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 --> 00:00:22,079 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 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,560 Speaker 1: John was sweating in his stiff uniform under the hot 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: studio lights. It was October fourth of nineteen fifty seven, 8 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: and all that morning he'd been focusing on music. This 9 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: wasn't unusual for John. As a test pilot, his mind 10 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: was usually on popular mechanics, not popular songs. Today, however, 11 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: he was turning in his pilot's license for a chance 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: to compete on a game show called Name That Tune. 13 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: As the cameras started rolling and the orchestra played, the 14 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: host of the show introduced John and Eddie, the ten 15 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: year old boy who'd be his partner on the show 16 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 1: that night. Noting that John was a military pilot, the 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: host went slightly off script to ask him a question 18 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: that the entire audience was probably wondering. What did he 19 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: think of the Russian satellite that was circling the globe 20 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: at that very moment. Beyond this being John's debut in 21 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: game show Stardom, October fourth of nineteen fifty seven was 22 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: the day that Russia launched Sputnik, the first man made satellite, 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: into orbit. John smiled and responded that this marked the 24 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,479 Speaker 1: beginning of a new age of space travel, one that 25 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,199 Speaker 1: perhaps his co contestant, Eddie, would participate in someday. John 26 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: didn't know it yet, but it was he, not Eddie, 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: that was about to shoot for the stars. Growing up 28 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 1: in Ohio, John had a fascination with planes from a 29 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 1: young age. After taking his first flight with his father 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: at eight years old, he spent hours making model planes 31 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: and imagining flying them through the clouds. As he grew older, 32 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: imagination turned into action. John obtained a private pilot's license 33 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: in college in nineteen forty one, clocking hundreds of hours 34 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,839 Speaker 1: in the air. By the time the United States entered 35 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: World War II in December of forty one, John knew 36 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a 37 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: fighter pilot for the US military. He served in the 38 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: Pacific as a marine pilot, flying fifty seven missions against 39 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: Japanese planes. By the time the Korean War rolled around 40 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: in the early nineteen fifties, John was known as a 41 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: fearless flyer who didn't hesitate to hunt down the Communist 42 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: forces faster, better equipped MiG fifteen jets. While he was 43 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: patrolling the skies over Korea, he had his first brush 44 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: with fame in the form of his wingman, Boston red 45 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: Sox Hall of Fame hitter Ted Williams, but in a 46 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: few short years it would be John and not Ted 47 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: making the headlines. After the war, John began working as 48 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: a test pilot for the Navy, and as the years 49 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: went on, John found himself behind a desk more often 50 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: than he was in the cockpit. Knowing if he didn't 51 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: act soon that he would be relegated to paperwork forever. 52 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: He came up with a scheme, one that would show 53 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: off the Navy's latest technology and cement his status as 54 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,800 Speaker 1: a flying star. On July sixteenth of nineteen fifty seven, 55 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: John made the first ever supersonic transcontinental flight. He flew 56 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: from California to New York in just three hours and 57 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: twenty three seconds, a full twenty two minutes less than 58 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: the standing record. The moment he exited the cockpit in 59 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: New York. He entered a new world where he was 60 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: a celebrity. He was profiled in The New York Times 61 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: and invited to compete on the game show Name That Tune. 62 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: On that game show, he won twenty five thousand dollars, 63 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: which he used for his children's college fund. But the 64 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: money wasn't the biggest impact from the game show. John's 65 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: taping of Name That Tune just so happened to coincide 66 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: with the launching of Sputnik, Russia's first satellite, and while 67 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: Sputnik was a huge human achievement, it also spiked anxiety 68 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: across the globe. The US was terrified that if Russia 69 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: controlled space, it would control the world, and so the 70 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: race was on to master the final frontier. John shared 71 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: these fears. He had spent his whole career fighting America's 72 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: enemies in the sky, and if the fight was going 73 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: even higher than he wanted to join it. So once 74 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: the United States announced that they were recruiting astronauts for 75 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: its space program, he was one of the first to 76 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: apply and the first to make the cut. On February 77 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: twentieth of nineteen sixty two, John's dreams finally came true. 78 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: When the spaceship Friendship seven launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, 79 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: John navigated several malfunctions and technical failures, forcing him to 80 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: take over manual operation of the spacecraft. Despite that, just 81 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: five hours later, they splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, 82 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: and just like that, John Glenn became the first American 83 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,559 Speaker 1: astronaut to safely orbit our planet, an achievement that wasn't 84 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: just incredible, it was literally out of this world. The 85 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: dawn of the twentieth century saw the invention of many 86 00:05:18,839 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: staples of our modern life. The motion picture was slowly 87 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: gaining ground as a popular entertainment rather than as a novelty. 88 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: The automobile was growing increasingly popular, and in the realm 89 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: of cuisine, sweetened carbonated soft drinks were becoming more and 90 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: more ubiquitous. While soft drinks had been around for over 91 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 1: one hundred years, the late eighteen hundreds saw the formation 92 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: of both Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola companies that would 93 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: define the market to the present day. Their immediate popularity 94 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: would also inspire a gold rush of food chemists and 95 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: entrepreneurs trying to gain a foothold in that market. Among 96 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,599 Speaker 1: those was Charles Leiper Grigg, an ad man who saw 97 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: the value in creating a distinct drink to counter program 98 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: coke and pepsi. You see, both of those drinks were 99 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: Cola's extremely high in sugar. Greg believed that he could 100 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: invent a so called on coola, a soft drink that 101 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: would be just as appealing, but based on an entirely 102 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: different set of flavors and ingredients. His first experiment was 103 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: with an orange flavor profile, which led to the creation 104 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: of a soft drink called Whistle in nineteen nineteen. However, 105 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: disputes with the co founder of that company caused him 106 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: to disown the invention and strike out on his own. 107 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: He attempted to launch another orange drink independently, which he 108 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: called Howdy. However, this particular drink never took off. The 109 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: market was already being dominated by orange crush, an invention 110 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: of the nineteen tens. Greg soon realized that any future 111 00:06:46,279 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: success he might have with soft drinks would not be 112 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: among the oranges. He began exploring drinks that were based 113 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: not on an orange flavor but lemon. There were many 114 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: lemon drinks at the time, but they varied widely by 115 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: region and none had properly been franchised. There was no 116 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: lemon crush to steal his thunder. He tested a number 117 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 1: of different combinations of flavors around eleven most say, and 118 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: eventually settled on a formula that he thought would be 119 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: a runaway success. The formula included something called lithium citrate. 120 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: Lithium at the time was a popular mood stabilizer, and 121 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: it would become a central part of the SODA's marketing 122 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: campaign once it hit the shelves in nineteen twenty nine, 123 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: two weeks before the stock market crash that triggered the 124 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,239 Speaker 1: Great Depression. A cheap beverage that made people feel better 125 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,120 Speaker 1: would be in high demand as fortunes plummeted and millions 126 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: faced financial ruin. The drink was internally known as BIB 127 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,560 Speaker 1: Label Lithiated Lemon Lime Carbonated Soda, but this name would 128 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: be a bit of a mouthful, no pun intended. The 129 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: marketers who were working with Griggs said that it would 130 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: need to be shortened to lithiated Lemon Soda in order 131 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: to fit more comfortably on advertisements, but that was not 132 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 1: a particularly catchy name either, not like whistle or the 133 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: name they settled on would be much catchier. But to 134 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 1: this day, historians are uncertain exactly where it came from. 135 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: It was either the atomic mass of lithium, the size 136 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: of the bottles in ounces, or a reference to the 137 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: number of ingredients in Grigg's final formula. But whatever the 138 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: truth is, we all know what they settled on. Here's 139 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: an early advertisement. It reads, seven surprises await you. Seven 140 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: natural flavors blended into a new drink. Delight you get 141 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: the intensified flavor resulting from the blending of flavors known 142 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: to you an invented sugar drink ninety six to one 143 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: hundred and four calories per bottle, and this drink, of course, 144 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: would be seven up. Almost a century later, it is 145 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: still regarded as one of the giants of the soda world, 146 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: although in the years since its invention certain adjustments have 147 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: needed to be made. Lithium citrate, for instance, is no 148 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: longer part of the recipe, but it still occupies the 149 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: same unique spot in the soda world that Grig carved 150 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: out six years ago. Not bad for a drink that 151 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:09,920 Speaker 1: was once known as litheated lemon. I hope you've enjoyed 152 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for 153 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show 154 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created 155 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 156 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 157 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 158 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. 159 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.