1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,599 Speaker 1: Hey y'all, Eve's here. We're doubling up today with two 2 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: events in history, one from me and one from former 3 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: host Tracy V. Wilson. One with the show Welcome to 4 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: this Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot 5 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: com and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in 6 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: History Class. It's the show where we explore the past 7 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: one day at a time with a quick look at 8 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: what happened today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: I'm Christopher haciotis your regular host. Tracy V. Wilson is 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: out this week, so thanks for having me. It's December 11 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: and one of the biggest heists in Japanese history happened 12 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: on this day. In just under three hundred million yen 13 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: was stolen from a secure vehicle outside Tokyo. In that 14 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: amount was worth around eight hundred and twenty thousand U 15 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: S dollars adjusted for inflation, that would be like stealing 16 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,400 Speaker 1: the equivalent of six million dollars in today's money. Here's 17 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: how it all went down. On December four, employees of 18 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: the Nihon Shintaku Ginko Bank were transporting this massive sum 19 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: of cash. Security was tight, as a bank manager had 20 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: just days prior received threats of explosives in the mail. 21 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: The money was intended to be used as bonuses for 22 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: factory workers employed by technology conglomerate Toshiba. The vehicle was 23 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: traveling through Fuchu, the city in the Greater Metro area 24 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: of Tokyo where the factory was located. A policeman riding 25 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: a white Yamaha motorcycle stopped the car just about a 26 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: blocks distance from the factory gate. The policeman informed the 27 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: crew in the car that their bank manager's house had 28 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: been bombed and police had reason to believe the car 29 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: they were driving was likewise wired with dynamite. As the 30 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: four employees exited the car, the policeman said he'd examined 31 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: the underside of the vehicle, while beneath the car, he'd 32 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,120 Speaker 1: discreetly set off a flare. The four employees saw smoke 33 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: and flames, and when they heard the man, whom they 34 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: believed to be a policeman, yelling for them to run 35 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: for safety, that's exactly what they did. He, on the 36 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: other hand, hopped in the car loaded with cash and 37 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: just drove off. The vehicle was later to covered abandoned 38 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: without either the cash or the driver. Within the ensuing 39 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: investigation saw the Japanese police go all in. More than 40 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: a hundred and seventy thousand police officers and hundreds of 41 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: detectives were involved in the search for the thief. Police 42 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: collected more than a hundred and twenty pieces of evidence 43 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: at the crime scene, including the thief's abandoned police motorcycle, 44 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 1: which turned out to have been painted to look official 45 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: but wasn't. The security employees described the culprit Sketches were 46 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: made and circulated, and the hunt was on. More than 47 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:33,679 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand people were interviewed in nine sixty eight 48 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: for the case. The first suspect was the nineteen year 49 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: old son of a motorcycle policeman, but just five days 50 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: after the robbery, the teenager died of potassium cyanide poisoning, 51 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: raising suspicions. The death, however, was ultimately ruled a suicide 52 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: and he wasn't implicated. A year later, at the end 53 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty nine, police arrested a twenty six year 54 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:58,799 Speaker 1: old man on an unrelated charge. He resembled the composite 55 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: image created of the thief, but he too was ultimately 56 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: exonerated when he was able to prove he was taking 57 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: a test at the time of the robbery. On November fifteenth, 58 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy five, just months before the seven year statute 59 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: of limitations was set to expire, police arrested a friend 60 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,119 Speaker 1: of the nineteen year old first suspect. They found large 61 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: amounts of unexplained cash in his possession. In the end, 62 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: nothing came of that inquiry either, and the statute of 63 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: limitations on criminal charges was reached in December of nineteen 64 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: seventy five. A separate period of civil liability expired in 65 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty eight. After that date, the thief would not 66 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: have been at the risk of any legal repercussions. He 67 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,119 Speaker 1: could legally benefit from profits from the crime. He could 68 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: have written a book, for instance, or sold his story 69 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: to a TV station. A nineteen ninety nine investigation by 70 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: the newspaper shu Kan Hoseki identified a potential suspect then 71 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: in his fifties. However, other publications found significant flaws with 72 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: that theory, and it was ultimately abandoned as the recording 73 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: of this episode. Half a century later, the case remains unsolved, 74 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: the culprit has never come forward, and the money remains lost. 75 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: For years, it was the largest robbery in Japan's history. 76 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: Most recently, it was surpassed by a two thousand four 77 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: robbery of five million yen, which was then surpassed by 78 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: a two thousand eleven robbery where two masked men stole 79 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: six hundred and four million yen or about seven point 80 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: four million dollars, But the nineteen sixty eight robbery, the 81 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,159 Speaker 1: three hundred million yen robbery, as it's known, remains the 82 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: most notorious in the public's memory. The original crime has 83 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: inspired numerous books, articles, comics, and TV shows, as well 84 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: as the two thousand films on Oku and ji Ken. 85 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: Thanks to Casey Pegram and Chandler Maze for their audio 86 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: work on this show. You can subscribe to This Day 87 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:48,280 Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart Radio app, 88 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: or wherever else you like to find your podcasts. Come 89 00:04:51,240 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: back tomorrow and we'll learn about a royal trial. Hi everyone, 90 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. I'm Eves and you're listening to 91 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,200 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class, a show that uncovers a 92 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: little bit more about history every day. The day was 93 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: December tenth, nineteen o seven. The Brown Dog Riots a 94 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: series of riots over the practice of conducting surgery on 95 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: live animals piqued when a crowd of medical students marched 96 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:33,720 Speaker 1: through London in support of the practice. Operating on living 97 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: animals for experimental purposes is known as vivisection. Vivisection, used 98 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: for scientific research and instructing medical students, was common in 99 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: the UK in the early twentieth century. At the same time, 100 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,799 Speaker 1: there was plenty of opposition to the practice. Anti vivisection 101 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: groups formed and attempted to limit or abolish surgery on 102 00:05:54,720 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: live animals, among other arguments. People who opposed vivisection accused 103 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: to researchers of disregarding the suffering of the animals they 104 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: experimented on. Many anti vivisectionists were also suffragists. In eighteen 105 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: seventy six, Parliament passed the Cruelty to Animals Act, which 106 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: said that experiments that cause animals pain could only be 107 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: conducted when necessary, and that animals had to be anesthetized 108 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: if they were to undergo such an experiment. It also 109 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 1: required animals to be used in only one experiment and 110 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: killed when the study was over with stipulations. But in 111 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: nineteen o two, a brown terrier was anesthetized and dissected 112 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: alive by physiologists Dr Edwards Starling in front of an 113 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: audience of medical students at University College in London. The 114 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: dog lived through the experiment and was kept in a 115 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: cage until his next procedure. In February of nineteen o three, 116 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: the terrier was used in a couple more procedures conducted 117 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: by Starling, another physiologist named William Bayliss, and medical student 118 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: Henry Dale. The dog was cut open to inspect the 119 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: results of the previous experiment, and the dog's neck was 120 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: cut open to expose its salivary glands. The experiment was 121 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: not successful, and Dale killed the dog by stabbing a 122 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: knife through his heart. To Swedish anti vivisectionist activists Lizzie 123 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: Lean of Hogabee and Lesa Hartau were attending medical school 124 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,240 Speaker 1: in London and had been going to see Starling and 125 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: Bayliss's lectures. They published their notes on the experiments on 126 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: and Death of the Brown Terrier. Since the dog was 127 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: used in more than one experiment, the procedures were in 128 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,960 Speaker 1: violation of the Cruelty to Animals Act. Lawyer Stephen Coleridge 129 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: publicly decried the vivisection of the brown terrier and Bayliss 130 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:47,800 Speaker 1: sued Coleridge for libel. They went to trial in November 131 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: of nineteen o three, and Bayliss came out on top, 132 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: but the controversy continued. Anti vivisectionists raised money to build 133 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: a monument to the dog that was killed in the experiment. 134 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: The memorial was veiled in the borough of Battersea in 135 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: September of nineteen o six. The plaque on the statue 136 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: of the brown dog read in memory of the brown 137 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: Terrier dog done to death in the laboratories of University 138 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: College in February nineteen o three, after having endured a 139 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: vivisection extending over more than two months, and having been 140 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: handed over from one vivisector to another till death came 141 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: to his release. Also in memory of the two hundred 142 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: and thirty two dogs vivisected at the same place during 143 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 1: the year nineteen o two, Men and women of England. 144 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: How long shall these things be? This upset medical students 145 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: who supported animal experimentation in vivisection. Their efforts to destroy 146 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: the statue turned into riots, which peaked on December tenth, 147 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: nineteen o seven, when medical students gathered to try to 148 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: take the memorial down. The protests devolved into fighting with 149 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: police officers, and rioting continued over the next several months. 150 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: After much debate over the statue, which not only inspired 151 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: writing but also required official resources for protection, the statue 152 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: was taken down in March of nineteen ten. It's been 153 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: suggested that the conflict was intensified by the fact that 154 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: so many of the medical students were men who opposed suffrage, 155 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,439 Speaker 1: and so many of the anti vivisectionists were women and suffragists. 156 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: A new, also controversial statue of the dog was unveiled 157 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: in London in n I'm Eve jeffco and hopefully you 158 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did 159 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: it yesterday. Looking at for our content a little more 160 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,199 Speaker 1: sophisticated than cat memes in your feed. Connect with us 161 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: on social media at t D I h C Podcast. 162 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,319 Speaker 1: If you prefer something a little bit more formal, then 163 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:50,439 Speaker 1: you can write us at this day at I heart 164 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 1: media dot com. I hope you liked this show. We'll 165 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,479 Speaker 1: be back tomorrow with another episode.