November 26, 2024 • 10 mins
Let's head down to the harbor and see what new, curious tales might be arriving by ship today.
Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading!
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 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menke'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 right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the Cabinet of Curiosities. From the time that he
(00:37):
was a young boy, Ramone Artevetia knew that the ocean
would play a role in his future. After all, he
was born in a coastal city in Uruguay in eighteen
forty and came from a long line of seafares. According
to family lore, on his deathbed, Ramone's grandfather gifted his
father an old wooden ore. Ramone would often read the
(00:57):
inscription his grandfather had etched on it side, knowing how
to use it. It said, you will never be hungry.
Your ancestors have always survived thanks to the sea. This
is your destiny.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Follow it. Then follow it he did. Ramone became a businessman,
often traveling by boat to Buenos Aires and other cities
for work. When he was thirty one years old, he
was heading home for Christmas on board the SS America,
a large paddle steamer. In the early hours of Christmas Eve,
the ship was rocked by a deafening explosion. Ramon rushed
(01:31):
to the deck to find black smoke billowing from the hull.
The America had been racing another ship, and the crew
had pushed her too hard, causing a steam pipe to burst.
As flames spread, the ship descended into pandemonium. Passengers fought
for space on the lifeboats, not yet touched by fire.
Ramone watched the chaos in terror, and the America groaned
(01:53):
as it sank. They were only a few miles from
the coast, and he could see the lights of his hometown,
beckoning it was just too far to swim. Caught between
flames and the sea, Ramone remembered his grandfather's words, and
he made a choice. He leapt overboard into the frigid water.
He was fished out soon afterwards, soaked and freezing, but
(02:13):
still alive. Of the America's one hundred and sixty four passengers,
he was one of only sixty five survivors. Many of
the others sustained horrific burns. But while Ramone escaped these
physical scars, the experience marked him in a less visible way.
He was traumatized, forced to relive the experience over and
over in vivid nightmares. He described them in a letter
(02:36):
that he wrote to a cousin. I wake up in
the middle of the night, he said, with terrible nightmares,
and always hearing the same fateful word fire, fire, fire,
And so for years after the sinking of the SS America,
Ramone avoided setting foot on a ship. He moved to Argentina,
trading the shores for a landlocked farm. While his peace
(03:00):
atsd never completely faded, he maintained a peaceful life, safe
from the waves that tormented his dreams. Still, the seafarer
in his blood would not go quietly. As time passed,
Ramon felt a growing desire to travel to see Europe
and North America, and when he was seventy one years old,
he decided that fear had gotten the better of him
(03:20):
for far too long. In nineteen twelve, he booked a
transatlantic passage to Europe, a trip that would force him
to face his trauma head on. It was not an
easy voyage, and he spent most of it on deck,
flotation belt already fastened in case there was any trouble.
His sleep was haunted by nightmares. But after a week
at sea, he arrived safe and sound in Europe. After
(03:43):
visiting a nephew in Berlin, he prepared for a second
transatlantic crossing, this time to America. As he boarded the massive,
modern vessel, he couldn't help but feel buoyed by his success.
Forty one years had passed since the sinking of the
SS America. It had taken most of life to overcome
the trauma from that experience, but he had done it.
(04:04):
He'd followed his grandfather's advice and embraced his destiny at sea. Unfortunately,
the words etched on his family or were more prescient
than Ramone could have guessed. He would never set foot
on dry land again. Four days after embarking, his ship
struck an iceberg and capsized. This time, Ramone was not
among the lucky few who were rescued. He went to
(04:26):
meet his destiny beneath the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean.
He drowned on April fifteenth of nineteen twelve, along with
fifteen hundred other tragic passengers of the RMS Titanic. It's
(04:54):
a familiar feeling that most of us have gone through.
We order something online and then for days where checking
and rechecking to see if it's on its way. Whether
it's a diamond ring or just deodorant, the urgency is
the same, and the second that purchase goes through, you
better believe that I'm tracking that package. And some things
never change. Back in seventeen seventy three, Phyllis was also
(05:16):
worried about her packages getting safely across the Atlantic. You see,
these were part of a historic delivery, the very first
book of poetry by an enslaved black woman published in America.
But Phyllis had heard rumors swirling that another historic event
just might deliver her pristine poetry to the bottom of
the sea. Phyllis had a hard journey to get to
(05:38):
this moment. She was just seven or eight years old
when she was kidnapped from the West coast of Africa
in seventeen sixty one. Forced aboard a ship by human traffickers,
she and ninety four other captured Africans endured months of
sailing across the stormy Atlantic in cramped, squalid conditions. By
the time the boat arrived in Boston, nearly twenty five
of her shipmates had died. In Boston, Phillis was unceremoniously
(06:02):
thrust into a new life of enslavement. A merchant took
a liking to her and bought the little girl as
a gift for his wife, Susannah. Phyllis began working in
the household, but it soon became clear that she was
destined for different things. Not only had she learned English quickly,
but she soon also mastered reading and writing the language
as well. Recognizing Phyllis's talent, the family encouraged her to
(06:25):
pursue an education. At the time, very few young women
went to school, let alone in slave women. Many enslaved
people were purposely denied education for fear that if they
were able to read and write, they may discover a
way to escape their enslavers. And this family were in
some ways progressive for the time, encouraging her to study
Latin Greek history, theology, and poetry, but they did not
(06:49):
believe in abolishing slavery, and in fact kept Phyllis separate
from the other enslaved people who worked as laborers and
servants in their house. Phillis quickly fell in love with Homer,
Virgil and John Milton, and began writing her own stanzas.
By age fourteen, she published her first poem, called to
the University of Cambridge in New England. Phyllis was a
(07:11):
prolific poet and often wrote about the topical issues of
the day. Living in Boston, she saw and heard the
angry rumblings of revolution echoing among the colonists. In seventeen
seventy she wrote a poem in honor of the Boston Massacre,
one of the first salvos in the war against the British.
In her letters and other poems from the time, it's
(07:32):
clear that the irony was not lost on her. Here
in Boston, colonists were calling for freedom from an oppressive
master in England while condoning the slavery of Phyllis and
her countrymen. The prejudice against her even kept her from
publishing her book of poetry. While she had been praised
and celebrated by many notable New Englanders, America's printers refused
(07:53):
to publish a black woman's writings. English publishers, however, felt differently,
so in seventy three, Phillis traveled to London accompanied by
her son. She was met with acclaim and was even
invited to meet King George the Third, although she was
forced to return before that could happen. While in England,
a countess who had been impressed by her work agreed
(08:14):
to fund the publication of Phyllis's poems. And all of
this led up to November twenty eighth of seventeen seventy three,
the day that Phyllis's freshly printed books were scheduled to
arrive in Boston Harbor. But with the rumors that Phyllis
had been hearing lately, she was worried that they would
never get to shore. A group of prominent Bostonians had
(08:35):
gathered in Phyllis's church, the Old South Meeting House, Frustrated
by the harsh taxes that England was levying on the colonies.
They were supposedly plotting something so big King George wouldn't
be able to ignore their demands, and rumor had it
that they had their eye on the Dartmouth, a ship
arriving that night from England the same ship carrying Phyllis's books. Thankfully,
(08:58):
Phyllis Wheatley was able to retrieve her manuscripts, saving three
years of work, because just a few days later, the
Sons of Liberty descended on the Dartmouth and tossed all
of the tea and other goods still on board into
Boston Harbor, throwing King George and the rest of the
world a party they would never forget. Luckily, for Phyllis
(09:19):
and for the rest of us, her poetry was not
their cup of tea. 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
(09:41):
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 Worldolore dot com. And until
next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Menke'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 right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the Cabinet of Curiosities. From the time that he
(00:37):
was a young boy, Ramone Artevetia knew that the ocean
would play a role in his future. After all, he
was born in a coastal city in Uruguay in eighteen
forty and came from a long line of seafares. According
to family lore, on his deathbed, Ramone's grandfather gifted his
father an old wooden ore. Ramone would often read the
(00:57):
inscription his grandfather had etched on it side, knowing how
to use it. It said, you will never be hungry.
Your ancestors have always survived thanks to the sea. This
is your destiny.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Follow it. Then follow it he did. Ramone became a businessman,
often traveling by boat to Buenos Aires and other cities
for work. When he was thirty one years old, he
was heading home for Christmas on board the SS America,
a large paddle steamer. In the early hours of Christmas Eve,
the ship was rocked by a deafening explosion. Ramon rushed
(01:31):
to the deck to find black smoke billowing from the hull.
The America had been racing another ship, and the crew
had pushed her too hard, causing a steam pipe to burst.
As flames spread, the ship descended into pandemonium. Passengers fought
for space on the lifeboats, not yet touched by fire.
Ramone watched the chaos in terror, and the America groaned
(01:53):
as it sank. They were only a few miles from
the coast, and he could see the lights of his hometown,
beckoning it was just too far to swim. Caught between
flames and the sea, Ramone remembered his grandfather's words, and
he made a choice. He leapt overboard into the frigid water.
He was fished out soon afterwards, soaked and freezing, but
(02:13):
still alive. Of the America's one hundred and sixty four passengers,
he was one of only sixty five survivors. Many of
the others sustained horrific burns. But while Ramone escaped these
physical scars, the experience marked him in a less visible way.
He was traumatized, forced to relive the experience over and
over in vivid nightmares. He described them in a letter
(02:36):
that he wrote to a cousin. I wake up in
the middle of the night, he said, with terrible nightmares,
and always hearing the same fateful word fire, fire, fire,
And so for years after the sinking of the SS America,
Ramone avoided setting foot on a ship. He moved to Argentina,
trading the shores for a landlocked farm. While his peace
(03:00):
atsd never completely faded, he maintained a peaceful life, safe
from the waves that tormented his dreams. Still, the seafarer
in his blood would not go quietly. As time passed,
Ramon felt a growing desire to travel to see Europe
and North America, and when he was seventy one years old,
he decided that fear had gotten the better of him
(03:20):
for far too long. In nineteen twelve, he booked a
transatlantic passage to Europe, a trip that would force him
to face his trauma head on. It was not an
easy voyage, and he spent most of it on deck,
flotation belt already fastened in case there was any trouble.
His sleep was haunted by nightmares. But after a week
at sea, he arrived safe and sound in Europe. After
(03:43):
visiting a nephew in Berlin, he prepared for a second
transatlantic crossing, this time to America. As he boarded the massive,
modern vessel, he couldn't help but feel buoyed by his success.
Forty one years had passed since the sinking of the
SS America. It had taken most of life to overcome
the trauma from that experience, but he had done it.
(04:04):
He'd followed his grandfather's advice and embraced his destiny at sea. Unfortunately,
the words etched on his family or were more prescient
than Ramone could have guessed. He would never set foot
on dry land again. Four days after embarking, his ship
struck an iceberg and capsized. This time, Ramone was not
among the lucky few who were rescued. He went to
(04:26):
meet his destiny beneath the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean.
He drowned on April fifteenth of nineteen twelve, along with
fifteen hundred other tragic passengers of the RMS Titanic. It's
(04:54):
a familiar feeling that most of us have gone through.
We order something online and then for days where checking
and rechecking to see if it's on its way. Whether
it's a diamond ring or just deodorant, the urgency is
the same, and the second that purchase goes through, you
better believe that I'm tracking that package. And some things
never change. Back in seventeen seventy three, Phyllis was also
(05:16):
worried about her packages getting safely across the Atlantic. You see,
these were part of a historic delivery, the very first
book of poetry by an enslaved black woman published in America.
But Phyllis had heard rumors swirling that another historic event
just might deliver her pristine poetry to the bottom of
the sea. Phyllis had a hard journey to get to
(05:38):
this moment. She was just seven or eight years old
when she was kidnapped from the West coast of Africa
in seventeen sixty one. Forced aboard a ship by human traffickers,
she and ninety four other captured Africans endured months of
sailing across the stormy Atlantic in cramped, squalid conditions. By
the time the boat arrived in Boston, nearly twenty five
of her shipmates had died. In Boston, Phillis was unceremoniously
(06:02):
thrust into a new life of enslavement. A merchant took
a liking to her and bought the little girl as
a gift for his wife, Susannah. Phyllis began working in
the household, but it soon became clear that she was
destined for different things. Not only had she learned English quickly,
but she soon also mastered reading and writing the language
as well. Recognizing Phyllis's talent, the family encouraged her to
(06:25):
pursue an education. At the time, very few young women
went to school, let alone in slave women. Many enslaved
people were purposely denied education for fear that if they
were able to read and write, they may discover a
way to escape their enslavers. And this family were in
some ways progressive for the time, encouraging her to study
Latin Greek history, theology, and poetry, but they did not
(06:49):
believe in abolishing slavery, and in fact kept Phyllis separate
from the other enslaved people who worked as laborers and
servants in their house. Phillis quickly fell in love with Homer,
Virgil and John Milton, and began writing her own stanzas.
By age fourteen, she published her first poem, called to
the University of Cambridge in New England. Phyllis was a
(07:11):
prolific poet and often wrote about the topical issues of
the day. Living in Boston, she saw and heard the
angry rumblings of revolution echoing among the colonists. In seventeen
seventy she wrote a poem in honor of the Boston Massacre,
one of the first salvos in the war against the British.
In her letters and other poems from the time, it's
(07:32):
clear that the irony was not lost on her. Here
in Boston, colonists were calling for freedom from an oppressive
master in England while condoning the slavery of Phyllis and
her countrymen. The prejudice against her even kept her from
publishing her book of poetry. While she had been praised
and celebrated by many notable New Englanders, America's printers refused
(07:53):
to publish a black woman's writings. English publishers, however, felt differently,
so in seventy three, Phillis traveled to London accompanied by
her son. She was met with acclaim and was even
invited to meet King George the Third, although she was
forced to return before that could happen. While in England,
a countess who had been impressed by her work agreed
(08:14):
to fund the publication of Phyllis's poems. And all of
this led up to November twenty eighth of seventeen seventy three,
the day that Phyllis's freshly printed books were scheduled to
arrive in Boston Harbor. But with the rumors that Phyllis
had been hearing lately, she was worried that they would
never get to shore. A group of prominent Bostonians had
(08:35):
gathered in Phyllis's church, the Old South Meeting House, Frustrated
by the harsh taxes that England was levying on the colonies.
They were supposedly plotting something so big King George wouldn't
be able to ignore their demands, and rumor had it
that they had their eye on the Dartmouth, a ship
arriving that night from England the same ship carrying Phyllis's books. Thankfully,
(08:58):
Phyllis Wheatley was able to retrieve her manuscripts, saving three
years of work, because just a few days later, the
Sons of Liberty descended on the Dartmouth and tossed all
of the tea and other goods still on board into
Boston Harbor, throwing King George and the rest of the
world a party they would never forget. Luckily, for Phyllis
(09:19):
and for the rest of us, her poetry was not
their cup of tea. 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
(09:41):
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 Worldolore dot com. And until
next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
Popular Podcasts
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.