February 12, 2019 • 9 mins
Whether it's a battle for historical heritage, or a fight against Mother Nature, everyone on today's tour has had to endure some kind of struggle.
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Episode Transcript
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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. When we think of the British,
(00:29):
the French, and the Russians fighting against the Ottoman Empire,
we think of World War One, when millions of soldiers
joined forces and took up arms to combat the growing
international threat. We tend to forget, however, that these allies
banded together once before, in order to help a country
and a culture in need. It was eighteen twenty one
(00:50):
and the Greeks had been living under the Ottoman's thumb
for over four hundred years. Some Greeks had done well
working within the Empire. They had grown wealthy and gained
status as pure to the powers that be, But underneath,
the lower classes felt the full brunt of the empire
on their throats. Heavy taxes kept them in poverty, and
their cultural identity was being strangled. An underground movement of
(01:13):
Greek nationalism started brewing among the people. They had tried
to revolt before, but their efforts had always failed due
to infighting and a lack of numbers. To those at
the top, a revolution meant the loss of everything they
had earned. Though they had gained their freedom, they couldn't
bear to start over at the bottom again. The peasants,
though they didn't mind. A fresh start would be good
(01:35):
for everyone, and once they were free, it would mean
a better life for all Greeks, not just a select few.
But they had to be smart about it. A handful
of Greek organizers got wise and realized they'd never be
able to beat their Turkish oppressors with a head on assault.
If they ever hope to win back their independence, their
plan of attack had to happen when the Turks weren't
(01:56):
expecting it, Except the Turks were expecting it by way
of a little birdie who let them in on the secret.
So the Greeks moved the date of their uprising up
by a few weeks, and soon cities all over the
country took up arms against the Empire. As is common
in war, it's very easy for a foreign power to
destroy defending countries. Culture bullets and fire consume many important
(02:21):
buildings as the battle rages on, but the Greeks worked
tirelessly to preserve the things that made up their identity
to not let the Turks destroy them. Paintings, sculptures, books,
and other cultural touchstones were carried away and stored for
safe keeping out of the line of fire fighting. Was
kept away from important architectural sites as much as possible. Unfortunately,
(02:44):
it was their determination to conserve their history that made
the Greeks such an easy target for the Turks. As
the war raged on, armed masses took on Turkish garrisons
with great success, forcing them out of the cities and
into the part of the country the Greeks had hoped
to keep off limits. At the same time, Ottoman resources
(03:05):
started getting scarce, especially ammunition, But the Turks saw an
opportunity in their predicament. While they couldn't tackle the scores
of angry Greeks coming after them, they could kill the
next best thing, their culture. The Turks began tearing down
the columns of the Parthenon in order to get at
the lead inside, which could be melted down and made
(03:26):
into bullets. The Greeks knew what would happen if they
lost the war and their legacy to the Ottoman Empire.
All traces of them would be wiped off the planet,
and their contributions to the world might be lost forever.
So the Greeks tried a new tactic to get them
to stop harvesting the Parthenon. They gave them their ammo.
(03:47):
That's right, the Greek forces handed over their own bullets
to the enemy, just so that they would leave one
of their greatest cultural landmarks alone. And it worked. The
Turks managed to bounce back thanks to the Greek's donation.
They also gained a little extra help from their Egyptian
allies and almost robbed the Greeks of their freedom. That
is until England, France, and Russia joined in on the
(04:10):
revolution eleven years later. With the rest of the world
by their side, the Greeks were able to negotiate their
independence from Ottoman rule, and thanks to their generosity, the Parthenon,
or at least what's left of it, is still standing today.
(04:40):
Turn on the news today, and outside of the latest
political turmoil, you'll probably see Mother Nature terrorizing some part
of the world. Volcanoes in Indonesia triggering devastating tsunamis, tornadoes
in the Midwest reducing homes to nothing but splinters, and
perhaps the most destructive of all, catastrophic forest fires and
California that have burned entire neighborhoods to ash. And let's
(05:04):
not forget the Category five hurricanes that have all but
wiped entire islands off the map. It's enough to make
you think the end of the world is close at hand. Well,
such assumptions are nothing new, and if you lived in
New England in seventeen eighty you might have thought the
same thing. The skies from Maine to New Jersey had
(05:25):
been yellow in the days leading up to the bizarre
events that occurred on May nineteen. The region had just
emerged from one of the coldest winters ever recorded, and
warmth was still hard to come by, even as spring
had begun to bloom. But instead of a bright golden
sun up above, it's shown red during the day, giving
way to a pinkish moon at night. Down below, Rivers
(05:47):
and lakes were blackened with soots, and signs of smoke
were all around. Given that we were still hundreds of
years away from social media and twenty four news coverage,
people came up with all sorts of reasons as to
why they thought was happening, and many jumped to the
same conclusion. The end of days was nigh. Then, on
(06:08):
May nine, the symptoms that had plagued New England for
the last several days culminated in a strange and extraordinary phenomenon.
The sky went completely dark. A thick fog enveloped the
northeastern United States and parts of Canada for over a day.
Reports came in from upstate New York, where the sun
wasn't rising. In parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, candles were
(06:32):
required from two pm onward, and it wasn't just the
people who were affected. Roosters had no idea what time
it was and crowed in the middle of the afternoon.
Crickets chirped as though night had fallen. Early, cows retired
to their stalls, believing the day to be over, and
farmers couldn't tell the difference between manure and the ash
(06:53):
that had fallen inches thick. In some places, clergy believed
the day of judgments had aid, and people flooded churches
to confess their sins. The less religious fled to taverns,
where they filled their bellies with drink and converted with
women as they tried to forget that tomorrow just might
not come. All manner of explanations were tossed around as
(07:16):
to the cause of the darkness, everything from planetary movements
and meteor strikes to God's anger toward the Revolutionary War.
No one at the time had any real insight into
why the skies had suddenly turned black. But we know
better today. Based on the records of the events and
the eyewitness reports at the time, we can make more
(07:37):
informed assumptions as to what transpired on that faithful day.
But we also have the trees. Yeah, trees, you see,
trees can tell us a lot about history thanks to
their growth rings. Researchers examining the growth rings on trees
in Ontario, Canada noticed extensive scar damage on some of
the inner rings from when the trees were young. Um
(08:00):
those scars, they were able to deduce that an enormous
forest fire in that area may have caused the darkness
that fell upon New England back in seventeen eighty. Today,
our forest fires are certainly dangerous, and they have been
known to cause miles and miles of destruction. Thanks to
news networks and social media, we know just how horrific
(08:21):
they can be to live through, and many of us
have friends or family who have been touched by those events,
which puts the dark Day of May sevent eighty into
real perspective. A fire so massive that it left inches
of ash all over New England and blotted out the
sun for an entire day. Combine that with those eerie
(08:41):
red sunsets that led up to the darkness. It's frightening
to imagine just how bad that blaze must have been
to have left such destruction and chaos in its wake.
And thanks to the unpredictability of the world we live in,
it also leaves us with a chilling thought, what if
something that massive happened again. Let's hope we never find out.
(09:09):
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 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,
(09:31):
and you can learn all about it over at the
World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
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. When we think of the British,
(00:29):
the French, and the Russians fighting against the Ottoman Empire,
we think of World War One, when millions of soldiers
joined forces and took up arms to combat the growing
international threat. We tend to forget, however, that these allies
banded together once before, in order to help a country
and a culture in need. It was eighteen twenty one
(00:50):
and the Greeks had been living under the Ottoman's thumb
for over four hundred years. Some Greeks had done well
working within the Empire. They had grown wealthy and gained
status as pure to the powers that be, But underneath,
the lower classes felt the full brunt of the empire
on their throats. Heavy taxes kept them in poverty, and
their cultural identity was being strangled. An underground movement of
(01:13):
Greek nationalism started brewing among the people. They had tried
to revolt before, but their efforts had always failed due
to infighting and a lack of numbers. To those at
the top, a revolution meant the loss of everything they
had earned. Though they had gained their freedom, they couldn't
bear to start over at the bottom again. The peasants,
though they didn't mind. A fresh start would be good
(01:35):
for everyone, and once they were free, it would mean
a better life for all Greeks, not just a select few.
But they had to be smart about it. A handful
of Greek organizers got wise and realized they'd never be
able to beat their Turkish oppressors with a head on assault.
If they ever hope to win back their independence, their
plan of attack had to happen when the Turks weren't
(01:56):
expecting it, Except the Turks were expecting it by way
of a little birdie who let them in on the secret.
So the Greeks moved the date of their uprising up
by a few weeks, and soon cities all over the
country took up arms against the Empire. As is common
in war, it's very easy for a foreign power to
destroy defending countries. Culture bullets and fire consume many important
(02:21):
buildings as the battle rages on, but the Greeks worked
tirelessly to preserve the things that made up their identity
to not let the Turks destroy them. Paintings, sculptures, books,
and other cultural touchstones were carried away and stored for
safe keeping out of the line of fire fighting. Was
kept away from important architectural sites as much as possible. Unfortunately,
(02:44):
it was their determination to conserve their history that made
the Greeks such an easy target for the Turks. As
the war raged on, armed masses took on Turkish garrisons
with great success, forcing them out of the cities and
into the part of the country the Greeks had hoped
to keep off limits. At the same time, Ottoman resources
(03:05):
started getting scarce, especially ammunition, But the Turks saw an
opportunity in their predicament. While they couldn't tackle the scores
of angry Greeks coming after them, they could kill the
next best thing, their culture. The Turks began tearing down
the columns of the Parthenon in order to get at
the lead inside, which could be melted down and made
(03:26):
into bullets. The Greeks knew what would happen if they
lost the war and their legacy to the Ottoman Empire.
All traces of them would be wiped off the planet,
and their contributions to the world might be lost forever.
So the Greeks tried a new tactic to get them
to stop harvesting the Parthenon. They gave them their ammo.
(03:47):
That's right, the Greek forces handed over their own bullets
to the enemy, just so that they would leave one
of their greatest cultural landmarks alone. And it worked. The
Turks managed to bounce back thanks to the Greek's donation.
They also gained a little extra help from their Egyptian
allies and almost robbed the Greeks of their freedom. That
is until England, France, and Russia joined in on the
(04:10):
revolution eleven years later. With the rest of the world
by their side, the Greeks were able to negotiate their
independence from Ottoman rule, and thanks to their generosity, the Parthenon,
or at least what's left of it, is still standing today.
(04:40):
Turn on the news today, and outside of the latest
political turmoil, you'll probably see Mother Nature terrorizing some part
of the world. Volcanoes in Indonesia triggering devastating tsunamis, tornadoes
in the Midwest reducing homes to nothing but splinters, and
perhaps the most destructive of all, catastrophic forest fires and
California that have burned entire neighborhoods to ash. And let's
(05:04):
not forget the Category five hurricanes that have all but
wiped entire islands off the map. It's enough to make
you think the end of the world is close at hand. Well,
such assumptions are nothing new, and if you lived in
New England in seventeen eighty you might have thought the
same thing. The skies from Maine to New Jersey had
(05:25):
been yellow in the days leading up to the bizarre
events that occurred on May nineteen. The region had just
emerged from one of the coldest winters ever recorded, and
warmth was still hard to come by, even as spring
had begun to bloom. But instead of a bright golden
sun up above, it's shown red during the day, giving
way to a pinkish moon at night. Down below, Rivers
(05:47):
and lakes were blackened with soots, and signs of smoke
were all around. Given that we were still hundreds of
years away from social media and twenty four news coverage,
people came up with all sorts of reasons as to
why they thought was happening, and many jumped to the
same conclusion. The end of days was nigh. Then, on
(06:08):
May nine, the symptoms that had plagued New England for
the last several days culminated in a strange and extraordinary phenomenon.
The sky went completely dark. A thick fog enveloped the
northeastern United States and parts of Canada for over a day.
Reports came in from upstate New York, where the sun
wasn't rising. In parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, candles were
(06:32):
required from two pm onward, and it wasn't just the
people who were affected. Roosters had no idea what time
it was and crowed in the middle of the afternoon.
Crickets chirped as though night had fallen. Early, cows retired
to their stalls, believing the day to be over, and
farmers couldn't tell the difference between manure and the ash
(06:53):
that had fallen inches thick. In some places, clergy believed
the day of judgments had aid, and people flooded churches
to confess their sins. The less religious fled to taverns,
where they filled their bellies with drink and converted with
women as they tried to forget that tomorrow just might
not come. All manner of explanations were tossed around as
(07:16):
to the cause of the darkness, everything from planetary movements
and meteor strikes to God's anger toward the Revolutionary War.
No one at the time had any real insight into
why the skies had suddenly turned black. But we know
better today. Based on the records of the events and
the eyewitness reports at the time, we can make more
(07:37):
informed assumptions as to what transpired on that faithful day.
But we also have the trees. Yeah, trees, you see,
trees can tell us a lot about history thanks to
their growth rings. Researchers examining the growth rings on trees
in Ontario, Canada noticed extensive scar damage on some of
the inner rings from when the trees were young. Um
(08:00):
those scars, they were able to deduce that an enormous
forest fire in that area may have caused the darkness
that fell upon New England back in seventeen eighty. Today,
our forest fires are certainly dangerous, and they have been
known to cause miles and miles of destruction. Thanks to
news networks and social media, we know just how horrific
(08:21):
they can be to live through, and many of us
have friends or family who have been touched by those events,
which puts the dark Day of May sevent eighty into
real perspective. A fire so massive that it left inches
of ash all over New England and blotted out the
sun for an entire day. Combine that with those eerie
(08:41):
red sunsets that led up to the darkness. It's frightening
to imagine just how bad that blaze must have been
to have left such destruction and chaos in its wake.
And thanks to the unpredictability of the world we live in,
it also leaves us with a chilling thought, what if
something that massive happened again. Let's hope we never find out.
(09:09):
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 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,
(09:31):
and you can learn all about it over at the
World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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