1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,800 Speaker 1: Hey, they're history fans. We're taking the day off, but 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: don't worry. We've got plenty of classic shows to tide 3 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,600 Speaker 1: you over. Please enjoy these flashback episodes from the TDI 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: HC Vault. Hello, and welcome to This Day in History Class, 5 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 6 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gabeluesia, and today we're looking at the 7 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: surprisingly controversial story behind one of the world's most beloved 8 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: nursery rhymes. The day was May twenty fourth, eighteen thirty. 9 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: Mary's Lamb was released as part of a small book 10 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 1: of children's poems written by Sarah Josepha Hale. The poem 11 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: eventually took on new life as a musical nursery rhyme 12 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: called Mary Had a Little Lamp. Music director Lowell Mason 13 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: was the one who set the poem to its now 14 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: famous tune in the eighteen thirties. He also added the 15 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: repetition of key lines and phrases to lengthen the song 16 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: and help it better fit the melody. Mason's contributions are 17 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 1: well agreed upon, but the authorship of the original poem 18 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: has been the subject of a long and controversial debate. 19 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: The title page of Sarah Hale's book Poems for Children 20 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: clearly attributes Mary's Lamb to her, But more than fifty 21 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: years after the book's release, a woman named Mary Sawyer 22 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: claimed that Hale had only written half the poem. According 23 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,559 Speaker 1: to her, the first twelve lines of the twenty four 24 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: line work were actually written a decade and a half 25 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: earlier by one of her former classmates, a boy named 26 00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: John Rollstone. Sawyer claimed he had written the poem based 27 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: on a real life incident from their childhood. The story 28 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: goes that in March of eighteen fifteen, nine year old 29 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: Mary Sawyer was caring for an orphaned lamb on her 30 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: family's farm in Sterling, Massachusetts. The lamb, which had been 31 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: abandoned by its mother, was so weak and sickly that 32 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: it couldn't stand up or even swallow food. The odds 33 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: of its survival looked pretty grim, but Mary persevered, eventually 34 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: managing to nurse the animal back to health. She reflected 35 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: on that happy day many decades later, writing quote, in 36 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: the morning, much to my girlish delight, the lamb could stand, 37 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,519 Speaker 1: and from that time on it improved rapidly. It soon 38 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: learned to drink milk, and from the time it would 39 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: walk about, it would follow me anywhere. If I only 40 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 1: called it. You can probably see where this is going. 41 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: One day, Mary called to her lamb right before setting 42 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: off to school. When the pet came to greet her, 43 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: Mary's brother Nat suggested they let the lamb follow them 44 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: to the one room schoolhouse they attended. Mary concealed the 45 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: little lamb in a basket beneath her desk, hoping that 46 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: it would keep quiet and stay out of sight. The 47 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: lamb cooperated at first, but when Mary was called on 48 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 1: to stand up and read out loud for the class, 49 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,760 Speaker 1: the lamb jumped out of its basket to join her. 50 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: The teacher is said to have laughed right along with 51 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: her students, before warning Mary not to bring the lamb 52 00:03:30,080 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: to school again and to tie it up outside until 53 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: class was over. According to Mary Sawyer, it was the 54 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: very next day that an older boy named John Rollstone 55 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: gave her a twelve line poem that he had written 56 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: about the lamb incident. Mary was never able to produce 57 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: the original copy she was handed, but in the eighteen 58 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: eighties she claimed the lines were the same as those 59 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: in Sarah Hale's poem. That would mean they read as follows. 60 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: Mary had a little lamb. Its fleece was white as snow, 61 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: And everywhere that Mary went, the lamb was sure to go. 62 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: It followed her to school one day, which was against 63 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: the rule. It made the children laugh and play to 64 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: see a lamb at school, and so the teacher turned 65 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: it out. But still it lingered near and waited patiently 66 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:26,679 Speaker 1: about till Mary did appear. According to Sawyer, Sarah Hale 67 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: somehow got a copy of Rollstone's poem fourteen years later. 68 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: She then added the final twelve lines of the poem 69 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: as a way to incorporate a moral lesson about showing 70 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: kindness to animals. The second half of the poem tells 71 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: what happens when Mary finally reappears before the lamb. It 72 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 1: goes like this, And then he ran to her and 73 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: laid his head upon her arm, as if he said, 74 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: I'm not afraid You'll keep me from all harm? What 75 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: makes the lamb love Mary? So the eager chill and cry, Oh, 76 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: Mary loves the lamb, you know? The teacher did reply. 77 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: And you, each gentle animal, in confidence, may bind and 78 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: make them follow at your call, if you are always kind. 79 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: Mary Sawyer was twenty four years old when Sarah Hale's 80 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: poem was published in eighteen thirty. It's unclear when Sawyer 81 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: first saw the poem, but she didn't come forward with 82 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: her story until eighteen seventy six, when she was seventy 83 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: years old. By that point, she was convinced the poem 84 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: was about her, and that the first half of it 85 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: had been written by John Rollstone. Unfortunately, he was no 86 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: longer alive to confirm or deny that story. Rollstone had 87 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: died unexpectedly at age seventeen during his freshman year at Harvard. 88 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: Sawyer no longer had the poem he allegedly gave her, 89 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: but that didn't stop her from claiming to be the 90 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: Mary in the poem. In eighteen seventy six, she used 91 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 1: that claim to fame to raise money for Boston's Old 92 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: South Meeting House, which had been damaged in a fire 93 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,599 Speaker 1: four years earlier. Sawyer participated in the fundraising effort by 94 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: selling autographed cards that included a piece of yarn supposedly 95 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: made from the wool of Mary's little lamb. The cards 96 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: were a popular item and helped bring attention to Mary 97 00:06:21,279 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: Sawyer's claim. A few years later, Sawyer wrote down the 98 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 1: poem she attributed to Rollstone, and it was identical to 99 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: the first half of Sarah Hale's poem. Of course, by 100 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: that point Mary had a Little Lamb was well known 101 00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: across the country, and Hale's version had been in print 102 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: for fifty years, so the fact that Sawyer had knowledge 103 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 1: of it in eighteen eighty three did very little to 104 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: support her claim. Sawyer admitted to the press that she 105 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: had no clue how Sarah Hale could have gotten Rollstone's poem. 106 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,280 Speaker 1: As far as she knew, she had been given the 107 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,159 Speaker 1: only copy and she had lost it long ago. For 108 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: her part, Sarah Hale maintained that she was the one 109 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 1: and only author of the poem and that she hadn't 110 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: based it on a specific real life episode. The dispute 111 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: drew so much public attention that both women eventually signed 112 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: sworn statements that their version of events was the truth. Unfortunately, 113 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: the controversy was still unresolved when the women died, prompting 114 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: residents of their respective home towns to carry on the 115 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: fight over authorship for decades to come. The feud was 116 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: later intensified in nineteen twenty seven when Henry Ford, of 117 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: all people injected himself into the debate. That year, he 118 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 1: purchased Mary Sawyer's old schoolhouse and had it relocated to Sudbury, Massachusetts, 119 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,800 Speaker 1: where he hoped it would become a tourist attraction. Ford 120 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: also published a book about Sawyer to help promote his endeavor. 121 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: It was called The Story of Mary and her Little Lamb, 122 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: and it attributed full credit for the original poem to 123 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: John Rollstone. Ford wasn't privy to any historical facts that 124 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: proved Sawyer's story, but it was her version of events, 125 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: not Sarah Hales, that provided a tangible object he could promote, 126 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: the very schoolhouse to which Mary's little lamb had followed her. 127 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: Ford's promotion kept Sawyer's story in the limelight throughout the 128 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: twentieth century, even though the story itself is less than convincing. 129 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: I mean, don't get me wrong. I fully believe that 130 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: Mary Sawyer had a pet lamb that followed her to school, 131 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: caused a disturbance, and had to be put outside. I 132 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,720 Speaker 1: also believed that one of her schoolmates wrote a poem 133 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: about the event and gifted it to her. But there's 134 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: quite a gap between believing that and believing the claim 135 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: she made nearly fifty years later. The truth is there's 136 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: no written record of Rollstone's poem. There's also nothing so 137 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: unique about the poem's story that would tie it specifically 138 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: to Mary Sawyer. In the nineteenth century, New Englynn had 139 00:09:00,559 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: no shortage of girls named Mary, orphaned pet lambs, or 140 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: one room schoolhouses. One such Lamb followed Mary Sawyer to 141 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: her school one day, but that was likely true of 142 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 1: many other children in the area as well, including those 143 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: named Mary. At the very least, it's a scenario that 144 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: Sarah Hale could have easily come up with on her own. 145 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: It's true that the last twelve lines of the poem 146 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: are more message driven than the first twelve lines, but 147 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: that was a popular format for children's poems at the time. 148 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: Like Aesop's fables before them, Hale's poems hooked the reader 149 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: with an amusing scene or story and then concluded by 150 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,240 Speaker 1: spelling out the deeper meaning or message of the tale. 151 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: There's also the matter of Sarah Hale's character to consider. 152 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: If Mary Sawyer was right, then Hale plagiarized half of 153 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: her poem from a dead college student and then claimed 154 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: the whole thing as her own. That simply doesn't fit 155 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: with what we know about her life. Hale was the 156 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: respected editor of a popular magazine as well as an 157 00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: influential activist. She led a successful campaign to complete a 158 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,319 Speaker 1: monument to the Battle of Bunker Hill, and most famously, 159 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: she played an instrumental role in making Thanksgiving a national holiday. 160 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: It's hard to square that conception of her with Sawyer's accusation, 161 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 1: and given the lack of evidence for the claim, maybe 162 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: we don't have to. Today. Sarah Hale is generally attributed 163 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: as the one and only author of Mary's Lamb, but 164 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: there's often a caveat or asterix along with that statement. 165 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: It seems like an undeserved footnote to her legacy, and 166 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: hopefully in the years ahead, it's one that'll be removed. 167 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 168 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 169 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 1: want to keep up with the show, you can follow 170 00:10:55,360 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at TDI HC Show, 171 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: and if you have any comments or suggestions, you can 172 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: always send them my way at this day at iHeartMedia 173 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 174 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 175 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:28,319 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for another Day in History Class. Hello, 176 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:32,320 Speaker 1: and welcome to this Day in History Class, a show 177 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,679 Speaker 1: that plumbs the depths of history one day at a time. 178 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're looking at 179 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 1: well a hole in the ground. But bear with me 180 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: because it also happens to be one of the most 181 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: important contributions of Soviet era science, as well as an 182 00:11:49,760 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: impressive feat of engineering prowess and patience. The day was 183 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: May twenty fourth, nineteen seventy, Soviet engineers began drilling the 184 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: deepest man made hole ever dug, known as the Kola 185 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 1: Super Deep Bore Hole, it ultimately reached a depth of 186 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: approximately seven and a half miles below the Earth's surface. 187 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 1: For reference, that's about four thousand feet deeper than the 188 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: deepest point of the ocean and equivalent to the height 189 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: of Mount Everest and Mount Fuji combined. It took the 190 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: Soviets roughly twenty years to dig the hole as deep 191 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,719 Speaker 1: as they did, and while the project was abandoned abruptly 192 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety two, more than three decades later, the 193 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: Borehole remains the deepest artificial point on Earth. Before we 194 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: get to why anyone would want to dig such a 195 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: deep hole, let's talk a little more about the hole itself. 196 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 1: For starters. It was actually a series of holes that 197 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,959 Speaker 1: branched off from a central one. The deepest was called 198 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: SG three, and it stretched about forty thousand, two hundred 199 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: and thirty feet deep into the planet's outermost layer. But 200 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: if you're imagining a yawning, bottomless chasm, think again. As 201 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: the whole is actually only nine inches in diameter, there 202 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: was no risk of falling into it, but scientists still 203 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: could have dropped their keys down there, so they had 204 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: to be careful. The borehole was located, as its name suggests, 205 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: on the Kola Peninsula in northwestern Russia. Drilling was conducted 206 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: there at a scientific research station not far from the 207 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: Norwegian border. As for why the Soviets began drilling in 208 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: the first place, the main reason was for the sake 209 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,680 Speaker 1: of science. Researchers simply wanted to learn more about the 210 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: Earth's crust, including what it was made of and how 211 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: it had formed and changed over time. Extracting resources like 212 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: fossil fere yules wasn't a part of the mission, but 213 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: the Soviets did collect rock samples, which in some cases 214 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,920 Speaker 1: proved just as interesting as the ones NASA was bringing 215 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: back from the Moon, and speaking of the moon landing, 216 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: that ties in with the other reason the Soviets were 217 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: so intent on digging the deepest hole possible bragging rights. 218 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: The US had overtaken the USSR in the space race, 219 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: but the race to the center of the Earth was 220 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: still anyone's game in the eyes of the press and 221 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: the public. Digging a hole was far less flashy than 222 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: space exploration, but both superpowers were still eager to claim 223 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: whatever glory there was in conquering the deep frontier. In 224 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty eight, the US launched its own Cold War 225 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: drilling operation, known as Project Mohole. Its rather lofty goal 226 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: was to reach the Earth's mantle, the layer beneath the 227 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: planet's crust, by drilling deep into the floor of the 228 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: Pacific Ocean, where the crust is thinner. Unfortunately, progress was slow, 229 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: and in nineteen sixty six, Congress cut the project's funding 230 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: after learning the drillers had only gone a tenth of 231 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: a mile after roughly eight years on the job. Meanwhile, 232 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: in the Soviet Union, plans were proceeding much more smoothly 233 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: thanks to several closely guarded technical advances. Drilling officially began 234 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: on May twenty fourth, nineteen seventy, and would continue with 235 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 1: occasional pauses until nineteen ninety two. At first, the team 236 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: employed a modified drilling rig used for drilling oil wells, 237 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: then in nineteen seventy four it upgraded to a purpose 238 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 1: built rig installed on site to allow them to dig 239 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: even deeper. The crew made many surprising discoveries the deeper 240 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,480 Speaker 1: they went, including the presence of water, which had been 241 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: thought impossible due to the impermeability of the rock layer 242 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: above it. The biggest surprise, though, by far, was the 243 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: discovery of more than a dozen species of fossilized micro organisms, 244 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: many of which were more than two billion years old. 245 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: Those relics of ancient life were found four miles beneath 246 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: the surface, raising all kinds of questions about how the 247 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:23,880 Speaker 1: creatures could have survived the extreme pressures and temperatures of 248 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: those depths, and whether any other life forms still might. 249 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: As you might imagine, drilling deep into the earth and 250 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: finding signs of life spurred some wild rumors amongst the locals. 251 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: The most persistent claim was that the scientists had drilled 252 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: into an extremely hot cavern by mistake, and when they 253 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: lowered a microphone to investigate, they heard what sounded like 254 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: tortured screams. Of course, that was all an urban legend, 255 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: but to this day you'll still find some folks in 256 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,920 Speaker 1: the region who insist the borehole is really an entrance 257 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: to hell, though again, with only a nine inch diameter, 258 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: you'd have to be a pretty skinny demon to slip 259 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:10,239 Speaker 1: through it. The Kola Super Deep Borehole was supposed to 260 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: go as deep as possible, ideally all the way to 261 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: the Earth's mantle, some twenty five miles beneath the surface 262 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: in the end, though after almost twenty years of drilling, 263 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: the Soviets only made it about a third of the 264 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: way there. Part of the reason the project was halted 265 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,760 Speaker 1: was due to the collapse of the Soviet Union and 266 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 1: all the political and economic turmoil that came with it, 267 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: but there were other factors as well. For one thing, 268 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: the temperatures at the bottom of the seven and a 269 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: half mile whole far exceeded expectations. The team had anticipated 270 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,200 Speaker 1: heat of about one hundred degrees celsius or two hundred 271 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: and twelve degrees fahrenheit, but instead temperatures soared to one 272 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:56,959 Speaker 1: hundred and eighty degrees celsius or three sixty five fahrenheit, 273 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: nearly twice as hot as their models had predicted. Not 274 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: only was that hot enough to deform the drill bits 275 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: and other apparatus, it was also hot enough to cause 276 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: a change in the rocks themselves. The scientists reported that 277 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: rocks below the first fifteen thousand feet behaved more like 278 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,680 Speaker 1: plastic than solid rock. They were more porous and permeable 279 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: than the rocks found farther up, and combined with the 280 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: high temperatures that made drilling through them next to impossible. 281 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: With no clear way forward and future funding up in 282 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:33,280 Speaker 1: the air, the scientists and engineers at COLA had no 283 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: choice but to call it quits. Data produced by the 284 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: drilling project continued to be studied at COLA for the 285 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,840 Speaker 1: next several years, but eventually the research station was closed 286 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: completely and the borehole was sealed with a heavy metal cap. 287 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: The abandoned dig site has since become a popular destination 288 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: for eccentric tourists. But since you can't actually look into 289 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: the hole itself, you might be better off visiting the 290 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:04,119 Speaker 1: nearby town of Zapple Yarny. It's home to the Cola 291 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: Core Repository, which displays many of the rock samples recovered 292 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,880 Speaker 1: during the drilling. Unlike the Space Race, nobody really won 293 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: the race to the Earth's mantle. There have been a 294 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: few promising efforts over the years, including drilling projects led 295 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:23,359 Speaker 1: by Germany and Japan, but as of twenty twenty three, 296 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: the Cola Super Deep Borehole is still the one to beat. 297 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier and hopefully you now know a little 298 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 299 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,879 Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 300 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 301 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,399 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, you can always send them my 302 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: way by writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 303 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, 304 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: and thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back 305 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,120 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow for a another Day in History class.