September 25, 2025 • 12 mins
Unexpected heroes who pushed our expectations of what was possible. Let's enjoy their stories today.
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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 right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Even now, in our modern world, the idea of a
monarch is appealing to some people. Elections are messy and
they can lead to corrupt politicians taking power, But many
times throughout history, the biological air to a throne didn't
want the throne itself or refused to do the work
to be prepared for it. And such was the case
in the thirteenth century in the Indian kingdom of Delhi,
(00:59):
where the sultan's sons all paled in comparison to his
highly capable daughter. Razia spent her days running all over Delhi,
meeting with dozens of people who needed her to solve
their problems, and one morning alone, she arbitrated a dispute
between two merchants, inspected a rickety horse stable, and ordered
new armor for the guards. Meanwhile, her oldest brother, Firos
(01:22):
spent his days lounging by the river, drinking wine and
betting his concubines. Their father, the Sultan, was away at war,
and so it fell to Rozia to run things. It
was a difficult situation, but she rose to the occasion.
She worked hard as a young woman to learn everything
she could about administration and warfare should she ever need
to assist her father. And now that time had come
(01:46):
soon the people grew to love her. The city was cleaner, safer,
and more efficient with Rozia in charge. When her father
returned from his military campaign in the year twelve thirty one,
he was greatly impressed by all her work. It astonished
Razia when he invited her and the heads of the
noble families to his throne room, or he named Razia
(02:07):
his heir. I have to mention that it was unheard
of to have a female ruler in the Kingdom of Delhi.
The kingdom had converted to Islam just a few decades prior,
and female rulers were forbidden. But the Sultan had always
been unconventional. He was born a slave, and he fought
his way to power, and he knew that his sons
just weren't the ones to continue his empire. Now it
(02:30):
had to be Razia, and this controversial decree was immediately
put to the test in twelve thirty six when the
sultan died from an illness, and it should have been
Razia's turn to rule, but the nobles immediately turned against her,
instead putting her brother Firose on the throne. But over
the next few months he proved to be a selfish
and cruel leader. He did nothing to help his people
(02:53):
and instead spent all his time hunting down and executing
any potential rivals, including one of his own brother. Razia
was only spared because Firoza's arrogance kept him from seeing
a woman as a threat to his power, but Razia
should have been his chief concern. Only a few months
into Firoz's harsh rule, Razia went out into Delhi and
(03:14):
gave an impassioned speech to the people. She told them
that her brother was ruining all of her and her
father's hard work in building up the kingdom. He would
bring war on all of them if he continued to rule,
and the people agreed. Following Razia, they stormed the palace
and captured Firos. Razia had no sympathy for him, she
ordered his execution, getting justice for the brother that Phiro's
(03:38):
had killed. For now, the nobles had no choice but
to accept Razia as their sultan. She once again set
about improving the kingdom, establishing universities and libraries, and sending
the army out across the empire to keep the peace.
But having a female ruler still didn't sit right with
the Muslim nobles. The final straw came when Razia took
(03:58):
a lover, a formerly in slaved African named Yakut. An
unmarried female ruler with a black lover would be controversial
in India today. In medieval times, it sent the country
into a frenzy. In the year twelve forty, just three
and a half years into Razia's rule, the nobles attacked
her army and took her prisoner. They executed Yakut and
(04:19):
planned to do the same to Razia, but the nobles
soon started squabbling amongst one another about who would rule
after she was dead. And that's when the noble who
had captured Razia, a man named Altuonia, had an unlikely
change of heart. He realized that Razia was the only
one fit to rule, and he pledged his loyalty to her,
and Razia knew that her affair with Yakuts had been controversial,
(04:41):
and so she made the decision to marry Altunia with
the hopes that it would help the other nobles accept her,
but unfortunately their hearts were dead set against the idea
of a female sultan. Razia and Altunia's army went up
against the combined army of the other nobles in one
final climactic battle, and ultimately Razia's men were defeated. She
(05:03):
and her husband were forced to flee the kingdom in
the end, with no one left to protect them. Razia
and Altonia were captured by soldiers from a neighboring Hindu kingdom,
and these were political and religious rivals that had no
sympathy for her. They put her to death in October
of twelve forty. It's incredibly curious that the Kingdom of
(05:23):
Delhi preferred to go to war rather than accept the
most qualified ruler simply because she was a woman. To
this day, she remains one of the very few queens
in Islamic history. It goes to show that monarchies are
rarely about merit and all about preserving the status quo
(05:54):
If you've ever looked up at the night sky, you
have probably noticed that some stars seem to twinkle. There brightness, ebbs,
and flows. Some nights they blaze overhead, while other nights
they look so faint as to almost disappear. Almost a
century ago, a curious young woman looked up at those
same stars and asked a vital question, why why do
(06:15):
some stars flicker while others burn steady? The question would
launch a year's long investigation and reveal one of the
most important scientific discoveries ever made. When Cecilia died in
nineteen seventy nine at the age of seventy nine, her
official obituary celebrated the life of a curious and whip
smart astronomer, a Harvard professor, a loving wife, and a
(06:38):
doting mother. It was a wonderful tribute to a brilliant
and dedicated astrophysicist, But the obituary failed to mention Cecilia's
most stunning achievement, one that should cement her name alongside
scientists like Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein. In fact,
Cecilia Paine may be one of the greatest scientists to
have ever lived. Cecilia was born in Wendover, England, in
(07:02):
nineteen hundred and from a young age she was an
avid reader with a curious mind. She loved school and
wanted to pursue a college degree, which was highly unusual
for women at the time. That might be why her
mother refused to cough up money for tuition, so Cecilia
found another way to go to college. She won a
full scholarship to Cambridge University. She knew that she wanted
(07:25):
to study science, but wasn't sure which field. On a whim,
she decided to attend a public lecture from astronomer Arthur Eddington.
He talked about a recent expedition to view a solar
eclipse and how his observations proved Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Cecilia was wrapped. From that moment on she knew she
wanted to study physics. She spent the next few years
(07:48):
taking classes and devouring countless textbooks on astronomy, but because
she was a woman, Cambridge refused to give her a
science degree, and so in response, Cecilia said fine, and
in nineteen twenty three she moved to the United States,
where she met the director of the Harvard College Observatory.
He was so taken with Cecilia that he offered her
(08:08):
a graduate fellowship at Harvard. By the time Cecilia started
that fellowship, the Harvard Observatory was deep into a study
on stellar spectra, which was essentially photographs of starlight, except
these photos spread starlight out into its full rainbow of colors,
like when light catches in a prism. Basically, they were
trying to catch the full light spectrum for thousands of stars.
(08:32):
It was arduous work, but Cecilia was intrigued, so she
dedicated herself to the project. Now, about sixty years before
Cecilia arrived at Harvard, another astrophysicist conducted a similar experiment.
He heated up various chemical elements and observed the spectrum
of light given off when these elements turn into gas.
What he learned was that each element had its own
(08:54):
unique light spectrum, almost like a fingerprint. And Cecilia was
aware of this study. In fact, she was ruminating on it.
One night while stargazing, she found herself wondering why certain
stars seemed to flicker. She called these variable stars and
hypothesized that they were made of different elements than the stars.
That held steady, and so she came up with a
(09:15):
brilliant way to test out her theory. She compared starlight
spectra to elemental gas spectra, which allowed her to measure
the surface temperature of stars. Once she could see the
spectra of each star, she could piece together which elements
were involved in its composition. Two years after starting the project,
in nineteen twenty five, Cecilia presented her findings as part
(09:36):
of her doctoral thesis, and her results were surprising. Even
though stars were huge and impossibly dense, they were almost
entirely made of hydrogen and helium, the two lightest elements
in the universe. But that's not all. She also revealed
a true surprise through her observations. She also learned that
the majority of the visible universe is made of hydrogen.
(09:59):
In other words, she discovered what the fabric of our
universe is made of. Her professor was so proud of
her that he sent her thesis to a colleague at Princeton,
a guy named Professor Henry Russell. But Russell tossed her
thesis aside, calling her results impossible, and of course that stung.
Cecilia knew she had done solid research, and yet she
(10:20):
didn't know how to argue with a tenured professor. Luckily,
her peers found her thesis brilliant. It inspired colleagues to
check her work, and within a few years, supplemental research
showed that Yes, Cecilia had been correct all along. It
was incredible, at just twenty five years old, she had
successfully figured out the anatomical makeup of the universe. After that,
(10:43):
Cecilia Payne became the first person to ever earn a
PhD in astronomy from Harvard. But despite being one of
the most brilliant astronomers of our time, her work was
often brushed aside or credited to men who proved similar
theories years later. She received some recognition throughout her career,
but a pales in comparison to the prestige given to
her male colleagues. Although the American Astronomical Society did give
(11:08):
Cecilia much deserve recognition, in nineteen seventy six, they awarded
her the prestigious Henry Norris Russell Prize. The award named
yes for Professor Russell, the Princeton astronomer who told her
that her research was impossible. It's fair to say that
she proved him wrong. Simply by keeping her goals sky high.
(11:31):
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,
(11:53):
and you can learn all about it over at the
worldolore dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
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 right
there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome
to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Even now, in our modern world, the idea of a
monarch is appealing to some people. Elections are messy and
they can lead to corrupt politicians taking power, But many
times throughout history, the biological air to a throne didn't
want the throne itself or refused to do the work
to be prepared for it. And such was the case
in the thirteenth century in the Indian kingdom of Delhi,
(00:59):
where the sultan's sons all paled in comparison to his
highly capable daughter. Razia spent her days running all over Delhi,
meeting with dozens of people who needed her to solve
their problems, and one morning alone, she arbitrated a dispute
between two merchants, inspected a rickety horse stable, and ordered
new armor for the guards. Meanwhile, her oldest brother, Firos
(01:22):
spent his days lounging by the river, drinking wine and
betting his concubines. Their father, the Sultan, was away at war,
and so it fell to Rozia to run things. It
was a difficult situation, but she rose to the occasion.
She worked hard as a young woman to learn everything
she could about administration and warfare should she ever need
to assist her father. And now that time had come
(01:46):
soon the people grew to love her. The city was cleaner, safer,
and more efficient with Rozia in charge. When her father
returned from his military campaign in the year twelve thirty one,
he was greatly impressed by all her work. It astonished
Razia when he invited her and the heads of the
noble families to his throne room, or he named Razia
(02:07):
his heir. I have to mention that it was unheard
of to have a female ruler in the Kingdom of Delhi.
The kingdom had converted to Islam just a few decades prior,
and female rulers were forbidden. But the Sultan had always
been unconventional. He was born a slave, and he fought
his way to power, and he knew that his sons
just weren't the ones to continue his empire. Now it
(02:30):
had to be Razia, and this controversial decree was immediately
put to the test in twelve thirty six when the
sultan died from an illness, and it should have been
Razia's turn to rule, but the nobles immediately turned against her,
instead putting her brother Firose on the throne. But over
the next few months he proved to be a selfish
and cruel leader. He did nothing to help his people
(02:53):
and instead spent all his time hunting down and executing
any potential rivals, including one of his own brother. Razia
was only spared because Firoza's arrogance kept him from seeing
a woman as a threat to his power, but Razia
should have been his chief concern. Only a few months
into Firoz's harsh rule, Razia went out into Delhi and
(03:14):
gave an impassioned speech to the people. She told them
that her brother was ruining all of her and her
father's hard work in building up the kingdom. He would
bring war on all of them if he continued to rule,
and the people agreed. Following Razia, they stormed the palace
and captured Firos. Razia had no sympathy for him, she
ordered his execution, getting justice for the brother that Phiro's
(03:38):
had killed. For now, the nobles had no choice but
to accept Razia as their sultan. She once again set
about improving the kingdom, establishing universities and libraries, and sending
the army out across the empire to keep the peace.
But having a female ruler still didn't sit right with
the Muslim nobles. The final straw came when Razia took
(03:58):
a lover, a formerly in slaved African named Yakut. An
unmarried female ruler with a black lover would be controversial
in India today. In medieval times, it sent the country
into a frenzy. In the year twelve forty, just three
and a half years into Razia's rule, the nobles attacked
her army and took her prisoner. They executed Yakut and
(04:19):
planned to do the same to Razia, but the nobles
soon started squabbling amongst one another about who would rule
after she was dead. And that's when the noble who
had captured Razia, a man named Altuonia, had an unlikely
change of heart. He realized that Razia was the only
one fit to rule, and he pledged his loyalty to her,
and Razia knew that her affair with Yakuts had been controversial,
(04:41):
and so she made the decision to marry Altunia with
the hopes that it would help the other nobles accept her,
but unfortunately their hearts were dead set against the idea
of a female sultan. Razia and Altunia's army went up
against the combined army of the other nobles in one
final climactic battle, and ultimately Razia's men were defeated. She
(05:03):
and her husband were forced to flee the kingdom in
the end, with no one left to protect them. Razia
and Altonia were captured by soldiers from a neighboring Hindu kingdom,
and these were political and religious rivals that had no
sympathy for her. They put her to death in October
of twelve forty. It's incredibly curious that the Kingdom of
(05:23):
Delhi preferred to go to war rather than accept the
most qualified ruler simply because she was a woman. To
this day, she remains one of the very few queens
in Islamic history. It goes to show that monarchies are
rarely about merit and all about preserving the status quo
(05:54):
If you've ever looked up at the night sky, you
have probably noticed that some stars seem to twinkle. There brightness, ebbs,
and flows. Some nights they blaze overhead, while other nights
they look so faint as to almost disappear. Almost a
century ago, a curious young woman looked up at those
same stars and asked a vital question, why why do
(06:15):
some stars flicker while others burn steady? The question would
launch a year's long investigation and reveal one of the
most important scientific discoveries ever made. When Cecilia died in
nineteen seventy nine at the age of seventy nine, her
official obituary celebrated the life of a curious and whip
smart astronomer, a Harvard professor, a loving wife, and a
(06:38):
doting mother. It was a wonderful tribute to a brilliant
and dedicated astrophysicist, But the obituary failed to mention Cecilia's
most stunning achievement, one that should cement her name alongside
scientists like Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein. In fact,
Cecilia Paine may be one of the greatest scientists to
have ever lived. Cecilia was born in Wendover, England, in
(07:02):
nineteen hundred and from a young age she was an
avid reader with a curious mind. She loved school and
wanted to pursue a college degree, which was highly unusual
for women at the time. That might be why her
mother refused to cough up money for tuition, so Cecilia
found another way to go to college. She won a
full scholarship to Cambridge University. She knew that she wanted
(07:25):
to study science, but wasn't sure which field. On a whim,
she decided to attend a public lecture from astronomer Arthur Eddington.
He talked about a recent expedition to view a solar
eclipse and how his observations proved Einstein's theory of general relativity.
Cecilia was wrapped. From that moment on she knew she
wanted to study physics. She spent the next few years
(07:48):
taking classes and devouring countless textbooks on astronomy, but because
she was a woman, Cambridge refused to give her a
science degree, and so in response, Cecilia said fine, and
in nineteen twenty three she moved to the United States,
where she met the director of the Harvard College Observatory.
He was so taken with Cecilia that he offered her
(08:08):
a graduate fellowship at Harvard. By the time Cecilia started
that fellowship, the Harvard Observatory was deep into a study
on stellar spectra, which was essentially photographs of starlight, except
these photos spread starlight out into its full rainbow of colors,
like when light catches in a prism. Basically, they were
trying to catch the full light spectrum for thousands of stars.
(08:32):
It was arduous work, but Cecilia was intrigued, so she
dedicated herself to the project. Now, about sixty years before
Cecilia arrived at Harvard, another astrophysicist conducted a similar experiment.
He heated up various chemical elements and observed the spectrum
of light given off when these elements turn into gas.
What he learned was that each element had its own
(08:54):
unique light spectrum, almost like a fingerprint. And Cecilia was
aware of this study. In fact, she was ruminating on it.
One night while stargazing, she found herself wondering why certain
stars seemed to flicker. She called these variable stars and
hypothesized that they were made of different elements than the stars.
That held steady, and so she came up with a
(09:15):
brilliant way to test out her theory. She compared starlight
spectra to elemental gas spectra, which allowed her to measure
the surface temperature of stars. Once she could see the
spectra of each star, she could piece together which elements
were involved in its composition. Two years after starting the project,
in nineteen twenty five, Cecilia presented her findings as part
(09:36):
of her doctoral thesis, and her results were surprising. Even
though stars were huge and impossibly dense, they were almost
entirely made of hydrogen and helium, the two lightest elements
in the universe. But that's not all. She also revealed
a true surprise through her observations. She also learned that
the majority of the visible universe is made of hydrogen.
(09:59):
In other words, she discovered what the fabric of our
universe is made of. Her professor was so proud of
her that he sent her thesis to a colleague at Princeton,
a guy named Professor Henry Russell. But Russell tossed her
thesis aside, calling her results impossible, and of course that stung.
Cecilia knew she had done solid research, and yet she
(10:20):
didn't know how to argue with a tenured professor. Luckily,
her peers found her thesis brilliant. It inspired colleagues to
check her work, and within a few years, supplemental research
showed that Yes, Cecilia had been correct all along. It
was incredible, at just twenty five years old, she had
successfully figured out the anatomical makeup of the universe. After that,
(10:43):
Cecilia Payne became the first person to ever earn a
PhD in astronomy from Harvard. But despite being one of
the most brilliant astronomers of our time, her work was
often brushed aside or credited to men who proved similar
theories years later. She received some recognition throughout her career,
but a pales in comparison to the prestige given to
her male colleagues. Although the American Astronomical Society did give
(11:08):
Cecilia much deserve recognition, in nineteen seventy six, they awarded
her the prestigious Henry Norris Russell Prize. The award named
yes for Professor Russell, the Princeton astronomer who told her
that her research was impossible. It's fair to say that
she proved him wrong. Simply by keeping her goals sky high.
(11:31):
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,
(11:53):
and you can learn all about it over at the
worldolore dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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