October 23, 2018 • 10 mins
Each of today's stories reveals just how difficult it is to outrun the past; some will be overcome, while others will rise above it all.
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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 Vietnam War lasted
(00:29):
from nineteen fifty five to nine, and in its wake,
almost four million souls were lost. A tragedy and one
they'll write books and documentaries about until the end of time.
But it wasn't the only war taking place during that period.
Neighboring countries waged their own campaigns alongside the turmoil going
on inside Vietnam. One such country was Laos, which, beginning
(00:54):
in nineteen fifty five, was the site of a massive
civil war between the communist Pottit movement from North Vietnam
and the Royal Laotian Government, the official governing body of
South Vietnam. The CIA had dubbed it the Secret War
because we had recruited and trained a Lowatian hill tribe
called the Hamong to fight the North Vietnamese on our
(01:16):
behalf in order to stop the spread of communism. The
United States feared that if Laos fell to communism, nearby
countries would be next Laos had been designated a neutral territory,
but by using the Hamoan to fight this war, they
had turned them into targets for the pet Lao. After
the Vietnam and Secret Wars ended, the padet Lao didn't
(01:38):
forget about what happened and who had been responsible. They
began hunting down massive numbers of Hamong people in what
is now known as the Hamong Genocide, some of which
still goes on today. As a result, many Hamoan fled
the mountains to avoid persecution, while a good number found
their way to America. In that number had grown too,
(02:01):
over thirty five thousand. But even though they managed to
escape Laos, they couldn't escape the horrors that they had witnessed.
Their death would always follow them. No one here really
knew how to help them. Almost none of the hamongk
spoke in English, and their language was not well known
outside their own country. It wasn't like you could go
(02:22):
down to the local bookstore and buy a Hamong to
English dictionary. So not only were they still suffering years
after fleeing their homeland, but they were doing so all
on their own. But this suffering didn't come in the
form of internal bleeding or gunshots. There were no stab
wounds or broken bones. Their pain was on a different level,
(02:44):
but still justice traumatizing, and it was beyond frightening to
the others around them. One night, a refugee would go
to sleep, and the next morning they wouldn't wake up.
Eighteen among refugees, mostly men between the ages of nineteen
and fifty seven, died unexpectedly in their sleep. Doctors at
(03:05):
the c d C were baffled. Autopsies revealed nothing except
that the men had all been in good health, except
there's one part of the human body that doctors can't autopsy.
There's no way to cut into a person's brain and
see their thoughts. The among people living in the United
States had been burdened with some of the worst memories imaginable.
(03:27):
These memories kept many of them awake, and the ones
who did manage to sleep didn't do so for long.
They couldn't, not with the images of murdered friends and
loved ones burned into their minds. After days without sleep,
their hearts, already exhausted and broken, would simply give out
in the night. Doctors called it sudden unexplained death syndrome
(03:50):
or SuDS. In the Philippines. They gave it a name
that essentially means nightmare. Around the time these reports of
unexplained deaths hit the papers, former professor was looking to
make his mark on Hollywood. He'd already directed a small
film about a family tormented by cannibals in the Nevada Desert,
but this was the eighties and he felt America was
(04:12):
ready for something truly frightening. That's when he came across
an article about the Hmong refugees who were dying in
their sleep, and their stories sparked a question in his mind,
can our nightmares really kill us? And if so, how,
Whether or not he answered the question professionally, this professor
(04:35):
did go on to give birth to one of the
most frightening horror films of the nineteen eighties. Today, we
might view his career with enthusiasm, but Wes Craven understands
that his dark stories have even darker roots. And now
you know how Nightmares landed on the big screen, all
thanks to one monster. Freddy Krueger m Eugene was born
(05:12):
in Texas in the early nineteen twenties. His father was
a police officer who moved the family to Los Angeles
shortly after Eugene's birth. After high school, Eugene, eager to
follow in his father's footsteps, was accepted to Los Angeles
City College, where he planned to study police science. But
plans have a habit of changing, especially when your window
(05:33):
to the world is opened wider than you've ever seen before.
Eugene quickly abandoned the idea of wearing a badge when
he discovered the science of aeronautical engineering, designing airplanes and
flying them. That was a dream come true. Eugene joined
the United States Army Air Corps in order to obtain
his pilot's license and enlisted in December of nineteen forty one,
(05:58):
eleven days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Desperately in
need of reinforcements, he was sent to Oahu as part
of the three Bomb Squadron, the same squadron responsible for
piloting the B seventeen flying Fortress. He'd been flying for
a few years when his B seventeen, on its way
out of Vanuatu, missed the runway and crashed into nearby trees.
(06:22):
Two members of his team were killed, and Eugene, not
wanting this to happen, to anyone else. Ever, again stopped
flying planes and started investigating why they crashed. He earned
medals for his work, but after he left the army,
he found the courage to start flying again, this time
for Pan American Airways. He fought his days of crashes
(06:43):
were over now that he no longer faced the threat
of being shot out of the sky, but some people
just can't escape their fate. On June eighteenth of ninety seven,
pan AM Flight one one was scheduled to depart from Karachi, Pakistan,
and delivered twenty six passengers and crew members, including third
Officer Eugene, all the way to Istanbul. Everything seemed to
(07:06):
be going fine for several hours until one of the
engines failed. Thankfully, the other engines compensated to keep the
bird in the air, but that caused them to overheat. Eventually,
one of those caught fire and then fell off the aircraft.
With two engines down, the plane descended eventually crashed, landing
in the Syrian desert. Fifteen people had died, while another
(07:29):
eleven passengers were in dire need of medical attention. Eugene
suffered a few broken ribs, but that didn't stop him
from assuming control of the situation and dragging passengers out
from the burning wreckage and into safety. And that was
the final straw for Eugene. Between the tragedies of his
time in the military to his new civilian crash, he
(07:51):
was ready to walk away from flying ships forever. He
resigned from PanAm a short while later and began to
pursue that original dream of becoming a police officer. That
dream brought him back to l A where his father's
footsteps were waiting for him. He served for a time
in the Traffic division, but was eventually moved to the
Public Information division, where he developed the taste for writing,
(08:15):
a taste that grew into an insatiable hunger. Suddenly, Eugene
saw a way to put all of his expertise to
better use. The nineteen fifties had arrived, and with them
came the dawn of a new age of entertainment. Motion
pictures were expensive to make, and audiences didn't always want
to go out to enjoy a few hours of distraction.
(08:36):
But television was a different story, and thanks to his
police knowledge, Eugene landed a job as an advisor on
a new crime procedural. The show ran for just one
year before being canceled. He went on to pitch a
number of other TV shows, all with lawyers and cops,
but none of them lasted beyond a handful of episodes.
(08:57):
To pay his bills, he wrote scripts for our he
established shows. Life seemed to be one fiery wreck after another,
both literal and metaphorical, but he understood that out of
failure came new opportunities for success. If the networks didn't
want shows centered around police officers and lawyers, then Eugene
(09:18):
would look elsewhere for his inspiration. He looked up. Eugene
had explored the sky and crashed earth. He was a
survivor who had saved numerous lives, and a decorated pilot
with a brilliant mind. So rather than give Hollywood one
more of the same old, he used his past to
make something futuristic, and in nineteen sixty six it arrived
(09:43):
a diverse new crew on a bold mission, and it's
still with us today. Thanks to everything he experienced in
his early years, Eugene Wesley Rowdenberry gifted us with one
of the most beloved and influential science fiction world's ever created,
Star Trek. I hope you've enjoyed Today's guided tour of
(10:10):
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 you can learn all about it
(10:32):
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 Vietnam War lasted
(00:29):
from nineteen fifty five to nine, and in its wake,
almost four million souls were lost. A tragedy and one
they'll write books and documentaries about until the end of time.
But it wasn't the only war taking place during that period.
Neighboring countries waged their own campaigns alongside the turmoil going
on inside Vietnam. One such country was Laos, which, beginning
(00:54):
in nineteen fifty five, was the site of a massive
civil war between the communist Pottit movement from North Vietnam
and the Royal Laotian Government, the official governing body of
South Vietnam. The CIA had dubbed it the Secret War
because we had recruited and trained a Lowatian hill tribe
called the Hamong to fight the North Vietnamese on our
(01:16):
behalf in order to stop the spread of communism. The
United States feared that if Laos fell to communism, nearby
countries would be next Laos had been designated a neutral territory,
but by using the Hamoan to fight this war, they
had turned them into targets for the pet Lao. After
the Vietnam and Secret Wars ended, the padet Lao didn't
(01:38):
forget about what happened and who had been responsible. They
began hunting down massive numbers of Hamong people in what
is now known as the Hamong Genocide, some of which
still goes on today. As a result, many Hamoan fled
the mountains to avoid persecution, while a good number found
their way to America. In that number had grown too,
(02:01):
over thirty five thousand. But even though they managed to
escape Laos, they couldn't escape the horrors that they had witnessed.
Their death would always follow them. No one here really
knew how to help them. Almost none of the hamongk
spoke in English, and their language was not well known
outside their own country. It wasn't like you could go
(02:22):
down to the local bookstore and buy a Hamong to
English dictionary. So not only were they still suffering years
after fleeing their homeland, but they were doing so all
on their own. But this suffering didn't come in the
form of internal bleeding or gunshots. There were no stab
wounds or broken bones. Their pain was on a different level,
(02:44):
but still justice traumatizing, and it was beyond frightening to
the others around them. One night, a refugee would go
to sleep, and the next morning they wouldn't wake up.
Eighteen among refugees, mostly men between the ages of nineteen
and fifty seven, died unexpectedly in their sleep. Doctors at
(03:05):
the c d C were baffled. Autopsies revealed nothing except
that the men had all been in good health, except
there's one part of the human body that doctors can't autopsy.
There's no way to cut into a person's brain and
see their thoughts. The among people living in the United
States had been burdened with some of the worst memories imaginable.
(03:27):
These memories kept many of them awake, and the ones
who did manage to sleep didn't do so for long.
They couldn't, not with the images of murdered friends and
loved ones burned into their minds. After days without sleep,
their hearts, already exhausted and broken, would simply give out
in the night. Doctors called it sudden unexplained death syndrome
(03:50):
or SuDS. In the Philippines. They gave it a name
that essentially means nightmare. Around the time these reports of
unexplained deaths hit the papers, former professor was looking to
make his mark on Hollywood. He'd already directed a small
film about a family tormented by cannibals in the Nevada Desert,
but this was the eighties and he felt America was
(04:12):
ready for something truly frightening. That's when he came across
an article about the Hmong refugees who were dying in
their sleep, and their stories sparked a question in his mind,
can our nightmares really kill us? And if so, how,
Whether or not he answered the question professionally, this professor
(04:35):
did go on to give birth to one of the
most frightening horror films of the nineteen eighties. Today, we
might view his career with enthusiasm, but Wes Craven understands
that his dark stories have even darker roots. And now
you know how Nightmares landed on the big screen, all
thanks to one monster. Freddy Krueger m Eugene was born
(05:12):
in Texas in the early nineteen twenties. His father was
a police officer who moved the family to Los Angeles
shortly after Eugene's birth. After high school, Eugene, eager to
follow in his father's footsteps, was accepted to Los Angeles
City College, where he planned to study police science. But
plans have a habit of changing, especially when your window
(05:33):
to the world is opened wider than you've ever seen before.
Eugene quickly abandoned the idea of wearing a badge when
he discovered the science of aeronautical engineering, designing airplanes and
flying them. That was a dream come true. Eugene joined
the United States Army Air Corps in order to obtain
his pilot's license and enlisted in December of nineteen forty one,
(05:58):
eleven days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Desperately in
need of reinforcements, he was sent to Oahu as part
of the three Bomb Squadron, the same squadron responsible for
piloting the B seventeen flying Fortress. He'd been flying for
a few years when his B seventeen, on its way
out of Vanuatu, missed the runway and crashed into nearby trees.
(06:22):
Two members of his team were killed, and Eugene, not
wanting this to happen, to anyone else. Ever, again stopped
flying planes and started investigating why they crashed. He earned
medals for his work, but after he left the army,
he found the courage to start flying again, this time
for Pan American Airways. He fought his days of crashes
(06:43):
were over now that he no longer faced the threat
of being shot out of the sky, but some people
just can't escape their fate. On June eighteenth of ninety seven,
pan AM Flight one one was scheduled to depart from Karachi, Pakistan,
and delivered twenty six passengers and crew members, including third
Officer Eugene, all the way to Istanbul. Everything seemed to
(07:06):
be going fine for several hours until one of the
engines failed. Thankfully, the other engines compensated to keep the
bird in the air, but that caused them to overheat. Eventually,
one of those caught fire and then fell off the aircraft.
With two engines down, the plane descended eventually crashed, landing
in the Syrian desert. Fifteen people had died, while another
(07:29):
eleven passengers were in dire need of medical attention. Eugene
suffered a few broken ribs, but that didn't stop him
from assuming control of the situation and dragging passengers out
from the burning wreckage and into safety. And that was
the final straw for Eugene. Between the tragedies of his
time in the military to his new civilian crash, he
(07:51):
was ready to walk away from flying ships forever. He
resigned from PanAm a short while later and began to
pursue that original dream of becoming a police officer. That
dream brought him back to l A where his father's
footsteps were waiting for him. He served for a time
in the Traffic division, but was eventually moved to the
Public Information division, where he developed the taste for writing,
(08:15):
a taste that grew into an insatiable hunger. Suddenly, Eugene
saw a way to put all of his expertise to
better use. The nineteen fifties had arrived, and with them
came the dawn of a new age of entertainment. Motion
pictures were expensive to make, and audiences didn't always want
to go out to enjoy a few hours of distraction.
(08:36):
But television was a different story, and thanks to his
police knowledge, Eugene landed a job as an advisor on
a new crime procedural. The show ran for just one
year before being canceled. He went on to pitch a
number of other TV shows, all with lawyers and cops,
but none of them lasted beyond a handful of episodes.
(08:57):
To pay his bills, he wrote scripts for our he
established shows. Life seemed to be one fiery wreck after another,
both literal and metaphorical, but he understood that out of
failure came new opportunities for success. If the networks didn't
want shows centered around police officers and lawyers, then Eugene
(09:18):
would look elsewhere for his inspiration. He looked up. Eugene
had explored the sky and crashed earth. He was a
survivor who had saved numerous lives, and a decorated pilot
with a brilliant mind. So rather than give Hollywood one
more of the same old, he used his past to
make something futuristic, and in nineteen sixty six it arrived
(09:43):
a diverse new crew on a bold mission, and it's
still with us today. Thanks to everything he experienced in
his early years, Eugene Wesley Rowdenberry gifted us with one
of the most beloved and influential science fiction world's ever created,
Star Trek. I hope you've enjoyed Today's guided tour of
(10:10):
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 you can learn all about it
(10:32):
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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