1
00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,400
Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosity is a production

2
00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:13,560
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world

3
00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,360
Speaker 1: is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an

4
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,880
Speaker 1: open book, all of these amazing tales are right there

5
00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:26,920
Speaker 1: on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to

6
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:38,279
Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Everyone needs to get away now

7
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,280
Speaker 1: and then when the daily grind gets tough. It's nice

8
00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,240
Speaker 1: to relax on a quiet beach, or fly off to

9
00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,120
Speaker 1: a foreign place and immerse yourself in a rich culture

10
00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,559
Speaker 1: other than your own. And for some travelers all they

11
00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,279
Speaker 1: need is the open sea and and all you can

12
00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,440
Speaker 1: eat buffet. Today's cruise ships offer guests all the luxury

13
00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,880
Speaker 1: of a major hotel with the added benefit of a

14
00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,280
Speaker 1: fun destination. But to understand true luxury, one must go

15
00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,399
Speaker 1: back almost ninety years to the most decadent ship of

16
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,800
Speaker 1: them all, the Queen Mary. Built from nineteen thirty to

17
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,440
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four by White Star Line, the RMS Queen

18
00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,200
Speaker 1: Mary was a transatlantic ocean liner named after Mary of Tech,

19
00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,880
Speaker 1: who was the Queen of England at the time. The

20
00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,399
Speaker 1: ship boasted a traditional design with a prominent bow and

21
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:30,000
Speaker 1: three orange and black smokestacks along its top. Inside, the

22
00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,479
Speaker 1: liner was filled with all manner of first class amenities,

23
00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:36,800
Speaker 1: including a pair of indoor swimming pools, a lecture hall,

24
00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,880
Speaker 1: and beauty salons. Parents of all classes even had access

25
00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,560
Speaker 1: to nurseries for their children, you know, for when mom

26
00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,080
Speaker 1: and dad wanted to hit the dance floor or get

27
00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:49,480
Speaker 1: some much needed alone time. The Queen Mary's telephone system

28
00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: could also make calls all over the world. There was

29
00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,200
Speaker 1: no question this was a white star ship, as she

30
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,760
Speaker 1: was clearly cut from the same cloth as her long

31
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,680
Speaker 1: lost sister, the Titanic. She was converted into a troop

32
00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,120
Speaker 1: ship during World War Two carried Allied soldiers overseas for

33
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,760
Speaker 1: several years. It took about ten months to change her

34
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,320
Speaker 1: back into a passenger ship after the war, and then

35
00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,480
Speaker 1: she continued to sail for another twenty years. She underwent

36
00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,280
Speaker 1: a number of modifications during that time, both inside and out,

37
00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:22,280
Speaker 1: before she was retired in nineteen sixty seven. Permanently moored

38
00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,240
Speaker 1: in Long Beach, California, she was converted once again, this

39
00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,120
Speaker 1: time from a working ship into a floating hotel. Her

40
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,720
Speaker 1: lower levels were transformed into an aquarium and museum, while

41
00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:37,080
Speaker 1: her boiler rooms were removed completely. Over the years, the

42
00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,800
Speaker 1: Queen Mary went through several owners, all of whom had

43
00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,679
Speaker 1: different ideas about what the Liner should have been. Hotelier

44
00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:47,040
Speaker 1: Jack Rather happened to be one of those owners. He

45
00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,040
Speaker 1: and his wife used to sail on the Queen Mary

46
00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,320
Speaker 1: back when it was still in service, so when the

47
00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,360
Speaker 1: opportunity to lease the property arose in the nineteen eighties,

48
00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,560
Speaker 1: Rather jumped at the chance. He was no stranger to

49
00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,480
Speaker 1: running a hotel either. He'd built one back in ninety five,

50
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,360
Speaker 1: which had proven quite successful. It was so successful, in fact,

51
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,080
Speaker 1: that a prominent California business owner tried to buy it

52
00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,600
Speaker 1: a number of times, but never quite had the money

53
00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,559
Speaker 1: to do so. It wasn't until decades after this entrepreneur's

54
00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,440
Speaker 1: death when his company was finally able to afford Rather's

55
00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,040
Speaker 1: hotel and the property on which it sat, which happened

56
00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,400
Speaker 1: to also include the Queen Mary. This company had big

57
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,280
Speaker 1: plans for the Liner and hoped to take advantage of

58
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,720
Speaker 1: its dark history. You see, the Queen Mary was home

59
00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,440
Speaker 1: to countless ghost stories in tales of paranormal activity, which

60
00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:36,840
Speaker 1: led to it becoming known as the most haunted hotel

61
00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,720
Speaker 1: in America during World War Two, for example, an accidental

62
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,960
Speaker 1: collision with another military vehicle led to the deaths of

63
00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:48,520
Speaker 1: three personnel on the other ship. As a passenger ship,

64
00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,200
Speaker 1: you know, a temporary home for living, breathing human beings,

65
00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,280
Speaker 1: The Queen Mary was believed to have been the site

66
00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,240
Speaker 1: of almost fifty deaths, including drownings, murders, and even other

67
00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,840
Speaker 1: strange departures. Her new owners wanted to turn a night's

68
00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:06,080
Speaker 1: stay into a fully immersive paranormal experience, and the piece

69
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,880
Speaker 1: to resistance room B three forty. Those who entered the

70
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,080
Speaker 1: notorious room reported strange happenings, such as the floors creaking

71
00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,839
Speaker 1: at odd times or distant voices calling from beyond the grave.

72
00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,120
Speaker 1: Faucets in the bathroom would turn on by themselves, and

73
00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 1: on more than one occasion, ghostly images showed up in

74
00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,800
Speaker 1: the mirrors, frightening the guests. The thing was Room B

75
00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,599
Speaker 1: three forty wasn't really haunted. The company just wanted people

76
00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:36,720
Speaker 1: to think it was. They had installed all sorts of

77
00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,480
Speaker 1: effects to give anyone staying in the room the sense

78
00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:44,200
Speaker 1: that they weren't alone. Unfortunately, the idea of actually sleeping

79
00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,080
Speaker 1: in a haunted hotel didn't really sit well with tourists,

80
00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,600
Speaker 1: and the concept was abandoned. It was kind of surprising, though,

81
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,520
Speaker 1: since it had been formulated by a company adept at

82
00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,520
Speaker 1: building ghost infested structures before they'd even tried to use

83
00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,039
Speaker 1: the techniques from their other attraction on the Queen Mary.

84
00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:05,080
Speaker 1: But Disneyland visitors didn't mind visiting the haunted mansion for

85
00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:07,839
Speaker 1: a few minutes at a time, They just didn't want

86
00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,760
Speaker 1: to spend several nights in its floating equivalent. After Disney

87
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:14,400
Speaker 1: gave up its idea of a haunted ocean liner in

88
00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,160
Speaker 1: the early nineteen nineties, it ripped out all of the

89
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,359
Speaker 1: imagineering technology from Room B three forty and locked it

90
00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,560
Speaker 1: up for good, which only adds to the mystery why

91
00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:28,880
Speaker 1: was the door locked? What had happened in there? Why

92
00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,480
Speaker 1: couldn't anyone go inside? Over time, knowledge of Disney's involvement

93
00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:37,240
Speaker 1: melted away, and the rumors of the Queen Mary's hauntings

94
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,719
Speaker 1: led to the idea that Room B three forty was

95
00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:43,600
Speaker 1: one of the scariest places on the ship. It was

96
00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:46,920
Speaker 1: also believed to have contributed to ghost sighting claims from

97
00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:51,200
Speaker 1: guests decades later. Whether you believe the Queen Mary really

98
00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,279
Speaker 1: is plagued by ghosts depends on whether you believe in

99
00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,599
Speaker 1: the paranormal at all. If you're brave enough and you

100
00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,520
Speaker 1: have the money, you can stay in Room B three

101
00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,760
Speaker 1: forty overnight and judge for yourself. Just don't expect it

102
00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:21,839
Speaker 1: to be the happiest place on earth. College is a

103
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:26,080
Speaker 1: time for finding yourself, trying new things, experiencing true freedom

104
00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,000
Speaker 1: for the first time, and of course breaking the rules.

105
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,359
Speaker 1: After all, what is the point of experiencing anything without

106
00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:35,799
Speaker 1: a little rule breaking to make the experience better. Sure,

107
00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:38,240
Speaker 1: you should be learning things as well, but let's not

108
00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:42,080
Speaker 1: kid ourselves. It's the freedom and the rabble rousing Students

109
00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,799
Speaker 1: past and present remember most as such. If you drop

110
00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:50,200
Speaker 1: someone like George Gordon Byron, known to most as Lord Byron,

111
00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,440
Speaker 1: into such an environment, you're bound to see some fireworks.

112
00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,960
Speaker 1: Byron spent his life breaking rules, bucking norms, and otherwise

113
00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,800
Speaker 1: stirring the pot, both in his poetry and in life itself.

114
00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,800
Speaker 1: That's what happens when you become a literary icon by

115
00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:08,640
Speaker 1: the ripe age of twenty, having been born into a

116
00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,280
Speaker 1: troubled childhood to a schizophrenic mother and a father nicknamed

117
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,280
Speaker 1: mad Jack, as well as being cared for by an

118
00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:19,560
Speaker 1: abusive nurse. Byron's tumultuous life makes sense. He was also

119
00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,400
Speaker 1: born with a club foot, a condition he blamed on

120
00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,080
Speaker 1: his mother's tight corsets, which earned him constant mockery from

121
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,920
Speaker 1: his classmates. As such, he did not find much comfort

122
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,000
Speaker 1: throughout his early days, though he did find one particular

123
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:37,240
Speaker 1: avenue that helped him, Grin and Barrett, the companionship of animals.

124
00:07:37,960 --> 00:07:41,120
Speaker 1: Byron had numerous dogs and cats throughout his upbringing, but

125
00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:46,520
Speaker 1: he also dabbled in exotic pets as well, monkeys, foxes, peacocks,

126
00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,160
Speaker 1: and even crocodiles, although the exotic pets didn't make as

127
00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,800
Speaker 1: lasting of an impression as his favorite pet of all time,

128
00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,240
Speaker 1: a dog named Boson, who died of rabies in eighteen

129
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,920
Speaker 1: o eight. All in all, it's clear the Byron loved dogs,

130
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,720
Speaker 1: and when it came time for him to leave home

131
00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,760
Speaker 1: and attend Trinity College in Cambridge in eighteen o five,

132
00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,520
Speaker 1: he was desperate to bring one of his pups along

133
00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,080
Speaker 1: with him, and not Boston, curiously enough, but his bulldog

134
00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,840
Speaker 1: named Smut. He certainly had a knack for naming his pets. However,

135
00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,240
Speaker 1: Trinity College had a strict rule against having dogs on campus.

136
00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,240
Speaker 1: And given what we talked about with college being a

137
00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,040
Speaker 1: time for rule breaking and Byron being a champion rule breaker,

138
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,560
Speaker 1: well then you can guess what's coming. Byron swapped out

139
00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,599
Speaker 1: the forbidden dog by another animal, an animal not traditionally

140
00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:37,240
Speaker 1: kept as a pet. But seeing as how Trinity College

141
00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,559
Speaker 1: did not have an explicit rule preventing being accompanied by

142
00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,320
Speaker 1: such a pet, Byron fought for his right to have

143
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,640
Speaker 1: it and won the argument, and just like that, he

144
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,600
Speaker 1: was clear to come to campus with an animal that

145
00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:53,480
Speaker 1: was far and away more dangerous and troublesome than a dog. Regardless,

146
00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,880
Speaker 1: Byron kept the animal on a leash, walking it around campus,

147
00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,760
Speaker 1: surely taking it out in the morning to do its

148
00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,160
Speaker 1: bi this and conversing with the student body. Bear in

149
00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:05,080
Speaker 1: mind that there would not have been any other pet

150
00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:09,120
Speaker 1: owners on campus, no dog owners socializing over two dogs

151
00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,840
Speaker 1: becoming friends, just one rather large pet on a leash

152
00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,760
Speaker 1: of Byron doating over his newfound friend. It didn't take

153
00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:19,240
Speaker 1: long for Byron to fall in love with this animal.

154
00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,079
Speaker 1: He wrote to his friend Elizabeth in eighteen oh seven, saying,

155
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,080
Speaker 1: I have got a new friend, the finest in the world.

156
00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,480
Speaker 1: When I brought him here. They asked me what to

157
00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,480
Speaker 1: do with him, and my reply was he should sit

158
00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:34,040
Speaker 1: for a fellowship. And let's take a moment to appreciate

159
00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:36,640
Speaker 1: that last line. Rumor has it that he really did

160
00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,400
Speaker 1: try to apply the animal to join the student body,

161
00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,440
Speaker 1: since there were no rules explicitly stating that this wasn't allowed.

162
00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,559
Speaker 1: Nothing ever came of this, though. The animal never earned

163
00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,200
Speaker 1: itself a degree, at least not that we know of.

164
00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,760
Speaker 1: As far as where Byron acquired this animal, well, it's

165
00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,120
Speaker 1: all rumor and hearsay. Really, they say he acquired the

166
00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,920
Speaker 1: creature from the Sturbridge Fair or from a traveling menager.

167
00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,160
Speaker 1: But the matter it was never solved. It's not like

168
00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:06,319
Speaker 1: the guy who acquired crocodiles and peacocks would have that

169
00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,040
Speaker 1: much trouble finding anything else. Sadly, we don't know what

170
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,680
Speaker 1: happened to this pet when Byron parted ways with it.

171
00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:15,600
Speaker 1: We don't even know what its name was. But whatever

172
00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:19,600
Speaker 1: the case, this companion helped make Byron's time at university

173
00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:24,640
Speaker 1: that much more well bearable. Oh and Byron's pet, if

174
00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:30,880
Speaker 1: you haven't caught on, it was a bear. I hope

175
00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:34,240
Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.

176
00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,679
Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about

177
00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:42,240
Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show

178
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,719
Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how

179
00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,400
Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore,

180
00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,240
Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and

181
00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:55,520
Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World

182
00:10:55,559 --> 00:11:00,000
Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious

183
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:01,000
Speaker 1: one