Futility Closet

Guy Gabaldon was an untested Marine when he landed on the Pacific island of Saipan during World War II. But he decided to fight the war on his own terms, venturing alone into enemy territory and trying to convince Japanese soldiers to surrender voluntarily. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Gabaldon's dangerous crusade and learn its surprising results. We'll also examine Wonder Woman's erotic origins and puzzle over an elusive murderer. Intro: In 1955 Dodge introduced the La Femme -- "the first car ever exclusively designed for the woman motorist." In 1911 a 16-year-old English girl died when a gust of wind carried her 20 feet into the air. Sources for our feature on Guy Gabaldon: Guy Gabaldon, Saipan: Suicide Island, 1990. "Diminutive WWII Hero Gabaldon Dies at 80," Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2006. Richard Goldstein, "Guy Gabaldon, 80, Hero of Battle of Saipan, Dies," New York Times, Sept. 4, 2006. Jocelyn Y. Stewart, "Guy Gabaldon, 80; WWII Hero Captured 1,000 Japanese on

When detectives explored the Chicago hotel owned by insurance fraudster H.H. Holmes in 1894, they found a nightmarish warren of blind passageways, trapdoors, hidden chutes, and asphyxiation chambers in which Holmes had killed dozens or perhaps even hundreds of victims. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the career of America's first documented serial killer, who headlines called "a fiend in human shape." We'll also gape at some fireworks explosions and puzzle over an intransigent insurance company. Intro: In 1908 a Strand reader discovered an old London horse omnibus on the outskirts of Calgary. If Henry Jenkins truly lived to 169, then as an English subject he'd have changed religions eight times. Sources for our feature on H.H. Holmes: Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City, 2004. John Borowski, The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes, 2005. Harold Schechter, Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, 1994. Alan Glenn, "A Double Dose of the Macabre," Michigan Today,

For 200 years the U.S. Treasury has maintained a "conscience fund" that accepts repayments from people who have defrauded or stolen from the government. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the history of the fund and some of the more memorable and puzzling contributions it's received over the years. We'll also ponder Audrey Hepburn's role in World War II and puzzle over an illness cured by climbing poles. Intro: Wisconsin banker John Krubsack grafted 32 box elders into a living chair. According to his colleagues, Wolfgang Pauli's mere presence would cause accidents. Sources for our feature on the conscience fund: Warren Weaver Jr., "'Conscience Fund' at New High," New York Times, March 18, 1987. "$10,000 to Conscience Fund," New York Times, July 21, 1915. "$6,100 to Conscience Fund," New York Times, Feb. 4, 1925. "Swell Conscience Fund; Two Remittances, Small and Large, Bring In $4,876.70," New York Times, Feb. 6, 1916. "Sends $50 to War Department for Equipment Stolen i

Fingerprint identification and lie detectors are well-known tools of law enforcement today, but both were quite revolutionary when they were introduced. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the memorable cases where these innovations were first used. We'll also see some phantom ships and puzzle over a beer company's second thoughts. Intro: In 1892, Bostonians realized that the architects of their new library had hidden their name in the façade. In 1918, a California businessman built a 7,900-ton steamer out of ferrocement. Sources for our feature on fingerprints and polygraphs: Ken Alder, The Lie Detectors, 2007. Jack Fincher, “Lifting 'Latents' Is Now Very Much a High-Tech Matter,” Smithsonian, October 1989, 201. James O'Brien, The Scientific Sherlock Holmes, 2013. Ian Leslie, Born Liars, 2011. William J. Tilstone, Kathleen A. Savage, and Leigh A. Clark, Forensic Science: An Encyclopedia of History, Methods, and Techniques, 2006. Benjamin Netanyahu, Criminal Justice: New Tech

In 1836, Indians abducted a 9-year-old girl from her home in East Texas. She made a new life among the Comanche, with a husband and three children. Then, after 24 years, the whites abducted her back again. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, caught up in a war between two societies. We'll also analyze a forger's motives and puzzle over why a crowd won't help a dying woman. Intro: Mathematician Ernst Straus invented a shape in which a ball might bounce forever without finding a hole. In 1874 a Massachusetts composer set the American constitution to music. Sources for our feature on Cynthia Ann Parker: Margaret Schmidt Hacker, Cynthia Ann Parker: The Life and the Legend, 1990. Jack K. Selden, Return: The Parker Story, 2006. Jan Reid, "One Who Was Found: The Legend of Cynthia Ann Parker," in Michael L. Collins, ed., Tales of Texoma, 2005. Jo Ella Powell Exley, Frontier Blood, 2001. Jack C. Ramsay Jr., Sunshine on the Prairie, 1990. George U. Hubbard,

In 1913, English mathematician G.H. Hardy received a package from an unknown accounting clerk in India, with nine pages of mathematical results that he found "scarcely possible to believe." In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll follow the unlikely friendship that sprang up between Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan, whom Hardy called "the most romantic figure in the recent history of mathematics." We'll also probe Carson McCullers' heart and puzzle over a well-proportioned amputee. Intro: W.H. Hill's signature was unchanged when inverted. Room 308 of West Java's Samudra Beach Hotel is reserved for the Indonesian goddess Nyai Loro Kidul. Sources for our feature on Srinivasa Ramanujan: Robert Kanigel, The Man Who Knew Infinity, 1991. K. Srinivasa Rao, Srinivasa Ramanujan: A Mathematical Genius, 1998. S.R. Ranganathan, Ramanujan: The Man and the Mathematician, 1967. Bruce C. Berndt and Robert A. Rankin, Ramanujan: Letters and Commentary, 1991. G.H. Hardy, "The Indian Mathematician Ramanujan,"

When critics dismissed his paintings, Dutch artist Han van Meegeren decided to seek his revenge on the art world: He devoted himself to forgery and spent six years fabricating a Vermeer masterpiece. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll recount the career of a master forger and the surprising mistake that eventually brought him down. We'll also drop in on D.B. Cooper and puzzle over an eyeless fruit burglar. Intro: In 1976, the New York Times accidentally dated an issue "March 10, 1075." In 1987, University of Illinois freshman Mike Hayes financed his education by asking Chicago Tribune readers for a penny apiece. Sources for our feature on Han van Meegeren: Edward Dolnick, The Forger's Spell, 2008. Jonathan Lopez, The Man Who Made Vermeers, 2008. John Raymond Godley, Van Meegeren: A Case History, 1967. John Raymond Godley, Master Art Forger: The Story of Han Van Meegeren, 1966. P.B. Coremans, Van Meegeren's Faked Vermeers and de Hooghs: A Scientific Examination, 1949. Humphrey Van Lo

In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell two stories about people who spent years confined in miserably small spaces. North Carolina slave Harriet Jacobs spent seven years hiding in a narrow space under her grandmother's roof, evading her abusive owner, and Irishman Patrick Fowler spent most of World War I hiding in the cabinet of a sympathetic family in German-occupied France. We'll also subdivide Scotland and puzzle over a ballerina's silent reception. Intro: During a printers' strike in 1923, New York newspapers put out a paper with 10 nameplates. Henry Hudson's journal reports an encounter with a mermaid in 1610. Sources for our feature on Harriet Jacobs and Patrick Fowler: Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, 1861. Jean Fagan Yellin, Harriet Jacobs: A Life, 2004. Jean Fagan Yellin, ed., The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers, 2008. Daneen Wardrop, "'I Stuck the Gimlet in and Waited for Evening': Writing and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Texas Studies in Lite

When the Scottish writer William Sharp died in 1905, his wife revealed a surprising secret: For 10 years he had kept up a second career as a reclusive novelist named Fiona Macleod, carrying on correspondences and writing works in two distinctly different styles. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore Sharp's curious relationship with his feminine alter ego, whose sporadic appearances perplexed even him. We'll also hunt tigers in Singapore and puzzle over a surprisingly unsuccessful bank robber. Intro: In 1904 Mrs. Membury, of Hyde Corner, Bridport, Dorset, set out to make a snake of stamps. In 1996, mathematician Michael J. Bradley noticed that his son's Little League rulebook specified a geometrically impossible home plate. Sources for our feature on Fiona Macleod: Flavia Alaya, William Sharp -- “Fiona Macleod,” 1855-1905, 1970. Terry L. Meyers, The Sexual Tensions of William Sharp, 1996. John Sutherland, Curiosities of Literature, 2013. "Sharp's Death Solves a Literary Mystery

In 1919 a bizarre catastrophe struck Boston's North End: A giant storage tank failed, releasing 2 million gallons of molasses into a crowded business district at the height of a January workday. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Boston Molasses Disaster, which claimed 21 lives and inscribed a sticky page into the city's history books. We'll also admire some Scandinavian statistics and puzzle over a provocative Facebook photo. Intro: In 1888 three women reported encountering a 15-foot flying serpent in the woods near Columbia, S.C. In 1834 the American Journal of Science and Arts reported the capture of a pair of conjoined catfish near Fort Johnston, N.C. Sources for our feature on the Boston Molasses Disaster: Stephen Puleo, Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, 2003. Fred Durso Jr., "The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919," NFPA Journal 105:3 (May/June 2011), 90-93. Sean Potter, "Retrospect: January 15, 1919: Boston Molasses Flood," Weatherwise

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles to test your wits and stump your friends -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions. Below are the sources for this week's puzzles. In a few places 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 Dan Lewis' Now I Know newsletter of April 28, 2016. Puzzle #2 was contributed by listener Jon Sweitzer-Lamme, who sent these corroborating links. Puzzle #3 is from listener Jonathan Knoell. Puzzle #4 is from listener Nick Hare. Puzzle #5 is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 2014 book Remarkable Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Puzzle #6 was devised by Greg. Here's a link. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pled

In December 1914 a remarkable thing happened on the Western Front: British and German soldiers stopped fighting and left their trenches to greet one another, exchange souvenirs, bury their dead, and sing carols in the spirit of the holiday season. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Christmas truce, which one participant called "one of the highlights of my life." We'll also remember James Thurber's Aunt Sarah and puzzle over an anachronistic twin. Intro: In 1898, G.W. Roberts of Birmingham made a full-size piano from 3,776 matchboxes and 5 pounds of glue. In 1892, 69 men raced 302 miles on stilts, from Bordeaux to Bayonne and Biarritz and back. Sources for our feature on the Christmas truce: Terri Blom Crocker, The Christmas Truce: Myth, Memory, and the First World War, 2016. Stanley Weintraub, Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce, 2001. Chris Baker, The Truce: The Day the War Stopped, 2014. Peter Hart, "Christmas Truce," Military History 31

In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore some more curiosities and unanswered questions from Greg's research, including a pilot who saved Buckingham Palace, a ghost who confronted Arthur Conan Doyle, what Mark Twain learned from a palm reader, and a bedeviling superfluity of Norwegians. We'll also discover a language used only by women and puzzle over a gift that's best given sparingly. Intro: Horatio Nelson's coffin was fashioned from the mast of a French flagship that he had defeated. In 1994 the city council of Green River, Wyoming, designated an airstrip south of town as an "intergalactic spaceport." Sources for our feature on notes and queries: The story of the Singapore tiger shooting appears in this history of the Raffles hotel. Neil Kagan's 2013 book The Untold Civil War alleges that the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment was so thick with Norwegians that it contained dozens of men named Ole Olson. The Norwegian American Genealogical Center says that the Roster of Wisconsin

In 1944, a bizarre criminal assaulted the small town of Mattoon, Illinois. Victims reported smelling a sickly sweet odor in their bedrooms before being overcome with nausea and a feeling of paralysis. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll pursue the mad gasser of Mattoon, who vanished as quickly as he had struck, leaving residents to wonder whether he had ever existed at all. We'll also ponder the concept of identical cousins and puzzle over a midnight stabbing. Intro: Enterprise, Ala., erected an $1,800 monument to the boll weevil. In the late 1930s, a plaster mannequin named Cynthia archly toured the New York social scene. Sources for our feature on the mad gasser of Mattoon: Bob Ladendorf and Robert E. Bartholomew, "The Mad Gasser of Mattoon: How the Press Created an Imaginary Chemical Weapons Attack," Skeptical Inquirer 26:4 (July/August 2002), 50-54. Robert E. Bartholomew and Jeffrey S. Victor, "A Social-Psychological Theory of Collective Anxiety Attacks: The 'Mad Gasser' Reexamine

Libby Prison was one of the most infamous prison camps of the Civil War -- thousands of Union prisoners were packed together in a converted warehouse, facing months or years of starvation and abuse. The Confederates thought the prison was escape-proof, and in this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll show how a determined group of prisoners set out to prove them wrong. We'll also duel with a barrel and puzzle over why an admitted forger would be found innocent. Intro: Iowa attorney Townsend M. Zink directed that his money be used to build a library that would exclude women and stock books written only by men. In the early 1960s, the American Automobile Association forgot to include Seattle on its road map of the United States. Sources for our feature on the Libby Prison breakout: Joseph Wheelan, Libby Prison Breakout, 2010. Jonathan Franklin William Vance, Encyclopedia of Prisoners of War and Internment, 2006. Bruce Klee, "Libby Prison," Civil War Times Illustrated 37:7 (February 1999), 32-38

Australia's Westfield ultramarathon had a surprise entrant in 1983: A 61-year-old potato farmer named Cliff Young joined a field of elite professional runners for the 500-mile race from Sydney to Melbourne. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Young's fortunes in the race and the heart, tenacity, and humor that endeared him to a nation. We'll also learn the difference between no and nay and puzzle over a Japanese baby shortage. Intro: Thomas Wedders exhibited his 7.5-inch nose throughout Yorkshire in the 1770s. Two meteorologists played ping-pong on a solid block of snow atop Scotland's Ben Nevis in 1902. Sources for our feature on Cliff Young: Julietta Jameson, Cliffy: The Cliff Young Story, 2013. Phil Essam, ed., I've Finally Found My Hero, 2016. Matthew Ricketson, "Cliff's Not Finished Yet," The Age, Nov. 29, 1983. J. Freeman, "Cliff Calls It a Day," Telegraph, April 17, 1985. Greg Truman, "A Long-Running Favorite Draws to an End," The Advertiser, May 5, 1986. Louise Evan

In 1912, bookseller Wilfrid Voynich discovered an illustrated manuscript that was written in a mysterious alphabet that had never been seen before. The text bears the hallmarks of natural language, but no one has ever been able to determine its meaning. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll learn about the Voynich manuscript, which has been bewildering scholars for more than a century. We'll also ponder some parliamentary hostages and puzzle over a tormenting acquisition. Intro: In 1851, George Merryweather invented the Tempest Prognosticator, a rack of bottled leeches who would ring a bell when a storm approached. Between 1884 and 1896, visitors to Coney Island could stay in a 31-room hotel shaped like an elephant. Sources for our feature on the Voynich manuscript: Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill, The Voynich Manuscript, 2004. "Voynich Manuscript," Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University. Klaus Schmeh, "The Voynich Manuscript: The Book Nobody Can Read," Skeptic

The closing days of World War II witnessed a bizarre battle with some unlikely allies: American and German soldiers joined forces to rescue a group of French prisoners from a medieval castle in the Austrian Alps. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the Battle for Castle Itter, the only time that Allies and Germans fought together in the war. We'll also dodge another raft of aerial bombs and puzzle over a bottled pear. Intro: In 1917, Royal Flying Corps trainee Graham Donald fell out of his plane at the top of a loop. In 1750, the 1st Earl of Hardwicke installed an artificial ruin near his country house, Wimpole Hall. Sources for our feature on the Battle for Castle Itter: Stephen Harding, The Last Battle, 2013. Stephen Harding, "The Battle for Castle Itter," World War II 23:3 (August/September 2008), 38-45. George Hodge, "The Last Battle: When U.S. and German Soldiers Joined Forces in the Waning Hours of World War II in Europe," Military Review 94:4 (July/August 2014), 100. Joh

In 1896 two New Jersey clam diggers made a bold bid for fame: They set out to cross the North Atlantic in a rowboat, a feat that had never been accomplished before. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the adventure of George Harbo and Frank Samuelsen, which one newspaper called "the most remarkable event in the way of ocean navigation that ever transpired." We'll also meet some military mammals and puzzle over a thwarted burglar. Intro: The score for Telemann's Gulliver Suite includes "Lilliputian" and "Brobdingnagian" note values. In 1964 Zambia announced a rather low-tech space program. Sources for our feature on Harbo and Samuelsen: David W. Shaw, Daring the Sea, 1998. William Longyard, A Speck on the Sea, 2003. David W. Shaw, "A Fool's Errand, but a Nautical Landmark," Scandinavian Review 102:1 (Spring 2015), 46-60. "To Row Across the Atlantic," New York World, Feb. 13, 1896, 16. "To Cross Ocean in Rowboat," New York Herald, June 6, 1896, 7. The log of the Fox. "Over th

In 1943, fed up with modernist poetry, two Australian servicemen invented a fake poet and submitted a collection of deliberately senseless verses to a Melbourne arts magazine. To their delight, they were accepted and their author hailed as "one of the most remarkable and important poetic figures of this country." In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Ern Malley hoax, its perpetrators, and its surprising legacy in Australian literature. We'll also hear a mechanized Radiohead and puzzle over a railroad standstill. Intro: In 1896 an English statistician decided that "brass instruments have a fatal influence on the growth of the hair." The Lincoln Electric Company presented a check made of steel to each winner of a 1932 essay contest. Sources for our feature on Ern Malley: Michael Heyward, The Ern Malley Affair, 1993. Brian Lloyd, "Ern Malley and His Rivals," Australian Literary Studies 20:1 (May 2001) 20. Philip Mead, "1944, Melbourne and Adelaide: The Ern Malley Hoax