360-Haggard's Dream

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 is remembered for its destructive intensity and terrible death toll. But the scale of the disaster can mask some remarkable personal stories. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the experiences of some of the survivors, which ranged from the horrific to the surreal. We'll also consider a multilingual pun and puzzle over a deadly reptile. Intro: In the 1600s, a specialized verb described the carving of each dish. The Earls of Leicester kept quiet in Parliament. An iconic image: The quake toppled a marble statue of Louis Agassiz from its perch on the second floor of Stanford's zoology building. Sources for our feature: Malcolm E. Barker, Three Fearful Days, 1998. Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts, The San Francisco Earthquake: A Minute-by-Minute Account of the 1906 Disaster, 2014. Louise Chipley Slavicek, The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906, 2008. Richard Schwartz, Earthquake Exodus, 1906: Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees, 2005. Gordon Thomas, The San Francisco Earthquake, 1971. Edward F. Dolan, Disaster 1906: The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, 1967. William Bronson, The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned, 1959. Charles Morris, The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: As Told by Eyewitnesses, 1906. Alexander Olson, "Writing on Rubble: Dispatches from San Francisco, 1906," KNOW: A Journal on the Formation of Knowledge 3:1 (Spring 2019), 93-121. Susanne Leikam, "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire," Journal of Transnational American Studies 7:1 (2016). Penny Allan and Martin Bryant, "The Critical Role of Open Space in Earthquake Recovery: A Case Study," EN: Proceedings of the 2010 NZSEE Conference, 2010. Brad T. Aagaard and Gregory C. Beroza, "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake a Century Later: Introduction to the Special Section," Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 98:2 (2008), 817-822. Jeffrey L. Arnold, "The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake: A Centennial Contemplation," Prehospital and Disaster Medicine 21:3 (2006), 133-134. "... and Then the Fire Was Worse Than the Earthquake ...," American History 41:1 (April 2006), 34-35. Andrea Henderson, "The Human Geography of Catastrophe: Family Bonds, Community Ties, and Disaster Relief After the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire," Southern California Quarterly 88:1 (Spring 2006), 37-70. Kristin Schmachtenberg, "1906 Letter to the San Francisco Health Department," Social Education 70:3 (2006). Laverne Mau Dicker, "The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire: Photographs and Manuscripts From the California Historical Society Library," California History 59:1 (Spring 1980), 34-65. James J. Hudson, "The California National Guard: In the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906," California Historical Quarterly 55:2 (Summer 1976), 137-149. Michael Castleman and Katherine Ellison, "Grace Under Fire," Smithsonian 37:1 (April 2006), 56-60, 64-66. Jack London, "Story of an Eyewitness: The San Francisco Earthquake," Collier's Weekly (May 5, 1906), 107-13. "San Francisco and Its Catastrophe," Scientific American 94:17 (April 28, 1906), 347. Bob Norberg, "A City in Flames," [Santa Rosa, Calif.] Press Democrat, April 13, 2006. "The Ground Shook, a City Fell, and the Lessons Still Resound," New York Times, April 11, 2006. "Eyewitness to History," San Francisco Examiner, April 18, 1996. "The San Francisco Earthquake," [Beechworth, Victoria] Ovens and Murray Advertiser, June 23, 1906. "The Call-Chronicle-Examiner," [Hobart, Tasmania] Mercury, May 30, 1906. "Earthquake at San Francisco," Fitzroy City Press, May 25, 1906. "The San Francisco Earthquake," Singleton [N.S.W.] Argus, April 24, 1906. "Flames Unchecked; Whole City Doomed," Richmond [Ind.] Palladium, April 20, 1906. "Beautiful Buildings That Lie in Ruins," New York Times, April 20, 1906. "The Relief of San Francisco," New York Times, April 20, 1906. "Over 500 Dead," New York Times, April 19, 1906. "Disasters Suffered by San Francisco," New York Times, April 19, 1906. "City of San Francisco Destroyed by Earthquake," Spokane Press, April 18, 1906. "Loss of Life Is Now Estimated at Thousands," Deseret Evening News, April 18, 1906. San Francisco 1906 Earthquake Marriage Project. Listener mail: "Virginia philology ...," New Orleans Daily Democrat, June 12, 1878. "Many old English names ...," [Raleigh, N.C.] News and Observer, Sept. 20, 1890 "'Darby' -- Enroughty," Richmond [Va.] Dispatch, Nov. 26, 1902. "A Virginian of the Old School," Weekly Chillicothe [Mo.] Crisis, Feb. 9, 1882. Leonhard Dingwerth, Grosse und mittlere Hersteller, 2008 Rachael Krishna, "Tumblr Users Have Discovered a Pun Which Works in So Many Languages," BuzzFeed, Feb. 2, 2016. "The pun that transcends language barriers," r/tumblr (accessed Aug. 28, 2021). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Michelle Carter. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

6 Sep 202133min

The modern strawberry has a surprisingly dramatic story, involving a French spy in Chile, a perilous ocean voyage, and the unlikely meeting of two botanical expatriates. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the improbable origin of one of the world's most popular fruits. We'll also discuss the answers to some of our queries and puzzle over a radioactive engineer. Intro: Williston Fish bequeathed everything. Philip Cohen invented an English contraction with seven apostrophes. Sources for our feature on Amédée-François Frézier: Amédée-François Frézier, A Voyage to the South-sea, and Along the Coasts of Chili and Peru, in the Years 1712, 1713, and 1714, 1717. George McMillan Darrow, The Strawberry: History, Breeding, and Physiology, 1966. James F. Hancock, Strawberries, 2020. R.M. Sharma, Rakesh Yamdagni, A.K. Dubey, and Vikramaditya Pandey, Strawberries: Production, Postharvest Management and Protection, 2019. Amjad M. Husaini and Davide Neri, Strawberry: Growth, Development and Diseases, 2016. Joel S. Denker, The Carrot Purple and Other Curious Stories of the Food We Eat, 2015. Adam Leith Gollner, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce, and Obsession, 2013. Mary Ellen Snodgrass, World Food: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture and Social Influence From Hunter Gatherers to the Age of Globalization, 2012. Noel Kingsbury, Hybrid: The History and Science of Plant Breeding, 2011. Christopher Stocks, Forgotten Fruits: The Stories Behind Britain's Traditional Fruit and Vegetables, 2009. Stevenson Whitcomb Fletcher, The Strawberry in North America: History, Origin, Botany, and Breeding, 1917. Dominique D.A. Pincot et al., "Social Network Analysis of the Genealogy of Strawberry: Retracing the Wild Roots of Heirloom and Modern Cultivars," G3 11:3 (2021), jkab015. Marina Gambardella, S. Sanchez, and J. Grez, "Morphological Analysis of Fragaria chiloensis Accessions and Their Relationship as Parents of F.× ananassa Hybrid," Acta Horticulturae 1156, VIII International Strawberry Symposium, April 2017. Chad E. Finn et al., "The Chilean Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis): Over 1000 Years of Domestication," HortScience 48.4 (2013), 418-421. Jorge B. Retamales et al., "Current Status of the Chilean Native Strawberry and the Research Needs to Convert the Species Into a Commercial Crop," HortScience 40:6 (2005), 1633-1634. J.F. Hancock, A. Lavín, and J.B. Retamales, "Our Southern Strawberry Heritage: Fragaria chiloensis of Chile," HortScience 34:5 (1999), 814-816. James F. Hancock and James J. Luby, "Genetic Resources at Our Doorstep: The Wild Strawberries," BioScience 43:3 (March 1993), 141-147. Wilson Popenoe, "The Frutilla, or Chilean Strawberry," Journal of Heredity 12:10 (1921), 457-466. Liberty Hyde Bailey, "Whence Came the Cultivated Strawberry," American Naturalist 28:328 (1894), 293-306. Emily Tepe, "A Spy, a Botanist, and a Strawberry," Minnesota Fruit Research, University of Minnesota, June 11, 2019. "How Strawberries Grew Bigger: Plant History," Financial Times, Aug. 30, 2008. Steve Zalusky, "From 'Hayberry' to 'Strawberry': A Look at the History of the Delicious Fruit," [Arlington Heights, Ill.] Daily Herald, June 26, 2005. "The Modern Strawberry Owes Its Discovery to Ironic Incidents," Charleston [W.V] Daily Mail, March 30, 2005. Peter Eisenhauer, "The Berry With a Past," Milwaukee Journal, June 20, 1990. Eve Johnson, "Sweet Quest for Perfection: Juicy Story With Sexy Angle," Vancouver Sun, June 16, 1990. Listener mail: Thanks to listener Patrick McNeal for sending this 1888 proof of the Pythagorean theorem by Emma Coolidge ("Department of Mathematics," Journal of Education 28:1 [June 28, 1888], 17). The proof is explicated in Robert and Ellen Kaplan's 2011 book Hidden Harmonies: The Lives and Times of the Pythagorean Theorem (pages 103-107). Tony O'Neill, "Glenade Lake and the Legend of the Dobhar-chú," Underexposed, Dec. 4, 2017. Patrick Tohall, "The Dobhar-Chú Tombstones of Glenade, Co. Leitrim," Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 78:2 (December 1948), 127-129. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Brent Ulbert, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

30 Aug 202130min

In 1864, two ships' crews were cast away at the same time on the same remote island in the Southern Ocean. But the two groups would undergo strikingly different experiences. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Auckland Islands castaways and reflect on its implications for the wider world. We'll also consider some fateful illnesses and puzzle over a street fighter's clothing. Intro: Lewis Carroll proposed fanciful logic problems. In 1946, a kangaroo made off with William Thompson's money. Sources for our feature on the Aucklands Islands castaways: Joan Druett, Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World, 2007. Nicholas A. Christakis, Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society, 2019. Elizabeth McMahon, Islands, Identity and the Literary Imagination, 2016. A.W. Eden, Islands of Despair, 1955. William Pember Reeves, New Zealand, 1908. F.E. Raynal, Wrecked on a Reef, or Twenty Months on the Auckland Islands, 1880. T. Musgrave, Castaway on the Auckland Isles: Narrative of the Wreck of the "Grafton," 1865. Don Rowe, "A Tale of Two Shipwrecks," New Zealand Geographic 167 (January-February 2021). "The Kindness of Strangers," Economist 431:9141 (May 4, 2019), 81. Peter Petchey, Rachael Egerton, and William Boyd, "A Spanish Man-o-War in New Zealand? The 1864 Wreck of Grafton and Its Lessons for Pre-Cook Shipwreck Claims," International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 44:2 (2015), 362-370. Bernadette Hince, "The Auckland Islands and Joan Druett's Island of the Lost," Shima: The International Journal of Research Into Island Cultures 2:1 (2008), 110. "Mystery of the Shipwreck Shelter," [Wellington, New Zealand] Sunday Star-Times, Feb. 21, 2021. Charles Montgomery, "The Audacity of Altruism: Opinion," Globe and Mail, March 28, 2020. "Was New Zealand Pre-Cooked?" [Wellington, New Zealand] Sunday Star-Times, April 26, 2015. Herbert Cullen, "Wreck of the Grafton Musgrave -- An Epic of the Sea," New Zealand Railways Magazine 9:2 (May 1, 1934). "Twenty Months on an Uninhabited Island," Glasgow Herald, Dec. 27, 1865. "Wreck of the Grafton: Journal of Captain Musgrave," Australian News for Home Readers, Oct. 25, 1865. "New Zealand," Illustrated Sydney News, Oct. 16, 1865. "The Wreck of the Grafton," Sydney Mail, Oct. 7, 1865. "The Wreck of the Schooner Grafton," Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 2, 1865. "Wreck of the Schooner Grafton," The Age, Oct. 2, 1865. "The Wreck of the Schooner Grafton," Bendigo Advertiser, Sept. 30, 1865. Grafton collection, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (retrieved Aug. 8, 2021). "Grafton Wreck and Epigwaitt Hut," Department of Conservation, Te Papa Atawhai (retrieved Aug. 8, 2021). Listener mail: "Suez Crisis," Wikipedia (accessed Aug. 11, 2021). Christopher Klein, "What Was the Suez Crisis?" History, Nov. 13, 2020. "Suez Crisis," Encyclopaedia Britannica, July 19, 2021. "History: Past Prime Ministers," gov.uk (accessed Aug. 13, 2021). "Anthony Eden," Wikipedia (accessed Aug. 12, 2021). David Owen, "The Effect of Prime Minister Anthony Eden's Illness on His Decision-Making During the Suez Crisis," QJM: An International Journal of Medicine 98:6 (June 2005), 387–402. David Owen, "Diseased, Demented, Depressed: Serious Illness in Heads of State," QJM: An International Journal of Medicine 96:5 (May 2003), 325–336. Meilan Solly, "What Happened When Woodrow Wilson Came Down With the 1918 Flu?" Smithsonian Magazine, Oct. 2, 2020. Dave Roos, "Woodrow Wilson Got the Flu in a Pandemic During the World War I Peace Talks," History, Oct. 6, 2020. Steve Coll, "Woodrow Wilson’s Case of the Flu, and How Pandemics Change History," New Yorker, April 16, 2020. "History of 1918 Flu Pandemic," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, March 21, 2018. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Neil de Carteret and his cat Nala, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

23 Aug 202132min

In 1959, Marine pilot William Rankin parachuted from a malfunctioning jet into a violent thunderstorm. The ordeal that followed is almost unique in human experience. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Rankin's harrowing adventure, which has been called "the most prolonged and fantastic parachute descent in history." We'll also hear your thoughts on pronunciation and puzzle over mice and rice. Intro: How do mirrors "know" to reverse writing? Artist Alex Queral carves portraits from telephone books. Sources for our feature on William Rankin: William H. Rankin, The Man Who Rode the Thunder, 1960. Andras Sóbester, Stratospheric Flight: Aeronautics at the Limit, 2011. Stefan Bechtel and Tim Samaras, Tornado Hunter: Getting Inside the Most Violent Storms on Earth, 2009. Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Cloudspotter's Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds, 2007. Christopher C. Burt, Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book, 2007. Robert Jackson, Baling Out: Amazing Dramas of Military Flying, 2006. David Fisher and William Garvey, eds., Wild Blue: Stories of Survival From Air and Space, 2000. Missy Allen and Michel Peissel, Dangerous Natural Phenomena, 1993. Sally Lee, Predicting Violent Storms, 1989. James Clark, "The Incredible Story of the Marine Who Rode Lightning," Task & Purpose, June 17, 2016. Burkhard Bilger, "Falling: Our Far-Flung Correspondents," New Yorker 83:23 (Aug. 13, 2007), 58. "The Nightmare Fall," Time, Aug. 17, 1959. Paul Simons, "Weather Eye," Times, Aug. 8, 2016. Paul Simons, "US Airman Survived a Thunder Tumble," Times, April 22, 2006. Paul Simons, "Weatherwatch," Guardian, Aug. 30, 2001. Brendan McWillams, "Jumping Into the Eye of a Thunderstorm," Irish Times, June 22, 2001. Harry Kursh, "Thunderstorm!" South Bend [Ind.] Tribune, May 26, 1963. "Marine Flier Bails Out, But It Takes Him 40 Minutes to Land," Indianapolis Star, Aug. 8, 1959. "Tossed by Elements Half-Hour," [Davenport, Iowa] Quad-City Times, Aug. 8, 1959. "Bails Out 9 Miles Up ... Into a Storm," Des Moines [Iowa] Tribune, Aug. 7, 1959. Listener mail: "Rhoticity in English," Wikipedia (accessed Aug. 7, 2021). "Mechelen," Wikipedia (accessed Aug. 7, 2021). Marieke Martin, "Where Did You Say You Were? The Perils of Place Name Pronunciation," BBC Blogs, Sept. 4, 2013. "History of Melbourne," Wikipedia (accessed Aug. 8, 2021). "Melbourne," Wikipedia (accessed Aug. 8, 2021). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jon-Richard. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

16 Aug 202133min

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions. Intro: Lili McGrath's 1915 "floor polisher" is a pair of slippers connected by a cord. Eighteenth-century English landowners commissioned custom ruins. The sources for this week's puzzles are below. In some cases we've included links to further information -- these contain spoilers, so don't click until you've listened to the episode: Puzzle #1 is from listener Moxie LaBouche. Puzzle #2 is from listener Cheryl Jensen, who sent this link. Puzzle #3 is from listener Theodore Warner. Here's a link. Puzzle #4 is from listener David Morgan. Puzzle #5 is from listener Bryan Ford, who sent these links. Puzzle #6 is from listener John Rusk, who sent this link. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

9 Aug 202132min

In 1850, England received a distinguished guest: A baby hippopotamus arrived at the London Zoo. Obaysch was an instant celebrity, attracting throngs of visitors while confounding his inexperienced keepers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe his long tenure at the zoo, more than 4,000 miles from his Egyptian home. We'll also remark on a disappearing signature and puzzle over a hazardous hand sign. Intro: In 1969 Rolling Stone invented a fake album with a real fanbase. In 1990 Terence King invented hand-holding gloves. Sources for our feature on Obaysch: John Simons, Obaysch: A Hippopotamus in Victorian London, 2019. Edgar Williams, Hippopotamus, 2017. Takashi Ito, London Zoo and the Victorians, 1828-1859, 2014. Helen Cowie, Exhibiting Animals in Nineteenth-Century Britain: Empathy, Education, Entertainment, 2014. Hannah Velten, Beastly London: A History of Animals in the City, 2013. John Toman, Kilvert's World of Wonders: Growing up in Mid-Victorian England, 2013. Peter Loriol, Famous and Infamous Londoners, 2004. Wilfrid Blunt, The Ark in the Park, 1976. Abraham Dee Bartlett, Wild Animals in Captivity: Being an Account of the Habits, Food, Management and Treatment of the Beasts and Birds at the 'Zoo,' with Reminiscences and Anecdotes, 1898. George C. Bompas, Life of Frank Buckland, 1885. Clara L. Matéaux, Rambles Round London Town, 1884. Charles Knight, ed., The English Cyclopaedia, 1867. Zoological Society of London, The Zoological Gardens: A Description of the Gardens and Menageries of the Royal Zoological Society, 1853. David William Mitchell, A Popular Guide to the Gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 1852. Wendy Woodward, "John Simons. Obaysch: A Hippopotamus in Victorian London [review]," Animal Studies Journal 9:1 (2020), 221-223. Ronald D. Morrison, "Dickens, London Zoo, and 'Household Words,'" Nineteenth-Century Prose 46:1 (Spring 2019), 75-96. Andrew J. P. Flack, "'The Illustrious Stranger': Hippomania and the Nature of the Exotic," Anthrozoös, 26:1 (2013), 43-59. S. Mary P. Benbow, "Death and Dying at the Zoo," Journal of Popular Culture 37:3 (February 2004), 379-398. David M. Schwartz, "Snatching Scientific Secrets From the Hippo's Gaping Jaws," Smithsonian 26:12 (March 1996), 90-102. Nina J. Root, "Victorian England's Hippomania," Natural History 102:2 (February 1993), 34. "Madam Hippo's Way," Youth's Companion 73:31 (Aug. 3, 1890). James Bradley, "The Lessons to Learn Today From a Hippopotamus in the 19th Century," Sydney Morning Herald, June 7, 2019. "What Are the World's Deadliest Animals?" BBC News, June 15, 2016. "Rhino Escapes and Bonnets-Stealing Elephants: The Amateurish Early Days of London Zoo Revealed," Telegraph, Jan. 13, 2017. "At the Zoo," Australian Star, Nov. 28, 1903. "Wild Animals Captivity," [London] Morning Post, March 14, 1899. "An Eminent Naturalist," [London] Standard, Feb. 11, 1899. "A Life in the Zoo," [London] Daily News, May 10, 1897. "The Hippo and His Habits," Westminster Budget, June 21, 1895. "Hippo's Farewell," Punch 74 (March 23, 1878), 132. "Public Amusements," Lloyd's Illustrated Newspaper, March 17, 1878. "The Old Hippopotamus at the Zoological Society's Gardens Died on Monday Night," Illustrated London News 72:2020, March 16, 1878. "Death of a Hippopotamus at the Zoological Gardens," Yorkshire Herald, March 14, 1878. Listener mail: Livia Gershon, "Maori May Have Reached Antarctica 1,000 Years Before Europeans," Smithsonian, June 14, 2021. Priscilla M. Wehi et al., "A Short Scan of Maori Journeys to Antarctica," Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, June 6, 2021. Tess McClure, "New Zealand Maori May Have Been First to Discover Antarctica, Study Suggests," Guardian, June 11, 2021. "Polynesian History & Origin," Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey, PBS (accessed July 15, 2021). Faye Fiore, "Getting Treated Like Royalty: Fans of Former Prime Minister Thatcher Flock to Her Book Signing," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 13, 1993. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Marie Nearing. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

26 Juli 202131min

In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore some curiosities and unanswered questions from Greg's research, including a novelist's ashes, some bathing fairies, the mists of Dartmoor, and a ballooning leopard. We'll also revisit the Somerton man and puzzle over an armed traveler. Intro: Amanda McKittrick Ros is widely considered the worst novelist of all time. John Cummings swallowed 30 knives. Sources for our notes and queries: The Pony Express ad is quoted in Christopher Corbett's 2004 history Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth and Lasting Legend of the Pony Express. It appeared first in Missouri amateur historian Mabel Loving's posthumous 1961 history The Pony Express Rides On!, but she cites no source, and no one's been able to find the ad. The anecdote about John Gawsworth keeping M.P. Shiel's ashes in a biscuit tin appears in John Sutherland's 2011 book Lives of the Novelists. "The comedian and scholar of nineteenth-century decadent literature, Barry Humphries, was (unwillingly) one such diner -- 'out of mere politeness.'" Sutherland gives only this source, which says nothing about the ashes. (Thanks, Jaideep.) Henry Irving's observation about amateur actors and personal pronouns is mentioned in Robertson Davies' 1951 novel Tempest-Tost. Joseph Addison's definition of a pun appeared in the Spectator, May 10, 1711. Theodore Hook's best pun is given in William Shepard Walsh's Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities, 1892. Richard Sugg's anecdote of the Ilkley fairies appears in this 2018 Yorkshire Post article. The proof of the Pythagorean theorem by "Miss E. A. Coolidge, a blind girl" appears in Robert Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan's 2011 book Hidden Harmonies: The Lives and Times of the Pythagorean Theorem. They found it in Elisha Scott Loomis' 1940 book The Pythagorean Proposition, which cites the Journal of Education (Volume 28, 1888, page 17), which I haven't been able to get my hands on -- the Kaplans couldn't either, until they discovered it had been mis-shelved in the stacks of Harvard's Gutman Library. Neither Loomis nor the Kaplans gives the proof as it originally appeared, and neither gives Coolidge's age at the proof. The anecdote of the Dartmoor fog appears in William Crossing's 1888 book Amid Devonia's Alps. The Paris fogs of the 1780s are described in Louis-Sébastien Mercier's Tableau de Paris (Chapter CCCLXIV, 1:1014), a 12-volume topographic description of the city that appeared between 1782 and 1788, as quoted in Jeremy Popkin, ed., Panorama of Paris: Selections From Tableau de Paris, 2010. "I have known fogs so thick that you could not see the flame in their lamps," Mercier wrote, "so thick that coachmen have had to get down from their boxes and feel their way along the walls. Passers-by, unwilling and unwitting, collided in the tenebrous streets; and you marched in at your neighbour's door under the impression that it was your own." The anecdote about Charles Green and his ballooning companions appears in John Lucas' 1973 book The Big Umbrella. The best image I've been able to find of the Dobhar-chú, the "king otter" of Irish folklore, accompanies this 2018 article from the Leitrim Observer. Does a photo exist of Grace Connolly's entire headstone? According to WorldCat, G.V. Damiano's 1922 book Hadhuch-Anti Hell-War is held only by the New York Public Library System; by Trinity College Library in Hartford, Ct.; and by the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago. If it's available online, I haven't been able to find it. The incident of the dividing typewriters is mentioned in this article from the Vancouver Sun, and there's a bit more on this Australian typewriter blog. The anecdote about Enroughty being pronounced "Darby" appears in the designer's notes for the wargame The Seven Days, Volume III: Malvern Hill. This 1912 letter to the New York Times affirms the pronunciation, and this 1956 letter to American Heritage gives another explanation of its origin -- one of many. A few more confirming sources: Robert M. Rennick, "I Didn't Catch Your Name," Verbatim 29:2 (Summer 2004). Parke Rouse, "The South's Cloudy Vowels Yield to Bland Consonance," [Newport News, Va.] Daily Press, Feb. 23, 1989, A11. Earl B. McElfresh, "Make Straight His Path: Mapmaking in the Civil War," Civil War Times 46:4 (June 2007), 36-43, 5. But even if it's true, there's no consistent explanation as to how this state of affairs came about. Listener mail: Daniel Keane and Rhett Burnie, "The Somerton Man's Remains Have Been Exhumed — So What Happens Next?" ABC News, May 19, 2021. Hilary Whiteman, "The Somerton Man Died Alone on a Beach in 1948. Now Australian Scientists Are Close to Solving the Mystery," CNN, May 31, 2021. "Operation Persist Enters New Phase," Crime Stoppers South Australia, Jan. 30, 2019. "Most-Wanted Iraqi Playing Cards," Wikipedia (accessed Jul. 9, 2021). Leon Neyfakh, "An Ingenious New Way of Solving Cold Cases," Slate, Feb. 1, 2016. Jean Huets, "Killing Time," New York Times Opinionater, Sept. 7, 2012. "1863 Complete Set of Confederate Generals Playing Cards (52)," Robert Edward Auctions (accessed July 10, 2021). James Elphick, "Four Ways Americans Have Used Playing Cards in War," History Net (accessed July 10, 2021). "WWII Airplane Spotter Cards," The Museum of Flight Store (accessed July 11, 2021). "Vesna Vulovic," Wikipedia (accessed July 4, 2021). Richard Sandomir, "Vesna Vulovic, Flight Attendant Who Survived Jetliner Blast, Dies at 66," New York Times, Dec. 28, 2016. "Yeast Hunting," myBeviale, June 1, 2020. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Sarah Gilbert, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

19 Juli 202133min

In 1818, Army veteran John Cleves Symmes Jr. declared that the earth was hollow and proposed to lead an expedition to its interior. He promoted the theory in lectures and even won support on Capitol Hill. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Symmes' strange project and its surprising consequences. We'll also revisit age fraud in sports and puzzle over a curious customer. Intro: Grazing cattle align their bodies with magnetic north. The Conrad Cantzen Shoe Fund buys footwear for actors. Sources for our feature on John Cleves Symmes Jr.: David Standish, Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface, 2007. Peter Fitting, ed., Subterranean Worlds: A Critical Anthology, 2004. Martin Gardner, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, 1986. Paul Collins, Banvard's Folly: Thirteen Tales of Renowned Obscurity, Famous Anonymity, and Rotten Luck, 2015. Americus Symmes, The Symmes Theory of Concentric Spheres: Demonstrating That the Earth Is Hollow, Habitable Within, and Widely Open About the Poles, 1878. James McBride and John Cleves Symmes, Symmes's Theory of Concentric Spheres: Demonstrating That the Earth Is Hollow, Habitable Within, and Widely Open About the Poles, 1826. Adam Seaborn, Symzonia: A Voyage of Discovery, 1820. Donald Prothero, "The Hollow Earth," Skeptic 25:3 (2020), 18-23, 64. Elizabeth Hope Chang, "Hollow Earth Fiction and Environmental Form in the Late Nineteenth Century," Nineteenth-Century Contexts 38:5 (2016), 387-397. Marissa Fessenden, "John Quincy Adams Once Approved an Expedition to the Center of the Earth," smithsonianmag.com, May 7, 2015. Daniel Loxton, "Journey Inside the Fantastical Hollow Earth: Part One," Skeptic 20:1 (2015), 65-73. "Journey Inside the Fantastical Hollow Earth: Part Two," Skeptic 20:2 (2015), 65-73. Matt Simon, "Fantastically Wrong: The Real-Life Journey to the Center of the Earth That Almost Was," Wired, Oct. 29, 2014. Kirsten Møllegaard and Robin K. Belcher, "Death, Madness, and the Hero's Journey: Edgar Allan Poe's Antarctic Adventures," International Journal of Arts & Sciences 6:1 (2013) 413-427. Michael E. Bakich, "10 Crazy Ideas From Astronomy's Past," Astronomy 38:8 (August 2010), 32-35. Darryl Jones, "Ultima Thule: Arthur Gordon Pym, the Polar Imaginary, and the Hollow Earth," Edgar Allan Poe Review 11:1 (Spring 2010), 51-69. Johan Wijkmark, "Poe's Pym and the Discourse of Antarctic Exploration," Edgar Allan Poe Review 10:3 (Winter 2009), 84-116. Donald Simanek, "The Shape of the Earth -- Flat or Hollow?" Skeptic 13:4 (2008), 68-71, 80. Duane A. Griffin, "Hollow and Habitable Within: Symmes's Theory of Earth's Internal Structure and Polar Geography," Physical Geography 25:5 (2004), 382-397. Tim Harris, "Where All the Geese and Salmon Go," The Age, July 22, 2002. Victoria Nelson, "Symmes Hole, or the South Polar Romance," Raritan 17:2 (Fall 1997), 136-166. Hans-Joachim Lang and Benjamin Lease, "The Authorship of Symzonia: The Case for Nathaniel Ames," New England Quarterly 48:2 (June 1975), 241-252. Conway Zirkle, "The Theory of Concentric Spheres: Edmund Halley, Cotton Mather, & John Cleves Symmes," Isis 37:3/4 (July 1947), 155-159. William Marion Miller, "The Theory of Concentric Spheres," Isis 33:4 (December 1941), 507-514. "John Cleves Symmes, the Theorist: Second Paper," Southern Bivouac 2:10 (March 1887), 621-631. Will Storr, "Journey to the Centre of the Earth," Sunday Telegraph, July 13, 2014. Richard Foot, "Believers Look for Fog-Shrouded Gate to Inner Earth," Vancouver Sun, May 30, 2007. Umberto Eco, "Outlandish Theories: Kings of the (Hollow) World," New York Times, July 21, 2006. Mark Pilkington, "Far Out: Going Underground," Guardian, June 16, 2005. Leigh Allan, "Theory Had Holes In It, Layers, Too," Dayton Daily News, Dec. 11, 2001. Tom Tiede, "John Symmes: Earth Is Hollow," [Bowling Green, Ky.] Park City Daily News, July 9, 1978. Louis B. Wright, "Eccentrics, Originals, and Still Others Ahead of Their Times," New York Times, July 21, 1957. "Sailing Through the Earth!" Shepparton [Victoria] Advertiser, March 24, 1936. "People Inside the Earth Excited America in 1822," The Science News-Letter 27:728 (March 23, 1935), 180-181. "Monument to a Dead Theory," Port Gibson [Miss.] Reveille, Jan. 20, 1910. "Story of John Symmes: His Plan to Lead an Expedition to the Interior of the Earth," New York Times, Sept. 18, 1909. "The Delusion of Symmes," New York Times, Sept. 10, 1909. "Symmes' Hole," Horsham [Victoria] Times, May 18, 1897. "An Arctic Theory Gone Mad," New York Times, May 12, 1884. "Symmes's Theory: His Son Expounds It -- The Earth Hollow and Inhabited," New York Times, Dec. 2, 1883. "Planetary Holes," New York Times, June 14, 1878. "Symmes and Howgate: What the Believer in the Polar Opening Thinks of the Latter's Plan of Reaching the Open Polar Sea," New York Times, Feb. 24, 1877. "In the Bowels of the Earth," Ballarat Courier, March 14, 1876. "Symmes' Hole," New York Times, Dec. 24, 1875. Lester Ian Chaplow, "Tales of a Hollow Earth: Tracing the Legacy of John Cleves Symmes in Antarctic Exploration and Fiction," thesis, University of Canterbury, 2011. Listener mail: "Danny Almonte," Wikipedia (accessed June 27, 2021). Tom Kludt, "Age-Old Problem: How Easy Is It for Athletes to Fake Their Birthdates?" Guardian, March 16, 2021. "Age Fraud in Association Football," Wikipedia (accessed July 3, 2021). Muthoni Muchiri, "Age Fraud in Football: How Can It Be Tackled?" BBC News, April 26, 2019. Dina Fine Maron, "Dear FIFA: There Is No Scientific Test to Prevent Age Fraud," Scientific American, Aug. 11, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle is taken from Agnes Rogers' 1953 book How Come? A Book of Riddles, sent to us by listener Jon Jerome. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

12 Juli 202132min