1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. The young man had come far, but he 7 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:41,200 Speaker 1: had one more challenge to overcome before he could claim 8 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: his prize. The stakes were high. He had bet one 9 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: hundred of his finest horses. He turned to face his 10 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,280 Speaker 1: opponent on the mat, ready to wrestle for an exquisite prize, 11 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: the hand of a beautiful woman. But she wouldn't be 12 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: watching from the sidelines. Oh no. She stepped into the 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: ring to face him, and she was undefeat. The suitor 14 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: knew the deal when he stepped up to wrestle Kutuyan. 15 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,559 Speaker 1: He had wagered one hundred horses, and if he won, 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: she would marry him. If not, she would keep his horses. 17 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 1: Kutuyan was born around twelve sixty, and her extended family 18 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,839 Speaker 1: controlled one of the mightiest empires the world had ever known. 19 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: It had been founded nearly sixty years earlier by her 20 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: great grandfather, tem O Jin, the son of a mongol chieftain. 21 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Temo Jin grew to be a strong, powerful warrior and 22 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: would unite the Mongolian tribes, leading them to a conquest 23 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: that stretched across the Eurasian continent. He managed to capture 24 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,720 Speaker 1: territory from China to Poland all the way down to 25 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: Gaza in an unprecedented sweep of brutality and power. Many 26 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: will know him by his chosen name, Genghis Khan, meaning 27 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: Universal Ruler. Genghis Khan created an era of prosperity for 28 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: the Mongolian people. He stabilized taxes and created a new 29 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: military style feudal government under which trade flourished, religious tolerance 30 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: was practiced, and technology in the arts advanced. Gunpowder, stirrups, 31 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: and leather armor were all created under his reign. When 32 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: Genghis died in twelve twenty seven, his children and later 33 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:12,680 Speaker 1: grandchildren took control over different sections of the empire, but 34 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 1: by the time Kutu Young was born, the family was 35 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: at each other's throats. Kaido Kuto Young's father certainly had 36 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: great ambitions for his section of the empire, and he 37 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 1: relied heavily on his children in military conflict. Kuto Young 38 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: was raised alongside her fourteen brothers and learned to ride horses, 39 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: shoot a bow and arrow, raid, and wrestle with the 40 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: best of them. She was tall and strong, and there 41 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: were very few who could match her. The wrestling of 42 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: that time and place was very different from how it 43 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: is today. The match could get incredibly violent and often 44 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: involved direct hits like punches and kicks toward an opponent. 45 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,399 Speaker 1: There were no weight classes or experienced levels. Anyone could 46 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: wrestle anyone, and they didn't stop until the opponent was 47 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: on the ground. Although she never backed down from an insult, 48 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: she was incredibly disciplined and was a fierce warrior in 49 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: her father's military campaigns. Much of the information about kuto 50 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: Young comes from one of history's greatest tourists, Marco Polo. 51 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: He wrote that in battle, kuto Young was quick, fearless, 52 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: and willing to take risks. Sometimes she would quit her 53 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: father's side, he wrote, and make a dash at the 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: host of the enemy, and sees some man thereabouts, as 55 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird and carry 56 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: him to her father. And this she did many a time. 57 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,679 Speaker 1: Genghis Khan's descendants were a dynasty, and like any other dynasty, 58 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: they needed airs. Given Kuto Young was her father's favorites, 59 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 1: any of her children would likely succeed him, so he 60 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: was eager for her to marry. But she had a condition. 61 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: She wouldn't marry anyone who couldn't defeat her in a 62 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: wrestling match. Kaido had agreed, although he might not have 63 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: known what he was getting into. So the news spread 64 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 1: that if a suitor was willing to wage your horses, 65 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: which were and are extremely valuable to the Mongolian people, 66 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: they could enter a match to marry Kutu Young. The 67 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: number of horses wagered varies from source to source, but 68 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: Kuto Young always won and her herd grew to a 69 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: staggering size. Despite the track record, suitors still came to 70 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: challenge her, confident that they would be different from the 71 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: previous ones. One story tells of a young suitor who 72 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: was cockier than most and bet one thousand horses that 73 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: he would be able to best Kutu Young. Kaido and 74 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: his wife liked this candidate and privately asked Kuta Young 75 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: if she would swallow her pride and lose on purpose 76 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: so that they could add the young man to the family. 77 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: Kutu Young smiled and wiped the floor with him. She 78 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: did marry, though, but the records are a bit sketchy 79 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: on who. Some claim that it was a loyal lieutenant 80 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: of her father's. Others say that she fell in love 81 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: with Ghazene, the Khan of Persia. There's even a wilder 82 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: story about her falling in love with an assassin sent 83 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 1: by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty in China to 84 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: kill her father. There's no record of whether any of 85 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 1: them beat her in a wrestling match, though Kaido meant 86 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: for his daughter and her children to succeed him, but 87 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: her many brothers weren't thrilled with that notion. From here, 88 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: Kuto Young's story starts to disappear from history. Her brothers 89 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: challenged her position as heir when their father died. She 90 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: may have clung to power for a time, but one 91 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: of her brothers was appointed to be the Great Khan instead. 92 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: Kutu Young died just five years after her father, and 93 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: from there largely disappeared from history in the West. But 94 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: although she lost her position, no one remembers Kutu Young 95 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: as a loser. Enthralled crowds had watched as she stepped 96 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 1: into the ring with one hopeful suitor after another and 97 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: trounced each and every one of them. Her sorry opponents 98 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:37,359 Speaker 1: would join the ranks of the many men that she 99 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: had bested and walk away without a bride and fewer horses. Today, 100 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: Kutu Young is considered one of the great figures in 101 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:50,039 Speaker 1: Mongolian history, and the traditional regalia and victory dances of 102 00:05:50,120 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 1: Mongolian wrestlers are all designed to honor her. Jeffrey was 103 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: having an excellent day. School had gone well, He'd gotten 104 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: to spend time with his friends, and it was shaping 105 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: up to be a beautiful afternoon. What more could a 106 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: little boy in nineteen sixty two possibly want. His father, Robert, 107 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: was not having a good day. His boss hadn't liked 108 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: a couple of the pitches he'd been working on for 109 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: a big project and had rejected them, which sent Robert 110 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: and his brother, Richard, also a business partner, into a panic. 111 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,920 Speaker 1: Roberts and Richard needed to come up with new ideas quickly, 112 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: or else they risked displeasing their boss and potentially losing 113 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: out on the project. When Jeffrey got home from school, 114 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: he found his dad in a bad mood. He later 115 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: recalled the house being dark when he got home, as 116 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,559 Speaker 1: his father had closed all of the shades to better 117 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: concentrates and hopefully beat his writer's block, or maybe just 118 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: to wallow still. Robert rallied when little Jeffrey got home 119 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: and asked him how school had been. Like most five 120 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: year old's, Jeffrey launched into an explanation of every little 121 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: detail of his day before getting to his really big story. 122 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: It was vaccination day at school and he had lined 123 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: up with all of his classmates to get the polio vaccine. 124 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: Schools were instrumental in the distribution of crucial vaccines to children, 125 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: and the polio vaccine is one of the most well 126 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 1: known rollouts. To most parents, it was a minor miracle 127 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: polio had plagued children for generations. This disease attacks the 128 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: nerve cells and even the central nervous system. It causes 129 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: muscles to deteriorates, which can result in paralysis, it's most 130 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: well known symptom, as well as trouble regulating breathing and 131 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: even death. It largely affected children, though adults weren't immune. 132 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: If they hadn't already caught the disease. Pictures of children 133 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: in iron lungs or trying to relearn to walk with 134 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: the help of canes and crutches were a common sight. 135 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:53,120 Speaker 1: Polio seemed to come and go like clockwork. Every summer, 136 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: there would inevitably be an outbreak when kids went to 137 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: the public pool or other communal activities. These outbreaks never 138 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: reached catastrophic levels that we might immediately jump to, though 139 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: they peaked in the United States in nineteen fifty two 140 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: with nearly sixty thousand cases. Certainly, bubonic plague, the Spanish flu, 141 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: and more recently COVID nineteen had higher impacts on the population, 142 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,679 Speaker 1: but that didn't mean news of a polio outbreak wasn't 143 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: met with alarm. America's most famous polio victim, President Franklin 144 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: Delano Roosevelt, helped found an organization called the March of Dimes, 145 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: which would dedicate time and funds to researching polio in 146 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: hopes of finding a vaccine. In nineteen thirty eight, he 147 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: appealed to the public as the polio epidemic during the 148 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: Great Depression worsened, and he asked for donations. Popular singer 149 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: Eddie Cantor joked that the public should send in dimes 150 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: to the President's organization, and it worked. Roughly two point 151 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: seven million dimes made their way to the White House 152 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,559 Speaker 1: and further donations followed. This campaign is what landed FDR's 153 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: face on the dime to memorialize his contributions to medical history. 154 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: Like the ice bucket Challenge for a LS, the March 155 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: of Dimes, as it came to be called, had a 156 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: huge effect on polio research. The organization appointed Jonas Salk 157 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: to lead the vaccine research efforts in nineteen forty nine, 158 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,200 Speaker 1: four years after President Roosevelt died. Salk struck gold in 159 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, and his vaccine was given for the 160 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: first time on February twenty three of nineteen fifty four 161 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: to some children at Arsenal Elementary in Pittsburgh. This was 162 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: just the beginning. Soon schools nationwide line their children up 163 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: to receive this crucial vaccine, and parents breathed a sigh 164 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: of relief as their kids walked out into the world 165 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: with a bit more protection. Salk's vaccine and later Albert Sabins, 166 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: became an expected part of the school year for first, 167 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: second or third graders. Admittedly, these safety benefits were the 168 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:43,800 Speaker 1: last thing on kids minds as they lined up to 169 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: get the jab, and even the promise of a piece 170 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: of candy afterwards couldn't keep some of them from freaking out. 171 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: Like many of us, Jeffrey hadn't been a fan of needles. 172 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: Robert knew his son hadn't done well with shots in 173 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: the past. In fact, Jeffrey had tried to run away 174 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: from nurses who were trying to give him them. Robert 175 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: was surprised his son had let anyone give him a 176 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: shot with no fuss and asked it if it had hurt. 177 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: Jeffrey grinned and said no, that the nurse had given 178 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: him a little cup with a sugar cube in it, 179 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: and that the shot was inside the cube. Robert stared 180 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: at his son for a moment and then went to 181 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:19,199 Speaker 1: call his brother. Jeffrey had no other way of knowing 182 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: that he had just helped make musical history. Richard and 183 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: Robert Sherman had been hard up for a song idea 184 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 1: for days, and the team had been going round and 185 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: round with author P. L. Travers for years trying to 186 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: make a movie about her beloved characters. The Sherman Brothers 187 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,119 Speaker 1: song through the eyes of love had just been rejected, 188 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: and they needed to come up with something to replace 189 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: it fast. Hence the writer's block. After all, no one 190 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: wanted to disappoint the Great Walt Disney. Jeffrey's conversation with 191 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: his father about an ordinary day at school had sparked 192 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: an extraordinary idea that would resonate with generations of children 193 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,200 Speaker 1: who didn't want to take their medicine, and they would 194 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 1: learn that lesson in the film Mary Poppins, because sometimes 195 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: all you do need is a spoonful of sugar to 196 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: help the medicine go down. I hope you've enjoyed today's 197 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 198 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 199 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 200 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky in partnership with How Stuff Works. I 201 00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 202 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 203 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com. 204 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:39,599 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.