July 17, 2018 • 7 mins
Unique and fascinating individuals are on display in the Cabinet today. One man's example sets the stage for more than a century of entertainment, while another man comes face to face with his own shadow.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Joseph Bell was born in
(00:28):
eighteen thirty seven in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, Scotland.
From the moment he took his first breath, he was
part of something larger than himself. He had a destiny
to fulfill, a purpose that seemed to be part of
who he was. There was no other path for him.
His great grandfather, Dr Benjamin Bell, is considered to be
the first truly scientific surgeon in Scotland. In the late
(00:51):
eighteenth century. You see, Edinburgh became one of the leading
centers of medical education in Europe, and many think that
this explosion of influence and progress would never have happened
without doctor Bell. His illustrious career helped all of Europe
move forward medically speaking. His son Joseph also became a surgeon,
(01:11):
as did his son Benjamin, and it was that Benjamin,
along with his wife Cecilia, who welcomed young Joseph into
their lives. Obviously, the boy grew up to become a doctor.
How could he not, being surrounded by so much of
that world, And apparently he was amazing at it, probably
the most talented physician the Bell dynasty had ever known.
(01:34):
All of that brilliance was apparently on full display when
Bell taught at the University of Edinburgh. His reputation as
a diagnostician was practically legendary by the end of the
nineteenth century. Bell believed that medical doctors could better serve
their patients if they were more observant. As he said himself,
he believed in the vast importance of little distinctions the
(01:57):
endless significance of trifles. The trouble, according to Bell, was
that people saw things without really observing. They needed to
be able to look past the obvious and see the
important details, and he proved this time after time in
his lectures by bringing in strangers and telling the students
all about the person's occupation, history, and medical needs, all
(02:20):
before the person spoke a word, and he was almost
always correct. Hundreds of students learned from Dr Bell over
the years that he taught there at the university. Most
of them went on to be physicians just like their professor,
but a few of them went into other careers. In fact,
a good number of authors came out of his classroom.
(02:40):
James M. Barry was one of them. He would later
go on to create the story of Peter Pan. Robert
Louis Stevenson, author of many popular novels including Doctor Jekyll
and Mr Hyde, was also among them. But it was
another student who turned his memories of Dr Joseph Bell
into the central character of a series of novels and
short stories that he published for decades. They were wildly
(03:04):
popular tales about a man with an amazing sense of
observation and ability to see things that others ignored, and
the true value of paying attention to all the little
trifles and distinctions around him. Of course, the world would
never know this character as the great Doctor Joseph Bell,
because that's not the name this author used when he
(03:25):
wrote about him. No, this author, Sir Arthur Ignacious Conan Doyle,
made up an entirely fictional name for the character his
medical professor had inspired, Sherlock Holmes. When the King arrived
(03:53):
in the small town just a few miles from Milan, Italy,
he was exhausted and hungry from his long day of travel.
He had come there to oversee a sporting competition the
following day and to present all of the awards to
the winners. But first order of business was to find
a meal and then get some rest. King Umberto the
First was born in eighteen forty four and had been
(04:16):
King of Italy for over twelve years when he arrived
in town that day in July of nineteen hundred. Historians
consider him to be a fairly unimpressive king, even after
taking his prior military career into consideration. That's all right,
though not every ruler can be extraordinary. Umberto and a
friend located a small restaurant nearby and found a seat
(04:38):
in the back. Honored to have the king in his restaurant,
the owner himself came out to take their orders, which
was when the conversation stopped. There was something familiar about
the owner that caused the king to stare in astonishment.
The two men were nearly identical in appearance, and both
of them mentioned as much same face, same height, aim weight.
(05:01):
The two of them could easily have passed as twins,
so the king asked for more details. It turns out
they both even shared the same birth date, right down
to the year and each of them married a woman
with the same name on the same date. The coincidences
continued to pile up similar military careers, although with different ranks,
(05:21):
and two separate occasions when both men were in the
same promotional ceremony at the same time. The king was
astounded and said as much. After the restaurant owner left
to have the food prepared, the king told his friend
that he would give this amazing stranger the gift of
a royal position the following day and asked that the
man be invited to the award ceremony, which he dutifully did,
(05:44):
but the man never showed up. With the events of
the day playing out around him, the king had taken
a seat and asked his friend where the restaurant owner
had gone. His friend was sad to inform him of
the terrible news that the man had gone hunting that
morning and been killed by at a bullet. The king's double,
a man who had mirrored every significant moment of his
(06:05):
own life and even looked just like him, was gone
less than a day after meeting him. The king didn't
have time to grieve, though. A moment after learning of
the man's death, a number of gunshots rang out in
the crowd around him, and the King toppled over the
red blossom of a gunshot wound appearing on his clothing.
(06:27):
They had shared everything, it seems, even death. I hope
you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
(06:49):
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 next time, stay curious.
(07:09):
H
Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
is an open book, all of these amazing tales right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Joseph Bell was born in
(00:28):
eighteen thirty seven in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, Scotland.
From the moment he took his first breath, he was
part of something larger than himself. He had a destiny
to fulfill, a purpose that seemed to be part of
who he was. There was no other path for him.
His great grandfather, Dr Benjamin Bell, is considered to be
the first truly scientific surgeon in Scotland. In the late
(00:51):
eighteenth century. You see, Edinburgh became one of the leading
centers of medical education in Europe, and many think that
this explosion of influence and progress would never have happened
without doctor Bell. His illustrious career helped all of Europe
move forward medically speaking. His son Joseph also became a surgeon,
(01:11):
as did his son Benjamin, and it was that Benjamin,
along with his wife Cecilia, who welcomed young Joseph into
their lives. Obviously, the boy grew up to become a doctor.
How could he not, being surrounded by so much of
that world, And apparently he was amazing at it, probably
the most talented physician the Bell dynasty had ever known.
(01:34):
All of that brilliance was apparently on full display when
Bell taught at the University of Edinburgh. His reputation as
a diagnostician was practically legendary by the end of the
nineteenth century. Bell believed that medical doctors could better serve
their patients if they were more observant. As he said himself,
he believed in the vast importance of little distinctions the
(01:57):
endless significance of trifles. The trouble, according to Bell, was
that people saw things without really observing. They needed to
be able to look past the obvious and see the
important details, and he proved this time after time in
his lectures by bringing in strangers and telling the students
all about the person's occupation, history, and medical needs, all
(02:20):
before the person spoke a word, and he was almost
always correct. Hundreds of students learned from Dr Bell over
the years that he taught there at the university. Most
of them went on to be physicians just like their professor,
but a few of them went into other careers. In fact,
a good number of authors came out of his classroom.
(02:40):
James M. Barry was one of them. He would later
go on to create the story of Peter Pan. Robert
Louis Stevenson, author of many popular novels including Doctor Jekyll
and Mr Hyde, was also among them. But it was
another student who turned his memories of Dr Joseph Bell
into the central character of a series of novels and
short stories that he published for decades. They were wildly
(03:04):
popular tales about a man with an amazing sense of
observation and ability to see things that others ignored, and
the true value of paying attention to all the little
trifles and distinctions around him. Of course, the world would
never know this character as the great Doctor Joseph Bell,
because that's not the name this author used when he
(03:25):
wrote about him. No, this author, Sir Arthur Ignacious Conan Doyle,
made up an entirely fictional name for the character his
medical professor had inspired, Sherlock Holmes. When the King arrived
(03:53):
in the small town just a few miles from Milan, Italy,
he was exhausted and hungry from his long day of travel.
He had come there to oversee a sporting competition the
following day and to present all of the awards to
the winners. But first order of business was to find
a meal and then get some rest. King Umberto the
First was born in eighteen forty four and had been
(04:16):
King of Italy for over twelve years when he arrived
in town that day in July of nineteen hundred. Historians
consider him to be a fairly unimpressive king, even after
taking his prior military career into consideration. That's all right,
though not every ruler can be extraordinary. Umberto and a
friend located a small restaurant nearby and found a seat
(04:38):
in the back. Honored to have the king in his restaurant,
the owner himself came out to take their orders, which
was when the conversation stopped. There was something familiar about
the owner that caused the king to stare in astonishment.
The two men were nearly identical in appearance, and both
of them mentioned as much same face, same height, aim weight.
(05:01):
The two of them could easily have passed as twins,
so the king asked for more details. It turns out
they both even shared the same birth date, right down
to the year and each of them married a woman
with the same name on the same date. The coincidences
continued to pile up similar military careers, although with different ranks,
(05:21):
and two separate occasions when both men were in the
same promotional ceremony at the same time. The king was
astounded and said as much. After the restaurant owner left
to have the food prepared, the king told his friend
that he would give this amazing stranger the gift of
a royal position the following day and asked that the
man be invited to the award ceremony, which he dutifully did,
(05:44):
but the man never showed up. With the events of
the day playing out around him, the king had taken
a seat and asked his friend where the restaurant owner
had gone. His friend was sad to inform him of
the terrible news that the man had gone hunting that
morning and been killed by at a bullet. The king's double,
a man who had mirrored every significant moment of his
(06:05):
own life and even looked just like him, was gone
less than a day after meeting him. The king didn't
have time to grieve, though. A moment after learning of
the man's death, a number of gunshots rang out in
the crowd around him, and the King toppled over the
red blossom of a gunshot wound appearing on his clothing.
(06:27):
They had shared everything, it seems, even death. I hope
you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
(06:49):
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 next time, stay curious.
(07:09):
H
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.