1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Being the first person to accomplish something can 7 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: be both a blessing and a curse. The lack of 8 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: precedence can be free. There's nothing to live up to, 9 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: no legacy to overcome. However, being the first comes with 10 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: its own set of problems. For one, there's nobody to 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: tell you what to expect. One man didn't need anyone 12 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: to tell in the odds though. In fact, he was 13 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: the person reassuring people right before they did something risky. 14 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: This man, you see, was a surgeon. His name was 15 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: Evan O'Neil Kane, and he was born in eighteen sixty 16 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: one to Elizabeth and Thomas Kane. Thomas was a Civil 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: War hero and the founder of the town where they lived, Kane, Pennsylvania. 18 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: Elizabeth was a prominent doctor in the town. After Thomas's 19 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: death in eighteen eighty three, Elizabeth Evan and Evan's brother William, 20 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,479 Speaker 1: founded the Woodside Cottage Hospital right there in Kane. One 21 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: year later, Evan graduated with his medical degree in Philadelphia 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 1: before returning home to practice at the family's hospital. The 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 1: facility was unique and that the doctors who were not 24 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,279 Speaker 1: part of the Kane family often found themselves at odds 25 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: with Evan and the rest of the clan. For one, 26 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: when Evan became chief surgeon, he insisted his diagnosis be 27 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: the final word when it came to a patient's treatment, 28 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: even if he wasn't their primary doctor. Complaints by the 29 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: other medical staff resulted in Evan and his assistant to 30 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: be enforced to give up a little more control of 31 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: their hospital, but Evan didn't let it stop him. His 32 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: job had always been to put the patient's needs first. 33 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: Now he did this in a variety of ways, one 34 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: of which was as a railway surgeon. If a rail 35 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: worker was injured out on the tracks, Evan would travel 36 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: from the hospital to the scene of the accident and 37 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: stitch the patient up in the field. These incidents inspired 38 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: him to come up with new ways of performing cleaner, 39 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: more efficient surgeries when not in the sterilized environment. Of 40 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: the operating room. For example, he drafted a paper describing 41 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 1: a method of infusing the body with intravenous fluids while 42 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: away from the hospital. It prevented hemorrhage induced vein collapse 43 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: thanks to the ten needles supplying the fluids instead. The 44 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: design was modified by man named Edwin Hasbruck, but the 45 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: technique described by Kane in his original paper is still 46 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: in use today. Looking back, though, some of Kane's first 47 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: weren't so great as best as bandages may have been 48 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: a breakthrough when he invented them one hundred years ago, 49 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: but today they would pose a serious health risk. Still, 50 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: he did come up with a way for surgeons to 51 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: not only stitch up head wounds in the field, but 52 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: also see effects of the damage more easily by using 53 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: mica to make tiny windows into the brain. But perhaps 54 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: his greatest achievement was his contribution to surgery itself. In 55 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:12,320 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty one. Ether was often used as a general 56 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: anesthetic for all kinds of surgeries, no matter how big 57 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: or small. It was dangerous and in many cases wholly unnecessary. 58 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: Kine was sixty at this point and had already performed 59 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: roughly four thousand apendectomies. He'd always used a general anesthetic 60 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: like ether, but thought a local anesthetic might provide better 61 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: results as long as the patient could handle it. To 62 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: prove this, he scrubbed his hands and prepped for a 63 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: test appendectomy. He used a new kind of local anesthetic 64 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: called novocane to numb the area instead of a general anesthetic, 65 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: which put the patient to sleep. No Vocane had recently 66 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: pushed out cocaine as the local anesthetic of choice, since 67 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: it was far less dangerous and less addictive. Evan propped 68 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: the patient up on a few pillows, injected them with 69 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: no vocane, and got to work. The surgery took longer 70 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: than usual, but Evan was an expert. He cut through 71 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: the necessary tissue to remove the patient's appendix and seal 72 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: the blood vessels before stitching them up and sending them home. 73 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: The next day. The media was in awe of Evan's skill. 74 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: Newspapers printed article after article about the miracle surgery, which 75 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: didn't just use a new kind of anesthetic, but an 76 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: entirely new method of dissection mirrors. Evan had needed mirrors 77 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: to see what he was doing. His patient hadn't been 78 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: like the other four thousand he'd operated on in the past. 79 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: This one was different because this time Evan was the patient. 80 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: In fact, over the course of his career, Evan O'Neill 81 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: kane operated on himself three times. He performed a follow 82 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: up surgery on himself a little over ten years later, 83 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: when he was seventy years old. The plan was to 84 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: remove a hernia he had gotten in a horse writing accident. 85 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: He was back in the operating room just thirty six 86 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: hours later, though, stitched up and ready to get back 87 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: to work. And I know some might call that being 88 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: a show off, And while that might be true, I'd 89 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: prefer to think of it as more than a little curious. 90 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,679 Speaker 1: A person driven by their beliefs can do incredible things. 91 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: They can do immense good for the world, like helping 92 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: those less fortunate than themselves. They can also inflict pain 93 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: on those who don't share their beliefs, and in rare cases, 94 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: they can change what others believe as well, for better 95 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: or for worse. Martin Luther, for example, kicked off the 96 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: Protestant Reformation when he nailed his ninety five Theces to 97 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: the door of the Wittenberg Castle church in fifteen seventeen. 98 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: He was declared a heretic by the Catholic Church and 99 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: forced to go into hiding. Still, his beliefs made people 100 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: question their own, and he changed Christianity forever. Stephen and 101 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: Nicholas had also changed things. In the year twelve twelve, 102 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 1: Stephen of Klua, a small town in northern France, claimed 103 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: to have heard the voice of God. This voice, according 104 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: to Stephen, had told him to gather as many people 105 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: as he could find and march them into Jerusalem, where 106 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:10,160 Speaker 1: they would push out the Muslims living there and reclaim 107 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: the area for Christianity. Stephen traveled all over France, preaching 108 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: to crowds about how God had sent him on this 109 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: mission this crusade. Though some weren't swayed by his sermons, 110 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,600 Speaker 1: Stephen was able to garner support from over thirty thousand 111 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: believers who followed him across Europe. Unlike the first crusades 112 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,920 Speaker 1: that were launched in ten nine, Stephen's endeavor lacked two 113 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: big advantages. First, he didn't have the backing of the Pope, 114 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: and secondly, he and his followers were without weapons. Instead 115 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: of swords, shields, and spears, his followers carried crosses and 116 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,479 Speaker 1: flags that didn't bother Stephen, though, who was on a 117 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: mission of peace, not violence when it came to those 118 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: living in the Holy Land, even though invading another country 119 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: that way was automatically an act of hostility. Meanwhile, in Germany, 120 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: another crusader was building his own army. His name was Nicholas, 121 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: and he hadn't been spoken to by God. Instead, it 122 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: had been an angel that came to him with a 123 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: similar directive. Like Hannibal. In the year to eighteen BC, 124 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: Nicholas led his thousands of followers over the Alps in 125 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: order to reach Jerusalem. And while Stephen and Nicholas were 126 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 1: marching their orders from Heaven, the Catholic Church was getting nervous. 127 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: They hadn't sanctioned either of these movements, so they viewed 128 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: them more as potential enemies. Any immortal man with the 129 00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: power to convince that many people to follow them halfway 130 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: across the world was someone to fear. The thing was, 131 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: Stephen and Nicholas were not men. They were boys, twelve 132 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: year old boys, and their followers were children too, tens 133 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: of thousands of children who had been coaxed away from 134 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 1: their families to march with the purpose of displacing indigenous 135 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: people in the name of their own religion. As Steven 136 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: and his band of young crusaders reached Marseilla, they were 137 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: tired and hungry and wild with Zelo Tree. Nicholas's group 138 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: didn't fare any better once they finally crossed the Alps 139 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,800 Speaker 1: into Italy. In fact, it's believed that both armies disbanded 140 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,560 Speaker 1: at this point. Many gave up and returned home to 141 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: their families, while others stayed along the Italian coast and 142 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: found jobs. Their plan had been to work until a 143 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: ship came in that would carry them all to Jerusalem. Sadly, 144 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: quite a few children met unfortunate fates. They died at sea, 145 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: some became beggars on the streets, or were sold into slavery. 146 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: A very small collective did make it to Rome, though, 147 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: where they hoped to get a blessing for their mission 148 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: by the Pope himself. Instead, he gave them a pat 149 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: on the back and sent them home. There was no 150 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: way twelve year olds were going to carry out a 151 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: crusade by themselves, So how did two young boys manage 152 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,719 Speaker 1: to convince thousands of other children to follow them all 153 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 1: this way? Well, Stephen happened to tap into a collective 154 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: of children who believed that they had been put on 155 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: this earth to perform miracles. Nicholas, on the other hand, 156 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: used all sorts of other methods to lure children to 157 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: his cause, like impassioned sermons, the promise of miracles once 158 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: they reached Jerusalem, and songs. Nicholas gained a bit of 159 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: a reputation for his use of music to draw children 160 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,319 Speaker 1: to his cause, and because of that, the legend has 161 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,320 Speaker 1: it that he was the inspiration behind a chilling character 162 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: created around the year thirteen hundred. That tale also involved 163 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:19,079 Speaker 1: a musician who lured followers to go on a journey, 164 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: although his followers were not kids, but rats, a musician 165 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: named the Pied Piper. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided 166 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on 167 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting 168 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me 169 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make 170 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 171 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 172 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: about it over at the World of Lore dot com. 173 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.