1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. TV painter and pop 5 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: culture icon Bob Ross used to say, we don't make mistakes, 6 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: just happy little accidents. Artists do it all the time. 7 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: They start making one thing, and the next thing they 8 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: know it's become something else entirely. But not every work 9 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: of art is a happy accident. Sometimes the artist's original 10 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: idea can take a sinister, not so happy turn. One 11 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: such artist was Bill Stoneham, a painter from Boston who 12 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen two had taken on a contract to create 13 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: two paintings per month for two dollars a piece. After 14 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: he had completed some paintings for sale and display, he 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: came up with a new one. He called The Hands 16 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: Resist Him. It was an autobiographical painting of sorts. In it, 17 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: a young boy in a blue shirt stands before a 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: window where the disembodied hands of other children reached toward 19 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,840 Speaker 1: him out of the darkness. Beside the boy is a 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: frowning girl doll with empty black eyes. According to Stoneham. 21 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: The boy in the photo is him, based on a 22 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: photograph of himself when he was about five years old. 23 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: The glass separating him from the children's hands is meant 24 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: to be a barrier between two worlds and his guide, 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: the doll. The painting is deeply moving, and many people 26 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: who have seen it in person have come away feeling uneasy, 27 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: even haunted. That's to say nothing of the people who 28 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: actually interacted directly with it. In The Hands Resist Him 29 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: went on display at the Fine Garden Gallery in Beverly Hills, California. 30 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: Henry Seldi's and art critic for The l A Times 31 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: reviewed the piece shortly after it went up. Not long 32 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,639 Speaker 1: after that, character actor John Marley purchased the painting for 33 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: his home collection. Marley had performed in TV shows and 34 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: feature films like Hawaii Five Oh and Love Story, but 35 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: he was best known for waking up next to the 36 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: severed horse's head in The Godfather. Poor Marley had no 37 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,960 Speaker 1: idea just how deep he'd gotten himself in this time. Usually, 38 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,639 Speaker 1: the items behind strange occurrences are cursed in some way. 39 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: They tend to depict figures who were particularly cruel or 40 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: died in a horrible fashion, they might be made of 41 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: a substance not meant to be used in creative endeavors, 42 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,399 Speaker 1: such as blood or bone. If you search online, you'll 43 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: even find stories about books bound in human skin. This 44 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: painting didn't have any of that. The artist is still alive. 45 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,519 Speaker 1: None of his other paintings were known to have caused 46 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: pain or even death, but for some reason, the hand 47 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: resist him had become a cursed object. A few years 48 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: after Marley purchased the painting, Henry Seldis died of an 49 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: apparent suicide in his apartment. Not long after that, Fine Garten, 50 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: the owner of the art gallery where the painting had hung, 51 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: died as well, and Marley he passed away a few 52 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: years later from complications due to open heart surgery. The 53 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: painting was eventually lost, It's whereabouts unknown for almost thirty years. Then, 54 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: in the year two thousand, it was listed for sale 55 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: in the most unlikely place, eBay. The family who had 56 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: found it behind a California brewery decided to make a 57 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: few dollars off their luck on an up and coming 58 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: auction website. Their luck, however, hadn't been as fortunate as 59 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: they'd thought. According to the original listing, the family's four 60 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: year old daughter had complained of fighting during the night. 61 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: Now between anyone in the house they were all asleep, 62 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: she meant between the boy and the doll and the painting. 63 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: She also said they were coming into her room at 64 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: night while she was sleeping. The girl's story was so 65 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: convincing that her father set up a motion sensor in 66 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: her room to prove to her that it was just 67 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: her imagination playing tricks on her. Instead, the centers caught 68 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: the unexplainable the doll and the painting had shoved the 69 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: boy out and onto the floor. Thankfully, their eBay experiment worked. 70 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: Someone purchased the painting for a fraction of what many 71 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: collectors would have paid to have it in their own collections. 72 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: After that, the painting even found its way into a 73 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: novel published in two thousand sixteen. While the story itself 74 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: is fiction, it's author, Darren O'Neill, did have his own 75 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: run in with the painting. He first came across it 76 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: online while living in Dubai, where he printed out a 77 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: copy of it along with some other unrelated documents, before 78 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: leaving for a month long trip to Italy. While he 79 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: was away, the air condition in his home malfunctioned, and 80 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: the heat, combined with the moisture, allowed green mold to 81 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,919 Speaker 1: grow over all the walls and furniture, The clothes in 82 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: his closet, his daughter's belongings, and the documents he had 83 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: printed out had all been ruined by the infestation, but 84 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: not everything had been destroyed. One item survived without a 85 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 1: speck of mold on it is print out of the 86 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: Hands Resist Him. World War One, also known as the 87 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: Great War, claimed the lives of forty million civilians and 88 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: military personnel from all over the world. It lasted for 89 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 1: four years and was commonly referred to as the War 90 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: to end all wars. Obviously, that name didn't stick for 91 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: too long, but it was a particularly brutal and devastate 92 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: being event in world history. The United States stayed out 93 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: of the fray for most of the war until nineteen seventeen, 94 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: when it joined Britain, France, and Russia. Together. These allies 95 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,000 Speaker 1: combated the Central Powers from Germany, the Austrian Hungarian Empire, 96 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria all across Europe. World War 97 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: One saw the rise and fall of some pretty prominent individuals. 98 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: Woodrow Wilson, Winston Churchill, Czar Nicholas the Second and Vladimir 99 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: Lenin all made headlines throughout those tumultuous four years, but 100 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: there was one name that kind of slipped under the radar, 101 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: which was actually invented during World War Two. But let's 102 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: not get technical, okay. He was known as Sergeant Stubby, 103 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: and he was from Connecticut. He liked to hang around 104 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 1: the Yale University campus, which was where members of the 105 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: Second Infantry trained for their eventual deployment. He and another soldier, 106 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: Corporal Robert Conroy, had struck up a friendship, and, not 107 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: wanting to wish his best friend goodbye for possibly the 108 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,440 Speaker 1: last time, Stubby snuck on board conroy ship before it 109 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: set off for France. He was soon discovered, but charmed 110 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: the infantry's commanding officer and was allowed to stay. Much 111 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: to everyone's surprise, Stubby found himself in the trenches for 112 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: eight months alongside his new family, including Conroy. He began 113 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: his military career in early February of nineteen eighteen and 114 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: never shied away from battle, quickly getting used to the 115 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: constant barrage of gunfire exploding overhead day and night. Three 116 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: months later, Stubby was wounded in the leg by a 117 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: German hand grenade and spent weeks at the rear recovering. 118 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: With two new wound stripes on his uniform, he was 119 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: back at the front lines helping his regiment. He learned 120 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: how to detect mustard gas to warn his unit, and 121 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: he was the only soldier capable of finding wounded troops 122 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: in no man's Land without getting shot. No man's land 123 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: was an uncrossable stretch of terrain between two enemy trenches. 124 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: Anyone who tried to cross it was almost instantly killed, 125 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: but not Stubby. During another battle in Our Gone, Stubby 126 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: had come across a German spy and held him captive 127 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: until reinforcements arrived to take the enemy away. By the 128 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: end of the war, Sergeant Stubby had fought in four 129 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: major offenses and seventeen battles, and became a bit of 130 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: a celebrity back home. The military and numerous other organizations 131 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: awarded him three service stripes, a Yankee Division Y Depatch, 132 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: a Purple Heart, a New Haven World War One Veteran's Medal, 133 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: and seven other honors. He marched in a number of 134 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: victory parades and even went on to meet President Woodrow 135 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: Wilson Stubby had demonstrated his abilities as a new breed 136 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,559 Speaker 1: of soldier. I don't mean he was more ruthless or 137 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: cunning than the others. He was literally a new breed 138 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: of soldier, a mixture of Boston and American bull Terrier 139 00:08:56,559 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: to be specific. Sergeant Stubby was Corporate Conroy's dog. In 140 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: ninety one, Conroy swapped the front lines for Georgetown University, 141 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: where he received his law degree, with Stubby by his side. 142 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: The mutt soon became the university's mascot and made appearances 143 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: at football games, running around the field at halftime to 144 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: entertain the fans. Stubby had lived a full and rewarding life, 145 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: more so than any other dog, and he'd been rewarded 146 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: handsomely for his service. After his death in nineteen twenty six, 147 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: the New York Times ran a half page obituary for him, 148 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: longer than any that most of his human contemporaries had received. 149 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,719 Speaker 1: And if you visit Washington, d c. Stopped by the 150 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: National Museum at the Smithsonian, where you'll find Stubby on 151 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: display in his military uniform adorned with his many medals. 152 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: Corporal Conroy donated Stubbies taxidermied remains to the facility in 153 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty six. Dogs are loyal, faithful companions. They had 154 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: a keen intuition and know when we're sick or sad, 155 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 1: or even in danger. They will protect us, as Sergeant 156 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: Stubby did for the Second Infantry, and as many dogs 157 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: do for today's soldiers. Stubby never asked to be a hero, 158 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: but he certainly became one simply by being Conroy's friend. 159 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: You might even say that he was that man's best friend. 160 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:31,320 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 161 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,199 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 162 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,840 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 163 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 164 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 165 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,959 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 166 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 167 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,960 Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.