July 9, 2019 • 9 mins
Today, we meet a woman who survived a chilling ordeal, and take a look at a list of people that seems far too good to be true.
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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 are
right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
Welcome to the Cabinet of curiosities. The human body is
(00:28):
not meant to handle the extreme cold. Scores of aspiring
hikers of Parish trying to scale the deadly amount everest
souls were lost when the Titanic sank in, many of
whom froze to death in the frigid North Atlantic. When
our internal body temperature drops below degrees, hypothermia begins to
(00:49):
set in. Our breathing slows down, our pulse weakens, our
brain starts to lose function, and words become slurred while
our motor control falters. You don't want to get caught
in the cold, especially with no warmth or shelter nearby.
Aside from hypothermia, frostbite can claim fingers, toes and entire
(01:09):
limbs without proper treatment. Folks in places like Minnesota know
all about handling harsh winters and sub zero temperatures, if
only they'd been nearby when Jean Hilliard needed them. It
was a winter's night in nineteen eighty when Jeane lost
control of her car and ended up in a ditch.
The snow and ice prevented her from getting the car
(01:31):
back on the road. The temperature had reached minus twenty
two and the area was pretty rural. She caught sign
of a farmhouse not far from her position and decided
to trudge through the snow toward it. They'd have a
phone and she could call someone to come pick her up,
except when she got there, she learned it was empty.
She tried the next door neighbor's house, same result. Nobody
(01:54):
was home. Being farm country in Minnesota, neighbors weren't easy
to come by, and there wasn't an their house anywhere
in the area, but Jean remembered one about two miles back.
With no other options than to freeze in her car
until daybreak, she started walking the way she'd come. The
next day, the owner of the house, Wally Nelson, stepped
(02:15):
outside and noticed something in the snow. It was big
and it wasn't moving, so he inched toward it for
a closer look. It was a girl, Jean. In fact,
she had collapsed fifteen feet away from Wally's front door.
Her body had frozen solid and her skin had been
hardened by the cold. It was clear she had died overnight,
(02:36):
but while he was at a loss for what to
do about her. He could call the authorities, but they
wouldn't be able to get to him for some time,
and he couldn't just leave her in the snow. And
then he heard something faint, like a whisper. Jean moaned
at his feet. He carried her to his car and
placed her in the back seat while he turned on
(02:56):
the heat. He drove her to the nearest hospital, hoping
doctors might be able to save her. Her joints refused
to bend. The thermometers they used were useless on someone
so cold. They couldn't remove her boots either, as her
feet had frozen into the shape of their insides, and
her pulse was practically non existent. At twelve beats per minute.
(03:18):
By all measures, Jean was essentially dead and not expected
to survive the next twenty four hours. The doctor on duty,
doctor George Sather, heard the same faint moan as Wally,
and he knew he couldn't just let her go. He
wrapped her in an electric blanket and gave her oxygen.
Two hours later, her temperature had returned to nine degrees.
(03:42):
She burst back to life with a seizure before calming
down and getting her bearings. Despite her brief confusion as
to what had happened to her, Jeane was fine. Her
brain was still fully functional, and she didn't require physical
therapy once she got back on her feet. In fact,
doctors thought even if she did survive, they'd have to
amputate her legs from severe frost bite that they had sustained.
(04:05):
But that wasn't the case. The frost bite started to
fade away and her skin slowly returned to normal. It
was a miracle, they thought. Until tests came back they
revealed the simple explanation as to why Jean had survived overnight.
It wasn't because Wally had found her in time, nor
had there been any divine intervention. She merely had a
(04:27):
few drinks in her system when her car broke down.
The alcohol had prevented her organs from freezing, meaning her
skin had taken the brunt of the cold. Jean had
gotten a second chance at life, and I think it
would be fair to say that anyone would consider that
a sobering experience. History is a record, It tells future
(05:01):
generations where we came from and how we got to
where we are today. History is chock full of failures, successes,
and everything in between. It is a journey of cultures.
Yet many cultures have been lost to time, to invaders,
to fire and floods, and we have no way of
learning about them aside from the few clues that remain.
(05:23):
The ancient Egyptians left behind pyramids, temples, and tombs with
the story of their people illustrated on their walls. We
have statues and writings from the ancient Greeks to shed
light on their way of life and how they contributed
to the world at large. And then there's ancient Summer,
the basis for modern civilization as we know it today.
(05:44):
The Sumerians originally settled in Mesopotamia, a region in southern Iraq,
about four thousand BC. They made great advances in agriculture, technology,
and most importantly language. Sumerian was the primary tongue in
mesopotam Ama for over a thousand years before other languages
started to take hold. Canea form. Their written language lasted
(06:07):
for two thousand years longer. It was comprised of triangular
shaped markings etched into clay tablets it was used for
all sorts of communications. A message from King Xerxes was
uncovered in Turkey. Etched into the side of a mountain.
It described the great deeds accomplished by his family in
the region. Canea formed tablets have been found all across
(06:28):
the Middle East, but one has perplexed historians for decades.
It was a German American man named Herman Hilprecht who
first discovered it at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Known as the Sumerian King List, it details the names
of ancient rulers across the region and the lengths of
their reign. There are a few things surprising about it, though, First,
(06:51):
there are several versions of the text known to exist.
At least eighteen stone tablets have been found. However, the
most comprehensive version is known as the Old Blundel Prism,
a long eight inch column with four sides each side
jam packed with the names of ancient Sumerian kings. This
list is more than a chronology, though, it opens up
(07:11):
the door to endless questions about our past and what
we think we know. According to the list, many of
the ancient kings ruled for hundreds of years, such as
the mythical Gilgamesh. Sumerian kingship was meant for the divinely chosen.
According to one translation, one king ruled for twenty eight thousand,
eight hundred years, immediately followed by another king who reigned
(07:35):
for thirty six thousand years. That's two kings who ruled
for a combined sixty five thousand years. In fact, over
the course of more than two hundred forty one thousand years,
only eight kings ruled Summer, a staggering number. Even when
those reigns are broken down into more realistic ranges using
a variety of formulas and mathematical computations, those realistic reign
(08:00):
just number in the tens of hundreds of years, which
are still well outside our modern expectations. People just don't
live that long, and so historians have been left with
a puzzle to solve. Did the ancient Sumerian kings actually
reign for thousands of years? Or are we missing a
piece that unlocks the true meaning of these numbers. Perhaps
(08:21):
more information could be gleaned from other lists we haven't
found yet, that is, if they exist. Until then, we'll
have to keep looking. Although rare new stone tablets show
up from time to time, but it's hard to predict
how helpful they'll be. Some allow us to connect one
more dot, while others just make the mystery a little
more foggy. In the end, our best chance is to
(08:44):
keep looking, keep thinking, and keep putting the pieces together.
Oh and to make sure to never leave a stone unturned.
I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
(09:04):
the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
was created by me Aaron Mankey 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.
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 of curiosities. The human body is
(00:28):
not meant to handle the extreme cold. Scores of aspiring
hikers of Parish trying to scale the deadly amount everest
souls were lost when the Titanic sank in, many of
whom froze to death in the frigid North Atlantic. When
our internal body temperature drops below degrees, hypothermia begins to
(00:49):
set in. Our breathing slows down, our pulse weakens, our
brain starts to lose function, and words become slurred while
our motor control falters. You don't want to get caught
in the cold, especially with no warmth or shelter nearby.
Aside from hypothermia, frostbite can claim fingers, toes and entire
(01:09):
limbs without proper treatment. Folks in places like Minnesota know
all about handling harsh winters and sub zero temperatures, if
only they'd been nearby when Jean Hilliard needed them. It
was a winter's night in nineteen eighty when Jeane lost
control of her car and ended up in a ditch.
The snow and ice prevented her from getting the car
(01:31):
back on the road. The temperature had reached minus twenty
two and the area was pretty rural. She caught sign
of a farmhouse not far from her position and decided
to trudge through the snow toward it. They'd have a
phone and she could call someone to come pick her up,
except when she got there, she learned it was empty.
She tried the next door neighbor's house, same result. Nobody
(01:54):
was home. Being farm country in Minnesota, neighbors weren't easy
to come by, and there wasn't an their house anywhere
in the area, but Jean remembered one about two miles back.
With no other options than to freeze in her car
until daybreak, she started walking the way she'd come. The
next day, the owner of the house, Wally Nelson, stepped
(02:15):
outside and noticed something in the snow. It was big
and it wasn't moving, so he inched toward it for
a closer look. It was a girl, Jean. In fact,
she had collapsed fifteen feet away from Wally's front door.
Her body had frozen solid and her skin had been
hardened by the cold. It was clear she had died overnight,
(02:36):
but while he was at a loss for what to
do about her. He could call the authorities, but they
wouldn't be able to get to him for some time,
and he couldn't just leave her in the snow. And
then he heard something faint, like a whisper. Jean moaned
at his feet. He carried her to his car and
placed her in the back seat while he turned on
(02:56):
the heat. He drove her to the nearest hospital, hoping
doctors might be able to save her. Her joints refused
to bend. The thermometers they used were useless on someone
so cold. They couldn't remove her boots either, as her
feet had frozen into the shape of their insides, and
her pulse was practically non existent. At twelve beats per minute.
(03:18):
By all measures, Jean was essentially dead and not expected
to survive the next twenty four hours. The doctor on duty,
doctor George Sather, heard the same faint moan as Wally,
and he knew he couldn't just let her go. He
wrapped her in an electric blanket and gave her oxygen.
Two hours later, her temperature had returned to nine degrees.
(03:42):
She burst back to life with a seizure before calming
down and getting her bearings. Despite her brief confusion as
to what had happened to her, Jeane was fine. Her
brain was still fully functional, and she didn't require physical
therapy once she got back on her feet. In fact,
doctors thought even if she did survive, they'd have to
amputate her legs from severe frost bite that they had sustained.
(04:05):
But that wasn't the case. The frost bite started to
fade away and her skin slowly returned to normal. It
was a miracle, they thought. Until tests came back they
revealed the simple explanation as to why Jean had survived overnight.
It wasn't because Wally had found her in time, nor
had there been any divine intervention. She merely had a
(04:27):
few drinks in her system when her car broke down.
The alcohol had prevented her organs from freezing, meaning her
skin had taken the brunt of the cold. Jean had
gotten a second chance at life, and I think it
would be fair to say that anyone would consider that
a sobering experience. History is a record, It tells future
(05:01):
generations where we came from and how we got to
where we are today. History is chock full of failures, successes,
and everything in between. It is a journey of cultures.
Yet many cultures have been lost to time, to invaders,
to fire and floods, and we have no way of
learning about them aside from the few clues that remain.
(05:23):
The ancient Egyptians left behind pyramids, temples, and tombs with
the story of their people illustrated on their walls. We
have statues and writings from the ancient Greeks to shed
light on their way of life and how they contributed
to the world at large. And then there's ancient Summer,
the basis for modern civilization as we know it today.
(05:44):
The Sumerians originally settled in Mesopotamia, a region in southern Iraq,
about four thousand BC. They made great advances in agriculture, technology,
and most importantly language. Sumerian was the primary tongue in
mesopotam Ama for over a thousand years before other languages
started to take hold. Canea form. Their written language lasted
(06:07):
for two thousand years longer. It was comprised of triangular
shaped markings etched into clay tablets it was used for
all sorts of communications. A message from King Xerxes was
uncovered in Turkey. Etched into the side of a mountain.
It described the great deeds accomplished by his family in
the region. Canea formed tablets have been found all across
(06:28):
the Middle East, but one has perplexed historians for decades.
It was a German American man named Herman Hilprecht who
first discovered it at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Known as the Sumerian King List, it details the names
of ancient rulers across the region and the lengths of
their reign. There are a few things surprising about it, though, First,
(06:51):
there are several versions of the text known to exist.
At least eighteen stone tablets have been found. However, the
most comprehensive version is known as the Old Blundel Prism,
a long eight inch column with four sides each side
jam packed with the names of ancient Sumerian kings. This
list is more than a chronology, though, it opens up
(07:11):
the door to endless questions about our past and what
we think we know. According to the list, many of
the ancient kings ruled for hundreds of years, such as
the mythical Gilgamesh. Sumerian kingship was meant for the divinely chosen.
According to one translation, one king ruled for twenty eight thousand,
eight hundred years, immediately followed by another king who reigned
(07:35):
for thirty six thousand years. That's two kings who ruled
for a combined sixty five thousand years. In fact, over
the course of more than two hundred forty one thousand years,
only eight kings ruled Summer, a staggering number. Even when
those reigns are broken down into more realistic ranges using
a variety of formulas and mathematical computations, those realistic reign
(08:00):
just number in the tens of hundreds of years, which
are still well outside our modern expectations. People just don't
live that long, and so historians have been left with
a puzzle to solve. Did the ancient Sumerian kings actually
reign for thousands of years? Or are we missing a
piece that unlocks the true meaning of these numbers. Perhaps
(08:21):
more information could be gleaned from other lists we haven't
found yet, that is, if they exist. Until then, we'll
have to keep looking. Although rare new stone tablets show
up from time to time, but it's hard to predict
how helpful they'll be. Some allow us to connect one
more dot, while others just make the mystery a little
more foggy. In the end, our best chance is to
(08:44):
keep looking, keep thinking, and keep putting the pieces together.
Oh and to make sure to never leave a stone unturned.
I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
(09:04):
the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
was created by me Aaron Mankey 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.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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