaker 1: climax in the city of Jerusalem. Jewish men, women and
Speaker 1: children of fighting age took up arms against their oppressors,
Speaker 1: hoping to defend them off, but the Roman armies were
Speaker 1: too strong. They tore down the city walls and burned
Speaker 1: the temple to the ground. In the end, Jerusalem fell
Speaker 1: to the Romans. Survivors were taken into slavery and their
Speaker 1: culture was almost eradicated. Many centuries later, the Romans found
Speaker 1: themselves at the center of another battle, this time against
Speaker 1: Attila and his army of Huns. They fought in an
Speaker 1: area of modern day eastern France. Attila's plan was to
Speaker 1: invade Gaul, a Roman territory made up of several European
Speaker 1: countries including modern day France, Belgium, Northern Italy and Luxembourg. However,
Speaker 1: while both sides faced casualties in the thousands, in the
Speaker 1: end it was Attila who was defeated and the Romans
Speaker 1: retained control of their land. Then, in ten sixty six,
Speaker 1: King Harold of England went up against Duke William the
Speaker 1: second of Normandy, also known as William the Conqueror. William
Speaker 1: had brought with him armies from all over France and Belgium.
Speaker 1: After King Harold had defeated, the Norwegian invader is moving
Speaker 1: into his land, and though Harold put up a valiant effort,
Speaker 1: Williams forces proved too strong to overpower. The English aristocracy
Speaker 1: was destroyed. Its control of the Catholic Church fell to
Speaker 1: the Normans, who transformed England forever. All three historical events
Speaker 1: have something in common. They involve war, death, and destruction.
Speaker 1: Each event had a winner and a loser. Power was
Speaker 1: gained and power was lost. And yet there's something else,
Speaker 1: something otherworldly, that binds these seemingly disparate events together. Haley's comment,
Speaker 1: even though the comet wasn't officially named until the seventeen hundreds.
Speaker 1: It had been viewed as an omen of tragedy since
Speaker 1: the beginning of time. Scholar and historian Titus Flavius Josephus
Speaker 1: had seen the comet streak just before the fall of
Speaker 1: Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans. He described it
Speaker 1: as a star resembling a sword. Hailey's comment had also
Speaker 1: been spotted in four fifty one, at the time of
Speaker 1: Attila's defeat in Western Europe, and in the months leading
Speaker 1: up to King Harold's defeat at the Battle of Hastings.
Speaker 1: There it was again that long haired star, as it
Speaker 1: was described at the time, a prophecy of William's impending conquest.
Speaker 1: But perhaps the most noticeable coincidence tied to the comet
Speaker 1: occurred in eighteen thirty five, when a young man named
Speaker 1: Samuel Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri, only two weeks
Speaker 1: prior Haley's comment had made its closest approach to Earth.
Speaker 1: As we all know, Samuel Clemens went on to great
Speaker 1: success under the pen name Mark Twain, writing as a
Speaker 1: commentator and storyteller. He had a knack for pointing out
Speaker 1: hypocrisy and in some ways he gave birth to modern
Speaker 1: observational comedy through the numerous talks that he gave throughout
Speaker 1: his career. In fact, his observational skills came in quite handy.
Speaker 1: In nineteen o nine, he'd been working with noted by
Speaker 1: bographer Albert Payne on his own life story when he
Speaker 1: told him that he had come in with Haley's comment
Speaker 1: and how it would be the greatest disappointment of his
Speaker 1: life if he didn't go out with it as well.
Speaker 1: One year later, on April nineteen, Haley's comments soared through
Speaker 1: the night sky right on schedule, and Mark Twain died
Speaker 1: of a heart attack the following day. They used to
Speaker 1: be in every state fair and along every boardwalk in
Speaker 1: the country. The hissing whistle of the calliope would fill
Speaker 1: the air, scented with the rich aroma of buttered popcorn.
Speaker 1: The familiar call of the barker would ring out, enticeing
Speaker 1: curious patrons to the wonders within his tent. Carnivalgoers would
Speaker 1: pay their fare and duck under the striped awning, coming
Speaker 1: face to face with humanity's greatest wonders. Though they were
Speaker 1: deemed freaks by everyone else, these men and women were
Speaker 1: simply born with medical conditions that prevented them from living
Speaker 1: within a so called civilized society. They had no other home.
Speaker 1: They were kicked out of public schools, they were shunned
Speaker 1: by their families. They couldn't find employment anywhere else. Instead,
Speaker 1: they found peace and understanding within the communities of the
Speaker 1: traveling carnivals and circuses they worked for. They built relationships
Speaker 1: with people who had also been ostracized by their peers,
Speaker 1: and the public paid handsomely to gawk at their natural abilities,
Speaker 1: anatomical anomalies that were often pitched as grotesque or inhuman,
Speaker 1: and such claims couldn't have been further from the truth.
Speaker 1: During the nineteen twenties and thirties, traveling side shows became
Speaker 1: a primary form of entertainment. But just like the stage
Speaker 1: actors and actresses of the day, these performers needed a break.
Speaker 1: They were, after all, only human. During harsh winters, when
Speaker 1: snow and wind made travel to the Midwest almost impossible,
Speaker 1: sideshow acts had to find a warm place where they
Speaker 1: could set up camp without being bothered by the local population.
Speaker 1: Lucky for them, such a place existed. It was a
Speaker 1: small town in western Florida, just off Route forty one
Speaker 1: called Gibsonton, located near Ringling Brothers winter home. Gibsonton became
Speaker 1: a haven for traveling side shows looking to wait out
Speaker 1: the freezing temperatures in a more comfortable location. It started
Speaker 1: out small, with only a handful of acts setting up
Speaker 1: tents in a place where they could sleep, train, and
Speaker 1: get away from the throngs of open mouth spectators. Soon,
Speaker 1: other nomadic carnivals got worried about the sanctuary on the
Speaker 1: Florida coast. Like the Gold Rush of the mid eighteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: it wasn't long before Gibsonton blew up and the small
Speaker 1: group of side show performers turned into an entire community,
Speaker 1: and rather than push them away from the quiet town,
Speaker 1: the local government welcome them with open arms. They changed
Speaker 1: the zoning laws to allow them to keep tigers and
Speaker 1: other exotic animals on their property. The Gibsonson Post office
Speaker 1: was the only one in the country with counters specifically
Speaker 1: designed for little people. Eateries had custom seats made for
Speaker 1: patrons who were bigger and taller than usual, and jobs
Speaker 1: were easy to come by. Once the carnival ride manufacturers
Speaker 1: started opening up their factories there. Dubbed Freakville, USA, it
Speaker 1: was a town built by and for the people who
Speaker 1: lived there, the people who were told they weren't wanted
Speaker 1: anywhere else. Unfortunately, as time marched on, so did sensibilities
Speaker 1: surrounding what was considered entertainment. Eventually, freak shows fell out
Speaker 1: of favor. Audiences found distraction and film and television instead,
Speaker 1: and the general sentiment concerning sideshow acts became one of
Speaker 1: disgusted morbid curiosity evolved into concern for the well being
Speaker 1: of the performers. Despite the eventual loss of interest, though,
Speaker 1: Freakville still stands today. In fact, there's a museum dedicated
Speaker 1: to the side shows and carnivals of long ago. The
Speaker 1: town boasts a population of over fifteen thousand, many of
Speaker 1: whom are descendants of the original performers. What started as
Speaker 1: a safe retreat for society's most vulnerable among us has
Speaker 1: itself become an attraction for adventurous tourists. It goes to
Speaker 1: show that no matter how our tastes change, or how
Speaker 1: much we learn about the unknown, we will always crave
Speaker 1: something new to challenge our perceptions and understandings of the world.
Speaker 1: It's just that sometimes those challenges aren't new at all.
Speaker 1: They've just been waiting for us to step right up
Speaker 1: and take a look. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all
Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.