December 20, 2022 • 10 mins
Today's tour through the Cabinet features some cool stories with some hot takes.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I
Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full
of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:27):
of Curiosities. Despite existing for hundreds of thousands of years,
we humans have only scratched the surface of what we
know about our planet. There remain lands that have gone untouched,
depths that we have not reached, and mountains that we
(00:48):
have not climbed. The Earth is still keeping secrets after
all this time. But the more we explore and investigate,
one thing becomes clear. There are places that humans we're
not it to go, like Swalbard, located in the Arctic
Ocean between Norway and the North Pole. Small Bard is
an archipelago that was first discovered by Dutch explorer William
(01:10):
Barrens back in fifteen ninety six. Barrens had set out
in search of the Northern Sea Route, a shipping path
through the Arctic waters that wasn't officially conquered until eighteen
seventy eight, but he had high hopes. During his journey,
he spotted Spitzbergen, the largest of SMaL Bard's islands, which
made up over half of the archipelago. Nine years later,
(01:31):
an English ship made contact with another island in the cluster,
called Bornoja. It became a hot spot for walrus hunting.
After several more years, Spitzbergen turned into a major whaling
hub for the Dutch, the English, the Danish and the French.
But getting too small Bard is no easy feat. Its
climate is severe since it resides north of the Arctic Circle.
(01:53):
In the summer, the sun remains visible at midnight, while
the islands experienced almost permanent midnight during the winter. Say
steep percent of s Balbard has covered in glacial ice.
The remaining land is comprised of thirty rock and only
ten percent vegetation. It is a hostile part of the
world that has been responsible for hundreds, even thousands of deaths.
(02:15):
Even the guy who discovered the place, William Barrens, was
no exception. He had been on a return trip home
when his ship got trapped near the archipelago. Barrens, as
well as many of his crew, did not survive the winter,
but that didn't stop whalers and walrus hunters from traveling
to the islands. There was good money to be made
and they felt that the risk was worth it. Over
(02:36):
the next few hundred years, however, it was clear that
the opposite had been true. Whalers had come in search
of fortune but never left. Many, it was later revealed,
had succumbed to scurvy, the result of a vitamin C deficiency.
Ironically enough, whale meat is known to be high in
vitamin C today, but the whalers didn't think it was
edible at the time. A good number of men also
(02:57):
lost their lives due to the extreme cold, hunger, and
the occasional polar bear encounter. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The waters in that area of Smalbard had become a
base of operations for whalers from all over Europe, and
those of them who were unlucky enough to die there
were buried in graves along the shores of Lichnesset on
the northern coast of Spitzbergen. Now, thanks to the frigid
(03:20):
temperatures and relatively low humidity, their bodies were well preserved
these last three to four hundred years. Their nails and
hair had remained intact, and many of the deceased had
not decomposed at all. They looked like they had died
only yesterday. Unfortunately, their eternal slumber along the coastal cliff
side has been disturbed. In recent years, beginning in scientists
(03:42):
have been keeping an eye on Smalbard due to the
effects of climate change. You see, rising temperatures have shrunk
the perma frost that once covered so much of the
island and preserved the whalers bodies. Coffins have been exposed,
and how teams of researchers are traveling to Smalbard to
exhume the bodies and what they found is mind boggling.
Many of the deceased were buried wearing hats, socks, even wigs,
(04:06):
which have been well preserved all this time. Several of
the coffins were lined with fabric, and quite a few
corpses were wrapped in blankets for extra protection from the elements.
Those who had dug the graves had struggled to reach
the appropriate depths for burial, although they certainly did try
to keep polar bears and other predators away. They covered
the graves with rocks and stones. These seventeenth century whalers
(04:30):
have been teaching the rest of the world what times
were really like back then. Unfortunately, preservation teams don't have
much longer to learn. Though. Not only has climate change
eroded the grave sites, it has also sped up the
rate of decay for the corpses themselves. And that's the
side of climate change that often gets ignored. Not only
is it putting our future in jeopardy, but it's also
(04:52):
erasing our past. Life is full of hardships. From the
time we're born, we are faced with all kinds of adversity.
(05:13):
We may not be popular in school, or we might
not make much money, and we might eventually trade in
those bullies from school for bad bosses at work. But
as the old adage says, when life gives you lemons,
make lemonade. Although whoever came up with that saying might
want to change it, because, as the British learned, when
life freezes your river, throw a party. The River Thames
(05:34):
measures two d fifteen miles long and runs from Shrewsbury
Mead in Gloucestershire to the North Sea on England's southeastern coast.
Throughout its history, the Thames has been everything from a
maritime trade route to a massive sewer full of human waste.
Its waters have been responsible for cholera outbreaks during the
eighteen hundreds, as well as a stench so foul that
(05:55):
Parliament was unable to carry out official business at the
House of Commons. Unsurprisingly, London was the source of much
of the river's pollution due to its population and changing
urban landscape, and a good number of the buildings that
affected the water supply had been built around the city's
major crossing, London Bridge. There were no zoning laws during
(06:15):
the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, people erected homes and shop
fronts in close proximity to the bridge, and after some
time those structures began to falter as pieces of brick
and wood broke off into the Thames. The debris would
form small islands that would get trapped in its arches
and dam up the water flow. And as anyone who's
ever had a pipe burst in the winter can attest,
(06:37):
when water stops moving in cold weather it freezes. Large
sheets of ice formed during the coldest months of the year,
until eventually the whole river had frozen solid. This affected
the transportation of goods in and out of the city,
reducing the amount of food and supplies available for the
people who lived there. But something strange happened. Once the
(06:58):
Thames froze over, people started to enjoy it. They would
step onto the ice and marvel at the wonder of
a massive body of water that had turned into yet
another road for them to walk on. Eventually, enterprising beer
slingers and store owners took to the ice to set
up shop. Literally, they erected tents and pop up outlets
along the swath of the river where they sold everything
(07:20):
from fruit to fish, even shoes. Bowling contests were held,
and barbers set up chairs to handle shaves and haircuts.
Pretty soon, the frozen Thames looked like any other busy
London street. The Great Winter of sixteen eighty three and
sixteen eighty four saw printers haul their presses onto the
ice so that they could print up souvenir tickets for
(07:40):
fair goers. Kids sat around and giggled at puppet shows,
while folks went for sleigh rides around the fair. They
were also less than wholesome events for discerning adults too. Unfortunately,
the fun and merriments couldn't last forever. In seventeen thirty nine,
the Frost Fair was cut short when a massive sheet
of ice broke away and took numerous tents and attendees
(08:02):
with it, and as time passed, the winters grew increasing
the warmer. Eighteen fourteen marked the last Frost Fair the
Thames ever saw, although nobody knew that at the time,
that year saw one of the largest turnouts in fair history,
with thousands of Londoners flocking to the Thames for five
days of frivolity. They had everything to dancing, food vendors, booksellers,
(08:25):
and even an elephant tramping across the ice. In eighteen
thirty one, the existing London Bridge and its small archways
were torn down to make way for a bridge with
much wider arches. The new design meant that the river
could flow more freely underneath it, and the additional salt
content coming in from the sea increased the river's freezing point.
Nearly thirty years later, any chance of the Thames freezing
(08:48):
over again were dashed when the city introduced the greatest
threat the river had ever seen. Indoor plumbing. Sewage from
home toilets and factories now flowed straight into the Thames,
and during the summer months, when the sun cooked everything
in its path. The stench coming off the river was
almost as bad enough to peel the paint and wilt
the trees. Eventually, Parliament put forth a plan to fix
(09:10):
the Thames and in turn eliminate the smell, but it
was also the last nail in the coffin for any
more frost fares going forward. Today, climate change is thawing
out parts of the world that had once been covered
in ice. Storms are getting worse, Coastal areas are being
consumed by the ocean, and bodies of water are drying up.
But four years ago, when winters were cold enough to
(09:32):
freeze the seas around England, Londoners wouldn't let the weather
get them down. They simply walked out onto the Thames,
poured themselves a steaming cup of cider, and partied like
it was I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
(09:55):
or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
winning show called Lore which is a podcast, book series,
and television show and you can learn all about it
over at the world of Lore dot com. And until
(10:16):
next time, stay curious, Yeah,
Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of I
Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full
of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:27):
of Curiosities. Despite existing for hundreds of thousands of years,
we humans have only scratched the surface of what we
know about our planet. There remain lands that have gone untouched,
depths that we have not reached, and mountains that we
(00:48):
have not climbed. The Earth is still keeping secrets after
all this time. But the more we explore and investigate,
one thing becomes clear. There are places that humans we're
not it to go, like Swalbard, located in the Arctic
Ocean between Norway and the North Pole. Small Bard is
an archipelago that was first discovered by Dutch explorer William
(01:10):
Barrens back in fifteen ninety six. Barrens had set out
in search of the Northern Sea Route, a shipping path
through the Arctic waters that wasn't officially conquered until eighteen
seventy eight, but he had high hopes. During his journey,
he spotted Spitzbergen, the largest of SMaL Bard's islands, which
made up over half of the archipelago. Nine years later,
(01:31):
an English ship made contact with another island in the cluster,
called Bornoja. It became a hot spot for walrus hunting.
After several more years, Spitzbergen turned into a major whaling
hub for the Dutch, the English, the Danish and the French.
But getting too small Bard is no easy feat. Its
climate is severe since it resides north of the Arctic Circle.
(01:53):
In the summer, the sun remains visible at midnight, while
the islands experienced almost permanent midnight during the winter. Say
steep percent of s Balbard has covered in glacial ice.
The remaining land is comprised of thirty rock and only
ten percent vegetation. It is a hostile part of the
world that has been responsible for hundreds, even thousands of deaths.
(02:15):
Even the guy who discovered the place, William Barrens, was
no exception. He had been on a return trip home
when his ship got trapped near the archipelago. Barrens, as
well as many of his crew, did not survive the winter,
but that didn't stop whalers and walrus hunters from traveling
to the islands. There was good money to be made
and they felt that the risk was worth it. Over
(02:36):
the next few hundred years, however, it was clear that
the opposite had been true. Whalers had come in search
of fortune but never left. Many, it was later revealed,
had succumbed to scurvy, the result of a vitamin C deficiency.
Ironically enough, whale meat is known to be high in
vitamin C today, but the whalers didn't think it was
edible at the time. A good number of men also
(02:57):
lost their lives due to the extreme cold, hunger, and
the occasional polar bear encounter. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The waters in that area of Smalbard had become a
base of operations for whalers from all over Europe, and
those of them who were unlucky enough to die there
were buried in graves along the shores of Lichnesset on
the northern coast of Spitzbergen. Now, thanks to the frigid
(03:20):
temperatures and relatively low humidity, their bodies were well preserved
these last three to four hundred years. Their nails and
hair had remained intact, and many of the deceased had
not decomposed at all. They looked like they had died
only yesterday. Unfortunately, their eternal slumber along the coastal cliff
side has been disturbed. In recent years, beginning in scientists
(03:42):
have been keeping an eye on Smalbard due to the
effects of climate change. You see, rising temperatures have shrunk
the perma frost that once covered so much of the
island and preserved the whalers bodies. Coffins have been exposed,
and how teams of researchers are traveling to Smalbard to
exhume the bodies and what they found is mind boggling.
Many of the deceased were buried wearing hats, socks, even wigs,
(04:06):
which have been well preserved all this time. Several of
the coffins were lined with fabric, and quite a few
corpses were wrapped in blankets for extra protection from the elements.
Those who had dug the graves had struggled to reach
the appropriate depths for burial, although they certainly did try
to keep polar bears and other predators away. They covered
the graves with rocks and stones. These seventeenth century whalers
(04:30):
have been teaching the rest of the world what times
were really like back then. Unfortunately, preservation teams don't have
much longer to learn. Though. Not only has climate change
eroded the grave sites, it has also sped up the
rate of decay for the corpses themselves. And that's the
side of climate change that often gets ignored. Not only
is it putting our future in jeopardy, but it's also
(04:52):
erasing our past. Life is full of hardships. From the
time we're born, we are faced with all kinds of adversity.
(05:13):
We may not be popular in school, or we might
not make much money, and we might eventually trade in
those bullies from school for bad bosses at work. But
as the old adage says, when life gives you lemons,
make lemonade. Although whoever came up with that saying might
want to change it, because, as the British learned, when
life freezes your river, throw a party. The River Thames
(05:34):
measures two d fifteen miles long and runs from Shrewsbury
Mead in Gloucestershire to the North Sea on England's southeastern coast.
Throughout its history, the Thames has been everything from a
maritime trade route to a massive sewer full of human waste.
Its waters have been responsible for cholera outbreaks during the
eighteen hundreds, as well as a stench so foul that
(05:55):
Parliament was unable to carry out official business at the
House of Commons. Unsurprisingly, London was the source of much
of the river's pollution due to its population and changing
urban landscape, and a good number of the buildings that
affected the water supply had been built around the city's
major crossing, London Bridge. There were no zoning laws during
(06:15):
the seventeenth and eighteen centuries, people erected homes and shop
fronts in close proximity to the bridge, and after some
time those structures began to falter as pieces of brick
and wood broke off into the Thames. The debris would
form small islands that would get trapped in its arches
and dam up the water flow. And as anyone who's
ever had a pipe burst in the winter can attest,
(06:37):
when water stops moving in cold weather it freezes. Large
sheets of ice formed during the coldest months of the year,
until eventually the whole river had frozen solid. This affected
the transportation of goods in and out of the city,
reducing the amount of food and supplies available for the
people who lived there. But something strange happened. Once the
(06:58):
Thames froze over, people started to enjoy it. They would
step onto the ice and marvel at the wonder of
a massive body of water that had turned into yet
another road for them to walk on. Eventually, enterprising beer
slingers and store owners took to the ice to set
up shop. Literally, they erected tents and pop up outlets
along the swath of the river where they sold everything
(07:20):
from fruit to fish, even shoes. Bowling contests were held,
and barbers set up chairs to handle shaves and haircuts.
Pretty soon, the frozen Thames looked like any other busy
London street. The Great Winter of sixteen eighty three and
sixteen eighty four saw printers haul their presses onto the
ice so that they could print up souvenir tickets for
(07:40):
fair goers. Kids sat around and giggled at puppet shows,
while folks went for sleigh rides around the fair. They
were also less than wholesome events for discerning adults too. Unfortunately,
the fun and merriments couldn't last forever. In seventeen thirty nine,
the Frost Fair was cut short when a massive sheet
of ice broke away and took numerous tents and attendees
(08:02):
with it, and as time passed, the winters grew increasing
the warmer. Eighteen fourteen marked the last Frost Fair the
Thames ever saw, although nobody knew that at the time,
that year saw one of the largest turnouts in fair history,
with thousands of Londoners flocking to the Thames for five
days of frivolity. They had everything to dancing, food vendors, booksellers,
(08:25):
and even an elephant tramping across the ice. In eighteen
thirty one, the existing London Bridge and its small archways
were torn down to make way for a bridge with
much wider arches. The new design meant that the river
could flow more freely underneath it, and the additional salt
content coming in from the sea increased the river's freezing point.
Nearly thirty years later, any chance of the Thames freezing
(08:48):
over again were dashed when the city introduced the greatest
threat the river had ever seen. Indoor plumbing. Sewage from
home toilets and factories now flowed straight into the Thames,
and during the summer months, when the sun cooked everything
in its path. The stench coming off the river was
almost as bad enough to peel the paint and wilt
the trees. Eventually, Parliament put forth a plan to fix
(09:10):
the Thames and in turn eliminate the smell, but it
was also the last nail in the coffin for any
more frost fares going forward. Today, climate change is thawing
out parts of the world that had once been covered
in ice. Storms are getting worse, Coastal areas are being
consumed by the ocean, and bodies of water are drying up.
But four years ago, when winters were cold enough to
(09:32):
freeze the seas around England, Londoners wouldn't let the weather
get them down. They simply walked out onto the Thames,
poured themselves a steaming cup of cider, and partied like
it was I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
(09:55):
or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
winning show called Lore which is a podcast, book series,
and television show and you can learn all about it
over at the world of Lore dot com. And until
(10:16):
next time, stay curious, Yeah,
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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