1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. This podcast is brought to you 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: by Audible dot com, the Internet's leading provider of audio books, 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,440 Speaker 1: with more than one hundred thousand downloadable titles across all 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,160 Speaker 1: types of literature. First Stuff you Missed in History Class listeners, 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: Audible is offering a free audio book to give you 7 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: a chance to try out their service. One audiobook to 8 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: consider is four New Revelations of the America's Before Columbus 9 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: by Charles c. Man. 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I'm to 17 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: bling a choker boarding and and with this episode, we're 18 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: continuing on with our look into the life of William 19 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: Chester Miner, an American man who became one of the 20 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: most prolific contributors to the first edition of the Oxford 21 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: English Dictionary, but from what we've seen of his life 22 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: so far, he doesn't really seem to be headed in 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: that direction at all. In Part one of this podcast, 24 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: we took a look at Miner's early life, how he 25 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: came from an aristocratic family, he got a good education, 26 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: he studied medicine at Yale and joined the Union Army 27 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: as an assistant surgeon during the Civil War, and his 28 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: life and career at that point seemed really full of promise. 29 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: But his mental health went downhill after the war, and 30 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: we talked about how that downward spiral may have been 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,640 Speaker 1: triggered by an incident during the Battle of the Wilderness 32 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: in which he was forced to brand an Irish deserter 33 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: on the cheek. After spending about eighteen months in a 34 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: hospital for the insane in d c, Minor decided to 35 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: have cross the Pond to England, where he could hopefully rest, 36 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: paint kind of calm his thoughts a bit, maybe earned 37 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: back his reputation by connecting with the right people in London. 38 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: But when we last saw Minor he had done nothing 39 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:13,679 Speaker 1: like that. No, it didn't go down that way at all. 40 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: He had gotten off on the wrong foot by taking 41 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: up residents in Lambeth, which was one of the seediest 42 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: parts of London. And when we left off with part 43 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,399 Speaker 1: one of this story, he had just killed a man 44 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: who he had never laid eyes on before. So we're 45 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: going to pick up at that crime February eighteen seventy two, 46 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: just as the constables were reaching the scene finding Minor 47 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: standing there gun in hand. And we should mention before 48 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: we get too far into this that one of the 49 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: sources of information in this podcast is Simon Winchester's book 50 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,519 Speaker 1: The Professor and the Madman. One of our listeners actually 51 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: mentioned on Facebook, so it reminded me that I need 52 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: to bring it up and talk about a little bit. 53 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: It's a really fascinating book. It takes a really in 54 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,440 Speaker 1: depth look at Minor, story of the other characters, prinitive 55 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: work on his life. Yeah, it is a lot of 56 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: articles about Minor used this as a source too, so 57 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: even the other sources we used probably pulled from that 58 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: to some extent. So moving on with the story. Though, 59 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: the man that Minor had shot was bleeding all over 60 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: the street. Two constables tried to get him to a 61 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: nearby hospital, but it was too late. They identified the 62 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: dead man as George Merritt, who had been a stoker 63 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: at the Red Lion Brewery, which was something of a 64 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: landmark in the area, even though the area wasn't that great, 65 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: and he had been there for eight years, which meant 66 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: that he pretty much he being a stokermant that he 67 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: kept the fires over which the beer was made burning. Um. 68 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 1: Obviously that wasn't a glamorous job. This guy brought home 69 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: twenty four shillings a week, which wasn't a lot even 70 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: back then. He was very poor, and he also had 71 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: a wife and six kids and one more baby on 72 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: the way. Yeah, so a lot of family relying on him. 73 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: He was about thirty four years old and he did 74 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: live in the area and when he ran into Minor, 75 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: he had been on his way to work at the 76 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: dawn shift to the brewery. So it's about two am 77 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: heading out, runs into this guy on the street who 78 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: ends up shooting him. So meanwhile, the constable who apprehended Miner, 79 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: who was Constable Tarrant, had what was sort of a 80 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 1: strange exchange with the suspect. He asked him, whom did 81 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: you fire at? And Miner who Tarrant described as really 82 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: cool and collected. Gave this bizarre response. He said, it 83 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: was a man. You do not suppose I would be 84 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: so cowardly as to shoot a woman. So not really 85 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: the response he was probably expecting to get out of him. Um. 86 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: Tarrant proceeded to take Minor down to the Tower Street 87 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,960 Speaker 1: police station. Asked some questions on the way, though, Miners 88 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: started to say that the whole thing was an accident. 89 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: Started to give a little more reason, maybe more of 90 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: what Tarrant had been expecting in the first place. He 91 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:53,599 Speaker 1: was just saying he had shot the wrong man. He 92 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: had been trying to defend himself from somebody broken into 93 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: his room and he had made a mistake. He was 94 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: also saying a lot of other weird stuff on the 95 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: way to the police station two, so you could see 96 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: how maybe the constable wouldn't quite believe him. He was 97 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: asking the constable to search him. He was like, well, 98 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:11,720 Speaker 1: what if I have another gun? And the constable was like, well, 99 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: please keep it in your pocket if you have another gun. 100 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: I mean. It's really kind of an odd sort of 101 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: interaction that they had. But when they got to the station, 102 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: Miner was formally arrested and charged with murder. Because he 103 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: was American, the U S. Minister in London had to 104 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: be notified in the crime, which became known as the 105 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: Lambeth tragedy, became an international incident, and Minor was thirty 106 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: seven years old at this time. Just to give you 107 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: kind of a reference point, Okay, So at this point 108 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 1: Miner got put into the horsemonger Land jail and Scotland 109 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: Yard got put on the case. So Minor himself wasn't 110 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,320 Speaker 1: really much of a help. I mean, this is no surprise. 111 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: He wasn't much of a help with the investigation. He 112 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: just continued to say, over and over it was an accident, 113 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: you know, I I shot the wrong man. But when 114 00:05:56,480 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: the trial started in early April, details about minors strange 115 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: life started to surface through the help of various witnesses. 116 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: His Lambeth landlady, for instance, came forward, Mrs Fisher, and 117 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: she said that while he was a very good tenant, 118 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: he was kind of a strange fellow. He was anxious. 119 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: He had often demand to have the furniture in his 120 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: room moved around and rearranged, and he was really really 121 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: afraid that people might break into his place. In particular, 122 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: she said that he was very afraid of the Irish. 123 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: He would always ask if she had any Irish servants 124 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: working in the house or if there were any Irish 125 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 1: lodger staying there. In part one of this podcast, we 126 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: mentioned Miner's delusions about irishman breaking into his room at 127 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 1: night and how it was probably related to that branding 128 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: incident during the Civil War when he had to brand 129 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: the Irish desert or on the cheek, and we talked 130 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: about how he'd already contacted Scotland Yard about this. During 131 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: the trial, a Scotland Yard detective named Williamson, in fact 132 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: came forward and testified that Miner had come to him 133 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 1: three months earlier, complaining that men were trying to come 134 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: into his room at night and poison him. Specifically, Minor 135 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,719 Speaker 1: believed the intruders were members of the Finnian Brotherhood, militant 136 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: Irish nationalists, and he thought they were planning on murdering 137 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: him and making it look like a suicide. And other people, 138 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: you know, people who had met Minor and spoken to 139 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: him before, did have a suspicion that something was off 140 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: with him. Williamson, the guy who Minor went to, wrote 141 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: in his notes from that time that Miner was clearly insane, 142 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 1: but there was another aspect to Minor's delusions as well. 143 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: Another man who testified at the trial was William Dennis, 144 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: and he was an employee at London's Bethlehem Hospital for 145 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: the Insane. We've talked about maybe doing a podcast on 146 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: on that at some point, but his job was to 147 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: watch Minor at night when he was in jail, and 148 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: Dennis said that every morning when Minor would wake up, 149 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: he would accuse Dennis of having been paid to moless 150 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,559 Speaker 1: Minor during the night while he was asleep, and minor 151 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: step brother George Minor would later confirm these delusions about 152 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: sexual abuty thing that for the time that Minor was 153 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: home before he left for England, he would often accuse 154 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,440 Speaker 1: people of trying to break into his room and molest 155 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: him at night. So it wasn't just the spear of 156 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 1: somebody breaking in or the Irish trying to get him. 157 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: There was this whole other aspect to it. Yeah, the 158 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: sexual aspect of his delusions, and I think that's why 159 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: some people relate sort of his mental illness, or maybe 160 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: relate the beginning of his mental illness to um the 161 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: lascivious thoughts that we mentioned in the first part of 162 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: this podcast that he used to have about girls in 163 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 1: Sri Lanka when he was growing up, that maybe that 164 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: was an exactly maybe that was an early indication of 165 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: mental illness, I should say so. Minor himself pretty much 166 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:46,199 Speaker 1: confirmed this aspect of his delusions when he was interrogated 167 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: to he testified that on the night that he killed 168 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: George Merritt, he woke up suddenly and saw a man 169 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: standing at the foot of his bed. So he reached 170 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: for his cult service revolver, which he kept under his 171 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: pillow while he slept, And he said that and saw 172 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: him reach for his gun and then took off and 173 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 1: ran down the stairs and out of the house. Minor 174 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: followed him and then saw a man running down the street, 175 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 1: thought it was the intruder, fired four times and shot him. 176 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: That's his side of the story anyways, really our poor 177 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: brewery employee. But the final decision in the case was 178 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: determined by the McNaughton rules, which were named for somebody 179 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: who had shot a man and was acquitted on the 180 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:29,080 Speaker 1: grounds of being insane, and the jury in Miner's case 181 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: determined that he was also of unfound mind when he 182 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: had committed the crime, so the ruling was not guilty 183 00:09:35,679 --> 00:09:39,040 Speaker 1: on the grounds of insanity, and the judge told him, 184 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: quote you will be detained in safe custody, doctor Minor, 185 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: until her Majesty's pleasure be known. So we already know 186 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: where Minor was sent from the story at the beginning 187 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: of our first episode. The detention was set to take 188 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: place at Broadmoor Asylum for the criminally Insane, in the 189 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,080 Speaker 1: village of Crowthorne in the County of Berkshire, and he 190 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: was known there officially as File number seven four to 191 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: two and was expected to spend the rest of his 192 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: life there as a quote certified criminal lunatic. But we 193 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: need to describe what his life really was. There was 194 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: more than just being a number and a quote certified 195 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 1: criminal lunatic. Yeah, it's it was better than you might expect. 196 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: He got to broad Moore on April seventeen, eighteen seventy two, 197 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,079 Speaker 1: and according to that account kept by the Berkshire Record 198 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,439 Speaker 1: Office that we mentioned in the first part of the podcast, 199 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: he was described at the time as a thin, pale 200 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: and sharp featured man with light colored sandy hair, deep 201 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: set eyes, and prominent cheekbones. He was considered to be 202 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: low risk, so he ended up in cell Block two, 203 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: which was known unofficially I guess as the Swell Block. 204 00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: It was like that Swell block cell block. It was 205 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: the lowest security cell block and it's where prisoners had 206 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: the most privileges. And since Minor was well educated and 207 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: a well to do you American, he got special treatment there, 208 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: special freedoms and comforts that a lot of inmates probably 209 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: didn't get. Almost as soon as he got there, the 210 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: American consulate in London, for example, made sure that Minor 211 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: was reunited with his possessions, including his own clothes, his 212 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: art materials, and his diary. They didn't send him with 213 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: his surgical instruments though they catch those. Don't send a 214 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: venture of scalpels over to the guy in the sant asylum. 215 00:11:25,360 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 1: But he also had some money coming in. He had 216 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: a regular allowance from his family, which gave him the 217 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: ability to buy stuff or have the hospital purchase things 218 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: on his behalf. And that made his food a lot better. 219 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: You know, he'd have poultry and gain steak, biscuits, coffee, 220 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: sometimes even wine and spirits. But it also allowed him 221 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: to keep his mind occupied. This was an intellectual man, 222 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 1: and he was able to purchase newspapers, engineering papers. He 223 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 1: might have used those to get some tips on this 224 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: dirty building construction, because he was, of course still extremely 225 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: troubled by these delusions of people breaking into his room 226 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 1: at night. Um at one point he supposedly even had 227 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 1: his bedroom floors covered with zinc to keep the demons 228 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: from coming up through the floorboards while he was asleep. 229 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:16,439 Speaker 1: He would also get a lot of books, and we're 230 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:17,800 Speaker 1: going to talk about that a little bit more in 231 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: a second, but many of these books he would have 232 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: shipped from New Haven, Connecticut, or ordered from shops in London, 233 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: and at some point during his stay there, probably pretty 234 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: early on, from what we can tell, Minor was also 235 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: given access to two cells a separate day room in 236 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: addition to his bedroom, and he converted that day room 237 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 1: into a kind of library lined with bookshelves. So overall 238 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:44,439 Speaker 1: he had this pretty comfortable existence at Broadmore, considering the circumstances, 239 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: and he received visits from family and friends, and he 240 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: had occasionally dine in the superintendent's home. According to Winchester's book, 241 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: he even received visits from Eliza Merritt, who is none 242 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: other than the widow of the man he'd shot. She'd 243 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: supposedly forgiven him after minor Or settled some money on 244 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,080 Speaker 1: her and her children, but whether or not this actually 245 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,560 Speaker 1: happened is still up for debate. So Minor might have 246 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: just been in this situation with his two cells, all 247 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: of his books, his newspapers, engineering papers, spent the rest 248 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: of his days. They're unknown, But one day around the 249 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: summer of eighteen eighty, while he was reading some of 250 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: that material, he came across this sort of press release 251 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,319 Speaker 1: and it was called an appeal to readers, and it 252 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,960 Speaker 1: was in a book that he'd ordered from a library 253 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: in London. So it was basically this request for English 254 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: speaking volunteer readers around the world to help out with 255 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: a massive publication project that was going on at Oxford University, 256 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 1: which at the time was going to be called the 257 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: New English Dictionary, and it was intended to be the biggest, 258 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: most thorough collection of English words yet so they needed, 259 00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: through soliciting, some help for their new dictionary they were writing. 260 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: So it seems my Er immediately realized that he was 261 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: kind of in the perfect position to contribute here, seeing 262 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: as how he had tons of time on his hands, 263 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: to read, and he could get new books pretty much 264 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: whenever he wanted. So he wrote to James Murray, who 265 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: had taken over as editor of the Dictionary project in 266 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy nine, and he's the one who had drafted 267 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: that press release we just mentioned, and asked if he 268 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: could help out. And as we mentioned in part one 269 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: to this podcast, James Murray ended up being the Oxford 270 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: English Dictionaries editor for forty years and was also its 271 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: greatest and most famous editor. He's a really interesting character 272 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,320 Speaker 1: and probably deserves a podcast in his own right. Though 273 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: he was around miners age, very intelligent and he loved learning, 274 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: but he came from a poor family and had to 275 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,080 Speaker 1: quit school at fourteen, so he was basically self taught, 276 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: which I think is pretty amazing considering all he accomplished. 277 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: And I mean by self taught, you mean he knew 278 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: lots of languages and astronomy, not just like he was 279 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: an informed man. Yes, exactly. He was very highly regarded 280 00:14:56,920 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: for his knowledge. But of course we're focusing on minor 281 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: story here, so we'll just tell a little bit about 282 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,600 Speaker 1: the Dictionary so you'll understand exactly how Minor was helping 283 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:08,880 Speaker 1: out from his cell in broadmore so. This Grand Dictionary 284 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: project actually started in eighteen fifty seven with three members 285 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: of London's Philological Society, Richard Trench, Herbert Coleridge and Frederick Fernival, 286 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: who saw some serious deficiencies in the dictionaries that have 287 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 1: been published so far, including those by Webster, which we 288 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: talked about a little bit in the previous podcast. Samuel 289 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: Johnson and Charles Richardson. They had two main problems with 290 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: these existing dictionaries. On one hand, they didn't think that 291 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: they were comprehensive enough. For example, some just included very 292 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,600 Speaker 1: difficult words, so word if you would need to look 293 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: up in the dictionary exactly, and they felt a dictionary 294 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: should really include every word in the English language. They 295 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: also felt that every word, along with a definition, should 296 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:55,960 Speaker 1: have an authoritative etymology, So quotations from literary passages that 297 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: would illustrate every meaning of every single word include ing. 298 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: And this was a key point. One meaning one quotation 299 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: I should say that illustrated the words earliest known usage 300 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: in English. I try to wrap your mind around that 301 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: for a minute. I mean, I think that's important before 302 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:16,600 Speaker 1: we go on, imagine trying to find that earliest usage 303 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: through every book printed in English and not have any 304 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: sort of search engine capabilities. Of course, real people would 305 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: have to go through these books reading and looking for 306 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: the words. So of course, since there will be a 307 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: lot of words included, and each word might need the 308 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: support of several quotations, there was no practical way that 309 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: a dictionary staff could handle all of that on their own. 310 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: So the plan was to involve these unpaid volunteer readers, 311 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: enthusiastic readers, I guess, from all over the English speaking world. 312 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: And that was the announcement that Minor saw in the 313 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: paper for the book. So in that article in the 314 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: Nation by Joshua Kendall that we referenced in the previous episode, 315 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,479 Speaker 1: he compares it to quote what we now know of 316 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: as the wiki model of creating and disseminating knowledge, which 317 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: I think is a really cool way to think about it. 318 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: It makes it all makes sense when you think about 319 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: it like that. We do have this modern way to 320 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: look to look at it, to compare it something, to 321 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: compare it to yeah, wiki without the Internet exactly. So, 322 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: for a number of reasons, real work on the dictionary 323 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: didn't get going until Murray came on board in eighteen 324 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: seventy nine, and even then it was really slow going. 325 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: For example, it took until eighteen eighty four to publish 326 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:37,880 Speaker 1: the first volume, which was a to aunt, so very slow, 327 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,879 Speaker 1: very slow going. But still this wiki model of um 328 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: collecting illustrative quotations was pretty successful. You know, they were 329 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,760 Speaker 1: getting a lot of real work done, and they ended 330 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 1: up getting millions of contributions from volunteers in England, Ireland, 331 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: Scotland and the United States, people who would send in 332 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: quotations from books and magazines and newspapers, and like we mentioned, 333 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: you know, they were trying to go for the earliest 334 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 1: known youth. Some of these went back as far as 335 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: the ninth century. And it was to this aspect of 336 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 1: the dictionary that Minor was contributing. So he didn't really 337 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: do any defining like he had done for Websters. But 338 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: as we've mentioned several times, he did become one of 339 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,439 Speaker 1: Murray's best contributors. He'd send in these small cards with 340 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: quotations on them. By the thousand and eventually more. His 341 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: personal library contained a lot of rare sixteenth and seventeenth 342 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,399 Speaker 1: century books in particular, and he'd searched through these for 343 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: appropriate quotes and he even went a step further and 344 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: would sometimes ask the O E ed editors what word 345 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: they were working on, and then find quotes to go 346 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: with those specific words. And I mean, just thinking about 347 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: that makes my head hurt. That you would get a list, 348 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,439 Speaker 1: maybe a short list, of a few words they were 349 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: working on, and then go look through your entire library 350 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: for that word. I just I can't imagine. So in eighteen, 351 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: Ury said that Minor had sent in quote No. Less 352 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: than twelve thousand quotes and added quote so enormous have 353 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: been Dr Miner's contributions during the past seventeen or eighteen 354 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: years that we could easily illustrate the last four centuries 355 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: from his quotations alone. So it's no wonder that Murray 356 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: really wanted to meet Minor along the way, this guy 357 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,640 Speaker 1: who was contributing so much to the dictionary. But their 358 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,719 Speaker 1: first meeting probably didn't take place quite like that dramatic 359 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: legend that I think I've compared it to Wilkie Collins. 360 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: It sounded like a Wilkie Collins set up um that 361 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: we related at the beginning of part one of this 362 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: podcast um, the one that was published in The Strand 363 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifteen. That sensationalized account has the two meeting 364 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,919 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety seven after Minor failed to attend the 365 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: Great Dictionary Dinner, which sounds fun, thrown at Queen's College 366 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: in Murray's honor to celebrate the dictionaries progress. And according 367 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: to that ledge, and this was the first time Murray 368 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: realized that his favorite contributor was actually an inmate in 369 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:09,159 Speaker 1: a mental asylum. But Winchester's research kind of turned up 370 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:12,360 Speaker 1: something different. Yeah. Both through his research and the discovery 371 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: of a letter written by Dr Murray and the Broadmore archives, 372 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: we can see that Murray, though we might have thought 373 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 1: that Minor was just a retired doctor or doctor in 374 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: the asylum at first, he probably was clued into Minor's 375 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: actual situation by the late eighteen eighties and probably visited 376 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 1: him as soon as eighteen ninety one rather than eighteen 377 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: ninety seven. Murray was always really sensitive to minor situation, 378 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: though apparently never letting him know that he knew that 379 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: Minor was mentally ill, so the to form this kind 380 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: of friendship that went beyond their working relationship. Murray even 381 00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 1: visited Minor on several occasions, though it's unclear according to 382 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,920 Speaker 1: the Broadmore records exactly how often that occurred. Murray would 383 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,919 Speaker 1: supposedly telegraph ahead, however, to find out what Miner's exact 384 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: mood was before visiting, and he would avoid coming if 385 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 1: Minor was especially angry at the time. But when he 386 00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: did visit, they have these very cozy experience is kind 387 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,640 Speaker 1: of like two well respected colleagues hanging out together. Mury 388 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 1: and Minor would sit in minors day room and have 389 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: some tea and have some cake in front of the fire, 390 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,800 Speaker 1: just like it was a normal kind of situation, just 391 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: catching up friends hanging out. So you'd think that maybe 392 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: this friendship and having a purpose in the form of 393 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: his dictionary work would have been really good for Minor's 394 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,159 Speaker 1: mental state, but his paranoid delusions just continued to get worse. 395 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 1: He'd think that he was being drugged at night with chloroform, 396 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: or tortured with electricity, or kidnapped from the asylum at 397 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: night to be abused, so that nightly sexual abuse was 398 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: still a big part of it, and he'd even tried 399 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,679 Speaker 1: to barricade his room at night to protect himself and 400 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: around the turn of the twentieth century, on December third, 401 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: nineteen o two. To be exact, he experienced a major 402 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: setback that morning. He actually mutilated his own genitals, and 403 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: it seemed to be a desperate attempt to kind of 404 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: put a stop to the indecent acts that he thought 405 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: he was being forced to do every night. When asked 406 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: why he did it, he said he did it quote 407 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: an interests of morality. So after that he was kept 408 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: in the infirmary for four months and then sent back 409 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:18,640 Speaker 1: to his rooms. But the delusions just persisted, and as 410 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,360 Speaker 1: the years went by, he continued to get worse mentally 411 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: and work less and less, and also his health started 412 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,160 Speaker 1: to decline. So a lot of people, including Murray, began 413 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: to petition for his release to his family, and at 414 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: first these petitions were denied, but the government finally relented 415 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen ten and then granted Miners release and ordered 416 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,200 Speaker 1: that he be deported back to the States. So Murray, 417 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: who had by that time been knighted for his work 418 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: in the Dictionary, and his wife visited Miner one last 419 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: time right before Miner left the country on April fifteenth, 420 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: nineteen ten, and he brought along a court photographer to 421 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: document this last his final meeting between two friends and 422 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 1: two really influential contributors to what was going to be 423 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: a famous dictionary. Murray was accompanied back to the States 424 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: on a steamer by his brother Alfred, but it was 425 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 1: really a long time before he actually made it home 426 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: to Connecticut. He he immediately went back to that hospital 427 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: for the Insane in d C. That he was at previously, 428 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: which is now Sat Elizabeth's, and he spent almost ten 429 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 1: years there, kind of in the same way that he 430 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: had lived at Broadmore as a privileged in may who 431 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: still had nightly outbursts. So his problems kind of continued 432 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 1: to progress, and in between he would sort of spend 433 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,280 Speaker 1: his day's reading and painting and doing, you know, his 434 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: activities that he enjoyed, but still in ill health. Yeah. 435 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: So by nineteen nineteen though, he was finally allowed to 436 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: go back to Connecticut to be near his family, and 437 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 1: he died there March nineteen twenty um, you know, having 438 00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,919 Speaker 1: been in prison the majority of his life by that point, 439 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:05,760 Speaker 1: or the hospital rather so, even though he lived the 440 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: life of anonymity while he was locked away for so 441 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: many years, his name is still pretty well known. It's 442 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: still in the preface to the Oxford English Dictionary in fact, yeah, 443 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,040 Speaker 1: which ultimately that dictionary took seventy years to complete. It 444 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: was completed in nineteen eight, which was a decade after 445 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: Murray's death. And I think I found I saw this 446 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,160 Speaker 1: in that Nation article that we mentioned, give us some status, 447 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,360 Speaker 1: some stats to kind of boggle the mind. In the end, 448 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,360 Speaker 1: the first edition, not including the supplements that were published after, 449 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 1: but that first edition, published in nineteen had four hundred 450 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: and fourteen thousand, eight hundred twenty five headwords, so to speak, 451 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: defined by one million, eight hundred twenty seven thousand, three 452 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 1: hundred and six illustrative quotations over fifteen thousand, four hundred 453 00:24:55,119 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 1: ninety pages. Pretty incredible, very incredible, And it sounds like 454 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: Minor was a pretty significant part of all of that. 455 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: So in recent years consequently, more people have taken an 456 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: interest in his life. And of course there's Winchester's book 457 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: that you mentioned in the beginning, and there's maybe even 458 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: gonna be a movie. Do you have any more info 459 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 1: on that. I don't have any more info on that. 460 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: When you look it up, it just says that the 461 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: movie The Professor and the Madman is in development. Apparently 462 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,200 Speaker 1: mel Gibson bought the rights to the movie in nine 463 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: and they've gone through a couple of different directors I think, 464 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:33,120 Speaker 1: and they're working on it, but I don't know when 465 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: it's supposed to come out, but I think that'll be 466 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: an interesting one to see when it does. Yeah, it 467 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 1: sounds like it would be a fantastic movie. Actually, I'm 468 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: imagining the how you dramatize the dictionary writing scenes though, 469 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,399 Speaker 1: sort of like computer movies, they have to have scenes 470 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: of like rapid typing, maybe page flipping through country book. Yeah, 471 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: you'll have to really make looking upwards interesting. But I 472 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 1: guess hopefully we'll get to see that down the road. 473 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: And as I mentioned, somebody did bring up this book 474 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: on Facebook, so we wouldn't just throw it out there 475 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 1: again like we always do. If you guys have read 476 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:11,119 Speaker 1: any cool historical books or have any other ideas that 477 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: you want us to podcast develop, please write us Where 478 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 1: History Podcast at how Stuffworks dot com, or you can 479 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: look us up on Facebook, of course, or at Twitter 480 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: at mist in History. So I think I'm gonna head 481 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: off and start maybe planning a great dictionary dinner because 482 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: that sounds truly, it just sounds good. Yeah, you don't 483 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: want to do the dictionary research. But you want to 484 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,199 Speaker 1: have a dictionary dinner. I think everybody could come as 485 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,800 Speaker 1: a word never know. That would be fun. Oh I 486 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: like that? All right, I'll invite you to Blina. So 487 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:41,399 Speaker 1: if you're not going to go plan your own dictionary party, 488 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,679 Speaker 1: we do have an article written by Molly Edmonds called 489 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: how Can You Tell if You're Mentally Ill? And you 490 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: can find it by searching for that title on our 491 00:26:51,119 --> 00:27:05,720 Speaker 1: homepage at www dot how stuff works dot com