1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,199 Speaker 1: Time flies when you're having fun and also when you're not. 7 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: Either way, the clot keeps ticking. That's never more apparent 8 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: than on December thirty first, when we look back at 9 00:00:45,920 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: the previous year and talk about how we can't believe 10 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,640 Speaker 1: it is already over. But there was one year, over 11 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: two millennia ago when people did not feel like the 12 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: time had slipped away. And that's because forty six BCE 13 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:01,880 Speaker 1: lasted a whopping four hundred in forty five days. You see, 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: the calendar has always been a bit tricky to nail down. 15 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: For most of human history, years were measured using the seasons, 16 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: and having exact dates and times wasn't that important If 17 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: you wanted to schedule an event, you wouldn't tell people 18 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: to meet you on Saturday at seven pm, because the 19 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: whole idea of a seven day week and a twenty 20 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: four hour day didn't exist. Instead, you'd say something like 21 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: meet me at sundown on the night of the full moon. 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: And let's be honest here. That sounds way cooler than 23 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 1: how we schedule things today. Of course, many ancient cultures 24 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: had tools like sundials and lunar calendars. In the Roman Empire, 25 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: for example, one year was made up of twelve lunar cycles, 26 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: each lasted about twenty eight days. The problem was this 27 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: resulted in a year that was slightly shorter than the 28 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: four seasons. Roman officials viewed the calendar as malleable, so 29 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: they would add days here and there to make up 30 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: the difference, but the system was far from perfect. Problems 31 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: arose anytime politics got in the way of managing the calendar. 32 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: The years before Julius Caesar rose to power were so 33 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: turbulent that adding random day into the mix wasn't anybody's priority. 34 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: By the time he took the throne in forty nine BCE, 35 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: April fell in the middle of the summer and the 36 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: harvest festival was three months before the actual harvest. Everything 37 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: was out of whack, so to get things back on tracks, 38 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,000 Speaker 1: Caesar called for forty six BCE to be a transitional 39 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: year with ninety extra days packed into it. He named 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: it the Ultima Annis Confusionists, that is, the final year 41 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: of Confusion. When forty six BCE was finally over, Caesar 42 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: instituted the Julian calendar. Rather than being based on the 43 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: cycles of the moon, this one followed the movements of 44 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,919 Speaker 1: the sun. It's where we get thirty and thirty one 45 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: day months, as well as leap years. The Julian calendar 46 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: followed the seasons much more accurately, so it didn't need 47 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: to be constantly altered, but still it wasn't perfect. Roman 48 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: astronomers had miscalculated the solar year by a mere eleven minutes, 49 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: and this might not seem like much, but it added up. 50 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: For every one hundred and twenty eight years that passed, 51 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: the calendar fell about one day behind the seasons. This 52 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,679 Speaker 1: meant that by fifteen eighty two, the world was more 53 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: than ten days off. This problem came to the attention 54 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: of Pope Gregory the thirteenth, who suggested a few changes. First, 55 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: they needed to make up for lost time. Literally, those 56 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: living in Catholic Europe went to sleep on October fourth 57 00:03:15,600 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: of fifteen eighty two, but when they woke up the 58 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: next morning it was in October fifth. It was the fifteenth. 59 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: They had jumped ahead ten days, and to make sure 60 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,920 Speaker 1: the same thing didn't happen again, modern astronomers also needed 61 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: to fix the Romans miscalculation. They changed how leap years 62 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: work just slightly, making any numbers divisible by four hundred 63 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: or four thousand exempt. This small alteration guaranteed that the 64 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: Gregorian calendar would remain accurate for the next twenty thousand years, 65 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: but not everyone was on board. The British government refused 66 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 1: to institute the change for nearly two centuries until they 67 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: had lagged eleven days behind the rest of Western Europe. 68 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: In seventeen fifty two, British King George the Second had 69 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: finally had enough that September lasted just nineteen days in 70 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: the Briginish Empire, allowing the nation to get back in 71 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: line with the seasons. These days, the Gregorian calendar is 72 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: considered the international standard, but that doesn't mean that every 73 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: country and culture embraces it. Even now. The way humans 74 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: keep time is not an exact science, and not everyone 75 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: is about to celebrate the beginning of twenty twenty four 76 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: in Ethiopia, for example, people use a version of the 77 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: ancient Coptic calendar, which has thirteen months. Because of this, 78 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: the current year there is twenty sixteen. Iran and Afghanistan 79 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: both use the Persian Solar his reclendar. In those countries 80 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: it's technically fourteen forty five. Nepal uses a traditional Hindu 81 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: calendar that puts them about fifty six years in the 82 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: future in twenty eighty, but that's nothing compared to China. 83 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: Their traditional calendar puts them all the way in forty 84 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: seven to twenty. So let this be a reminder. The 85 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: time is an illusion, and the way that we measure 86 00:04:50,600 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: it is curious. Indeed, as the new year approaches, you 87 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: might be reaching into your fridge for a festive drink 88 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: like eggnog or champagne. In Scotland, though, they're mixing up 89 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: a different kind of holiday beverage, one with a very 90 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: curious history. It's called athel Bros, and legends about this 91 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: winter time brew go back over five hundred years. There 92 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,400 Speaker 1: are a couple of different versions of the story. The 93 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: first one goes like this, there once was a giant 94 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,239 Speaker 1: who lived in the Scottish Highlands in a region called Ethel. 95 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,160 Speaker 1: The monster terrorized innocent people, spreading fear across the hills. 96 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: A local hunter wanted to put a stop to the violence, 97 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,719 Speaker 1: but to defeat the beast, he had to be clever. 98 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: Rather than attacking the giant outright, the hunter mixed up 99 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: a vat of oatmeal, whiskey, cream, and honey and set 100 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: it out for the monster to eat. The spiked porridge 101 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: was so strong that it put the beast into a 102 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: never ending stupor, thereby ending its reign of terror. Now 103 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: the second and more slightly believable version of the tale 104 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: begins like this. In the late fifteenth century, the British 105 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: Isles were racked by a series of battles known as 106 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: the Wars of the Roses. People were fighting to gain 107 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: control of the British throne, and they were willing to 108 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: do just about anything to get it. Enter Ian MacDonald, 109 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: a Scottish earl. In fourteen seventy five, Ian signed a 110 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: traitorous agreement with British King Edward the Fourth. The contract 111 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: said that if England were to subdue Scotland, the earl 112 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: would be granted partial rulership over his homeland, And just 113 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: like that, Ian stopped fighting England and began plotting a 114 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: rebellion against his own leader, the Scottish King. Unfortunately for Ian, 115 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: his plans weren't exactly secret. There were spies everywhere. Soon enough, 116 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: word got around to another Scotsman named John Stewart. He 117 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: was the Earl of Athel of the Highlands, the same 118 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: area where our fabled giant had lived. Angered by Ian's 119 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: traitorous actions, John set out to squash the uprising before 120 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,800 Speaker 1: it could even begin, and the Scottish spies gave John 121 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: some important intel. Ian and his men had a specific 122 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: date in mind for the rebel. Until then, they were 123 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: hiding out on a nearby hill, eating rations and getting 124 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,799 Speaker 1: water from one specific well, and that detail the well 125 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: gave John an idea. The night before Ian's coup was 126 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,119 Speaker 1: scheduled to take place, John ordered his men to sneak 127 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: into the enemy camp and sabotage their water supply by 128 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: filling the well with oats, honey, and scotch. Apparently, Ian 129 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: and his men didn't notice that their water had magically 130 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: transformed into some kind of thick whiskey cocktail. I guess 131 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: we're meant to suspend our disbelief at this point in history. 132 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: That's or the stuff just tasted so good that they 133 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: didn't want to question it. Regardless, legend has it that 134 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: Ian and his troops ate so much that they all 135 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: passed out in the morning. They were too exhausted to 136 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: mount their rebellion, And there you have it. With nothing 137 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: more than the power of a stiff drink, John had 138 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:50,920 Speaker 1: successfully stopped the uprising. Now in both stories, ethel Bros 139 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: originates in the Highlands, is made in massive quantities, and 140 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: has a nearly mythical ability to leave people staggeringly drunk. 141 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: It's believed to be one of the world's first cock tales, 142 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: and it's remained popular throughout history. Thankfully, though the recipe 143 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: has since been refined. John Stewart's descendants made one big 144 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: change in the early eighteen hundreds. They replaced the oatmeal 145 00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: with a mixture of blended oats and water, which was 146 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: then strained to ensure a smooth, drinkable consistency. And this 147 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: was arguably the first version of oat's milk. Who knew 148 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: that our favorite lattes could be traced back to a 149 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: fifteenth century Scottish cocktail? Right these days, ethel Bros is 150 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: most often brewed during hogmen at which is the Scottish 151 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: version of New Year's Eve, one of the country's most 152 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: important holidays. Hogmen Ase celebrations feature torchlit parades, swinging fireballs 153 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: and other ritualistic traditions. Plus there's plenty of athel bros 154 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,080 Speaker 1: to go around. And hey, I can't think of a 155 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 1: better way to ring in the new year than with flames, 156 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: toasts and strange stories. So cheers to twenty twenty four. 157 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 1: In all the curious tales we've yet to discover, I 158 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 159 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 160 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:09,559 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. This show 161 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 162 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 163 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 164 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,199 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 165 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.