Futility Closet

When William Harrison disappeared from Campden, England, in 1660, his servant offered an incredible explanation: that he and his family had murdered him. The events that followed only proved the situation to be even more bizarre. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe "the Campden wonder," an enigma that has eluded explanation for more than 300 years. We'll also consider Vladimir Putin's dog and puzzle over a little girl's benefactor. Intro: In 1921, Pennsylvania surgeon Evan O'Neill Kane removed his own appendix. (Soviet physician Leonid Rogozov did the same 40 years later.) John Cowper Powys once promised to visit Theodore Dreiser "as a spirit or in some other astral form" -- and, according to Dreiser, did so. Sources for our feature on the Campden Wonder: Sir George Clark, ed., The Campden Wonder, 1959. "The Campden Wonder," Arminian Magazine, August 1787, 434. "Judicial Puzzles -- The Campden Wonder," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, July 1860, 54-64. Andrew Lang, Historical

In 1971 a mysterious man hijacked an airliner in Portland, Oregon, demanding $200,000 and four parachutes. He bailed out somewhere over southwestern Washington and has never been seen again. In today's show we'll tell the story of D.B. Cooper, the only unsolved hijacking in American history. We'll also hear some musical disk drives and puzzle over a bicyclist's narrow escape. Intro: In 1973, Swedish mathematician Per Enflo won a goose for solving a problem posed 37 years earlier. Established in 1945 by a sympathetic actor, the Conrad Cantzen Shoe Fund will reimburse working artists $40 toward a pair of shoes. Sources for our feature on D.B. Cooper: Ralph P. Himmelsbach and Thomas K. Worcester, Norjak: The Investigation of D.B. Cooper, 1986. Kay Melchisedech Olson, The D.B. Cooper Hijacking, 2011. Associated Press, "First D.B. Cooper Clue Discovered," Jan. 18, 1979. Associated Press, "Clue to D.B. Cooper's Fate Found by a Washington Family on Picnic," Feb. 13, 1980. Farida Fawzy, "D.B. Cooper: FBI Closes th

  In 1924 a curious network of catacombs was discovered in Washington D.C. They were traced to Harrison Dyar, a Smithsonian entomologist who had been industriously digging tunnels in the city for almost two decades. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Dyar's strange hobby -- and the equally bizarre affairs in his personal life. We'll also revisit balloons in World War II and puzzle over a thief's change of heart. Intro: The melody of Peter Cornelius' 1854 composition "Ein Ton" is a single repeated note. Japanese puzzle maven Nob Yoshigahara devised this optical illusion. Sources for our feature on Harrison Dyar: Marc E. Epstein, Moths, Myths, and Mosquitoes, 2016. Marc E. Epstein and Pamela M. Henson, "Digging for Dyar: The Man Behind the Myth," American Entomologist 38:3 (July 1, 1992), 148-169. Ryan P. Smith, "The Bizarre Tale of the Tunnels, Trysts and Taxa of a Smithsonian Entomologist," Smithsonian, May 13, 2016. John Kelly, "Who Was Harrison G. Dyar?", Washington Post,

During World War II a Polish transport company picked up an unusual mascot: a Syrian brown bear that grew to 500 pounds and traveled with his human friends through the Middle East and Europe. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet Wojtek, the "happy warrior," and follow his adventures during and after the war. We'll also catch up with a Russian recluse and puzzle over a murderous daughter. Intro: In 1956, U.S. Navy pilot Tom Attridge overtook his cannon rounds and shot down his own plane. At Petersburg, Va., during the American Civil War, a Union and a Confederate bullet met in midair. Sources for our feature on Wojtek the shell-toting bruin: Aileen Orr, Wojtek the Bear, 2012. Karen Jensen, "Private Wojtek, Reporting for Duty," World War II 27:3 (September-October 2012), 54. The Wojtek Memorial Trust raised £250,000 to build Wojtek's memorial statue in Edinburgh. "Scottish District News," Glasgow Herald, Nov. 21, 1947. "Smarter Than the Average Bear ... by Far," Edinburgh News, Ma

  During the siege of Leningrad in World War II, a heroic group of Russian botanists fought cold, hunger, and German attacks to keep alive a storehouse of crops that held the future of Soviet agriculture. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Vavilov Institute, whose scientists literally starved to death protecting tons of treasured food. We'll also follow a wayward sailor and puzzle over how to improve the safety of tanks. Intro: Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, shared her home with a 400-pound lion. In 2009, a California consumer sued PepsiCo for implying that crunchberries are a fruit. Sources for our feature on Nikolai Vavilov: S.M. Alexanyan and V.I. Krivchenko, "Vavilov Institute Scientists Heroically Preserve World Plant Genetic Resources Collections During World War II Siege of Leningrad," Diversity 7:4 (1991), 10-13. James F. Crow, “N. I. Vavilov, Martyr to Genetic Truth,” Genetics 134:4 (May 1993). Olga Elina, Susanne Heim, and Nils Roll

In 1879 a ghastly crime gripped England: A London maid had dismembered her employer and then assumed her identity for two weeks, wearing her clothes and jewelry and selling her belongings. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the murder of Julia Thomas and its surprising modern postscript. We'll also discover the unlikely origins of a Mary Poppins character and puzzle over a penguin in a canoe. Intro: Early airplanes were sometimes attacked by confused eagles. Alberta, Canada, has been rat-free for 50 years. Sources for our feature on the murder of Julia Thomas: Elliott O'Donnell, ed., Trial of Kate Webster, 1925. Transcript of Kate Webster's trial at the Old Bailey. "The Richmond Murder," Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1879. "Kate Webster Hanged," Reading [Pa.] Eagle, July 31, 1879. Matt Blake, "Attenborough Skull Mystery Finally Solved," Independent, July 5, 2011. Cigdem Iltan, "The Skull in the Backyard," Maclean's 124:28 (July 25, 2011), 37. Park Road, Richmond, today. At le

In 1978 a team of geologists discovered a family of five living deep in the Siberian forest, 150 miles from the nearest village. Fearing persecution, they had lived entirely on their own since 1936, praying, tending a meager garden, and suffering through winter temperatures of 40 below zero. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet the Lykov family, whose religious beliefs committed them to "the greatest solitude on the earth." We'll also learn about Esperanto's role in a Spanish prison break and puzzle over a self-incriminating murderer. Intro: The London Review and Literary Journal of August 1796 records a cricket match "by eleven Greenwich Pensioners with one leg against eleven with one arm, for one thousand guineas, at the new Cricket ground, Montpelier Gardens, Walworth." The British Veterinary Journal of March 1888 reports that a Manchester horse fitted with eyeglasses "now stands all the morning looking over the half-door of his stable with his spectacles on, gazing around him

  In 1976 a television crew discovered a mummified corpse in a California funhouse. Unbelievably, an investigation revealed that it belonged to an Oklahoma outlaw who had been shot by sheriff's deputies in 1911 and whose remains had been traveling the country ever since. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll trace the postmortem odyssey of Elmer McCurdy, "the bandit who wouldn't give up." We'll also reflect on a Dutch artist's disappearance and puzzle over some mysterious hospital deaths. Intro: In 1922, mechanical engineer Elis Stenman built a summer home with walls of varnished newspaper. Winston Churchill's country home Chartwell must always maintain a marmalade cat named Jock. Sources for our feature on Elmer McCurdy: Mark Svenvold, Elmer McCurdy, 2002. Robert Barr Smith, "After Elmer McCurdy's Days as a Badman, He -- or at Least His Corpse -- Had a Fine Second Career," Wild West 12:1 (June 1999), 24-26. United Press International, "Amusement Park Mummy Was Elmer McCurdy, a Wild Wes

In 1917 a pair of Allied officers combined a homemade Ouija board, audacity, and imagination to hoax their way out of a remote prison camp in the mountains of Turkey. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the remarkable escape of Harry Jones and Cedric Hill, which one observer called “the most colossal fake of modern times.” We'll also consider a cactus' role in World War II and puzzle over a cigar-smoking butler. Intro: A 1962 writer to the London Times contends that all thrushes "sooner or later sing the tune of the first subject of Mozart's G minor Symphony." The U.S. Senate maintains a tradition of hiding candy in a desk on the chamber floor. Sources for our feature on the Yozgad escape: E.H. Jones, The Road to En-dor, 1919. Tony Craven Walker's En-dor Unveiled (2014) (PDF) is a valuable source of background information, with descriptions of Harry Jones' early life; the siege of Kut-el-Amara, where he was captured; his punishing trek across Syria; the prison camp; and his l

In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll explore some curiosities and unanswered questions from Greg's research, including the love affair that inspired the Rolls Royce hood ornament, a long-distance dancer, Otto von Bismarck's dogs, and a craftily plotted Spanish prison break. We'll also run after James Earl Ray and puzzle over an unsociable jockey. Intro: Workers constructing Washington's Grand Coulee Dam in 1942 fed a cable through a 500-foot drain by tying a string to an alley cat's tail. A 2001 earthquake in Olympia, Wash., drew a graceful rose with a sand-tracing pendulum. Sources for this week's feature: The best source I can find regarding the origins of the Rolls Royce hood ornament is this Telegraph article from 2008, in which Montagu's son says, "My father and Eleanor shared a great passion. It was a grand love affair - perhaps even the love of his life. All this happened before my father met my mother. But I understand my father's first wife knew about the mistress. She was ve

After the Battle of Gettysburg, a dead Union soldier was found near the center of town. He bore no identification, but in his hands he held a photograph of three children. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the efforts of one Philadelphia physician to track down the lost man's family using only the image of his children. We'll also sample a 9-year-old's comedy of manners and puzzle over a letter that copies itself. Intro: The mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, is a cat named Stubbs. According to multiple sources, the 3rd Earl of Darnley, an eccentric bachelor, suffered from the delusion that he was a teapot. Sources for our feature on Amos Humiston: Mark H. Dunkelman, Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier, 1999. Mark H. Dunkelman, "Key to a Mystery," American History 32:2 (May/June 1997), 16-20. Errol Morris, "Whose Father Was He?" (parts 1-5), New York Times, March 29-April 5, 2009. Ronald S. Coddington, "At Gettysburg, Life Imitates Art," Military Images 34:3 (Summer 2016), 54-55. "Visit

  In 1968 British engineer Donald Crowhurst entered a round-the-world yacht race, hoping to use the prize money to save his failing electronics business. Woefully unprepared and falling behind, he resorted to falsifying a journey around the world. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the desperate measures that Crowhurst turned to as events spiraled out of his control. We'll also get some updates on Japanese fire balloons and puzzle over a computer that turns on the radio. Intro: The stones at Pennsylvania's Ringing Rocks Park chime like bells when struck with a hammer. Sand dunes that "sing" when walked upon are found at 35 sites around the world. In 1884 two scientists notated the sounds on a musical scale. Sources for our feature on Donald Crowhurst: Peter Nichols, A Voyage for Madmen, 2001. Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall, The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, 1970. Associated Press, "Briton Missing in Global Race," July 10, 1969. Associated Press, "Mystery Shrouds L

  Anna Jarvis organized the first observance of Mother's Day in 1908 and campaigned to have the holiday adopted throughout the country. But her next four decades were filled with bitterness and acrimony as she watched her "holy day" devolve into a "burdensome, wasteful, expensive gift-day." In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll follow the evolution of Mother's Day and Jarvis' belligerent efforts to control it. We'll also meet a dog that flummoxed the Nazis and puzzle over why a man is fired for doing his job too well. Intro: For its December 1897 issue, The Strand engaged three acrobats to create a "human alphabet." In 1989 researchers discovered a whale in the Pacific that calls at 52 hertz -- the only one of its kind. Sources for our feature on Anna Jarvis: Katharine Lane Antolini, Memorializing Motherhood: Anna Jarvis and the Struggle for the Control for Mother's Day, 2014. Katharine Lane Antolini, "The Woman Behind Mother's Day," Saturday Evening Post 288:3 (May/June 2016), 82-86.

In 1961, Michael Rockefeller disappeared after a boating accident off the coast of Dutch New Guinea. Ever since, rumors have circulated that the youngest son of the powerful Rockefeller family had been killed by the headhunting cannibals who lived in the area. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll recount Rockefeller's story and consider the different fates that might have befallen him. We'll also learn more about the ingenuity of early sportscasters and puzzle over a baffled mechanic. Sources for our feature on Michael Rockefeller: Carl Hoffman, Savage Harvest, 2014. Associated Press, "Rockefeller's Son Killed by Tribes?", Nov. 19, 1971. Peter Kihss, "Governor's Son Is Missing Off Coast of New Guinea," New York Times, Nov. 20, 1961. United Press International, "Rockefeller to Join in Search for Missing Son," Nov. 20, 1961. United Press International, "Michael Rockefeller Had Been Told to End Quest for Native Trophies," Nov. 21, 1961. Associated Press, "Missionaries Join Rockefelle

Toward the end of World War II, Japan launched a strange new attack on the United States: thousands of paper balloons that would sail 5,000 miles to drop bombs on the American mainland. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll tell the curious story of the Japanese fire balloons, the world's first intercontinental weapon. We'll also discuss how to tell time by cannon and puzzle over how to find a lost tortoise. Sources for our feature on Japanese fire balloons: Ross Coen, Fu-Go, 2014. James M. Powles, "Silent Destruction: Japanese Balloon Bombs," World War II 17:6 (February 2003), 64. Edwin L. Pierce and R C. Mikesh, "Japan's Balloon Bombers," Naval History 6:1 (Spring 1992), 53. Lisa Murphy, "One Small Moment," American History 30:2 (June 1995), 66. Larry Tanglen, "Terror Floated Over Montana: Japanese World War II Balloon Bombs, 1944-1945," Montana: The Magazine of Western History 52:4 (Winter 2002), 76-79. Henry Stevenson, "Balloon Bombs: Japan to North America," B.C. Historical News 2

Over the span of half a century, Brooklyn impostor Stanley Clifford Weyman impersonated everyone from a Navy admiral to a sanitation expert. When caught, he would admit his deception, serve his jail time, and then take up a new identity. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll review Weyman's surprisingly successful career and describe some of his more audacious undertakings. We'll also puzzle over why the police would arrest an unremarkable bus passenger. Sources for our feature on Stanley Clifford Weyman: St. Clair McKelway, The Big Little Man From Brooklyn, 1969. Alan Hynd, "Grand Deception -- 'Fabulous Fraud From Brooklyn,'" Spokane Daily Chronicle, April 13, 1956. Tom Henshaw, "Bygone State Visits Marked by Incidents," Associated Press, Sept. 13, 1959. John F. Murphy, "Notorious Impostor Shot Dead Defending Motel in Hold-Up," New York Times, Aug. 28, 1960. Richard Grenier, "Woody Allen on the American Character," Commentary 76:5 (November 1983), 61-65. This week's lateral thinki

In 1925, Kentucky caver Floyd Collins was exploring a new tunnel when a falling rock caught his foot, trapping him 55 feet underground. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the desperate efforts to free Collins, whose plight became one of the first popular media sensations of the 20th century. We'll also learn how Ronald Reagan invented a baseball record and puzzle over a fatal breakfast. Sources for our feature on Floyd Collins: Robert K. Murray and Roger W. Brucker, Trapped!, 1979. Gary Alan Fine and Ryan D. White, "Creating Collective Attention in the Public Domain: Human Interest Narratives and the Rescue of Floyd Collins," Social Forces 81:1 (September 2002), 57-85. "Floyd Collins Is Found Dead," Madison Lake [Minn.] Times, Feb. 19, 1925. Associated Press, "Sand Cave Is to Be Grave of Explorer," Feb. 18, 1925. Associated Press, "Floyd Collins Will Be Left in Sand Cave for His Last Sleep," Feb. 18, 1925. Associated Press, "Ancient 'Floyd Collins' Found in Mammoth Cave,"

As recently as 1939, a London woman made her living by setting her watch precisely at the Greenwich observatory and "carrying the time" to her customers in the city. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet Ruth Belville, London's last time carrier, who conducted her strange occupation for 50 years. We'll also sample the colorful history of bicycle races and puzzle over a stymied prizewinner. Sources for our feature on Ruth Belville: David Rooney, Ruth Belville: The Greenwich Time Lady, 2008. Ian R. Bartky, Selling the True Time, 2000. Patricia Fara, "Modest Heroines of Time and Space," Nature, Oct. 30, 2008. Stephen Battersby, "The Lady Who Sold Time," New Scientist, Feb. 25, 2006. Carlene E. Stephens, "Ruth Belville: The Greenwich Time Lady," Technology and Culture 51:1 (January 2010), 248-249. Michael R. Matthews, Colin Gauld, and Arthur Stinner, "The Pendulum: Its Place in Science, Culture and Pedagogy," in Michael R. Matthews, Colin F. Gauld, and Arthur Stinner, eds., The Pendulu

In 1919, Ohio businessman Arthur Nash decided to run his clothing factory according to the Golden Rule and treat his workers the way he'd want to be treated himself. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll visit Nash's “Golden Rule Factory” and learn the results of his innovative social experiment. We'll also marvel at metabolism and puzzle over the secrets of Chicago pickpockets. Sources for our feature on Arthur Nash: Arthur Nash, The Golden Rule in Business, 1923. (Undercover journalist Ruth White Colton's September 1922 article for Success Magazine is quoted in full in this book.) Jeffrey Wattles, The Golden Rule, 1996. Arthur Nash, "A Bible Text That Worked a Business Miracle," American Magazine 92:4 (October 1921), 37. "Golden Rule Plan at Clothing Mill Makes Profits for Owners," Deseret News, Dec. 16, 1920. "Golden Rule Nash Offers 7-Hour Day," Schenectady Gazette, July 4, 1923. "Arthur Nash, Who Shared With Employees, Is Dead," Associated Press, Oct. 31, 1927. The poem "Miss T

During wargames in Louisiana in September 1941, the U.S. Army found itself drawn into a tense firefight with an unseen enemy across the Cane River. The attacker turned out to be three boys with a toy cannon. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll revisit the Battle of Bermuda Bridge and the Prudhomme brothers' account of their historic engagement. We'll also rhapsodize on guinea pigs and puzzle over some praiseworthy incompetence. Sources for our feature on the "Battle of Bermuda Bridge": Elizabeth M. Collins, "Patton 'Bested' at the Battle of Bermuda Bridge," Soldiers 64:9 (September 2009), 10-12. Terry Isbell, "The Battle of the Bayous: The Louisiana Maneuvers," Old Natchitoches Parish Magazine 2 (1997), 2-7. Special thanks to the staff at the University of North Carolina's Wilson Library for access to the Prudhomme family records. Listener mail: Alastair Bland, "From Pets To Plates: Why More People Are Eating Guinea Pigs," The Salt, National Public Radio, April 2, 2013. Christine Del