Latest / Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities / Vote with Your Feet

Transcript

Vote with Your Feet · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: It's impossible not to cheer at a one in a
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: million shot, whether it's an ace from across the green
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: or a game winning half court basket right at the buzzer.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: People love a long shot. Well, most people you see
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a few soldiers in Battery b first Rhode Island Light
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Artillery during the Civil War weren't huge fans of a
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: particular hole in one. They were in Pennsylvania in early
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: July eighteen sixty three to take on the Confederates at
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: the Battle of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee and his
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Army of Northern Virginia had already defeated the Army of
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville months earlier. Lee
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: then started moving north from Fredericksburg, Virginia, with seventy five
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: thousand men in tow. They were feeling pretty good ready
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: to take over the northern territory. Meanwhile, Major General Joseph
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Hooker and the Union side was also heading north, but
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: he wasn't so keen to take on Lee again. He
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: was still reeling from his defeat at Chancellorsville. President Lincoln
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: refused to let Hooker carry on in command of the
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Army of the Potomac. He put Major General George Mead
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: in charge instead, who took control of the ninety thousand
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: strong army and moved them northward. They had one goal,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: keep Lee out of the nation's capital of Washington, DC. Mead, however,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: wasn't going to just act as a roadblock to the Confederacy.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: He also wanted to take down his rival. By the
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: end of June, General Lee had already made it to Pennsylvania.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Spy General Jeb Stewart let him know that Union troops
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: were close behind, so Lee packed up and headed toward Gettysburg.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: The battle kicked off early on the morning of July first,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: as Confederate Major General Henry Heath took the Union cavalry
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: while on his way to Gettysburg for supplies. Pretty soon,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: reinforcements on both sides arrived, and the fight was officially underway,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: thirty thousand Confederates against twenty thousand Union troops. Union soldiers
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: retreated towards Cemetery Hill in the south, where they took
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: up a fortified position. The next day, General Lee sent
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Lieutenant General James Longstreet to take on the Union's left flank,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: while various landmarks in and around Gettysburg became bloodsoak battlegrounds,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: but the Union held firm against the Confederate traders, staving
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: off as Southern victory for one more day, although the
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: final day of the battle would become the most crucial
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: of all and the most bizarre. You see. On July third,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Lee picked up the fight at Culp's Hill, where meads
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: men were trying to take back the ground they had
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: lost the day before. Smoke in the smell of gunpowder
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: filled the air as the Blue and Gray went head
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: to head. Bayonets pierced flesh, while musket balls and bullets
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: found their marks or wound up in nearby tree trunks,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: and cannons let fly with grapefruit sized balls of bronze
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and iron. It was one of these cannon balls that
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: did something unexpected, as Private Alfred Gardner of Battery b
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: first Rhode Island Light Artillery was reloading his cannon. An
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: enemy shell struck it, killing both gardener and Private William Jones.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: And not only were the two men killed in the blast,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: but the impact also dented the cannon's muzzle. Sergeant Albert
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Straight had been behind it waiting to fire it when
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: it happened. He hurried around to the front in an
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: attempt to reload it himself, but quickly realized that the
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: cannon wasn't just damaged, it was burning hot. It seems
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: that when the enemy shell has struck the muzzle, it
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: caused the barrel to rapidly heat up, and as Straight
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: tried to push the new melon size twelve pound cannon
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: ball down its shaft, the heavy sphere melded with the metal.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: He tried every thing to get it to go in,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: including hitting it with an axe and then a hammer,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: but the shell refused to budge. It was now a
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: part of the canon. Luckily, this one cannon was not
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: meant to decide the fate of the Battle of Gettysburg.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Union forces successfully defeated the Confederates and eventually went on
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: to win the war, but the cannon remained unaltered today,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: the Gettysburg Gun, as it's now called, now resides in
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: the Rhode Island Statehouse, where visitors can see it on
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: full display. It still bears the axe marks made by
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Sergeant Strait, as well as the dent in the muzzle,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: and the cannon ball is still there too. Just don't
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: try to fire it unless you want to end up
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: looking like Yosemite Sam in a bugs Bunny cartoon. Politics
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: can be tough for even the most seasoned veteran nasty business,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: with mud flying in both directions, sordid pasts coming to light,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: and heated debates that can quickly turn ugly. People enter
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: politics for a number of reasons, such as helping their community,
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: gaining power over others, or even just to get rich.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Money doesn't just talk in Washington, it screams. But before
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: they became senators or members of Congress, many politicians got
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: their start at the local level, as representatives in towns
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and cities where they could hopefully do the most good,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: and not just in America, but all over the world.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: In fact, in one small town in Ecuador, two mayoral
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: candidates went up against a third party choice who had
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: come out of nowhere a candidate who had swept everybody
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: in town off their feet. It was nineteen sixty seven
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: and a small Ecuadorian village was facing a dilemma. It
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: was called Picawasa, a parish near the Pacific coast. Today,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: it's known as a prominent historical site, home to several
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: archaeological discoveries, including an ancient settlement dating back to before
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Christopher Columbus was even born. Unfortunately, Picawasa was also an
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: impoverished area that lacked many of the basic necessities its
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: residents needed to thrive, including clean drinking water in a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: proper sewage system. But nineteen sixty seven marked a time
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: of change in the town. They were electing a new
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: mayor that year, one who would hopefully usher in a
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: new era of success and prosperity for the people who
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: lived there. The voters, on the other hand, felt differently.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: It seemed that no such person existed. It's hard to
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: know why they didn't vote for one of the two
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: main candidates who had been vying for the position, but
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: one must assume that people just didn't like them. Maybe
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: it was their policies, or perhaps they simply didn't understand
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: the plight of the Picawasan people. Whatever the case, the
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: citizens drifted toward a third contender, a newcomer who entered
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: the mayoral race late in the game. His name was Pulvapis.
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: He was new to the political scene and decided to
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: get his feet wet in this local election. He started
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: by distributing literature throughout the town, such as leaflets and flyers,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: and they bore the slogan vote for any candidate, but
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: if you want well being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapis.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: It was an odd message for someone running for mayor,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: but it made an impact on the people. They bought
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: into the straightforward and wholesome nature of his campaign. This
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: wasn't someone looking to drag others down to get ahead.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Pulvapis only cared about the voters and their well being,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: and it worked. Come election day, the people of Pikawasa
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: knew who they wanted to be their new mayor. But
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: there was just one problem. He wasn't on the ballot.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: But as anyone who has participated in a democratic election
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: would tell you, that wasn't the end of the story
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: for Pulvapis. Rather than default to one of the other
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: two candidates, voters began to fill in this dark horses
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: name as a rite in choice. One by one, the
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: Pikawasans added Pulvapi's name to the ballot, and when the
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: election had ended, the votes were tallied up and the
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: winner was declared. There was no denying it. Pulvapis had
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: been elected mayor of Pikawasa. Unfortunately, he was unable to
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: fill the position. Despite fighting a clean and hard won campaign,
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Pulvapis was not eligible to serve as the town's mayor
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: because he was not a person. He was a foot powder.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: You see, during the election cycle, the company that made
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Pulvapis started advertising in the town, and their efforts bore
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: a striking resemblance to an actual political campaign. It was
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: enough to influence the local population into ignoring the two
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: actual human being candidates and write in their foot powder instead.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: We don't know if Pulvapi's success led to an increase
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: in sales of the product, but it's clear that when
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: voters are unhappy with the choices they're given, they won't
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: settle for anything less. They'll think on their feet and
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: look for a better option, one who cares about the people,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: heart and soul. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: stay curious.