1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey guys, I hope you enjoy these classic 3 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,479 Speaker 1: episodes from the t D I h C Vault. I'm 4 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,559 Speaker 1: currently researching a new crop of stories for next year, 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:14,600 Speaker 1: so be sure to join me again on January second, 6 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,960 Speaker 1: when we return with all new episodes. See you next week. 7 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to This Day in History Class from how Stuff 8 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff you 9 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 10 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 11 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Hello and welcome 12 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Christopher haciotis your regular host. Tracy 13 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,440 Speaker 1: Vie Wilson is out this week, so thanks for having me. 14 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,279 Speaker 1: It's December and one of the biggest heists in Japanese 15 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: history happened on this day. In just under three hundred 16 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: million yen was stolen from a secure vehicle outside Tokyo. 17 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: In that amount was worth around eight hundred and twenty 18 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: thousand U S dollars adjusted for inflay should that would 19 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: be like stealing the equivalent of six million dollars in 20 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: today's money. Here's how it all went down on December, 21 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: four employees of the Nihon Shintaku Ginko Bank were transporting 22 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: this massive sum of cash. Security was tight, as a 23 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: bank manager had just days prior received threats of explosives 24 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: in the mail. The money was intended to be used 25 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: as bonuses for factory workers employed by technology conglomerate Toshiba. 26 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: The vehicle was traveling through Fuchu, the city in the 27 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: Greater Metro area of Tokyo where the factory was located. 28 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: A policeman riding a white Yamaha motorcycle stopped the car 29 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: just about a blocks distance from the factory gate. The 30 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: policeman informed the crew in the car that their bank 31 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: manager's house had been bombed and police had reason to 32 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: believe the car they were driving was likewise wired with dynamite. 33 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: As the four employees exited the car, the policeman said 34 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: he'd examined the underside of the vehicle, while beneath the car, 35 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: he'd discreetly set off a flare. The four employees saw 36 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: smoke and flames, and when they heard the man, whom 37 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: they believed to be a police men, yelling for them 38 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: to run for safety, that's exactly what they did. He 39 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: on the other hand hopped in the car loaded with 40 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: cash and just drove off. The vehicle was later discovered 41 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 1: abandoned without either the cash or the driver within The 42 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: ensuing investigation saw the Japanese police go all in. More 43 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: than a hundred and seventy thousand police officers and hundreds 44 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: of detectives were involved in the search for the thief. 45 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: Police collected more than a hundred and twenty pieces of 46 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: evidence at the crime scene, including the thief's abandoned police motorcycle, 47 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: which turned out to have been painted to look official 48 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: but wasn't. The security employees described the culprit Sketches were 49 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: made and circulated, and the hunt was on. More than 50 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand people were interviewed in night for the case. 51 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: The first suspect was the nineteen year old son of 52 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: a motorcycle policeman, but just five days after the robbery, 53 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: the teenager died of potassium cyanide poisoning, raising suspicions. The death, however, 54 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: was ultimately ruled a suicide and he was implicated a 55 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: year later. At the end of nineteen sixty nine, police 56 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: arrested a twenty six year old man on an unrelated charge. 57 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: He resembled the composite image created of the thief, but 58 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: he too was ultimately exonerated when he was able to 59 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: prove he was taking a test at the time of 60 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: the robbery. On November fifteenth, nineteen seventy five, just months 61 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: before the seven year statute of limitations was set to expire, 62 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: police arrested a friend of the nineteen year old first suspect. 63 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: They'd found large amounts of unexplained cash in his possession. 64 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: In the end, nothing came of that inquiry either, and 65 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: the statute of limitations on criminal charges was reached in 66 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: December of nineteen seventy five. A separate period of civil 67 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: liability expired in night after that date. The thief would 68 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: not have been at the risk of any legal repercussions. 69 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: He could legally benefit from profits from the crime. He 70 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: could have written a book, for instance, or sold his 71 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: story to a TV station. A nineteen nine investigation by 72 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: the newspaper shu Kan Joseki identified a potential suspect then 73 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: in his fifties. However, other publications found significant flaws with 74 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: that theory, and it was ultimately abandoned. As of the 75 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: recording of this episode half a century later, the case 76 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: remains unsolved, the culprit has never come forward, and the 77 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: money remains lost. For years, it was the largest robbery 78 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: in Japan's history. Most recently, it was surpassed by a 79 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 1: two thousand four robbery of five million yen, which was 80 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,159 Speaker 1: then surpassed by a two thousand and eleven robbery where 81 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: two masked men still six hundred and four million yen 82 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: or about seven point four million dollars. But the nineteen 83 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: sixty eight robbery, the three hundred million yen robbery, as 84 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: it's known, remains the most notorious in the public's memory. 85 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: The original crime has inspired numerous books, articles, comics, and 86 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 1: TV shows, as well as the two thousand films on 87 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: Oku and ji Ken. Thanks to Ksey Pegram and Chandler 88 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: Mays for their audio work on this show. You can 89 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, 90 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, or wherever else you like 91 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: to find your podcasts. Come back tomorrow and we'll learn 92 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: about a royal trial. Hi. Everyone, Welcome to the show. 93 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and you're listening to This Day in History Class, 94 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,280 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 95 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: every day. The day was December tenth, nineteen o seven. 96 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 1: The Brown Dog Riots, a series of riots over the 97 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: practice of conducting surgery on live animals, piqued when a 98 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: crowd of medical students marched through London in support of 99 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: the practice. Operating on living animals for experimental purposes is 100 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: known as vivisection. Vivisection, used for scientific research and instructing 101 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,600 Speaker 1: medical students, was common in the UK in the early 102 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: twentieth century. At the same time, there was plenty of 103 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: opposition to the practice. Anti vivisection groups formed and attempted 104 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: to limit or abolish surgery on live animals. Among other arguments, 105 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: people who opposed vivisection accused researchers of disregarding the suffering 106 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 1: of the animals they experimented on. Many anti vivisectionists were 107 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: also suffragists. In eighteen seventy six, Parliament passed the Cruelty 108 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: to Animals Act, which said that experiments that cause animals 109 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,359 Speaker 1: pain could only be conducted when necessary, and that animals 110 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 1: had to be anesthetized if they were to undergo such 111 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: an experiment. It also required animals to be used in 112 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 1: only one experiment and killed when the study was over. 113 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: With stipulations, but in nineteen o two, a brown terrier 114 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: was anesthetized and dissected alive by physiologist Dr Edward Starling 115 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: in front of an audience of medical students at University 116 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: College in London. The dog lived through the experiment and 117 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: was kept in a cage until his next procedure. In 118 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: February of nineteen o three, the terrier was used in 119 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: a couple more procedures conducted by Starling, another physiologist named 120 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: William Bayless, and medical student Henry Dale. The dog was 121 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: cut open to inspect the results of the previous experiment, 122 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: and the dog's neck was cut open to expose its 123 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: salivary glands. The experiment was not successful, and Dale killed 124 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 1: the dog by stabbing a knife through his heart. To 125 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: Swedish anti vivisectionist activists Lizzie Leen of Hogabee and Lesa 126 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: Hartau were attending medical school in London and had been 127 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: going to see Starling and Bayliss's lectures. They published their 128 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: notes on the experiments on and Death of the Brown Terrier. 129 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: Since the dog was used in more than one experiment, 130 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: the procedures were in violation of the cruelty to animals 131 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: act Lawyer Stephen Coleridge publicly decried the vivisection of the 132 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: brown terrier, and Bayliss sued Coleridge for libel. They went 133 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: to trial in November of nineteen oh three and bay 134 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 1: List came out on top, but the controversy continued. Anti 135 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: vivisectionists raised money to build a monument to the dog 136 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 1: that was killed in the experiment. The memorial was unveiled 137 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: in the Borough of Battersea in September of nineteen o six. 138 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,600 Speaker 1: The plaque on the statue of the brown dog read 139 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:20,239 Speaker 1: in memory of the brown Terrier dog done to death 140 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: in the laboratories of University College in February nineteen o three, 141 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,400 Speaker 1: after having endured vivisection extending over more than two months, 142 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: and having been handed over from one vivisector to another 143 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: till death came to his release. Also in memory of 144 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: the two hundred and thirty two dogs vivisected at the 145 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: same place during the year nineteen o two, Men and 146 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 1: women of England. How long shall these things be? This 147 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: upset medical students who supported animal experimentation in vivisection. Their 148 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: efforts to destroy the statue turned into riots which peaked 149 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: on December tenth, nineteen o seven, when medical students gathered 150 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: to try to take the Memorial Day out. The protests 151 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: devolved into fighting with police officers, and rioting continued over 152 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 1: the next several months. After much debate over the statue, 153 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,319 Speaker 1: which not only inspired writing but also required official resources 154 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: for protection, the statute was taken down in March of 155 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: nineteen ten. It's been suggested that the conflict was intensified 156 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:24,439 Speaker 1: by the fact that so many of the medical students 157 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: were men who opposed suffrage, and so many of the 158 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: anti vivise sectionists were women and suffragists. A new, also 159 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: controversial statue of the dog was unveiled in London in 160 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: ninety five. I'm Eve jeffco and hopefully you know a 161 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. Looking 162 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: for a content a little more sophisticated than cat memes 163 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: in your feed, connect with us on social media at 164 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: T D I h C Podcast. If you prefer something 165 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:58,640 Speaker 1: a little bit more formal, then you can write us 166 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 1: at This Day at I heart media dot com. I 167 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: hope you liked this show. We'll be back tomorrow with 168 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 1: another episode. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History 169 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:23,880 Speaker 1: Class a show for those interested in the loud and 170 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: quiet moments of history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 171 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,080 Speaker 1: looking at the life of one of the most enigmatic 172 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: poets in literary history, the incomparable Emily Dickinson. The day 173 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: was December eighteen thirty. American poet Emily Dickinson was born 174 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: in Amherst, Massachusetts. Although largely unrecognized in her own time, 175 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:57,600 Speaker 1: she is now considered one of the most dynamic and 176 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: innovative poets of the nineteenth century and a pillar of 177 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: the American literary canon. Only a handful of her poems 178 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: were published during her lifetime, but she wrote prolifically, penning 179 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: nearly eighteen hundred poems on themes such as faith, death, nature, 180 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: truth and loss. Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born into a 181 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: prominent New England family. Her paternal grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was 182 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: a founder of the esteemed Amherst Academy now Amherst College. 183 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:36,719 Speaker 1: Her father, Edward Dickinson, was a trustee at Amherst, as 184 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 1: well as a lawyer and a state legislator. In eighteen 185 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: twenty eight, Edward married Emily Norcross, and the couple had 186 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 1: three children together. The eldest William Austen, the middle child, Emily, 187 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: and the youngest Lavinia. Given the family's background, Dickinson's father 188 00:11:56,920 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: was adamant that his children received a quality education. San 189 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,559 Speaker 1: When she was ten, Emily and her sister were enrolled 190 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: in Amherst, a rigorous school that had only started accepting 191 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: female students two years earlier. By all accounts, Dickinson was 192 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: an exceptional student and had no problem with a challenging 193 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: curriculum that included classical literature, history, sciences, and philosophy. After 194 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: seven years at Amherst, Dickinson enrolled at the Mount Holyoke 195 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: Female Seminary in South Hadley, Massachusetts. The school followed a 196 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: similar classical curriculum, but also included teachings on evangelical Christianity. 197 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: Dickinson spent less than a year at the boarding school 198 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: and left for unknown reasons. Some historians think her father 199 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: wanted her to return home, while others believe she disliked 200 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: the school's oppressive religious atmosphere and teaching style. Whatever the reason, 201 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: Dickinson returned to her family estate age eighteen and remained there, 202 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: growing gradually more reclusive throughout her twenties and thirties. Although 203 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: she increasingly avoided in person social interactions, she maintained frequent 204 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: correspondence with a wide circle of friends, at least ninety 205 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 1: people that we know of. She had begun writing poetry 206 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: as a teenager, and often enclosed poems in her letters. 207 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: Much of her work was influenced by her upbringing in 208 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: Puritan New England during a time of sweeping religious reform. 209 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: Although she attended church routinely until her thirties, Dickinson went 210 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: against religious norms of her era and refused to conform 211 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:46,840 Speaker 1: to an orthodox view of Christianity. In private, she wrestled 212 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: with the notions of belief and unbelief throughout her life, 213 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: often grappling with the inevitability of death and the possibility 214 00:13:55,040 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: of an afterlife. Dickinson's early thirties were the most creatively 215 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: productive years of her life. It's believed she wrote more 216 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: than seven hundred poems in the five year span between 217 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty one and eighteen sixty five. This tremendous output 218 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: corresponds with her gradual withdrawal from society. The less time 219 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: she spent in the restrictive outside world, the more time 220 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: she had to explore her inner world through writing. One 221 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: of her poems from eighteen sixty two suggests that her 222 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: withdrawal was deliberate, and that every person does something similar 223 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: when choosing which friends and relatives to share their life with. 224 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: Like all of her works, the poem is officially untitled 225 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 1: and is typically referenced by its first line. It reads 226 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:54,600 Speaker 1: as follows. The soul selects her own society, then shuts 227 00:14:54,640 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: the door to her divine majority present no more unmoved, 228 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: She notes the chariots pausing at her low gait, unmoved. 229 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: An emperor be kneeling upon her matt I've known her 230 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: from an ample nation. Choose one, then close the valves 231 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: of her attention like stone. It was during this isolated 232 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: period of experimentation that Dickinson developed her unique style of writing, 233 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: including the unusual punctuation, syntax, and line breaks that make 234 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: her work so distinctive as well as open to multiple interpretations. Today, 235 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: Dickinson is widely known for her fascination with death, grief, 236 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: and loss, as expressed in famous poems such as Because 237 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: I could not stop for death and I heard a 238 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: fly buzz when I died. This preoccupation with mortality came 239 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: to the forefront in the eighteen sixties, but it was 240 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: present even in her earliest work. At age fourteen, Dickinson 241 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: endured her first major loss when her friend and cousin 242 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: died of typhus. During her late teens. In early twenties, 243 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: Dickinson suffered the deaths of several more friends and family members. 244 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: This string of tragedies underlined what would become a lifelong 245 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: exploration of what it means to die and of how 246 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: to live with the deaths of those you love. That said, 247 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 1: Dickinson didn't dwell exclusively on death. Her poetry is often 248 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: playful and funny, using satire and irony to dress down 249 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: accepted customs and institutions. She also studied botany and kept 250 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: a vast garden of herbs and plants. Because of this passion, 251 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: her poems feature a lot of floral and garden imagery, 252 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 1: and frequently extol the beauty and mystery of the natural world. 253 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: Dickinson never married nor had children, although she had many 254 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: male admirers. It's widely believed that she carried a torch 255 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: for Susan Gilbert, her lifelong friend turned sister in law 256 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: and next door neighbor. By the time Dickinson was forty, 257 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:23,960 Speaker 1: she rarely left the family homestead. Her seclusion has led 258 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,880 Speaker 1: to rampant speculation from both scholars and readers alike. Some 259 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: have suggested that she suffered from a goreaphobia, the fear 260 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,920 Speaker 1: of crowds in public places, while others point to her 261 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: family responsibilities, including the care of her ailing mother and 262 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: younger sister. Of course, it's also possible that Dickinson lived 263 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: with severe anxiety, perhaps brought on by the sense of 264 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: difference she felt between herself and the world outside her door. 265 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: In any event, the poet remained at her family home 266 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: until her death on May fifteen, eighteen eighty six, at 267 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: the age of fifty five. Although she had regularly sent 268 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: poems and closed in letters to friends, fewer than a 269 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: dozen had been professionally published at the time of her death. 270 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: The handful that had made it to print were edited 271 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:21,200 Speaker 1: and altered to quote unquote correct the poet's unusual form 272 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: in syntax. Following her death, Dickinson's family discovered forty hand 273 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: bound volumes containing one thousand, seven hundred and seventy five poems. 274 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:38,880 Speaker 1: The poet had assembled these booklets, known as fascicles, by 275 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: folding and sewing together a few sheets of stationary at 276 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: a time. The handwritten pages contained what appeared to be 277 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: final versions of her poems, complete with her intended punctuation, spelling, 278 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:57,359 Speaker 1: line breaks, and syntax. The first collection of her work 279 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: was published posthumously in eighteen ninety, and sadly, it removed 280 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: the majority of her esthetic choices in favor of those 281 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: of the editor. Since that first publication, Dickinson's poetry has 282 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: never gone out of print, though a complete collection of 283 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: her poems in their intended form wasn't released until the 284 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties. The strength of her talent, coupled with her 285 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 1: unique voice and eccentric life, have made Emily Dickinson a 286 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: compelling and influential author for well over a century and 287 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: counting that may not be something she actually would have wanted. 288 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,879 Speaker 1: In fact, the reserved Dickinson asked that her poems be 289 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,639 Speaker 1: destroyed after her death, a request that clearly when ignored. However, 290 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: Emily Dickinson may have considered that possibility and even made 291 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: peace with it. In another poem from eighteen sixty two, 292 00:19:55,480 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: she seemingly addresses her potential future readers, writing, this is 293 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: my letter to the world that never wrote to me. 294 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:09,640 Speaker 1: The simple news that nature told with tender majesty. Her 295 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:14,480 Speaker 1: message is committed to hands I cannot see for love 296 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:22,400 Speaker 1: of her. Sweet countrymen, judge tenderly of me. I'm Gabelusier 297 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 298 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed the show, 299 00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: consider following us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at t 300 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: d i HC Show, and if you have any comments 301 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:41,120 Speaker 1: or your suggestions, you can send them my way at 302 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,960 Speaker 1: this day at I heart media dot com. Thanks to 303 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank you for listening. 304 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another Day 305 00:20:52,000 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: in History Class m H. For more podcasts from I 306 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 307 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.