July 31, 2025 • 9 mins
Let's explore some curioust stories from the world of athletics.
Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
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. Terry was one of
(00:37):
those kids who just wouldn't quit. Growing up on Canada's
West Coast. He was an athlete almost from day one.
Terry wasn't the tallest one on the court or the
fastest on the track, but when it came to determination,
no one had him beat. Terry loves sports and he
tried his hand at everything too. Soccer, rugby, diving, and
cross country. Basketball was his favorite, but he was pickie
(01:00):
if it got his blood pumping. He was all in
and his coaches loved him because he always gave one
hundred and ten percent, even in practice, and that drive
paid off. Soon after starting college at Simon Fraser University,
he walked on to the JV basketball team. He was
on his way to making varsity when he got the
diagnosis that changed his life. Osteogenic sarcoma a type of
(01:22):
bone cancer. Terry was just eighteen years old when he
learned that he had the disease. One minute, he was
playing basketball with his friends, and the next he was
facing chemotherapy and hospital beds. But Terry had never given
up before, and he wasn't starting now. Through months of
harsh treatments and grueling physical therapy, he kept his spirits high,
(01:43):
joking with nurses and comforting other patients around him, but
inwardly he grew frustrated. Terry was deeply affected by the
young children he met in the cancer ward, many of
whom had terminal diagnoses, and as he learned more about
the state of cancer research, he was stunned by how
little money was being put toward the cure. So as
(02:03):
his own treatment drew to an end, Terry came up
with a plan to fight the disease, not just for himself,
but for everyone. In nineteen eighty, he announced that he
would run across Canada from the Atlantic Ocean in Saint John's,
Newfoundland all the way to the Pacific.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
He called it the Marathon of Hope, and his goal
was to raise twenty four million dollars for cancer research,
one dollar for every Canadian He started out quietly in April,
taking a symbolic dip in the Atlantic, and then he
ran along highways and unpaved back roads, through wind, rain,
blistering heat, and even a snowstorm. He ate donated meals
(02:40):
and he slept in a cramped camper van driven by
a friend. But word started to spread. The Canadian news
picked up the story, and pretty soon cheering crowds were
waiting for him at each new city on his route.
As the donations poured in, Terry pressed on day after day,
mile after mile from Nova Scotia, through Prince Edward Island,
(03:01):
New Brunswick, Quebec, and finally Ontario. By the time he
reached Toronto, tens of thousands were cheering him on. But
on September first, after one hundred and forty three days
and over three thousand miles, something was wrong. Terry began
to feel a pain deep in his chest. As he
neared thunder Bay, Ontario, he collapsed. He was rushed into
(03:21):
the hospital, where doctors delivered the crushing news. The cancer
was back, and this time it had spread to his lungs.
With his condition rapidly worsening, there was no chance of
finishing the run. The fans who had followed Terry's journey
were devastated. The Marathon of Hope was over, and just
nine months later, Terry passed away. He was just twenty
(03:42):
two years old. But that's not the end. His determination
and grit ensured that his story would continue to spread Today.
His name lives on in schools, streets, parks, monuments, and
even one mountain, not to mention the hearts of people
who take part in the Terry Fox Run, a global
event that continues to raise millions for cancer research every year.
(04:04):
To date, over eight hundred million dollars has been raised
in Terry's name. But his legacy can't just be judged
in money. His Marathon of Hope became a model for
large scale charity runs, creating a blueprint for organizers to
build a tension and resources for all kinds of important causes.
And that's not even the most incredible part. You see.
(04:24):
When Terry Fox was first diagnosed with cancer back in
nineteen seventy seven, the doctors had to amputate his right
leg above the knee, which means that he crossed most
of Canada on a heavy, old fashioned prosthetic leg that
wasn't even made for running. That's right. For almost five months,
he ran the equivalent of a marathon every single day,
(04:45):
and he did it on one leg. It was April
twenty first of nineteen fifty one, and for the fifth
time that week, the game was going into overtime. The
(05:07):
Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadians have been scraping
hard for four long games, all to win the legendary
Stanley Cup, and it seemed like all that blood, sweat
and fancy skating would come down to this. The final
point in the final game, as the players fought for
that little black puck, one of them surged toward it,
a twenty four year old forward named Bashi and Bill Barilko.
(05:31):
Sliding across the ice in maple Leaf blue, Barillko dove
through the air, aimed for the puck, and slammed it
into the goal. The series was over and Toronto had won.
The team and Bill were no stranger to championships. In fact,
they had won the Stanley Cup three times in the
previous four seasons, but as they celebrated, they didn't know
(05:52):
that this would be their last Stanley Cup win for
nearly a decade. And as for Barillko. It would be
his last goal ever. Weeks later, on Friday, August twenty
fifth of nineteen fifty one, Bill left for a trip
with his dentist and close friend, Henry Hudson. The two
of them took off in Henry's small plane, planning to
spend a few days fishing in the wilds of Ontario.
(06:13):
According to Bill's mother, Fae Barilko, she warned him not
to go. His father had died on a Friday five
years earlier, and she had a bad feeling about that day,
but Bill just reassured her that he would be fine.
Bill and Henry never return. The search went on for weeks,
but nothing was ever found. There was no wreckage, no
black box, no sign of them. It was as if
(06:35):
the plane had just vanished into thin air. Bill and
Henry had gone missing and were presumed dead. And as
the shock wore on, a strange cloud seemed to settle
over Bill's team, because after nineteen fifty one, the Leaf's
winning streak just stopped. The team that was once a
champion dynasty couldn't seem to stop losing. Great players came
(06:56):
and went, but the Stanley Cup remained out of reach.
It wasn't until nineteen sixty two, eleven years later, that
something changed. That summer, a helicopter pilot flying over a
remote part of northern Ontario spotted something unusual in the brush.
When investigators arrived, they found the wreckage of a small
plane and inside the remains of Bill Barilko and Henry Hudson.
(07:18):
The missing maple Leaf had finally been found. Bill was
buried in his hometown in Timmins, Ontario, and finally it
seemed like the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans would
have closure. But the same year Bill was laid to rest,
something strange happened. The Maple Leafs started to win again.
Eleven years after Berrilko's game winning goal, the Leafs won
(07:39):
the Cup and they kept on winning. In the next
six seasons. They took the Stanley Cup home four separate times.
It was amazing eleven years of losing and the same
year the mystery of Barilko's disappearance was solved. The streak
ended coincidence, maybe, but in the world of hockey, it
quickly became a legend, or maybe a curse. People said
that the team couldn't win again until Barilko came home,
(08:03):
and once he did, it was as if the weight
had finally been lifted, well at least four a little while.
Since nineteen sixty seven, the Toronto Maple Leafs have never
again brought home the Stanley Cup. At forty eight seasons,
it's now the longest championship drought in the history of
professional hockey. Even so, Bill Barilko's legend has never faded.
(08:23):
His jersey number five was retired and it currently hangs
in Toronto's Scotia Bank Arena, and in nineteen ninety three,
Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip immortalized him to a
new generation of Leafs fans. Their song fifty Mission cap
plays every Leafs game as the players warm up, and
as it does, Bill Barilko comes back to the team
(08:43):
that he once led to victory, even if only in spirit.
Bill Barilko was just twenty four when he left his
mark on Canadian hockey history, and he played only five
seasons in total in the NHL, But over seventy years later,
his presence is still felt right there on the ice.
(09:04):
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 Mankey in partnership
with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
(09:27):
and you can learn all about it over at the
Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
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. Terry was one of
(00:37):
those kids who just wouldn't quit. Growing up on Canada's
West Coast. He was an athlete almost from day one.
Terry wasn't the tallest one on the court or the
fastest on the track, but when it came to determination,
no one had him beat. Terry loves sports and he
tried his hand at everything too. Soccer, rugby, diving, and
cross country. Basketball was his favorite, but he was pickie
(01:00):
if it got his blood pumping. He was all in
and his coaches loved him because he always gave one
hundred and ten percent, even in practice, and that drive
paid off. Soon after starting college at Simon Fraser University,
he walked on to the JV basketball team. He was
on his way to making varsity when he got the
diagnosis that changed his life. Osteogenic sarcoma a type of
(01:22):
bone cancer. Terry was just eighteen years old when he
learned that he had the disease. One minute, he was
playing basketball with his friends, and the next he was
facing chemotherapy and hospital beds. But Terry had never given
up before, and he wasn't starting now. Through months of
harsh treatments and grueling physical therapy, he kept his spirits high,
(01:43):
joking with nurses and comforting other patients around him, but
inwardly he grew frustrated. Terry was deeply affected by the
young children he met in the cancer ward, many of
whom had terminal diagnoses, and as he learned more about
the state of cancer research, he was stunned by how
little money was being put toward the cure. So as
(02:03):
his own treatment drew to an end, Terry came up
with a plan to fight the disease, not just for himself,
but for everyone. In nineteen eighty, he announced that he
would run across Canada from the Atlantic Ocean in Saint John's,
Newfoundland all the way to the Pacific.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
He called it the Marathon of Hope, and his goal
was to raise twenty four million dollars for cancer research,
one dollar for every Canadian He started out quietly in April,
taking a symbolic dip in the Atlantic, and then he
ran along highways and unpaved back roads, through wind, rain,
blistering heat, and even a snowstorm. He ate donated meals
(02:40):
and he slept in a cramped camper van driven by
a friend. But word started to spread. The Canadian news
picked up the story, and pretty soon cheering crowds were
waiting for him at each new city on his route.
As the donations poured in, Terry pressed on day after day,
mile after mile from Nova Scotia, through Prince Edward Island,
(03:01):
New Brunswick, Quebec, and finally Ontario. By the time he
reached Toronto, tens of thousands were cheering him on. But
on September first, after one hundred and forty three days
and over three thousand miles, something was wrong. Terry began
to feel a pain deep in his chest. As he
neared thunder Bay, Ontario, he collapsed. He was rushed into
(03:21):
the hospital, where doctors delivered the crushing news. The cancer
was back, and this time it had spread to his lungs.
With his condition rapidly worsening, there was no chance of
finishing the run. The fans who had followed Terry's journey
were devastated. The Marathon of Hope was over, and just
nine months later, Terry passed away. He was just twenty
(03:42):
two years old. But that's not the end. His determination
and grit ensured that his story would continue to spread Today.
His name lives on in schools, streets, parks, monuments, and
even one mountain, not to mention the hearts of people
who take part in the Terry Fox Run, a global
event that continues to raise millions for cancer research every year.
(04:04):
To date, over eight hundred million dollars has been raised
in Terry's name. But his legacy can't just be judged
in money. His Marathon of Hope became a model for
large scale charity runs, creating a blueprint for organizers to
build a tension and resources for all kinds of important causes.
And that's not even the most incredible part. You see.
(04:24):
When Terry Fox was first diagnosed with cancer back in
nineteen seventy seven, the doctors had to amputate his right
leg above the knee, which means that he crossed most
of Canada on a heavy, old fashioned prosthetic leg that
wasn't even made for running. That's right. For almost five months,
he ran the equivalent of a marathon every single day,
(04:45):
and he did it on one leg. It was April
twenty first of nineteen fifty one, and for the fifth
time that week, the game was going into overtime. The
(05:07):
Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadians have been scraping
hard for four long games, all to win the legendary
Stanley Cup, and it seemed like all that blood, sweat
and fancy skating would come down to this. The final
point in the final game, as the players fought for
that little black puck, one of them surged toward it,
a twenty four year old forward named Bashi and Bill Barilko.
(05:31):
Sliding across the ice in maple Leaf blue, Barillko dove
through the air, aimed for the puck, and slammed it
into the goal. The series was over and Toronto had won.
The team and Bill were no stranger to championships. In fact,
they had won the Stanley Cup three times in the
previous four seasons, but as they celebrated, they didn't know
(05:52):
that this would be their last Stanley Cup win for
nearly a decade. And as for Barillko. It would be
his last goal ever. Weeks later, on Friday, August twenty
fifth of nineteen fifty one, Bill left for a trip
with his dentist and close friend, Henry Hudson. The two
of them took off in Henry's small plane, planning to
spend a few days fishing in the wilds of Ontario.
(06:13):
According to Bill's mother, Fae Barilko, she warned him not
to go. His father had died on a Friday five
years earlier, and she had a bad feeling about that day,
but Bill just reassured her that he would be fine.
Bill and Henry never return. The search went on for weeks,
but nothing was ever found. There was no wreckage, no
black box, no sign of them. It was as if
(06:35):
the plane had just vanished into thin air. Bill and
Henry had gone missing and were presumed dead. And as
the shock wore on, a strange cloud seemed to settle
over Bill's team, because after nineteen fifty one, the Leaf's
winning streak just stopped. The team that was once a
champion dynasty couldn't seem to stop losing. Great players came
(06:56):
and went, but the Stanley Cup remained out of reach.
It wasn't until nineteen sixty two, eleven years later, that
something changed. That summer, a helicopter pilot flying over a
remote part of northern Ontario spotted something unusual in the brush.
When investigators arrived, they found the wreckage of a small
plane and inside the remains of Bill Barilko and Henry Hudson.
(07:18):
The missing maple Leaf had finally been found. Bill was
buried in his hometown in Timmins, Ontario, and finally it
seemed like the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans would
have closure. But the same year Bill was laid to rest,
something strange happened. The Maple Leafs started to win again.
Eleven years after Berrilko's game winning goal, the Leafs won
(07:39):
the Cup and they kept on winning. In the next
six seasons. They took the Stanley Cup home four separate times.
It was amazing eleven years of losing and the same
year the mystery of Barilko's disappearance was solved. The streak
ended coincidence, maybe, but in the world of hockey, it
quickly became a legend, or maybe a curse. People said
that the team couldn't win again until Barilko came home,
(08:03):
and once he did, it was as if the weight
had finally been lifted, well at least four a little while.
Since nineteen sixty seven, the Toronto Maple Leafs have never
again brought home the Stanley Cup. At forty eight seasons,
it's now the longest championship drought in the history of
professional hockey. Even so, Bill Barilko's legend has never faded.
(08:23):
His jersey number five was retired and it currently hangs
in Toronto's Scotia Bank Arena, and in nineteen ninety three,
Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip immortalized him to a
new generation of Leafs fans. Their song fifty Mission cap
plays every Leafs game as the players warm up, and
as it does, Bill Barilko comes back to the team
(08:43):
that he once led to victory, even if only in spirit.
Bill Barilko was just twenty four when he left his
mark on Canadian hockey history, and he played only five
seasons in total in the NHL, But over seventy years later,
his presence is still felt right there on the ice.
(09:04):
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 Mankey in partnership
with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
(09:27):
and you can learn all about it over at the
Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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