1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: two different hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: on with the show. Welcome to this day in History 5 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: desk of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the 7 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: show where we explore the past one day at a 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: time with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: it's December four. Ryanert Maria Rilka was born on this 11 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: day in eighteen seventy five. He was a poet, a novelist, 12 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: and essayist. He primarily wrote in German and in French, 13 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: but his work has been translated into numerous other languages, 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: and he's become particularly studied and beloved in the English 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: speaking world in a way that's not really all that 16 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: common among non English language poets. He was his parents 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: only surviving child, and for a lot of his early 18 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: life his mother actually dressed him in skirts. She was 19 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: trying to recover from the death of his older sister, 20 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: who had died as a baby. His first formal education 21 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: was at a military school, although it wasn't a particularly 22 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: good fit for him. It wasn't just because of his temperament, 23 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: which was not well suited to being at a military school. 24 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: It was also because of his health. He had a 25 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: series of chronic illnesses that affected him throughout his life. 26 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 1: Health problems led to his being discharged from the second 27 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,119 Speaker 1: military school that he attended. He went on to study 28 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: philosophy and art, and he wasn't a particularly good student. 29 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 1: He moved from one university to another, not being all 30 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: that engaged with the work that he was doing. And 31 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 1: he also started writing when he was still a young man. 32 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: His early work, though, was really derivative of the writing 33 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: of other poets, to the point that some critics today 34 00:01:56,440 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: don't really describe it as derivative. They describe it as plagiary. 35 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: But he started to reinvent himself when he was twenty two. 36 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: Part of this was through a relationship with lou Andreas Salome, 37 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: who was a writer who was connected to numerous other writers. 38 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: She had a whole reputation for being a just astonishing woman. 39 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,640 Speaker 1: She was also married, but the relationship inspired him to 40 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: basically remake his whole life at the age of twenty five, 41 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: he married a sculptor named Clara Westof and they had 42 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: a child together. Although they didn't live together for very long, 43 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: a lot of their marriage took place through letters, and 44 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: he would later go on to describe marriage as two 45 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: people protecting one another's solitude. For a lot of his life, 46 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: including during and before his marriage, he just moved continually. 47 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,839 Speaker 1: At one point he lived in twenty five different places 48 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: over the span of five years. He learned numerous languages. 49 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: He pursued passionate relationships with women in all of these places. 50 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: Later on, he started writing poems about philosophy and God 51 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: and beauty, using imagery to express his ideas. His writings 52 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: on God, though we should be clear, they're not so 53 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: much about religion or a divine figure. They're more about 54 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: God as a universal consciousness, or as a life force, 55 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: or as a natural presence, not so much as a 56 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: divine being. He also had friendships and working relationships with 57 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: so many other philosophers and writers and poets. One of 58 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: them was Auguste Rodin, who was a major influence on 59 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: his work. He also worked as Rodance secretary for a time, 60 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: but was let go after Ordan alleged that Rilco was 61 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: answering his letters without his permission. Bilka died of leukemia 62 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: on December twenty nine, n and there's a story that 63 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: he pricked his finger on a rose and that when 64 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: he did that, this led to an infection that hastened 65 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: his death. It's not totally clear whether that is a 66 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: real event or apocryphal. After his death, though, he became 67 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: hugely influential to poets and multiple languages, with some of 68 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: them naming him as the greatest poet of his age 69 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: when it comes to English language readers, though only a 70 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,480 Speaker 1: few of his poems were really available in very good 71 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 1: English language translations until the nineteen seventies. Instead, a lot 72 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: of the admiration for him comes from his prose, in 73 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: particular the Letters to a Young Poet, which was a 74 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: response to the aforesaid young poets request for advice because 75 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:42,200 Speaker 1: we're just about writing, though there were also really about life. 76 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: Roca's reputation is one of being just a profoundly thoughtful 77 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: and conscientious, introspective person, someone who really crafted himself into 78 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: the person that he wanted to be, and in the 79 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: process transformed himself into a remarkable poet. Although he definitely 80 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: has detractors, people who instead read him as a pretentious 81 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: womanizer rather than a more intuitive and passionate soul. Thanks 82 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: very much to Eve's Jeff Coke for her research work 83 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: on today's show, and thanks to Casey Pigraham and Chandler 84 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: Mays for their audio work. You can subscribe to the 85 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 1: Stay in History Class on Apple podcast, Google podcast, the 86 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio app, and wherever else you get your podcasts, 87 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: and you can tune in tomorrow for a mystery at 88 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: sea that still persists till today. Welcome back. I'm your host, Eves, 89 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: and you're tuned into This Day in History Class, a 90 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: show that takes history and squeezes it into bite size stories. 91 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: The day was December four. Edith Louisa Cavell was born 92 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: in England. Cavil was a nurse known for hiding Allied 93 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: soldiers from Germans during World War One. Cavil was the 94 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: oldest of four children. When she was young, Edith was 95 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: educated at home, mostly by her father, who was the 96 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: vicar in Swardeston, where she was born. She later went 97 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: to boarding school, then worked as a governess for an 98 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: Essex family. Edith spent time traveling in Switzerland, Bavaria and Saxony, 99 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: gaining an interest in hygiene and medicine and Brussel's. Cavil 100 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,320 Speaker 1: worked as a governess, but when her father got sick, 101 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: she went back to England to care for him. Cavill 102 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: soon began her nursing education and started gaining experience in 103 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: hospital work. She worked in different hospitals in the London area, 104 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,080 Speaker 1: and she took jobs as a private nurse. Belgian surgeon 105 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: Antoine Depage invited Cavil to Belgium to help with the 106 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: direction of his new nursing school, which would be influenced 107 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,200 Speaker 1: by the model developed by Florence Nightingale. As an English 108 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: trained nurse who was fluent in Cavil foot the bill 109 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: for who he was looking for. She became the director 110 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,080 Speaker 1: of nurse training at the Birkendale Medical Institute and within 111 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: a few years was working as a nurse trainer at 112 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: several hospitals and schools. Cavil also began publishing the nursing 113 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: journal La Firmiere. But as the First World War began 114 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: Germany invaded Belgium and entered Brussels, her clinic in nursing 115 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: school were turned into a Red Cross hospital. She cared 116 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: for wounded German soldiers. When a couple of injured English 117 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: soldiers ended up in her clinic in November of nineteen fourteen, 118 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: she hit them and helped them escape to the neutral Netherlands. 119 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,440 Speaker 1: As more Allied soldiers began showing up at her clinic, 120 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: she continued to shelter them and assist them in escaping 121 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,320 Speaker 1: to the Netherlands. Many of the soldiers she helped were British. 122 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: In French, she began working with an underground network of 123 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: people who supplied the Allied soldiers with food, money, clothes, 124 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: and fake documents. Soldiers were moved from location to location 125 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: in the network, and Caval's clinic was one stop. The 126 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: network also assisted French and Belgiuan men who were of 127 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: military age that feared being imprisoned by the Germans. Caval's 128 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: resistance work in harboring Allied soldiers and helping them escape 129 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: was against German military law, but the system broke down 130 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: when members of the network were caught in linked to 131 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: unlawful activity. Cavil was under suspicion and she was arrested 132 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: on August fifth, nineteen fifteen. She spent weeks in solitary 133 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 1: confinement and she signed depositions admitting her guilt. She was 134 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: charged with war treason and helping soldiers escape to Britain, 135 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: which was at war with Germany. That meant she was 136 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 1: aiding an enemy. Caval went on trial and was found guilty. 137 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: She was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad 138 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: on October twelve. After her execution, Germany used her death 139 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 1: to discourage resistance. The British, on the other hand, used 140 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,559 Speaker 1: her execution as pupaganda to encourage enlistment in the British army. 141 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: People around the world denounced that the Germans had executed 142 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: a nurse and believe the punishment was too harsh. After 143 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 1: the war was over, Cavill's remains were exhumed and transported 144 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: to England. I'm each step Coote and hopefully you know 145 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:21,160 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 146 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: You can keep up with us on social media on Twitter, 147 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at t D I h C Podcast, 148 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: and if you would like to write me a letter, 149 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: you can scan it, turn it into a PDF and 150 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: send it to us via email at this Day at 151 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,719 Speaker 1: I heart media dot com. Thanks again for listening and 152 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: we'll see you tomorrow.