July 23, 2020 • 9 mins
Inspiration is found in the most unusual of places. Today's tour will make that abundantly clear.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
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 Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. 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
(00:27):
of Curiosities. The law specifically forbid it. No one except
doctors were allowed to dissect corpses. The act was considered
a desecration of the dead. Therefore, only the bodies of
criminals were permitted to be studied, and once analyzed, even
(00:51):
they had to receive a decent burial. He wasn't a doctor, though,
so he took to dissecting bodies in secrecy, in relative secrecy.
He was just seventeen at the time, and the majority
of the cadavers he worked with came from the monastery
of Santa Spirito in Florence, Italy, and with the full
permission of the Catholic Church. He had always been interested
(01:16):
in the human form. When he was just thirteen, he
studied under a famous sculptor, and by the time he
reached adulthood, his talent for documenting the intricacies of the
human form had not gone unnoticed. Back then, doctors and
medical students relied on such drawings. Importance was given to
the understanding of how bones and muscles lie under the skin.
(01:37):
When he was just fifteen, he showed so much potential
that the statesman known as Lorenzo de Medici, a k a.
Lorenzo the Magnificent, became quite impressed with the young man's
talent and incredible understanding of the human form. Not only
did Medici take him in and raise him alongside his
own children, who became his childhood friends, the statesman also
granted him a special room to continue his dissection. Soon
(02:01):
he joined the Florentine Center for Humanism. Like many young
and aspirational students in the field, he poured over drawings, sculptures,
and skeletons. The ultimate goal was scientific naturalism, the highly
detailed and accurate portrayal of the subject in a natural setting.
After the death of his mentor, Lorenzo de Medici, he
(02:22):
offered to create a large wooden cross complete with a
life size sculpture of Christ, in exchange for the new
Statesman's permission to continue his studies and to obtain more
corpses and it worked now. Since cadavers were prone to decomposition,
he would quickly make molds of muscles in various positions
for later reference. He spent years dissecting countless human corpses
(02:45):
and even those of animals, mostly horses. Though cardinals and
other leaders frequently remarked that experienced and trained physicians and
scholars themselves knew less about the human physique than this
young man, and that he dissected more than men he
had in a lifetime of service. His knowledge and talent
caused some jealousy among even the most revered of his peers.
(03:08):
They didn't always agree, and they often clashed when they met.
For years, he drew his discoveries with the most striking detail,
but later he began to doubt his abilities and destroyed
most of his drawings. His rivals may have played down
his talents, but others did not. Unlike most artists, he
rechieved recognition and fame well within his own lifetime. Today,
(03:31):
thousands flocked to see his works. You see, he wasn't
a physician or even a philosopher, and while he did
create intricate and detailed illustrations for medical use, he wasn't
even an anatomist. No, he was an artist and one
of the best. Later, Pope Julius the second commission him
the artists that we've come to note today as Michelangelo
(03:53):
for one of his most famous works, the Sistine Chapel.
The chapel ceiling is his most famous painting, and the
marble statue David his most famous statue. The depiction of
God creating Adam perfectly illustrates the human brain. Other panels
also demonstrate Michelangelo's vast knowledge of human anatomy. The Statue
(04:14):
of David took Michelangelo two years to complete. It's fine
anatomical details impressed city leaders, who decided David should reside
in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, where everyone could see
the breathtaking statue up close, instead of seeing it high
on a cathedral. Ledge and Michelangelo's envious rival, the first
(04:34):
Renaissance man himself, Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, he also dissected
cadavers for the sake of art, and while the two
men didn't agree on many things, they both believe that
when it came to portraying the human body, art is
not only better when it imitates life, but also death.
(05:04):
America loves to celebrate first the first president, the first
telephone call, the first time Edison turned on a light bulb,
charting new territories, and performing feats no one has done before,
especially intrigues us. And often it's these tales of adventure
that have the most incredible journeys to take us on.
For example, on July six of nineteen sixty nine, Neil
(05:27):
Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon
before spacecraft, though we were celebrating airplanes. On nineteen seven,
Charles Lindberg was the first person to cross the Atlantic solo.
And before that, well, there's another amazing story to tell.
On April eighteen forty four, The New York Sun reported
(05:48):
the sensational adventure of several men and their balloon trip
from England to the United States. The headlines that day
read astounding news by Express via Norfolk the Atlantic cross
in three days. As you might imagine, crossing the Atlantic
in such a short time was nothing less than astounding.
Accompanying the detailed five thousand word article was an illustration
(06:10):
of the balloon, named the Victoria. At the Helm was
the inventor of the first steam powered airship and famed
aeronaut himself, Thomas Monk Mason. Two crewmen and five of
Mason's friends helped steer the craft, while author Harrison Ainsworth
chronicled the journey. The article listed eleven oh seven a
m as the moment the balloon left the ground in
(06:32):
North Wales. They gathered at daybreak, but waited until a
dense fog had lifted. For a few moments. The crew
held their breath as the balloon cleared the cliffs. Found
the ascent force greater than we had expected, the journal read.
The gorges and cliffs along the ocean's edge had been
nothing short of romantic and breathtaking. One of the crewmen
(06:53):
noted that the mountains they passed over in the south
looked small in comparison to when traveling through them on
the ground. Once at sea, the crew lowered the balloon
Along the way. They passed over a few ships sailing below,
and the men took to cheering them and yelling as
the balloon flew past. By night, the winds had increased,
pushing the balloon even faster. The wind, along with the
(07:15):
night air and the atmosphere, made the men rather cold,
and they wrapped themselves in blankets. The next day, though
the balloon shifted more northward then anticipated, and the wind
had died down a bit. This morning, we had again
some little trouble with the rod of the propeller, which
must be entirely remodeled for fear of serious accident. The
journal stated, the wind has been blowing steadily and strongly
(07:38):
from the northeast all day, and so far fortune seems
bent upon favoring us. By night, though the sea oddly
appeared to glow by the light of the moon and stars.
By the third day, though the crew was exhausted. Around
one pm that day, they finally spotted land off the
coast of South Carolina and were overjoyed. By the time
they touched down on Sullivan's Island in Charleston County, the
(08:00):
wind had nearly died down. The final entry read, we
have crossed the Atlantic fairly and easily crossed it in
a balloon. Who shall say that anything is impossible hereafter
and readers were enthralled. People instantly scrambled to buy the paper,
and The Sun sold an impressive fifty thousand copies. Everyone
(08:20):
wanted to have a keepsake of history in the making.
There was one small problem though. Two days after it
had been printed, the newspaper revealed that the whole thing
had been a hoax. You see, the first balloon to
cross the Atlantic wouldn't happen for another one hundred and
forty four years, when the Double Eagle two made the
trip in eight in a little less than six days.
(08:42):
Though the men in The New York Sun's story really
did exist, they'd been in on the hoax from the start,
and the whole thing had been created and written by
one author, a man who the paper didn't pay a
single sent despite the tremendous profit they earned from it.
That author's name a struggling right named Edgar Allan Poe.
(09:03):
Oh and there's more, you see. Curiously, pose great hoax
went on to inspire another great storyteller by the name
of Jules Verne. He would write his beloved novel Around
the World in Eighty Days in eighteen seventy two, although
despite the modern film version, his original never had a balloon.
(09:26):
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
(09:48):
show and you can learn all about it over at
the World of Lore dot com. And until next time,
stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. 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
(00:27):
of Curiosities. The law specifically forbid it. No one except
doctors were allowed to dissect corpses. The act was considered
a desecration of the dead. Therefore, only the bodies of
criminals were permitted to be studied, and once analyzed, even
(00:51):
they had to receive a decent burial. He wasn't a doctor, though,
so he took to dissecting bodies in secrecy, in relative secrecy.
He was just seventeen at the time, and the majority
of the cadavers he worked with came from the monastery
of Santa Spirito in Florence, Italy, and with the full
permission of the Catholic Church. He had always been interested
(01:16):
in the human form. When he was just thirteen, he
studied under a famous sculptor, and by the time he
reached adulthood, his talent for documenting the intricacies of the
human form had not gone unnoticed. Back then, doctors and
medical students relied on such drawings. Importance was given to
the understanding of how bones and muscles lie under the skin.
(01:37):
When he was just fifteen, he showed so much potential
that the statesman known as Lorenzo de Medici, a k a.
Lorenzo the Magnificent, became quite impressed with the young man's
talent and incredible understanding of the human form. Not only
did Medici take him in and raise him alongside his
own children, who became his childhood friends, the statesman also
granted him a special room to continue his dissection. Soon
(02:01):
he joined the Florentine Center for Humanism. Like many young
and aspirational students in the field, he poured over drawings, sculptures,
and skeletons. The ultimate goal was scientific naturalism, the highly
detailed and accurate portrayal of the subject in a natural setting.
After the death of his mentor, Lorenzo de Medici, he
(02:22):
offered to create a large wooden cross complete with a
life size sculpture of Christ, in exchange for the new
Statesman's permission to continue his studies and to obtain more
corpses and it worked now. Since cadavers were prone to decomposition,
he would quickly make molds of muscles in various positions
for later reference. He spent years dissecting countless human corpses
(02:45):
and even those of animals, mostly horses. Though cardinals and
other leaders frequently remarked that experienced and trained physicians and
scholars themselves knew less about the human physique than this
young man, and that he dissected more than men he
had in a lifetime of service. His knowledge and talent
caused some jealousy among even the most revered of his peers.
(03:08):
They didn't always agree, and they often clashed when they met.
For years, he drew his discoveries with the most striking detail,
but later he began to doubt his abilities and destroyed
most of his drawings. His rivals may have played down
his talents, but others did not. Unlike most artists, he
rechieved recognition and fame well within his own lifetime. Today,
(03:31):
thousands flocked to see his works. You see, he wasn't
a physician or even a philosopher, and while he did
create intricate and detailed illustrations for medical use, he wasn't
even an anatomist. No, he was an artist and one
of the best. Later, Pope Julius the second commission him
the artists that we've come to note today as Michelangelo
(03:53):
for one of his most famous works, the Sistine Chapel.
The chapel ceiling is his most famous painting, and the
marble statue David his most famous statue. The depiction of
God creating Adam perfectly illustrates the human brain. Other panels
also demonstrate Michelangelo's vast knowledge of human anatomy. The Statue
(04:14):
of David took Michelangelo two years to complete. It's fine
anatomical details impressed city leaders, who decided David should reside
in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, where everyone could see
the breathtaking statue up close, instead of seeing it high
on a cathedral. Ledge and Michelangelo's envious rival, the first
(04:34):
Renaissance man himself, Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, he also dissected
cadavers for the sake of art, and while the two
men didn't agree on many things, they both believe that
when it came to portraying the human body, art is
not only better when it imitates life, but also death.
(05:04):
America loves to celebrate first the first president, the first
telephone call, the first time Edison turned on a light bulb,
charting new territories, and performing feats no one has done before,
especially intrigues us. And often it's these tales of adventure
that have the most incredible journeys to take us on.
For example, on July six of nineteen sixty nine, Neil
(05:27):
Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon
before spacecraft, though we were celebrating airplanes. On nineteen seven,
Charles Lindberg was the first person to cross the Atlantic solo.
And before that, well, there's another amazing story to tell.
On April eighteen forty four, The New York Sun reported
(05:48):
the sensational adventure of several men and their balloon trip
from England to the United States. The headlines that day
read astounding news by Express via Norfolk the Atlantic cross
in three days. As you might imagine, crossing the Atlantic
in such a short time was nothing less than astounding.
Accompanying the detailed five thousand word article was an illustration
(06:10):
of the balloon, named the Victoria. At the Helm was
the inventor of the first steam powered airship and famed
aeronaut himself, Thomas Monk Mason. Two crewmen and five of
Mason's friends helped steer the craft, while author Harrison Ainsworth
chronicled the journey. The article listed eleven oh seven a
m as the moment the balloon left the ground in
(06:32):
North Wales. They gathered at daybreak, but waited until a
dense fog had lifted. For a few moments. The crew
held their breath as the balloon cleared the cliffs. Found
the ascent force greater than we had expected, the journal read.
The gorges and cliffs along the ocean's edge had been
nothing short of romantic and breathtaking. One of the crewmen
(06:53):
noted that the mountains they passed over in the south
looked small in comparison to when traveling through them on
the ground. Once at sea, the crew lowered the balloon
Along the way. They passed over a few ships sailing below,
and the men took to cheering them and yelling as
the balloon flew past. By night, the winds had increased,
pushing the balloon even faster. The wind, along with the
(07:15):
night air and the atmosphere, made the men rather cold,
and they wrapped themselves in blankets. The next day, though
the balloon shifted more northward then anticipated, and the wind
had died down a bit. This morning, we had again
some little trouble with the rod of the propeller, which
must be entirely remodeled for fear of serious accident. The
journal stated, the wind has been blowing steadily and strongly
(07:38):
from the northeast all day, and so far fortune seems
bent upon favoring us. By night, though the sea oddly
appeared to glow by the light of the moon and stars.
By the third day, though the crew was exhausted. Around
one pm that day, they finally spotted land off the
coast of South Carolina and were overjoyed. By the time
they touched down on Sullivan's Island in Charleston County, the
(08:00):
wind had nearly died down. The final entry read, we
have crossed the Atlantic fairly and easily crossed it in
a balloon. Who shall say that anything is impossible hereafter
and readers were enthralled. People instantly scrambled to buy the paper,
and The Sun sold an impressive fifty thousand copies. Everyone
(08:20):
wanted to have a keepsake of history in the making.
There was one small problem though. Two days after it
had been printed, the newspaper revealed that the whole thing
had been a hoax. You see, the first balloon to
cross the Atlantic wouldn't happen for another one hundred and
forty four years, when the Double Eagle two made the
trip in eight in a little less than six days.
(08:42):
Though the men in The New York Sun's story really
did exist, they'd been in on the hoax from the start,
and the whole thing had been created and written by
one author, a man who the paper didn't pay a
single sent despite the tremendous profit they earned from it.
That author's name a struggling right named Edgar Allan Poe.
(09:03):
Oh and there's more, you see. Curiously, pose great hoax
went on to inspire another great storyteller by the name
of Jules Verne. He would write his beloved novel Around
the World in Eighty Days in eighteen seventy two, although
despite the modern film version, his original never had a balloon.
(09:26):
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
(09:48):
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
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. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.