1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Mankey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. It's easy to love furry, fluffy animals like dogs, cats, 7 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: and rabbits. There are pets and family members, and they're 8 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: responsible for some of the best videos on the Internet. 9 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: But so many animals are misunderstood and maligned simply for 10 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: acting the way nature intended. People didn't think too much 11 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: about shark attacks before the nineteen seventies, but in a 12 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: film came out that changed the way you see the 13 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: water and what lies beneath it forever. Steven Spielberg's Jaws 14 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: was a runaway hit in the first official summer blockbuster, 15 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: but it also led to the decimation of shark populations 16 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: all over the globe. Each year, more than a hundred 17 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: million sharks are killed, sometimes for their fins, other times 18 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: out of fear that they may bite a human. Sure, 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: great whites take a nibble from time to time, but 20 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 1: not because we're tasty. It's because they think we're something else, 21 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: but they don't know for sure until they get a taste. 22 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter whether they're snakes or sharks or spiders. 23 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:37,199 Speaker 1: There are just some creatures that don't get any love 24 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: from us humans. I think it's because they haven't had 25 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: the right kind of pr Take the rat, for example, Tiny, furry, 26 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: and very smart. According to the National Human Genome Research 27 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: Institute in Maryland, we have more in common with those 28 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: long tailed rodents than we do with other meat eating animals, 29 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: and yet rats are often depicted as garbage eating scavengers 30 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: full of disease. After all, they were believed to be 31 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: the source of the Black plague for hundreds of years 32 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: until it was proven that the fleas on their backs 33 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: were the real cause of the spread. But one Canadian 34 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: province hated rats so much it went to extreme lengths 35 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: to get rid of them forever. Alberta is the sixth 36 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: largest Canadian province and is responsible for billions of dollars 37 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: in agricultural exports each year, so it's important to keep 38 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: its farms free of pests. That's why in nineteen forty two, 39 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: the Ministry of Agricultural and Food instituted the Agricultural Pests 40 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: Act of Alberta. It stated that any creature or critter 41 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: posing a threat to the province's farms was officially put 42 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 1: on a to kill list. Rats were added in nineteen 43 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: fifty They had come from Eastern Canada scurrying their way 44 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: to Alberta to feed on grains, scraps of food and crops, 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: and people were ready. It took a year or so 46 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: to prepare, with the province going to great lengths to 47 00:02:56,680 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: educate the public on how the problem was going to 48 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: be addressed. They held conferences, handed out brochures and put 49 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: up posters all over the municipalities, specifically in high risk 50 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 1: areas like train stations and schools. From June of nineteen 51 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: fifty two until July of the following year, Alberta spread 52 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,480 Speaker 1: more than a hundred and forty thousand pounds of arsenic 53 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: trioxide powder. Thousands of buildings and farms along the province's 54 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: eastern border were covered in it. The local human population 55 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: wasn't too happy about the treatment, as the powder didn't 56 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: just affect the rodents. People, pets, and livestock were also 57 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: hurt by it. Despite the government, telling them that only 58 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: the rats would be affected. Over the ten years that followed, 59 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: the rat population skyrocketed until it finally stopped around nineteen 60 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: fifty nine. Infestations then plummeted. From nineteen sixty to nineteen eighty, 61 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: the number of live rat infestations fluctuated, but were never 62 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: as high as they were before and during the nineteen fifties. 63 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: This was mostly due to the work done by the 64 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 1: Agriculture and Food Ministry, but nature also played a part. 65 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: You see, certain mountainous and forested areas outside of Alberta 66 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: have made it difficult for rats to make it into 67 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: the province. It's also illegal for anyone in Alberta to 68 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: own a rat. Research laboratories are only allowed to have 69 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: them with special permits. Because of all the hard work 70 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: in eliminating rats over the previous fifty years, two thousand 71 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: two marked the first year in Alberta's history without a 72 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: single rat infestation. The next five years saw only two 73 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: infestations crop up, and they were dealt with swiftly. Alberta 74 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: was basically rat free ever since, well, except for a 75 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: freak accident in two thousand four, when someone with almost 76 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: a dozen domestic Norway rats released them into a Calgary neighborhood. 77 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: The locals wasted no time. Like the angry mob at 78 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: the end of Frankenstein, they chased every last rodent down 79 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: with brooms and shovels before they had a chance to reproduce. 80 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: The person who set them free initially was never discovered, 81 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: although that might be a good thing, considering that they 82 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,159 Speaker 1: might have met a similar or treatment not many people 83 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: know that rats are smart, resourceful, and even loyal. They're 84 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: like tiny dogs, but they're maligned because of what they 85 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: really are, reproductive eating machines. It's hard to blame the 86 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: people of Alberta for how they reacted to the threat 87 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: that rats pose to their crops. But the next time 88 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: you encounter one in a pet store or even on 89 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: a subway platform, watch it. See how it learns and 90 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: figures out how to operate in a world so much 91 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: bigger than itself. The rat doesn't know it's hated. It's 92 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: simply doing what the rest of us are trying to 93 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: do all the time, get through one more day and 94 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: survive the rat race. Life is full of consequences, big 95 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: ones too. Like the novel Futility, which discussed the sinking 96 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,159 Speaker 1: of a fictional British ocean liner called the titan after 97 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: hitting an iceberg, a book by the Way that came 98 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: out fourteen years before the real Titanic met the exact 99 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: same fate. But sometimes it's hard to accept something as 100 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: a coincidence. When we look at how so many disparate 101 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: threads line up exactly the right way for something to happen, 102 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: we can't shake the notion that it wasn't an accident, 103 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: that maybe the coincidence had been planned all along. That 104 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:30,279 Speaker 1: was the accusation facing British educator and crossword compiler Leonard 105 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: Daw in nineteen forty four. Daw was born in eighteen 106 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: eighty nine and got to start as an amateur football 107 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,919 Speaker 1: player that's soccer for those of US state side. But 108 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,599 Speaker 1: after the nineteen thirteen season he made two big decisions. First, 109 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: he joined the British Army to fight in World War One. Second, 110 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: he left football behind forever for a career in teaching. 111 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: For a few years after the war, Daw taught science 112 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: at a few different institutes around London, eventually settling in 113 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: nineteen six at Strands School, a boy's grammar school in 114 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: South London. But a year earlier, he had also taken 115 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,159 Speaker 1: a different job as a crossword compiler for the Daily 116 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: Telegraph newspaper. He was tasked with composing new clues every 117 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: day and assembling them into a complete puzzle. He juggled 118 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: both jobs for nearly twenty years, teaching kids science while 119 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,760 Speaker 1: coming up with five letter words for things like displeasing. 120 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: But one day, in early June of nine, dag got 121 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: a rude awakening. A pair of agents from m I five, 122 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: the British Security Service, arrived at his school looking for him. 123 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: They took him in for questioning, along with a coworker 124 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: from the newspaper. Locked in a small room for days, 125 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: Dawes was subjected to lines of questioning about his occupation, 126 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: not as a teacher, but as a puzzle maker. You see, 127 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: the agency had noticed some odd things about several cross 128 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: words over the past year. In one from early May seventeen, 129 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: Across asked for a four letter word for one of 130 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: the United States. The correct answer in that particular puzzle 131 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: it was Utah. A few weeks later, three Down wanted 132 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: a five letter word meaning red Indian on the Missouri. 133 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: The answer that filled the boxes perfectly, oh mahaw and 134 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: the puzzle just one week after that featured an eight 135 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:19,119 Speaker 1: letter answer Overlord. Now separately, these clues and answers didn't 136 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: amount to anything, they were just words, but together they 137 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: took on a whole new meaning because oh mahaw happened 138 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: to be the code name for one of the beaches 139 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: that the Allies planned to storm on June six, otherwise 140 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: known as d Day. Utah was another. Other answers, like Gold, 141 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,560 Speaker 1: Juno and Sword were code names for beaches that the 142 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: Canadian and British forces were also planning to land on, 143 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: and every one of them had shown up in a 144 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: Daily Telegraph crossword puzzle during the year. The most important 145 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: answer of although Overlord, was the name of the whole 146 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: Allied operation, which involved the cooperation of all three countries, 147 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,120 Speaker 1: and since Daw had been responsible for each of the 148 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 1: puzzles creation, he was officially their prime suspect. M I 149 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,320 Speaker 1: five kept him for hours, asking about his allegiance and 150 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: whether he had been contacted by Nazi agents. Despite his 151 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: service to his country in World War One, it was 152 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: feared that he had been turned, but Daw answered their 153 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: questions as truthfully as he could. No one had been 154 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,439 Speaker 1: in touch from the other side, they were just puzzles. 155 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: The m I five agents persisted, though, sure that this 156 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: had to be more than a coincidence, and yet no 157 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: matter how hard they pushed, Daw wouldn't break. Earlier that year, 158 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: a pamphlet published by the Nazis and distributed in southern 159 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: England outlawed how German spies had hidden the identity of 160 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: one of Hitler's secret weapons in the black squares of 161 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 1: a crossword puzzle. The British agents were certain the Nazis 162 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: were up to their old tricks again now, but they 163 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: didn't have any solid evidence. It took days of intense interrogation, 164 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: but by the end of it all they were no 165 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: closer to an answer than they had been at the start. 166 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: The good news was that nothing had been spoiled in 167 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: the publishing of those clues. When June six finally came, 168 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: the Allies successfully stormed the beaches of Normandy and went 169 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: on to win the war. Hitler didn't think the coastal 170 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: invasion was anything to worry about, so he didn't have 171 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: a large number of troops standing by, so had Leonard 172 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: Daw actually defected and turned traitor to help the Nazis 173 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 1: With crossword clues probably not, but while he was being 174 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,840 Speaker 1: questioned by m I five, Daw told them that he 175 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: sometimes had his students help him come up with clues 176 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,959 Speaker 1: for the puzzles. Those same children lived in a part 177 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,839 Speaker 1: of England with numerous American military bases nearby, and they 178 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: often overheard soldiers use certain words in conversation, so it 179 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: was likely that terms such as omaha and overlord were 180 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 1: heard in passing by the students and then told to 181 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: their teacher, Mr. Daw so that he could finish his puzzles. Sadly, 182 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: that explanation didn't remove the doubt and suspicion that followed 183 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,600 Speaker 1: him for almost ten years after his arrest. But Leonard 184 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: Daw was no trader. He was simply an innocent bystander 185 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: who found himself in a puzzling situation. I hope you've 186 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 187 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 188 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 189 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,839 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with How Stuff Works. 190 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,440 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 191 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 1: a podcast book series and television show, and you can 192 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the world of lore 193 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious, ye