May 2, 2019 • 11 mins
Today's tour is all about identity. One tale is about a man without one, while the other is about a man who invented a new one. Either way, they make for great additions to the Cabinet.
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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. There's an old joke about
(00:29):
how everything in Australia wants to kill you, from honey
bees to Eastern brown snakes the bull sharks. It seems
every living creature was designed to inflict the most damage
possible on the local population. But there is one death
on record there that can't be blamed on the wildlife.
The victim's identity is still a mystery today, known only
(00:50):
by where the police found him, on a beach south
of Adelaide, Australia, near Somerton Park. It's unlikely though, that
he was killed by a snake or a shark, because
there were no white marks anywhere on his body. When
the police found him on the morning of December one,
he was lying face up in the sand with his
legs crossed at the ankles. At first glance, he looked
(01:12):
to be sleeping, but as the officers got closer they
realized the situation was far worse. They searched the body
for identification, wallets or a driver's license, anything to help
their investigation. What they found instead was an unlit cigarette
resting on his collar, a collection of unusual artifacts in
his pockets, including an unpunched second class train ticket to
(01:35):
Henley Beach about eleven kilometers away, an unused bus ticket,
an American hair comb, some chewing gum, half a pack
of cigarettes, and a match box. He had been a
fit man, and according to the corner, his feet and
legs were those of a dancer or someone who often
wore high heeled boots with pointed toes. The labels on
(01:56):
his clothes had been removed, and he carried no wallet
or hat. Even dental records proved fruitless. By all accounts,
the man didn't exist, and he appeared to have committed suicide.
An investigation into his death began almost immediately after he
was brought in for examination. According to the Corner, his
organs had become congested and there was blood in his stomach.
(02:20):
His spleen had grown to three times its normal size,
and all these signs pointed to the man having been
poisoned hours before his death. Witnesses soon came forward and
described the man who the night before. They had seen
in the same area around seven p m. He had
extended his right arm about as far as it would
go and then let it drop to his side. He
(02:42):
didn't move again after that. Despite the numerous reports, though
no one was ever able to identify the stranger on
the beach. It wasn't until over a month later when
another clue showed up. A suit case had been discovered
at a local train station after being checked into the
station's coat room towards the end of November, but it
was never reclaimed. Its label had been removed, so identifying
(03:05):
its owner would have been problematic, but a suitcase full
of clothing lacking identifying information seemed to fit what they
were looking for already, so it was assumed that this
luggage belonged to the victim. The only items in the
suitcase with any kind of name on them were a tie,
a laundry bag, and a vest, all of which bore
the last name Keen, but no one by that name
(03:26):
had been on any incoming trains at all. In June
of nine, an inquest was launched by the coroner's office
to determine the true cause of death beyond a reasonable doubt,
which meant Examining all the evidence, This included the man's clothing.
Inside a small pocket sewn into his trousers, the police
found a tiny slip of rolled up paper with the
(03:49):
words to mom should written in a strange font. It
had come from an English translation of a Persian poem
called the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam. The authorities conducted a
nationwide hunt for a copy, releasing a photo of the
tiny rectangle of paper to the public. It didn't take
long for someone to step forward. A man with a
(04:10):
nineteen forty one edition of the book took it to
police headquarters, where he not only showed the page where
the words had been cut out, but also where someone
had used the book to write something down. Indentations were
detected on the back cover. Someone had written down a
phone number and a kind of coded message, using the
Rubaiyat as a flat surface. More experts were called in,
(04:32):
hopefully trying to decrypt the message, but there was too
little information to use. It seemed everything about the victim
had led to this dead end, his identity, his life,
and the message he had left behind. Even after all
these years, no one has been able to identify the
summer to man. The only part of the case that
bears any kind of closure is that scrap of paper
(04:55):
found in his pants pocket. We know where it came from,
and we know at the raise to mom should means finished,
a message that tells us absolutely nothing new about the
mystery man, and yet summarizes his story perfectly. A curious
end to a curious tail, however frustrating that might be.
(05:31):
The world has a way of breaking a person down.
Suffer enough failures, and you'll find yourself at rock bottom,
clawing your way back to the top, or at least
out of the hole you've dug for yourself. However, while
some wallow in self pity and wait for something good
to happen, a rare few actually find the strength to
get out there and do what needs to get done
(05:51):
to succeed, pulling oneself up by the bootstraps and seeking
out a better life, even if they have to take
it by force. And that's or Joshua comes in. Born
around eighteen eighteen in England, he moved to South Africa
with his family as part of a group known as
the eighteen twenties Settlers, in order to colonize South Africa
on behalf of the British. He lived there for many
(06:13):
years until eighteen forty nine, when he got word of
the gold rush happening on America's West coast. His goal
was to pursue the elusive American dream. He found a
niche for himself in San Francisco as a real estate developer,
but as greed quickly tripped him up. Several years later,
he saw a new opportunity though, and entered yet another market,
(06:35):
rice speculation. You See, back then, China was facing a
famine and had stopped shipping rice outside the country. The
price went through the roof here in the United States,
and when Joshua got word of a cargo ship hauling
two thousand pounds of it from Peru, he bought the
whole shipment. His strangle hold on the rice industry didn't
(06:55):
last long, though more cargo ships had already been dispatched
to the US. The demand for Joshua's stock plummeted, as
did his prices, and after a lengthy and expensive litigation process,
poor Mr Norton had to face the treacherous new frontier
of bankruptcy. The losses and failures had all become too
much for him, so Joshua left San Francisco for well
(07:19):
somewhere no one really knows where, But he returned a
year later as a different man. A very different man.
You see, he'd had a revelation. Rather than try and
work his way back up to his old standing as
a successful businessman, Joshua chose to reach higher, and no
one was going to stop him. He started sending in
(07:40):
letters to local newspapers urging congressman from all over the
country to come meet with him. Why because Joshua, as
it so happened, had declared himself Emperor of the United States.
He had big ideas for the country, including the disillusion
of the United States Congress. He also wanted to break
(08:00):
up the country into smaller factions and eliminate the two
party system from the political process. He often strutted up
and down San Francisco streets in a blue military uniform
adorned with gold epaulets and a hat out of which
stuck a peacock feather. He regaled the public with lectures
about many topics, and surprisingly, everyone loved him. He was
(08:23):
a local celebrity who often ate for free at any
restaurant of his choosing. He never had to buy tickets
to shows or concerts, and he even created his own
currency to pay for whatever he wanted, called Norton dollars,
and people simply accepted it as real money. Unfortunately for Joshua,
while his exploits earned him the favor of his fellow
(08:44):
San Franciscan's, the local police weren't as hospitable. One officer
even arrested him with the intention of having him committed
to a mental health facility for his wild declarations and
odd behavior. But the people wouldn't have it. Both the
public and the local media voiced their displeasure with the arrest.
The police chief had no choice but to release him
(09:06):
as an act of good faith, Emperor Norton proceeded to
pardon the officer who had arrested him. Throughout his rule,
if you could call it that, Joshua Norton ordered numerous
acts as Emperor of the United States. None of his
decrees were ever carried out, of course, seeing as how
the official US government didn't acknowledge him as emperor of anything. However,
(09:28):
there was one idea he proposed that the town didn't
throw away. It just took them a while to realize
its greatness. In eighteen seventy two, Joshua started looking for
a way to connect San Francisco with Oakland across the
San Francisco Bay. He ordered a suspension bridge be built
between the two cities. Although without any political or financial pull,
(09:49):
he was ignored. After all, it was nothing more than
a pipe dream from a man with no power or authority.
Emperor Norton passed away unexpectedly eight years later at the
corner of California Street and what is now Grant Avenue.
He'd been on his way to deliver a speech to
a group of college students. But although he has faded
from the memory of most, his dream was not forgotten.
(10:13):
Over fifty years later in construction was finally completed on
the San Francisco Oakland Bay Suspension Bridge. It connected the
two cities exactly as Norton had imagined it. Looking back,
one thing is certainly clear. The Emperor might not have
had any power, but he certainly had vision. I hope
(10:40):
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 and
(11:02):
you can learn all about it over at the world
of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
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. There's an old joke about
(00:29):
how everything in Australia wants to kill you, from honey
bees to Eastern brown snakes the bull sharks. It seems
every living creature was designed to inflict the most damage
possible on the local population. But there is one death
on record there that can't be blamed on the wildlife.
The victim's identity is still a mystery today, known only
(00:50):
by where the police found him, on a beach south
of Adelaide, Australia, near Somerton Park. It's unlikely though, that
he was killed by a snake or a shark, because
there were no white marks anywhere on his body. When
the police found him on the morning of December one,
he was lying face up in the sand with his
legs crossed at the ankles. At first glance, he looked
(01:12):
to be sleeping, but as the officers got closer they
realized the situation was far worse. They searched the body
for identification, wallets or a driver's license, anything to help
their investigation. What they found instead was an unlit cigarette
resting on his collar, a collection of unusual artifacts in
his pockets, including an unpunched second class train ticket to
(01:35):
Henley Beach about eleven kilometers away, an unused bus ticket,
an American hair comb, some chewing gum, half a pack
of cigarettes, and a match box. He had been a
fit man, and according to the corner, his feet and
legs were those of a dancer or someone who often
wore high heeled boots with pointed toes. The labels on
(01:56):
his clothes had been removed, and he carried no wallet
or hat. Even dental records proved fruitless. By all accounts,
the man didn't exist, and he appeared to have committed suicide.
An investigation into his death began almost immediately after he
was brought in for examination. According to the Corner, his
organs had become congested and there was blood in his stomach.
(02:20):
His spleen had grown to three times its normal size,
and all these signs pointed to the man having been
poisoned hours before his death. Witnesses soon came forward and
described the man who the night before. They had seen
in the same area around seven p m. He had
extended his right arm about as far as it would
go and then let it drop to his side. He
(02:42):
didn't move again after that. Despite the numerous reports, though
no one was ever able to identify the stranger on
the beach. It wasn't until over a month later when
another clue showed up. A suit case had been discovered
at a local train station after being checked into the
station's coat room towards the end of November, but it
was never reclaimed. Its label had been removed, so identifying
(03:05):
its owner would have been problematic, but a suitcase full
of clothing lacking identifying information seemed to fit what they
were looking for already, so it was assumed that this
luggage belonged to the victim. The only items in the
suitcase with any kind of name on them were a tie,
a laundry bag, and a vest, all of which bore
the last name Keen, but no one by that name
(03:26):
had been on any incoming trains at all. In June
of nine, an inquest was launched by the coroner's office
to determine the true cause of death beyond a reasonable doubt,
which meant Examining all the evidence, This included the man's clothing.
Inside a small pocket sewn into his trousers, the police
found a tiny slip of rolled up paper with the
(03:49):
words to mom should written in a strange font. It
had come from an English translation of a Persian poem
called the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam. The authorities conducted a
nationwide hunt for a copy, releasing a photo of the
tiny rectangle of paper to the public. It didn't take
long for someone to step forward. A man with a
(04:10):
nineteen forty one edition of the book took it to
police headquarters, where he not only showed the page where
the words had been cut out, but also where someone
had used the book to write something down. Indentations were
detected on the back cover. Someone had written down a
phone number and a kind of coded message, using the
Rubaiyat as a flat surface. More experts were called in,
(04:32):
hopefully trying to decrypt the message, but there was too
little information to use. It seemed everything about the victim
had led to this dead end, his identity, his life,
and the message he had left behind. Even after all
these years, no one has been able to identify the
summer to man. The only part of the case that
bears any kind of closure is that scrap of paper
(04:55):
found in his pants pocket. We know where it came from,
and we know at the raise to mom should means finished,
a message that tells us absolutely nothing new about the
mystery man, and yet summarizes his story perfectly. A curious
end to a curious tail, however frustrating that might be.
(05:31):
The world has a way of breaking a person down.
Suffer enough failures, and you'll find yourself at rock bottom,
clawing your way back to the top, or at least
out of the hole you've dug for yourself. However, while
some wallow in self pity and wait for something good
to happen, a rare few actually find the strength to
get out there and do what needs to get done
(05:51):
to succeed, pulling oneself up by the bootstraps and seeking
out a better life, even if they have to take
it by force. And that's or Joshua comes in. Born
around eighteen eighteen in England, he moved to South Africa
with his family as part of a group known as
the eighteen twenties Settlers, in order to colonize South Africa
on behalf of the British. He lived there for many
(06:13):
years until eighteen forty nine, when he got word of
the gold rush happening on America's West coast. His goal
was to pursue the elusive American dream. He found a
niche for himself in San Francisco as a real estate developer,
but as greed quickly tripped him up. Several years later,
he saw a new opportunity though, and entered yet another market,
(06:35):
rice speculation. You See, back then, China was facing a
famine and had stopped shipping rice outside the country. The
price went through the roof here in the United States,
and when Joshua got word of a cargo ship hauling
two thousand pounds of it from Peru, he bought the
whole shipment. His strangle hold on the rice industry didn't
(06:55):
last long, though more cargo ships had already been dispatched
to the US. The demand for Joshua's stock plummeted, as
did his prices, and after a lengthy and expensive litigation process,
poor Mr Norton had to face the treacherous new frontier
of bankruptcy. The losses and failures had all become too
much for him, so Joshua left San Francisco for well
(07:19):
somewhere no one really knows where, But he returned a
year later as a different man. A very different man.
You see, he'd had a revelation. Rather than try and
work his way back up to his old standing as
a successful businessman, Joshua chose to reach higher, and no
one was going to stop him. He started sending in
(07:40):
letters to local newspapers urging congressman from all over the
country to come meet with him. Why because Joshua, as
it so happened, had declared himself Emperor of the United States.
He had big ideas for the country, including the disillusion
of the United States Congress. He also wanted to break
(08:00):
up the country into smaller factions and eliminate the two
party system from the political process. He often strutted up
and down San Francisco streets in a blue military uniform
adorned with gold epaulets and a hat out of which
stuck a peacock feather. He regaled the public with lectures
about many topics, and surprisingly, everyone loved him. He was
(08:23):
a local celebrity who often ate for free at any
restaurant of his choosing. He never had to buy tickets
to shows or concerts, and he even created his own
currency to pay for whatever he wanted, called Norton dollars,
and people simply accepted it as real money. Unfortunately for Joshua,
while his exploits earned him the favor of his fellow
(08:44):
San Franciscan's, the local police weren't as hospitable. One officer
even arrested him with the intention of having him committed
to a mental health facility for his wild declarations and
odd behavior. But the people wouldn't have it. Both the
public and the local media voiced their displeasure with the arrest.
The police chief had no choice but to release him
(09:06):
as an act of good faith, Emperor Norton proceeded to
pardon the officer who had arrested him. Throughout his rule,
if you could call it that, Joshua Norton ordered numerous
acts as Emperor of the United States. None of his
decrees were ever carried out, of course, seeing as how
the official US government didn't acknowledge him as emperor of anything. However,
(09:28):
there was one idea he proposed that the town didn't
throw away. It just took them a while to realize
its greatness. In eighteen seventy two, Joshua started looking for
a way to connect San Francisco with Oakland across the
San Francisco Bay. He ordered a suspension bridge be built
between the two cities. Although without any political or financial pull,
(09:49):
he was ignored. After all, it was nothing more than
a pipe dream from a man with no power or authority.
Emperor Norton passed away unexpectedly eight years later at the
corner of California Street and what is now Grant Avenue.
He'd been on his way to deliver a speech to
a group of college students. But although he has faded
from the memory of most, his dream was not forgotten.
(10:13):
Over fifty years later in construction was finally completed on
the San Francisco Oakland Bay Suspension Bridge. It connected the
two cities exactly as Norton had imagined it. Looking back,
one thing is certainly clear. The Emperor might not have
had any power, but he certainly had vision. I hope
(10:40):
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 and
(11:02):
you can learn all about it over at the world
of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
H
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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