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Look Sharp · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcomed Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio
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  Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild. Our world is full of the unexplainable,
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  Speaker 1: and if history is an open book, all of these
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  Speaker 1: amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for
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  Speaker 1: us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. In
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  Speaker 1: the chile Lands of Norway, there is a story about
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  Speaker 1: a knight who captures the heart of the Norwegian people.
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  Speaker 1: He is Sir Niles Olav, a brave and gallant soldier
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  Speaker 1: who has served in the Norwegian Army for over forty years.
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  Speaker 1: Named after a distinguished member of the King's Guard and
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  Speaker 1: King Olav, it seems that he was always destined for greatness.
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  Speaker 1: Sir Niles Olav is a true patriot, having been promoted
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  Speaker 1: to the rank of Brigadier and I did for his
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  Speaker 1: outstanding service to his country. He became a young recruit
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  Speaker 1: for the Norwegian Army in nineteen seventy two. Full of
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  Speaker 1: energy and enthusiasm, Niles quickly won the soldier's hearts with
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  Speaker 1: his playful antics and his unwavering loyalty. It soon became
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  Speaker 1: apparent that Niles was special and the army promoted him
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  Speaker 1: to corporal. The promotion was a great honor for Niles,
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  Speaker 1: and he took his duties very seriously. He marched alongside
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  Speaker 1: his fellow soldiers, saluting them as they passed. He was
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  Speaker 1: always the first to rise in the morning and the
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  Speaker 1: last to go to bed at night. The soldiers could
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  Speaker 1: count on Niles to be by their side no matter
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  Speaker 1: what as time progressed. He was promoted to sergeant in
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  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three and given a custom made uniform that
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  Speaker 1: fit him perfectly. It was a beautiful sunny day and
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  Speaker 1: the brass buttons on his suit gleamed in the sunlight.
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  Speaker 1: In two thousand and one, the army promoted him yet again,
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  Speaker 1: this time to honorable Regiment sergeant major. In two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and five, Niles advanced to honorary Colonel in chief. Since then,
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  Speaker 1: he has attended countless ceremonies and events, always looking sharp
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  Speaker 1: in his uniform. Accolades and awards kept coming. He has
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  Speaker 1: received promotions and awards for his service to his country.
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  Speaker 1: Niles became the pride of the Norwegian Army and he
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  Speaker 1: continued to work tirelessly for his country. In two thousand
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  Speaker 1: and eight, King Harold the fifth of Norway knighted Niles,
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  Speaker 1: bestowing him the title of Sir Niles Olav, knighted to
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  Speaker 1: the Order of Saint Olav. He was now a true
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  Speaker 1: knight with all the privileges and responsibilities that came with
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  Speaker 1: that title. During the ceremony that took place in Scotland
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  Speaker 1: instead of Norway, Sir Niles Olav walked alongside one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and thirty of the King's Guard. British Major General Ewan
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  Speaker 1: Laudon performed the ceremony of knighthood on behalf of King
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  Speaker 1: Harold the Fifth. Sir Nils Olav received another promotion in
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  Speaker 1: twenty sixteen to the rank of Brigadier, which also means
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  Speaker 1: that currently he outranks one of his namesakes. Two bronze
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  Speaker 1: statues are dedicated to him, one in Oslo, Norway, at
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  Speaker 1: the King's Guard Compound, and the other stands in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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  Speaker 1: So who is Sir Nils Olav. You might think that
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  Speaker 1: he's a brave soldier, a gallant knight, or a loyal patriot,
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  Speaker 1: and you would be right. Ever, the distinguished diplomat Sir
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  Speaker 1: nows Olav is credited with uniting Norway and Scotland together
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  Speaker 1: in a way that no one has done before. But
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  Speaker 1: Sir nows Olav is different from your average knight. He's
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  Speaker 1: a bit shorter than most, and he has an almost
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  Speaker 1: insatiable fetish for raw fish, krill and squid. No one
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  Speaker 1: seems to mind that though. Sir niles Olav is full
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  Speaker 1: of personality. After all, he's been known to charm everyone
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  Speaker 1: he meets, from bar keeps to foreign diplomats. After each
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  Speaker 1: promotion and celebration, Sir noles Olav is happy to return
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  Speaker 1: home to the Edinburgh Zoo, not far from his statue.
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  Speaker 1: You see, Sir nows Olav is a penguin, that's right,
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  Speaker 1: a king penguin, to be precise. When he isn't marching
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  Speaker 1: alongside the King's guard or dining on fish and squid,
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  Speaker 1: he and the other penguins charm everyone from school children
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  Speaker 1: to dignitaries. And of course, even when he's not in uniform,
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  Speaker 1: he's always dressed for the occasion in that classic black
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  Speaker 1: and white penguin suit. When the temperature drops and the
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  Speaker 1: snow starts to fall, it's nice to get away for
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  Speaker 1: a while. There's nothing like trading your boots for a
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  Speaker 1: pair of flip flops and soaking up the sun while
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  Speaker 1: everyone else is stuck shoveling a path back at the office.
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  Speaker 1: That's why certain places seem perfect for vacation spots. But
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  Speaker 1: one place turned into more than that for a bunch
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  Speaker 1: of people. It became home, at least for a little while.
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  Speaker 1: Off the coast of southern Europe is the island of Malta.
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  Speaker 1: It's located in the Mediterranean between Italy and Libya, and
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  Speaker 1: despite its small size, it boasts a diverse culture, spanning music, art, literature,
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  Speaker 1: and architecture. In fact, architecture is where Malta shines. The
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  Speaker 1: temple complex known as Gigantia meaning Giantess, was constructed during
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  Speaker 1: the Neolithic era. It's one the oldest freestanding structures in
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  Speaker 1: the world. In the northern region of Malta, in the
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  Speaker 1: village of Meliaha is something much newer, but still just
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  Speaker 1: as impressive. It exists along the coast to overlooking the
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  Speaker 1: clear blue waters of Anchor Bay. It was built because
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  Speaker 1: of one man born in nineteen twenty nine. This individual
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  Speaker 1: gained quite a following over the years, and in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy nine a group of fans decided to erect a
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  Speaker 1: monument to him in Malta. They came to Meliaha, all
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty five of them, and got to work.
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  Speaker 1: They had timber imported from the Netherlands to build houses
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  Speaker 1: and shops for themselves, and wooden shingles were brought in
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  Speaker 1: from Canada. They worked day and night, hammering eight tons
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  Speaker 1: of nails and slathering on two thousand gallons of paint
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  Speaker 1: to bring their creation to life. The workers toiled for
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  Speaker 1: seven months building an homage to this one man, a sailor,
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  Speaker 1: and in January of nineteen eighty he arrived along with
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  Speaker 1: his wife and child. What the people had constructed wasn't
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  Speaker 1: a statue though, nor was it a monument. It was
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  Speaker 1: a town. It didn't look like much at first. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the place looked like it had been constructed one hundred
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  Speaker 1: years prior and then left to rot. The buildings leaned
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  Speaker 1: to and fro rufe sagged in the middle. Even with
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  Speaker 1: the fresh paint, it looked almost like the structures needed
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  Speaker 1: another few coats. But then again, its rustic look was
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  Speaker 1: part of its charm. They wouldn't have seemed right if
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  Speaker 1: everything was shiny and new. In the end, nineteen wooden
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  Speaker 1: buildings were erected to welcome the sailor, his family, and
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  Speaker 1: many others to the village. The goal was to turn
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  Speaker 1: it into a thriving hub of fun and mischief for
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  Speaker 1: everyone who lived there. Soon after the sailor arrived with
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  Speaker 1: his wife and child in tow, others followed suits he
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  Speaker 1: brought along his father, a grizzled sailor himself. There was
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  Speaker 1: a scam artist who often tried to con local eateries
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  Speaker 1: out of food, and there was even a rival for
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  Speaker 1: his wife's affections who attempted to kidnap her on more
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  Speaker 1: than one occasion. But the sailor prevailed because he not
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  Speaker 1: only had the support of the town behind him, but
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  Speaker 1: he also had his secret weapon, spinach. Now if all
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  Speaker 1: of this sounds familiar, that's because this sailor was none
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  Speaker 1: other than Popeye himself, portrayed by Robin Williams in the
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty musical comedy by the same name. When the
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  Speaker 1: movie set department needed to create the coastal town of Sweethhaven,
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  Speaker 1: they didn't have green screens or backlots to rely on.
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  Speaker 1: They built an entire fishing village on the coast of Malta,
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  Speaker 1: and when filming wrapped up several months later, they left
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  Speaker 1: it all behind. The village decided not to tear it
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  Speaker 1: down either. It didn't matter that the film was a
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  Speaker 1: flop back in the United States. They capitalized on the
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  Speaker 1: fact that they had a living, breathing movie set right
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  Speaker 1: in their backyard, and so the village hired actors to
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  Speaker 1: portray the iconic characters from the comic strip, turning this
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  Speaker 1: fake town into a very real theme park. Popeye Village
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  Speaker 1: now welcomes thousands of guests every year to its shores,
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  Speaker 1: from movie fans, two couples getting married, to tourists looking
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  Speaker 1: for a unique activity while visiting the island. Not many
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  Speaker 1: people remember Robin Williams's debut film role, but thanks to
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  Speaker 1: one village in Malta, they can experience what it was
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  Speaker 1: like on set for themselves and come home with the
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  Speaker 1: memory of making a little movie magic in the process.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
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  Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
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  Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership
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  Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works, I make another award winning show
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  Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television
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  Speaker 1: show and you can learn all about it over at
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  Speaker 1: the World offlore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.