Futility Closet

In 1896, Adolf Beck found himself caught up in a senseless legal nightmare: Twelve women from around London insisted that he'd deceived them and stolen their cash and jewelry. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Beck's incredible ordeal, which ignited a scandal and inspired historic reforms in the English justice system. We'll also covet some noble socks and puzzle over a numerical sacking. Intro: A 1631 edition of the Bible omitted not in "Thou shalt not commit adultery." When the first hydrogen balloon landed in 1783, frightened villagers attacked it with pitchforks. Sources for our feature on Adolph Beck: Tim Coates, The Strange Story of Adolph Beck, 1999. Jim Morris, The Who's Who of British Crime, 2015. "An English Dreyfus," Goodwin's Weekly, Sept. 22, 1904, 6. "Police Effort Was Tragedy," [Grand Forks, N.D.] Evening Times, Dec. 24, 1909, 1. "Errors of English Court," Holt County [Mo.] Sentinel, Dec. 2, 1904, 2. "England's Dreyfus Case Is at an End," [Scotland, S.D.] Citizen-Republican, Dec. 1, 1904, 3. "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle a Detective in Real Life," New York Sun, May 31, 1914, 3. "Jailed for Another's Crime," [Astoria, Ore.] Morning Astorian, Aug. 13, 1904, 4. Judith Rowbotham, Kim Stevenson, and Samantha Pegg, Crime News in Modern Britain: Press Reporting and Responsibility, 1820-2010. Graham Davies and Laurence Griffiths, "Eyewitness Identification and the English Courts: A Century of Trial and Error," Psychiatry, Psychology and Law 15:3 (November 2008), 435-449. Haia Shpayer-Makov, "Journalists and Police Detectives in Victorian and Edwardian England: An Uneasy Reciprocal Relationship," Journal of Social History 42:4 (Summer 2009), 963-987. D. Michael Risinger, "Unsafe Verdicts: The Need for Reformed Standards for the Trial and Review of Factual Innocence Claims," Houston Law Review 41 (January 2004), 1281. "Remarkable Case of A. Beck: Innocent Man Twice Convicted of a Mean Offense," New York Times, Aug 13, 1904, 6. J.H. Wigmore, "The Bill to Make Compensation to Persons Erroneously Convicted of Crime," Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology 3:5 (January 1913), 665-667. C. Ainsworth Mitchell, "Handwriting and Its Value as Evidence," Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 71:3673 (April 13, 1923), 373-384. Brian Cathcart, "The Strange Case of Adolf Beck," Independent, Oct. 16, 2004. "Adolf Beck, Unlawfully Obtaining From Fanny Nutt Two Gold Rings," Proceedings of the Old Bailey, Feb. 24, 1896. In the photo above, Adolph Beck is on the left, John Smith on the right. In July 1904, Smith was actually brought to Brixton Prison while Beck was being held there. Beck wrote, "I saw him at chapel two or three times. There is no resemblance between us." Listener mail: "Why Weren't the Clothes of the Pompeii Victims Destroyed by the Heat of a Pyroclastic Current?" Pompeii: The Mystery of the People Frozen in Time, Learning Zone, BBC, March 28, 2013. Natasha Sheldon, "How Did the People of Pompeii Die? Suffocation Versus Thermal Shock," Decoded Past, April 1, 2014. Harriet Torry, "It's a Vasectomy Party! Snips, Chips and Dips With Your Closest Friends," Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Anees Rao, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). Please visit Littleton Coin Company to sell your coins and currency, or call them toll free 1-877-857-7850. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1930, British explorer Augustine Courtauld volunteered to spend the winter alone on the Greenland ice cap, manning a remote weather station. As the snow gradually buried his hut and his supplies steadily dwindled, his relief party failed to arrive. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Courtauld's increasingly desperate vigil on the ice. We'll also retreat toward George III and puzzle over some unexpected evidence. Intro: Rudyard Kipling hid messages in his illustrations for the Just So Stories. In the early 1900s, Danes bred pigs colored to resemble the Danish flag. Sources for our feature on Augustine Courtauld: Nicholas Wollaston, The Man on the Ice Cap, 1980. Mollie Butler, August and Rab, 1987. "Augustine Courtauld," Encyclopedia Arctica (accessed July 23, 2017). "Augustine Courtauld," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed July 23, 2017). "The British Arctic Air Route Expedition," Geographical Journal 76:1 (July 1930), 67-68. "British Air Route to the Arctic Regions," Science, New Series, 72:1857 (Aug. 1, 1930), 108-109. "Swedish Flier Ready to Hop for Greenland to Rescue Courtauld, Young British Explorer," New York Times, April 27, 1931, 4. Svend Carstensen, "Ahrenberg to Start Rescue Flight Today," New York Times, April 29, 1931, 12. Svend Carstensen, "Ahrenberg on Way to Save Courtauld, Lost in Greenland," New York Times, April 30, 1931, 1. "Rescuers Race to Locate Lost Arctic Explorer," China Press, May 2, 1931, 13. E. Lemon, "Plane in Greenland to Hunt Courtauld," New York Times, May 3, 1931, 2. Percy Lemon, "Ahrenberg Ready to Fly to Ice Cap," New York Times, May 5, 1931, 6. "Courtauld Hunted by Sea, Air And Land: Area of Great Arctic Search," New York Times, May 8, 1931, 12. "Courtauld Rescued," Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1931, 3. Percy Lemon, "Courtauld Is Found Safe on the Greenland Ice Cap," New York Times, May 8, 1931, 1. Albin Ahrenberg, "Ahrenberg to Guide Courtauld To Camp," New York Times, May 9, 1931, 1. Percy Lemon, "Courtauld Back Safely on Greenland Coast," New York Times, May 12, 1931, 1. H.G. Watkins, "Courtauld Search a Surprise to Him," New York Times, May 14, 1931, 12. "Courtauld Buried in Igloo 2 Months," Associated Press, May 15, 1931. "Arctic Burial Escape Told," Los Angeles Times, May 15, 1931, 4. "Courtauld Tells Story of Long Imprisonment," China Press, May 15, 1931, 1. "Rescued From Greenland's Icy Cap," Sphere 125:1634 (May 16, 1931), 278. "Courtauld to Sail Home on First Ship," New York Times, May 17, 1931, 2. T.J.C. Martyn, "Greenland Is Still a Scientific Puzzle," New York Times, May 24, 1931, 4. Augustine Courtauld, "Courtauld's Story of the Five Months He Spent on Ice Cap," New York Times, May 29, 1931, 1. "The Ice-Cap Hero," New York Times, May 30, 1931, 8. "The British Arctic Air Route Expedition," Geographical Journal 77:6 (June 1931), 551-554. "From the Four Winds: Mr. Courtauld's Arctic Vigil," China Herald, June 30, 1931, 459. "The British Arctic Air Route Expedition," Geographical Journal 78:3 (September 1931), 291. F.S. Chapman, "Watkins and Aides Held in No Danger," New York Times, Sept. 19, 1931, 17. "Explorers Return From Greenland," New York Times, Nov. 14, 1931, 8. William Goodenough, Augustine Courtauld, Lauge Koch, J.M. Wordie, and H.R. Mill, "The British Arctic Air Route Expedition: Discussion," Geographical Journal 79:6 (June 1932), 497-501. Percy Cox, Helge Larsen, Augustine Courtauld, M.A. Spender and J.M. Wordie, "A Journey in Rasmussen Land: Discussion," Geographical Journal 88:3 (September 1936), 208-215. Henry Balfour, E.C. Fountaine, W.A. Deer, Augustine Courtauld, L.R. Wager, and Ebbe Munck, "The Kangerdlugssuak Region of East Greenland: Discussion," Geographical Journal 90:5 (November 1937), 422-425. "Augustine Courtauld Dies at 54: Explored Greenland in Thirties," New York Times, March 4, 1959, 31. L.R. Wager, "Mr. Augustine Courtauld," Nature 183:4666 (April 4, 1959). Quintin Riley, "Obituary: Augustine Courtauld 1904-1959," Geographical Journal 125:2 (June 1959), 286-287. Ronald Porter, "Lady Butler of Saffron Walden,'" Independent, April 1, 2009. Listener mail: Matthew J. Kinservik, Sex, Scandal, and Celebrity in Late Eighteenth-Century England, 2007. Chris Best, "Watch: Hungry Bear Opens Fridge, Rummages Through Home," wkrg.com, July 6, 2017. "NC Bear Opens SUV Door, Climbs Inside and Destroys It," wncn.com, July 8, 2017. Mark Price, "NC's Bears Are Now Opening Car Doors, Leading to Strange Driveway Encounters," Charlotte Observer, July 9, 2017. "Bear and the SUV," Sylva Herald, June 21, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Sharon. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Apple Podcasts 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 pledge any

In 1815 an American ship ran aground in northwestern Africa, and its crew were enslaved by merciless nomads. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the desperate efforts of Captain James Riley to find a way to cross the Sahara and beg for help from Western officials in Morocco. We'll also wade through more molasses and puzzle over a prospective guitar thief. Intro: In 1972 archaeologists in northwestern Iran found evidence of one couple's tender final moment. An anonymous author recast "A Visit From St. Nicholas" in legal language. Sources for our feature on James Riley: Dean King, Skeletons on the Zahara, 2004. James Riley, An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, 1817. Archibald Robbins, A Journal, Comprising an Account of the Loss of the Brig Commerce, of Hartford Conn., 1847. James Riley and William Willshire Riley, Sequel to Riley's Narrative, 1851. Robert J. Allison, The Crescent Obscured: The United States and the Muslim World, 1776-1815, 1995. Christine E. Sears, American Slaves and African Masters, 2012. Paul Baepler, ed., White Slaves, African Masters: An Anthology of American Barbary Captivity Narratives, 1999. Eamonn Gearon, The Sahara: A Cultural History, 2011. Dean King, "The Cruelest Journey," National Geographic Adventure 6:1 (February 2004), 46. Paul Michel Baepler, "The Barbary Captivity Narrative in American Culture," Early American Literature 39:2 (2004), 217-246. Sven D. Outram-Leman, "Alexander Scott: Constructing a Legitimate Geography of the Sahara From a Captivity Narrative, 1821," History in Africa 43 (2016), 63-94. Gordon M. Sayre, "Renegades From Barbary: The Transnational Turn in Captivity Studies," American Literary History 22:2 (Summer 2010), 347-359. Glenn James Voelz, "Images of Enemy and Self in the Age of Jefferson: The Barbary Conflict in Popular Literary Depiction," War & Society 28:2 (2009), 21-47. Hester Blum, "Pirated Tars, Piratical Texts: Barbary Captivity and American Sea Narratives," Early American Studies 1:2 (Fall 2003), 133-158. Paul Baepler, "White Slaves, African Masters," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 588:1 (July 2003), 90-104. R. Gerald McMurtry, "The Influence of Riley's Narrative Upon Abraham Lincoln," Indiana Magazine of History 30:2 (June 1934), 133-138. K. Gerald McMurtry, "Some Books That Lincoln Read," Journal of Developmental Reading 1:2 (Winter 1958), 19-26. Mark Kirby, "Author's Sahara Trek Inspired by Classic Tale," National Geographic Adventure, Jan. 27, 2004. "Riley's Sufferings in the Great Desert," Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, Dec. 24, 1836, 382-383. Robert C. Davis, "Slavery in North Africa -- The Famous Story of Captain James Riley," Public Domain Review (accessed July 9, 2017). Lev Grossman, "Sailing the Seas of Sand," Time 163:9 (March 1, 2004), 47. Listener mail: Dana Rieck, "Loveland's Sticky Situation Reaches 25-Year Anniversary," Loveland [Colo.] Reporter-Herald, Feb. 16, 2015. "Meet Stan, the New Flemish Hermit!" Flanders News, Feb. 5, 2017. Ben Gilbert, "These Incredible Photos Show One 72-Year-Old Woman's Hermit Lifestyle in Siberia," Business Insider, July 1, 2017. Jennifer Schaffer, "The Snatching of Hannah Twynnoy." "Hannah Twynnoy and the Tiger of Malmesbury." Steve Winters' decimal clock. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Dan White, who sent this corroborating photo (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 or browse our online store for Futility Closet merchandise. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

One stormy morning in 1880, naturalist John Muir set out to explore a glacier in Alaska's Taylor Bay, accompanied by an adventurous little dog that had joined his expedition. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the harrowing predicament that the two faced on the ice, which became the basis of one of Muir's most beloved stories. We'll also marvel at some phonetic actors and puzzle over a season for vasectomies. Intro: In 1904 a 12-year-old J.R.R. Tolkien sent this rebus to a family friend. In 1856 Preston Brooks beat Charles Sumner with a gold-headed cane on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Sources for our feature on John Muir and Stickeen: John Muir, Stickeen, 1909. Ronald H. Limbaugh, John Muir's "Stickeen" and the Lessons of Nature, 1996. Kim Heacox, John Muir and the Ice That Started a Fire, 2014. Ronald H. Limbaugh, "Stickeen and the Moral Education of John Muir," Environmental History Review 15:1 (Spring 1991), 25-45. Hal Crimmel, "No Place for 'Little Children and Tender, Pulpy People': John Muir in Alaska," Pacific Northwest Quarterly 92:4 (Fall 2001), 171-180. Stefan Beck, "The Outdoor Kid," New Criterion 33:4 (December 2014), 1-6. Edward Hoagland, "John Muir's Alaskan Rhapsody," American Scholar 71:2 (Spring 2002), 101-105. Ronald H. Limbaugh, "John Muir and Modern Environmental Education," California History 71:2 (Summer 1992), 170-177. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, "John Muir" (accessed July 2, 2017). "John Muir: Naturalist," Journal of Education 81:6 (Feb. 11, 1915), 146. William Frederic Badè, "John Muir," Science 41:1053 (March 5, 1915), 353-354. Charles R. Van Hise, "John Muir," Science 45:1153 (Feb. 2, 1917), 103-109. Listener mail: Delta Spirit, "Ballad of Vitaly." Wikipedia, "Aftermath (2017 Film)" (accessed July 14, 2017). Wikipedia, "Überlingen Mid-Air Collision" (accessed July 14, 2017). Anthony Breznican, "'The Princess Bride': 10 Inconceivable Facts From Director Rob Reiner," Entertainment Weekly, Aug. 16, 2013. Wikipedia, "Charlotte Kate Fox" (accessed July 14, 2017). Wikipedia, "Incubus (1966 film)" (accessed July 14, 2017). Wikipedia, "Esperanto" (accessed July 14, 2017). Toño del Barrio, "Esperanto and Cinema" (accessed July 14, 2017). Wikipedia, "Phonetical Singing" (accessed July 14, 2017). Wikipedia, "Deliver Us (The Prince of Egypt)" (accessed July 14, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was inspired by an item in Dan Lewis' Now I Know enewsletter. (Warning: This link spoils the puzzle.) 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1971 high school student Juliane Koepcke fell two miles into the Peruvian rain forest when her airliner broke up in a thunderstorm. Miraculously, she survived the fall, but her ordeal was just beginning. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Juliane's arduous trek through the jungle in search of civilization and help. We'll also consider whether goats are unlucky and puzzle over the shape of doorknobs. Intro: Before writing about time machines, H.G. Wells calculated that he'd earned a single pound in his writing endeavors. In 1868, as an engineering trainee, Robert Louis Stevenson explored the foundation of a breakwater at Wick. Sources for our feature on Juliane Koepcke: Juliane Diller, When I Fell From the Sky, 2011. "She Lived and 91 Others Died," Life 72:3 (Jan. 28, 1972), 38. "Jungle Trek: Survivor of Crash Tells of Struggle," Los Angeles Times, Jan. 6, 1972, A11. "Didn't Want to Steal: Survivor of Crash Passed Up Canoe," Los Angeles Times, Jan. 9, 1972, A7. Jennings Parrott, "The Newsmakers: It's Back to School for Peru Survivor," Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1972, A2. Werner Herzog, Wings of Hope, 2000. Dan Koeppel, "Taking a Fall," Popular Mechanics, February 2010. Jason Daley, "I Will Survive," Outside 29:9 (Sept. 1, 2004), 64. Stephan Wilkinson, "Amazing But True Stories," Aviation History, May 2014. Tom Littlewood, "The Woman Who Fell to Earth," Vice, Sept. 2, 2010. "Juliane Koepcke: How I Survived a Plane Crash," BBC News, March 24, 2012. Frederik Pleitgen, "Survivor Still Haunted by 1971 Air Crash," CNN, July 2, 2009. Sally Williams, "Sole Survivor: The Woman Who Fell to Earth," Telegraph, March 22, 2012. Katherine MacDonald, "Survival Stories: The Girl Who Fell From the Sky," Reader's Digest (accessed July 2, 2017). Listener mail: "America's First Serial Killer - H.H. Holmes," geocaching.com (accessed July 7, 2017). Colin Ainsworth, "Mystery in Yeadon: Who Is Buried in Serial Killer's Grave?" Delaware County [Pa.] Daily Times, May 21, 2017. Robert McCoppin and Tony Briscoe, "Is 'Devil in White City' Buried in Tomb? Remains to Be Unearthed to Find Out," Chicago Tribune, May 4, 2017. ShaoLan Hsueh, "The Chinese Zodiac, Explained," TED2016, February 2016. Wikipedia, "Erdős–Bacon Number" (accessed July 7, 2017). Erdos, Bacon, Sabbath. Natalie Portman (Erdős-Bacon number 7) co-authored this paper under her birth name, Natalie Hershlag: Abigail A.Baird, Jerome Kagan, Thomas Gaudette, Kathryn A. Walz, Natalie Hershlag, and David A.Boas, "Frontal Lobe Activation During Object Permanence: Data From Near-Infrared Spectroscopy," NeuroImage 16:4 (August 2002), 1120–1126. Colin Firth (Erdős-Bacon number 7) was credited as a co-author of this paper after suggesting on a radio program that such a study could be done: Ryota Kanai, Tom Feilden, Colin Firth, and Geraint Rees, "Political Orientations Are Correlated With Brain Structure in Young Adults," Current Biology 21:8 (April 2011), 677–680. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alon Shaham, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 or browse our online store for Futility Closet merchandise. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Birmingham, England, faced a surprising crisis in 1889: A lion escaped a traveling menagerie and took up residence in the city's sewers, terrifying the local population. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll descend into the tunnels with Frank Bostock, the 21-year-old manager who set out to capture the desperate beast. We'll also revisit a cosmic mystery and puzzle over an incomprehensible language. Intro: Historian Bell Wiley collected the misspellings of Confederate soldiers. The minuet in Haydn's Piano Sonata in A Major is a palindrome. Sources for our feature on the Birmingham lion escape: "The Escape of Lions From the Menagerie at Birmingham," Graphic, Oct. 5, 1889, 412. "A Lion Hunt in Birmingham," Graphic 40:1036 (Oct. 5, 1889), 407. "Hunting a Lion in a Sewer," New York Times, Oct. 20, 1889, 9. "Lion Hunting in Birmingham," Scientific American Supplement, No. 724 (Nov. 16, 1889), 11568. "Lion-Hunting in Birmingham," Poverty Bay (New Zealand) Herald, 16:5625 (Nov. 21, 1889), 3. Frank Charles Bostock, The Training of Wild Animals, 1903. Frank C. Bostock and H.J. Shepstone, "A Lion-Hunt in a Sewer," Wide World Magazine 21:126 (October 1908), 523-529. Frank C. Bostock, "The Tightest Corner I Was Ever In," Boys' Life 1:4 (June 1911), 44-46. Will Oliphant, "The Lion Tamer of Birmingham," Birmingham Evening Mail, July 31, 2010, 3. Helen Cowie, "Philadelphia Zebras: Six Great Animal Escapes of the Victorian Era," Independent, Nov. 17, 2015. Ben Hurst, "Panic on Streets as Circus Lion Runs Free," Birmingham Evening Mail, Nov. 27, 2015. Bethan Bell, "When a Lion Prowled the Streets of Birmingham," BBC News, May 14, 2017. "A terrific fight took place between the two animals." From Wide World Magazine. Listener mail: Jesse Emspak, "Has Mysterious Signal From Space Finally Been Explained?" NBC News, June 14, 2017. "The 'Wow!' Signal," Center for Planetary Science (accessed June 30, 2017). Rachel Premack, "Why Korean Companies Are Forcing Their Workers to Go by English Names," Washington Post, May 12, 2007. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Steven Jones. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 or browse our online store for Futility Closet merchandise. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Mathematician Paul Erdős had no home, no job, and no hobbies. Instead, for 60 years he wandered the world, staying with each of hundreds of collaborators just long enough to finish a project, and then moving on. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet the "magician of Budapest," whose restless brilliance made him the most prolific mathematician of the 20th century. We'll also ponder Japanese cannibalism in World War II and puzzle over a senseless stabbing. Intro: Elbert Hubbard published 12 blank pages in 1905. A duck spent 18 months in the U.S. 2nd Marine Division in 1943. Sources for our feature on Paul Erdős: Paul Hoffman, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, 1999. The magisterial biography of Erdős. The first chapter is here. Bruce Schechter, My Brain Is Open, 2000. Béla Bollobás, "Paul Erdős (1913-96)," Nature, 383:6601 (Oct. 17, 1996), 584. Melvin Henriksen, "Reminiscences of Paul Erdős," Mathematical Association of America (accessed June 10, 2017). László Babai, Carl Pomerance, and Péter Vértesi, "The Mathematics of Paul Erdős," Notices of the AMS 45:1 (January 1998). László Babai and Joel Spencer, "Paul Erdős (1913–1996)," Notices of the AMS 45:1 (January 1998). Ronald L. Graham, Jaroslav Nesetril, Steve Butler, eds., The Mathematics of Paul Erdős, 2013. Rodrigo De Castro and Jerrold W. Grossman, "Famous Trails to Paul Erdős," Mathematical Intelligencer 21:3 (January 1999), 51–53. Bruce Torrence and Ron Graham, "The 100th Birthday of Paul Erdős/Remembering Erdős," Math Horizons 20:4 (April 2013), 10-12. Krishnaswami Alladi et al., "Reflections on Paul Erdős on His Birth Centenary," Parts I and II, Notices of the American Mathematical Society 62:2 and 62:3 (February and March 2015). Béla Bollobás, "To Prove and Conjecture: Paul Erdős and His Mathematics," American Mathematical Monthly 105:3 (March 1998), 209-237. "Information About Paul Erdős (1913-1996)," Oakland University (accessed June 13, 2017). Calla Cofield, "An Arbitrary Number of Years Since Mathematician Paul Erdős's Birth," Scientific American, March 26, 2013. Béla Bollobás, "Obituary: Paul Erdős," Independent, Oct. 2, 1996. N Is a Number: A Portrait of Paul Erdős, Kanopy Streaming, 2014. "Paul Erdős," MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive (accessed June 10, 2017). Above: Erdős teaching 10-year-old Terence Tao in 1985. Tao is now recognized as one of the world's finest mathematicians; he received the Fields Medal in 2006. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Chichijima Incident" (accessed June 23, 2017). Charles Laurence, "George HW Bush Narrowly Escaped Comrades' Fate of Being Killed and Eaten by Japanese Captors," Telegraph, Feb. 6, 2017. James Bradley, Flyboys, 2003. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Waldo van der Waal, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 or buy merchandise in our store. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Belle Gunness was one of America's most prolific female serial killers, luring lonely men to her Indiana farm with promises of marriage, only to rob and kill them. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of The LaPorte Black Widow and learn about some of her unfortunate victims. We'll also break back into Buckingham Palace and puzzle over a bet with the devil. Intro: Lee Sallows offered this clueless crossword in November 2015 -- can you solve it? Souvenir hunters stole a rag doll from the home where Lee surrendered to Grant. Sources for our feature on Belle Gunness: Janet L. Langlois, Belle Gunness, 1985. Richard C. Lindberg, Heartland Serial Killers, 2011. Ted Hartzell, "Belle Gunness' Poisonous Pen," American History 3:2 (June 2008), 46-51. Amanda L. Farrell, Robert D. Keppel, and Victoria B. Titterington, "Testing Existing Classifications of Serial Murder Considering Gender: An Exploratory Analysis of Solo Female Serial Murderers," Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling 10:3 (October 2013), 268-288. Kristen Kridel, "Children's Remains Exhumed in 100-Year-Old Murder Mystery," Chicago Tribune, May 14, 2008. Dan McFeely, "DNA to Help Solve Century-Old Case," Indianapolis Star, Jan. 6, 2008. Kristen Kridel, "Bones of Children Exhumed," Chicago Tribune, May 14, 2008. Ted Hartzell, "Did Belle Gunness Really Die in LaPorte?" South Bend [Ind.] Tribune, Nov. 18, 2007. Edward Baumann and John O'Brien, "Hell's Belle," Chicago Tribune, March 1, 1987. Associated Press, "Authorities Question Identity of Suspect in Matrimonial Farm," St. Petersburg [Fla.] Evening Independent, July 18, 1930. "Hired Hand on Murder Farm," Bryan [Ohio] Democrat, Jan. 11, 1910. "The First Photographs of the 'American Siren' Affair: Detectives and Others at Work on Mrs. Belle Gunness's Farm," The Sketch 62:801 (June 3, 1908), 233. "Horror and Mystery at Laporte Grow," Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1908. "Police Are Mystified," Palestine [Texas] Daily Herald, May 6, 1908. "Federal Authorities Order All Matrimonial Agencies in Chicago Arrested Since Gunness Exposure," Paducah [Ky.] Evening Sun, May 8, 1908. "Tale of Horror," [Orangeburg, S.C.] Times and Democrat, May 8, 1908. "Lured to Death by Love Letters," Washington Herald, May 10, 1908. "Fifteen Victims Die in Big Murder Plot," Valentine [Neb.] Democrat, May 14, 1908. "Murderess," Stark County [Ohio] Democrat, May 22, 1908. "Mrs. Belle Gunness of LaPorte's Murder Farm," Crittenden [Ky.] Record-Press, May 29, 1908. "The La Porte Murder Farm," San Juan [Wash.] Islander, July 11, 1908. "Ray Lamphere Found Guilty Only of Arson," Pensacola [Fla.] Journal, Nov. 27, 1908. "Lamphere Found Guilty of Arson," Spanish Fork [Utah] Press, Dec. 3, 1908. Listener mail: "Text of Scotland Yard's Report on July 9 Intrusion Into Buckingham Palace," New York Times, July 22, 1982. Martin Linton and Martin Wainwright, "Whitelaw Launches Palace Inquiry," Guardian, July 13, 1982. Wikipedia, "Michael Fagan Incident" (accessed June 16, 2017). Wikipedia, "Isn't She Lovely" (accessed June 16, 2017). Wikipedia, "Body Farm" (accessed June 16, 2017). Kristina Killgrove, "These 6 'Body Farms' Help Forensic Anthropologists Learn To Solve Crimes," Forbes, June 10, 2015. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Frank Kroeger. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1629, a Dutch trading vessel struck a reef off the coast of Australia, marooning 180 people on a tiny island. As they struggled to stay alive, their leader descended into barbarity, gathering a band of cutthroats and killing scores of terrified castaways. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll document the brutal history of Batavia's graveyard, the site of Australia's most infamous shipwreck. We'll also lose money in India and puzzle over some invisible Frenchmen. Intro: In 1946, an Allied dentist inscribed "Remember Pearl Harbor" on Hideki Tojo's dentures. Sigourney Weaver named herself after a character in The Great Gatsby. Sources for our feature on the Batavia mutiny: Mike Dash, Batavia's Graveyard, 2002. Mike Sturma, "Mutiny and Narrative: Francisco Pelsaert's Journals and the Wreck of the Batavia," The Great Circle 24:1 (2002), 14-24. "We Are Still on the Batavia," Queen's Quarterly 12:4 (Winter 2005), 489. Bruce Bennett, "Politics and Spying: Representations of Pre- and Early Australia," Antipodes 22:1 (June 2008), 17-22. "Batavia," Ships of the World: An Historical Encyclopedia, 1997, 52-53. D. Franklin, "Human Skeletal Remains From a Multiple Burial Associated With the Mutiny of the VOC Retourschip Batavia, 1629," International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 22:6 (Jan. 19, 2011), 740-748. Michael Titlestad, "'Changed as to a Tiger': Considering the Wreck of the Batavia," Antipodes 27:2 (December 2013), 149-156. Mark Staniforth, "Murder and Mayhem," dig 8:4 (April 2006), 20-21. Christopher Bray, "The Wreck of the Batavia [review]," Financial Times, Aug 17, 2007. "Batavia's History," Western Australian Museum (accessed May 28, 2017). Sarah Taillier, "Unearthed Grave Sheds Light on Batavia Shipwreck Mass Murder," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Feb. 3, 2015. "Australia Dig Unearths Batavia Mutiny Skeleton," BBC News, Feb. 4, 2015. Libby-Jane Charleston, "The Batavia Mutiny and Massacre of 1629 Is Still Revealing Secrets," Huffington Post, July 2, 2016. Karl Quinn, "Mutiny, Shipwreck, Murder: The Incredible True Story Russell Crowe Wants to Film," Sydney Morning Herald, March 30, 2016. Interest in the Batavia was reawakened in the 1960s, when archaeologists began to examine the site of the mutiny. This victim, excavated in 1963, had received a cutting wound to the head; the right shoulder blade was broken, and the right foot was missing. Listener mail: Andrew Levy, "Doctors Solve Mystery of a Man Who 'Died From Laughter' While Watching The Goodies After His Granddaughter Nearly Dies From Same Rare Heart Condition," Daily Mail, June 20, 2012. Wikipedia, "2016 Indian Banknote Demonetisation" (accessed June 9, 2017). "The Dire Consequences of India's Demonetisation Initiative," Economist, Dec. 3, 2016. Micheline Maynard, "The 'Zion Curtain' Is About to Fall in Utah, and Restaurants Can't Wait," Forbes, March 29, 2017. Donald Hoffman, "Do We See Reality As It Is?" TED, March 2015. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Aden Lonergan. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

When American forces overran the Philippine island of Lubang in 1945, Japanese intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda withdrew into the mountains to wait for reinforcements. He was still waiting 29 years later. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet the dedicated soldier who fought World War II until 1974. We'll also dig up a murderer and puzzle over an offensive compliment. Intro: In 1896, Austrian engineers designed a mountain railway pulled by a balloon. In 1965 Kingsley Amis inventoried Ian Fleming's unsavory descriptions of M. Sources for our feature on Hiroo Onoda: Hiroo Onoda, No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War, 1974. Mark Felton, "The Soldiers Who Would Not Surrender," World War II 18:4 (November 2003), 18. Robert D. McFadden, "Hiroo Onoda, Soldier Who Hid in Jungle for Decades, Dies at 91," New York Times, Jan. 17, 2014. Adam Bernstein, "Hiroo Onoda, Japanese Soldier Who Hid in Philippine Jungle for 29 Years, Dies at 91," Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2014. David Powers, "Japan: No Surrender in World War Two," BBC, Feb. 17, 2011. "Last Man Fighting: Hiroo Onoda," Economist 410:8871 (Jan. 25, 2014). "Hiroo Onoda - Obituary," Telegraph, Jan. 17, 2014. Justin McCurry, "Hiroo Onoda: Japanese Soldier Who Took Three Decades to Surrender, Dies," Guardian, Jan. 17, 2014. "Japan WW2 Soldier Who Refused to Surrender Hiroo Onoda Dies," BBC News, Jan. 17, 2014. Jethro Mullen, Yoko Wakatsuki and Chandrika Narayan, "Hiroo Onoda, Japanese Soldier Who Long Refused to Surrender, Dies at 91," CNN, Jan. 17, 2014. Noah Rayman, "Hiroo Onoda, World's 'Last Ninja', Dead at 91," Time.com, Jan. 21, 2013. Mike Dash, "Final Straggler: The Japanese Soldier Who Outlasted Hiroo Onoda," Mike Dash History, Sept. 15, 2015. Associated Press, "Bulletins," March 16, 1974. Listener mail: Travis M. Andrews, "An Infamous and Sadistic American Serial Killer Was Hanged in 1896. Or Was He?" Washington Post, May 4, 2017. Kristen De Groot, "Body of 19th Century Serial Killer Exhumed Near Philadelphia," Associated Press, May 3, 2017. "New Jersey Couple Says They Found Note in Family Bible Signed by Notorious Serial Killer H.H. Holmes," NBC Philadelphia, May 22, 2017. Craig Cook, "Scientist at Centre of DNA Break-Throughs in Cold Case Appeals for Government to Exhume the Body Somerton Man to Finally 'Give Him Name,'" The Advertiser, Oct. 1, 2016. Dan Vergano, "DNA Just Tied a Mystery Death in Australia to Thomas Jefferson," BuzzFeed, Sept. 24, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Noah Kurland. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1824 the viceroy of Egypt sent a unique gift to the new king of France: a two-month-old giraffe that had just been captured in the highlands of Sudan. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the 4,000-mile journey of Zarafa, the royal giraffe, from her African homeland to the king's menagerie in Paris. We'll also visit Queen Victoria's coronation and puzzle over a child's surprising recovery. Intro: In 1952 a stray cat made a home in Classroom 8 of a California elementary school. Abe Lincoln's ghost seems to spend a lot of time in the Lincoln Bedroom. Sources for our feature on Zarafa the giraffe: Michael Allin, Zarafa, 1998. Erik Ringmar, "Audience for a Giraffe: European Expansionism and the Quest for the Exotic," Journal of World History 17:4 (December 2006), 375-397. Heather J. Sharkey, "La Belle Africaine: The Sudanese Giraffe Who Went to France," Canadian Journal of African Studies 49:1 (2015), 39-65. Olivier Lagueux, "Geoffroy's Giraffe: The Hagiography of a Charismatic Mammal," Journal of the History of Biology, 36:2 (June 2003), 225–247. Samuel J.M.M. Alberti, "Objects and the Museum," Isis 96:4 (December 2005), 559-571. Philip McCouat, "The Art of Giraffe Diplomacy: How an African Giraffe Walked Across France and Became a Pawn in an International Power Struggle," Journal of Art in Society (accessed May 14, 2017). Olivier Lagueux, "Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story, From Deep in Africa to the Heart of Paris [review]," Isis 92:1 (March 2001), 186-187. S. Mary P. Benbow, "Death and Dying at the Zoo," Journal of Popular Culture 37:3 (2004), 379-398. Elena Passarello, "Beautiful Animal of the King," Paris Review, Dec. 20, 2016. Henry Nicholls, "Meet Zarafa, the Giraffe That Inspired a Crazy Hairdo," Guardian, Jan. 20, 2014. Olivier Lebleu, "Long-Necked Diplomacy: The Tale of the Third Giraffe," Guardian, Jan. 11, 2016. Today Zarafa stands on the landing of a stone staircase in the Museum of Natural History in La Rochelle. Listener mail: Julia Baird, Victoria, 2016. C. Dack, "The Coronation of Queen Victoria," Pall Mall Magazine 48:219 (July 1911), 2-5. Wikipedia, "East Asian Age Reckoning" (accessed May 26, 2017). Josh Clark, "How Thoroughbred Horses Work," How Stuff Works, Oct. 4, 2011. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

The worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century struck Martinique in 1902, killing 30,000 people in the scenic town of Saint-Pierre. But rescuers found one man alive -- a 27-year-old laborer in a dungeon-like jail cell. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll meet Ludger Sylbaris, who P.T. Barnum called "The Only Living Object That Survived in the Silent City of Death." We'll also address some Indian uncles and puzzle over a gruesome hike. Intro: The French newspaper La Bougie du Sapeur is published only on Leap Day. When a vat burst in 1814, 323,000 imperial gallons of beer flooded a London street. Sources for our feature on Ludger Sylbaris: Peter Morgan, Fire Mountain, 2003. Edmund Otis Hovey, The 1902-1903 Eruptions of Mont Pelé, Martinique and the Soufrière, St. Vincent, 1904. Ludger Sylbaris, "Buried Alive in St. Pierre," Wide World Magazine, November 1903. Matthew St. Ville Hunte, "Inside the Volcano," Paris Review, Sept. 16, 2016. "Prison Cell of 'The Man Who Lived Through Doomsday,'" Slate, July 31, 2013. Brian Morton, "There's No Smoke Without Fire," Financial Times, Feb. 13, 2003. Tony Jones, "Lone Survivor," New Scientist 177:2382 (Feb. 15, 2003), 48-49. "[front page -- no title]," New York Times, Oct. 13, 1906. Listener mail: Kate Connolly, "He's Hired: Belgian Lands 'Dream Job' as Hermit for Austrian Cliffside Retreat," Guardian, April 19, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener David White, who sent two sets of corroborating links -- these contain explicit photos, and these don't. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Between 1838 and 1841, an enterprising London teenager broke repeatedly into Buckingham Palace, sitting on the throne, eating from the kitchen, and posing a bewildering nuisance to Queen Victoria's courtiers, who couldn't seem to keep him out. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the exploits of Edward Jones -- and the severe measures that were finally taken to stop them. We'll also salute some confusing flags and puzzle over an extraterrestrial musician. Intro: Tourists who remove rocks from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park face a legendary curse. Periodicals of the 19th century featured at least two cats that got along on two legs. Sources for our feature on "the boy Jones": Jan Bondeson, Queen Victoria's Stalker: The Strange Case of the Boy Jones, 2011. Joan Howard, The Boy Jones, 1943. Lytton Strachey, Queen Victoria, 1921. John Ashton, Gossip in the First Decade of Victoria's Reign, 1903. Thomas Raikes, A Portion of the Journal Kept by Thomas Raikes, Esq., from 1831 to 1847, vol. 4, 136. Paul Thomas Murphy, "Jones, Edward," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed April 22, 2017). "The Boy Jones," Examiner 1750 (Aug. 14, 1841), 524-524. "The Boy Jones," Court and Lady's Magazine, Monthly Critic and Museum 21 (September 1841), 223-225. Punch, July–December 1841. "Occurrences," Examiner 1793 (June 11, 1842), 381-381. "The Boy Jones," Reynold's Miscellany of Romance, General Literature, Science, and Art 17:424 (Aug. 23, 1856), 56. "The Boy Jones," All the Year Round 34:814 (July 5, 1884), 234-237. "The Latest News of the Boy Jones," Examiner 1902 (July 13, 1844), 434-434. "Palace Intruder Stayed 3 Days and Sat on Throne," Globe and Mail, July 21, 1982. "Strange Tale of the First Royal Stalker," Express, Nov. 6, 2010, 14. "Story of Boy Jones Who Stole Queen Victoria's Underwear," BBC News, Feb. 2, 2011. Helen Turner, "Royal Rumpus of First Celebrity Stalker," South Wales Echo, Feb. 3, 2011, 26. Jan Bondeson, "The Strange Tale of the First Royal Stalker," Express, Nov. 1, 2010. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Chad–Romania Relations" (accessed May 12, 2017). "'Identical Flag' Causes Flap in Romania," BBC News, April 14, 2004. Wanderlust, "10 of the World's Most Confusing Flags -- and How to Figure Them Out," Aug. 9, 2016. Erin Nyren, "'Whitewashing' Accusations Fly as Zach McGowan Cast as Hawaiian WWII Hero," Variety, May 9, 2017. Kamlesh Damodar Sutar, "Highway Liquor Ban: Bar Owners Say They Will Be Forced to Commit Suicide Like Farmers," India Today, April 3, 2017. "Government Officials Rush to Denotify Highways Running Through Cities," Economic Times, April 4, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Greg Yurkovic, who sent this corroborating link (warning: this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Here are five 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. Here are the sources for this week's puzzles. In a couple of places we've included links to further information -- these contain spoilers, so don't click until you've listened to the episode: Puzzle #1 was contributed by listener Dave Lawrence. Puzzle #2 is from listener Michael Berman. Puzzle #3 is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's Ingenious Lateral Thinking Puzzles, 1998. Puzzle #4 is from listener Paul Sophocleous. Here are two associated links. Puzzle #5 is from listener Noah Kurland. Here's an associated 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1941, Catalonian chicken farmer Juan Pujol made an unlikely leap into the world of international espionage, becoming a spy first for the Germans, then for the British, and rising to become one of the greatest double agents of World War II. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Pujol's astonishing talent for deceiving the Nazis, which led one colleague to call him "the best actor in the world." We'll also contemplate a floating Chicago and puzzle over a winding walkway. Intro: In 1999, Kevin Baugh declared his Nevada house an independent republic. Foxie the dog stayed by her master's side for three months after his hiking death in 1805. Sources for our feature on Juan Pujol: Juan Pujol, Operation Garbo, 1985. Jason Webster, The Spy With 29 Names, 2014. Tomás Harris, Garbo: The Spy Who Saved D-Day, 2000. Stephan Talty, Agent Garbo, 2012. Thomas M. Kane, Understanding Contemporary Strategy, 2012. David C. Isby, "Double Agent's D-Day Victory," World War II 19:3 (June 2004), 18,20. Marc De Santis, "Overlooked Reasons Overlord Succeeded," MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 26:4 (Summer 2014), 15-16. David Kahn, "How I Discovered World War II's Greatest Spy," Cryptologia 34:1 (December 2009), 12-21. Stephen Budiansky, "The Art of the Double Cross," World War II 24:1 (May 2009), 38-45,4. Kevin D. Kornegay, "Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies," Army Lawyer, April 2014, 40-43. Gene Santoro, "Harbor of Hope and Intrigue," World War II 26:2 (July/August 2011), 26-28. P.R.J. Winter, "Penetrating Hitler's High Command: Anglo-Polish HUMINT, 1939-1945," War in History 18:1 (January 2011), 85-108. Neville Wylie, "'An Amateur Learns his Job'? Special Operations Executive in Portugal, 1940–42," Journal of Contemporary History 36:3 (July 2001), 441-457. "An Unexpected Threat to the Normandy Invasion," World War II 31:5 (January/February 2017), 16. "'Agent Garbo,' The Spy Who Lied About D-Day," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, July 7, 2012. Tom Morgan, "Revealed: How a Homesick Wife Nearly Blew It for the British Double Agent Who Fooled Hitler," Telegraph, Sept. 28, 2016. Adam Lusher, "How a Dozen Silk Stockings Helped Bring Down Adolf Hitler," Independent, Sept. 27, 2016. Ian Cobain, "D-Day Landings Put at Risk by Double-Agent's Homesick Wife," Guardian, Sept. 27, 2016. Listener mail: Mark Torregrossa, "Superior Mirages Over Chicago Skyline Now Appearing," mlive, April 18, 2017. Allison Eck, "The Perfectly Scientific Explanation for Why Chicago Appeared Upside Down in Michigan," Nova Next, May 8, 2015. Jonathan Belles, "Fata Morgana Provides Eerie Look at Chicago Across Lake Michigan," weather.com, April 18, 2017. Listener Jason Gottshall directed us to these striking photos of the Chicago mirage. "5.17a- Supplemental Gregor MacGregor," Revolutions, Oct. 24, 2016. Brooke Borel, The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alon Shaham, who sent this corroborating link (warning: this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1821, Scottish adventurer Gregor MacGregor undertook one of the most brazen scams in history: He invented a fictional Central American republic and convinced hundreds of his countrymen to invest in its development. Worse, he persuaded 250 people to set sail for this imagined utopia with dreams of starting a new life. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the disastrous results of MacGregor's deceit. We'll also illuminate a hermit's behavior and puzzle over Liechtenstein's flag. Intro: In 1878, a neurologist noted that French-Canadian lumberjacks tended to startle violently. Each year on Valentine's Day, someone secretly posts paper hearts in Montpelier, Vt. Sources for our feature on Gregor MacGregor: David Sinclair, Sir Gregor MacGregor and the Land That Never Was, 2003. Matthew Brown, "Inca, Sailor, Soldier, King: Gregor MacGregor and the Early Nineteenth-Century Caribbean," Bulletin of Latin American Research 24:1 (January 2005), 44-70. T. Frederick Davis, "MacGregor's Invasion of Florida, 1817," Florida Historical Society Quarterly 7:1 (July 1928), 2-71. Emily Beaulieu, Gary W. Cox, and Sebastian Saiegh, "Sovereign Debt and Regime Type: Reconsidering the Democratic Advantage," International Organization 66:4 (Fall 2012), 709-738. R.A. Humphreys, "Presidential Address: Anglo-American Rivalries in Central America," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 18 (1968), 174-208. Courtenay de Kalb, "Nicaragua: Studies on the Mosquito Shore in 1892," Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York 25:1 (1893), 236-288. A.R. Hope Moncrieff, "Gregor MacGregor," Macmillan's Magazine 92:551 (September 1905), 339-350. "The King of Con-Men," Economist 405:8816 (Dec. 22, 2012), 109-112. "Sir Gregor MacGregor," Quebec Gazette, Oct. 18, 1827. Guardian, "From the Archive, 25 October 1823: Settlers Duped Into Believing in 'Land Flowing With Milk and Honey,'" Oct. 25, 2013. Maria Konnikova, "The Con Man Who Pulled Off History's Most Audacious Scam," BBC Future, Jan. 28, 2016. "Thomas Strangeways", Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, 1822. A Bank of Poyais dollar, printed by the official printer of the Bank of Scotland. MacGregor traded these worthless notes for the settlers' gold as they departed for his nonexistent republic. Listener mail: Robert McCrum, "The 100 Best Novels: No 42 - The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)," Guardian, July 7, 2014. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was inspired by an item in Dan Lewis' Now I Know newsletter. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- both links spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Without any forethought or preparation, Christopher Knight walked into the Maine woods in 1986 and lived there in complete solitude for the next 27 years, subsisting on what he was able to steal from local cabins. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the North Pond hermit, one man's attempt to divorce himself completely from civilization. We'll also look for coded messages in crosswords and puzzle over an ineffective snake. Intro: Disneyland's Matterhorn contains a basketball goal. Two tombstones in the Netherlands "hold hands" across a cemetery wall. Sources for our feature on the North Pond hermit: Michael Finkel, "Into the Woods: How One Man Survived Alone in the Wilderness for 27 Years," Guardian, March 15, 2017. Associated Press, "Christopher Knight: Inside the Maine Hermit's Lair," April 12, 2013. "Hermit Caught After 27 Years in Maine Woods," Guardian, April 11, 2013. Wikipedia, "Christopher Thomas Knight" (accessed April 6, 2017). Nathaniel Rich, "Lessons of the Hermit," Atlantic, April 2017. Michael Finkel, "The 27-Year Hunt for Maine's North Pond Hermit," Toronto Star, March 26, 2017. Betty Adams, "'North Pond Hermit' Knight Balks at Paying Costs Related to His Remote Campsite," Kennebec Journal, April 26, 2016. Craig Crosby, "After 27 Years of Burglaries, 'North Pond Hermit' Is Arrested," Kennebec Journal, April 9, 2013. Brian MacQuarrie, "In Rural Maine, a Life of Solitude and Larceny," Boston Globe, May 26, 2013. Michael Finkel, "The Strange & Curious Tale of the Last True Hermit," GQ, Aug. 4, 2014. Leonard Dawe and the D-Day crosswords: Michelle Arnot, Four-Letter Words: And Other Secrets of a Crossword Insider, 2008. Nicholas Lezard, "One Hundred Years of Solvitude," Independent, Dec. 16, 2013. Michael E. Haskew, "In Spite of All the Preparation, D-Day Remained a Gamble," World War II 16:2 (July 2001), 6. R. Murray Hayes, "A Beach Too Far: The Dieppe Raid," Sea Classics 44:4 (April 2011), 18-22, 24-25. George J. Church and Arthur White, "Overpaid, Oversexed, Over Here," Time 123:22 (May 28, 1984), 45. Val Gilbert, "D-Day Crosswords Are Still a Few Clues Short of a Solution," Telegraph, May 3, 2004. Tom Rowley, "Who Put Secret D-Day Clues in the 'Telegraph' Crossword?", Telegraph, April 27, 2014. Fred Wrixon, Codes, Ciphers, and Secret Languages, 1989. Gregory Kipper, Investigator's Guide to Steganography, 2003. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Dave Lawrence. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Insurance agent William Herbert Wallace had a terrible night in January 1931 -- summoned to a nonexistent address in Liverpool, he returned home to find that his wife had been murdered in his absence. An investigation seemed to show a senseless crime with no weapon, no motive, and no likely suspects. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll revisit the slaying of Julia Wallace, which Raymond Chandler called "the impossible murder." We'll also recount some wobbly oaths and puzzle over an eccentric golfer. Intro: In the 1960s, Washington state televised the World Octopus Wrestling Championships. Kansas schoolteacher Samuel Dinsmoor spent two decades fashioning a Garden of Eden out of concrete. Sources for our feature on William Herbert Wallace: W.F. Wyndham-Brown, ed., The Trial of William Herbert Wallace, 1933. Yseult Bridges, Two Studies in Crime, 1959. Roger Wilkes, Wallace: The Final Verdict, 1984. Ronald Bartle, The Telephone Murder, 2012. Hans Von Hentig, "Pre-Murderous Kindness and Post-Murder Grief," Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science 48:4 (November-December 1957), 369-377. Roger Wilkes, "The 1931 Slaying of a Liverpool Housewife Remains to This Day the Perfect Murder," Telegraph, May 12, 2001. Liverpool Echo, "Riddle of Man from the Pru," April 7, 2008. David Harrison, "PD James Unmasks the Perfect Killer," Sunday Times, Oct. 27, 2013. Edward Winter, "Chess and the Wallace Murder Case," Chess History (accessed March 19, 2017). Listener mail: "Murder Castle," Lights Out, Feb. 16, 1938. Wikipedia, "Lights Out (radio show)" (accessed March 30, 2017). Wikipedia, "Oath of Office of the President of the United States" (accessed March 30, 2017). Jeffrey Toobin, The Oath, 2013. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jake Koethler. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Stuck in an East African prison camp in 1943, Italian POW Felice Benuzzi needed a challenge to regain his sense of purpose. He made a plan that seemed crazy -- to break out of the camp, climb Mount Kenya, and break back in. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Benuzzi and two companions as they try to climb the second-highest mountain in Africa using homemade equipment. We'll also consider whether mirages may have doomed the Titanic and puzzle over an ineffective oath. Intro: Under the law of the United Kingdom, a sturgeon when caught becomes the personal property of the monarch. On July 4, 1853, 32 people held a dance on the stump of a California sequoia. Sources for our feature on Felice Benuzzi: Felice Benuzzi, No Picnic on Mount Kenya, 1953. Dave Pagel, "The Great Escape," Climbing 215 (Sept. 15, 2002), 87. Matthew Power and Keridwen Cornelius, "Escape to Mount Kenya," National Geographic Adventure 9:7 (September 2007), 65-71. Stephan Wilkinson, "10 Great POW Escapes," Military History 28:4 (November 2011), 28-33. Jon Mooallem, "In Search of Lost Ice," New York Times Magazine, Dec. 21, 2014, 28-35. "Because It Was There; Great Escapes," Economist 417:8965 (Nov. 21, 2015), 78. This is the package label that showed the prisoners the southern face of the mountain: Listener mail: Tim Maltin and Andrew T. Young, "The Hidden Cause of the Titanic Disaster" (accessed March 24, 2017). Smithsonian, "Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion?" (accessed March 24, 2017). Telegraph, "Titanic Sank Due to 'Mirage' Caused by Freak Weather" (accessed March 24, 2017). Matt Largey, "He Got a Bad Grade. So, He Got the Constitution Amended. Now He's Getting the Credit He Deserves," kut.org, March 21, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener David White. 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 go to http://podsurvey.com/futility to take a quick, anonymous survey to help us get the best advertisers for the show. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1913 outdoorsman Joseph Knowles pledged to spend two months in the woods of northern Maine, naked and alone, fending for himself "without the slightest communication or aid from the outside world." In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Knowles' adventures in the woods and the controversy that followed his return to civilization. We'll also consider the roots of nostalgia and puzzle over some busy brothers. Intro: In 1972, a French physicist discovered a natural uranium reactor operating underground in Gabon. In the 13th century the English royal menagerie included a polar bear. Sources for our feature on Joseph Knowles: Jim Motavalli, Naked in the Woods, 2007. Joseph Knowles, Alone in the Wilderness, 1913. Bill Donahue, "Naked Joe," Boston Magazine, April 2013. Richard O. Boyer, "The Nature Man," New Yorker, June 18, 1938. John Gould, "Tarzan of the Pines," Christian Science Monitor, June 18, 1999. Roderick Nash, "The American Cult of the Primitive," American Quarterly 18:3 (Autumn 1966), 517-537. Robert Moor, "The 1913 'Nature Man' Whose Survivalist Stunts Were Not What They Seemed," Atlas Obscura, July 7, 2016. "Joe Knowles, Lived in Wilds Unarmed!", New York Times, Oct. 23, 1942. Joseph B. Frazier, "An Early Nature Buff: By Going Into the Woods Alone, Did Joe Knowles Remind America of Its Potential?", Orlando Sentinel, March 2, 2008. Joseph B. Frazier, "'Natural Man' Inspired, Despite Fraud Claims," Augusta Chronicle, March 16, 2008. "The 100th Anniversary of Joe Knowles' Famous Odyssey into the Wilds," Lewiston [Maine] Sun Journal, April 14, 2013. "Joe Knowles and the Legacy of Wilderness Adventures," Lewiston [Maine] Sun Journal, May 12, 2013. "Nature Man Badly Injured," Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1915. "The Nature Man," The Billboard, Nov. 6, 1915. Grace Kingley, "Joe Knowles, Nature Man, at Republic," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 23, 1914. Still dressed in his bearskin and cedar-bark shoes, Knowles was examined by Harvard physician Dudley Sargent on Oct. 9, 1913. "He surpassed every test he took before starting on the trip," Sargent declared. "His scientific experiment shows what a man can do when he is deprived of the luxuries which many people have come to regard as necessities." A portion of the crowd that met him in Boston. Listener mail: Fireworks disasters in Oban, Scotland, and San Diego. MURDERCASTLE, from the Baltimore Rock Opera Society. John Tierney, "What Is Nostalgia Good For? Quite a Bit, Research Shows," New York Times, July 8, 2013. University of Southampton, "What Nostalgia Is and What It Does" (accessed March 18, 2017). "Nostalgia," Google Books Ngram Viewer, March 18, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Rod Guyler. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 Saipan," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 6, 2006. "Guy Gabaldon," Latino Americans, PBS, Sept. 24, 2013. Richard Gonzalez, "Filmmaker: Pacific War Hero Deserved Higher Honor," Morning Edition, National Public Radio, April 25, 2008. "Guy Gabaldon: An Interview and Discussion," War Times Journal (accessed Feb. 26, 2017). "Milestones," Time 168:12, Sept. 18, 2006. Gregg K. Kakesako, "'Pied Piper' Returning to Saipan," Honolulu Star Bulletin, June 6, 2004. "Guy Gabaldon," University of Texas Oral History Project (accessed Feb. 26, 2017). Gabaldon receives the Navy Cross, 1960: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVKEdyt_mvo Listener mail: Wikipedia, "William Moulton Marston" (accessed March 9, 2017). "The Man Behind Wonder Woman Was Inspired By Both Suffragists And Centerfolds," NPR Books, October 27, 2014. Jill Lepore, "The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman," Smithsonian Magazine, October 2014. Katha Pollitt, "Wonder Woman's Kinky Feminist Roots," Atlantic, November 2014. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Steven Jones (thanks also to Hanno Zulla). Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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, Oct. 22, 2013. John Bartlow Martin, "The Master of the Murder Castle," Harper's, December 1943. Corey Dahl, "H.H. Holmes: The Original Client From Hell," Life Insurance Selling, October 2013. "Claims an Alibi: Holmes Says the Murders Were Committed by a Friend," New York Times, July 17, 1895. "Holmes in Great Demand: Will Be Tried Where the Best Case Can Be Made," New York Times, July 24, 1895. "Accused of Ten Murders: The List of Holmes's Supposed Victims Grows Daily," New York Times, July 26, 1895. "The Holmes Case," New York Times, July 28, 1895. "Expect to Hang Holmes: Chicago Police Authorities Say They Can Prove Murder," New York Times, July 30, 1895. "Chicago and Holmes," New York Times, July 31, 1895. "No Case Against Holmes: Chicago Police Baffled in the Attempt to Prove Murder," New York Times, Aug. 2, 1895. "Did Holmes Kill Pitzel: The Theory of Murder Gaining Ground Steadily," New York Times, Nov. 20, 1894. "Holmes Fears Hatch: Denies All the Charges of Murder Thus Far Made Against Him," New York Times, Aug. 2, 1895. "Quinlan's Testimony Against Holmes: They Think He Committed Most of the Murders in the Castle," New York Times, Aug. 4, 1895. "Modern Bluebeard: H.H. Holmes' Castles Reveals His True Character," Chicago Tribune, Aug. 18, 1895. "The Case Opened: A Strong Plea, by the Prisoner for a Postponement," New York Times, Oct. 29, 1895. "Holmes and His Crimes: Charged with Arson, Bigamy, and Numerous Murders," New York Times, Oct. 29, 1895. "Holmes Grows Nervous: Unable to Face the Portrait of One of His Supposed Victims," New York Times, Oct. 30, 1895. "Holmes Is Found Guilty: The Jury Reaches Its Verdict on the First Ballot," New York Times, Nov. 3, 1895. "Holmes Sentenced to Die: The Murderer of Benjamin F. Pietzel to Be Hanged," New York Times, Dec. 1, 1895. "The Law's Delays," New York Times, Feb. 4, 1896. "Holmes' Victims," Aurora [Ill.] Daily Express, April 13, 1896. "Holmes Cool to the End," New York Times, May 8, 1896. Rebecca Kerns, Tiffany Lewis, and Caitlin McClure of Radford University's Department of Psychology have compiled an extensive profile of Holmes and his crimes (PDF). Listener mail: The Seest disaster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4iNOguCNFQ Wikipedia, "Seest Fireworks Disaster" (accessed March 3, 2017). "Dutch Fireworks Disaster," BBC News, May 14, 2000. Wikipedia, "Enschede Fireworks Disaster" (accessed March 3, 2017). "Vuurwerkramp," Visit Enschede (accessed March 3, 2017). Beverly Jenkins, "10 Worst Fireworks Disasters Ever," Oddee, July 4, 2013. Jessie Guy-Ryan, "Inside the World's Deadliest Fireworks Accident," Atlas Obscura, July 4, 2016. Wikipedia, "Puttingal Temple Fire" (accessed March 3, 2017). Rajiv G, "Kollam Temple Fire: Death Toll Reaches 111, 40 Badly Wounded," Times of India, April 12, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Daniel Sterman, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 in 1918," New York Times, March 2, 1930. "Depression Swells Total of Federal Conscience Fund," New York Times, April 21, 1932. "Federal Treasury Gets $300 to Add to Conscience Fund," New York Times, March 25, 1932. "9,896 Two-Cent Stamps Sent to City's Conscience Fund," New York Times, May 15, 1930. "$30,000 to Conscience Fund; Contributor Says He Has Sent Four Times Amount He Stole," New York Times, March 10, 1916. "Guilt: Settling With Uncle Sam," Time, March 30, 1987. "The Conscience Fund: Many Thousands Contributed -- Some Peculiar Cases," New York Times, Aug. 5, 1884. "Pays Government Fourfold; Conscience Bothered Man Who Took $8,000 from Treasury," New York Times, June 13, 1908. Rick Van Sant, "Guilt-Stricken Pay Up to IRS 'Conscience Fund' Gets Cash, Quilts," Cincinnati Post, Jan. 26, 1996. John Fairhall, "The Checks Just Keep Coming to the 'Conscience Fund,'" Baltimore Sun, Dec. 10, 1991. Donna Fox, "People Who Rip Off Uncle Sam Pay the 'Conscience Fund,'" Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 24, 1987. Associated Press, "Ten Thousand Dollars in Currency Is Sent to U.S. 'Conscience Fund,'" Harrisburg [Pa.] Telegraph, July 20, 1915. "Washington Letter," Quebec Daily Telegraph, July 3, 1889. "Figures of the Passing Show," Evening Independent, Sept. 16, 1909. James F. Clarity and Warren Weaver Jr., "Briefing: The Conscience Fund," New York Times, Dec. 24, 1985. Warren Weaver Jr., "'Conscience Fund' at New High," New York Times, March 18, 1987. "Conscience Fund Too Small," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 16, 1925. "Laborer Swells Conscience Fund," New York Times, June 28, 1912. "A Conscience Fund Contribution," New York Times, Feb. 14, 1895. "The Conscience Fund," New York Times, March 27, 1932. "Swells Conscience Fund: Californian, Formerly in the Navy, Gets Religion and Pays for Stationery on His Ship," Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1915. "2 Cents, Conscience Fund: Sent to Pay for Twice-Used Stamp -- Costs Post Office a Dollar," New York Times, June 2, 1910. "$30,000 to Conscience Fund: Contributor Says He Has Sent Four Times Amount He Stole," New York Times, March 10, 1916. "'Conscience Fund' Rises: New Yorker's $8 Is Item in $896.49 Sent Treasury," New York Times, Nov. 28, 1937. "The Conscience Fund: Many Thousands Contributed -- Some Peculiar Cases," New York Times, Aug. 5 1884. "The Conscience Fund: Young Woman Seeks a Loan From It From a Belief It Was Created for Benefit of Honest People," Los Angeles Times, July 13, 1914. "Gives to Conscience Fund: Contributor of $36 'Forgot Tax Item' -- Another Sends $32," New York Times, April 3, 1936. "Conscience-Fund Flurries: Due to Religious Revivals," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 28, 1903. "$100 for Conscience Fund: Customs Officials Think Same Person Sent $10c a Few Days Ago," New York Times, March 10, 1928. "Swell Conscience Fund: Two Remittances, Small and Large, Bring In $4,876.70," New York Times, Feb. 6, 1916. "Conscience Fund for President: Pasadena Writer Sends Dollar to Harding to Make Good for 20-Year-Old Theft," Los Angeles Times, April 17, 1921. "$33 for Conscience Fund: Smuggler Sent Taft the Money After Selling His Goods," New York Times, May 21, 1911. "$1 to Conscience Fund: Remorseful Laborer Pays Off Debt to Government by Installments," New York Times, Nov. 10, 1912. "The Nation's Conscience Fund," Scrap Book, May 1906. "Uncle Sam's Conscience Fund," Book of the Royal Blue, November 1904. "The Conscience Fund," Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, July 1894. "Gives $18,669 to Conscience Fund," Chicago Tribune, Nov. 26, 1901. "Large and Small Sums Swell Conscience Fund," Virginia Chronicle, March 6, 1925. "Miscellaneous Revenue Collections, or Conscience Fund," Internal Revenue Manual 3.8.45.7.35 (01-01-2011), U.S. Internal Revenue Service (accessed Feb. 12, 2017). Listener mail: "Myth Debunked: Audrey Hepburn Did Not Work for the Resistance" [in Dutch], Dutch Broadcast Foundation, Nov. 17, 2016. The official Audrey Hepburn site. To see the mentioned image of Hepburn and

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 Technologies and the Constitution, 1989. Kenneth R. Moses et al., "Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)," in The Fingerprint Sourcebook, Scientific Working Group on Friction Ridge Analysis Study and Technology and National Institute of Justice, 2011, 1-33. Raymond Dussault, "The Latent Potential of Latent Prints," Government Technology, Dec. 31, 1998. Barbara Bradley, "Fingered by the Police Computer," Christian Science Monitor, June 9, 1988. U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, "New Technology for Investigation, Identification, and Apprehension," in Special Report: Criminal Justice, New Technologies, and the Constitution, May 1988. Thanks to listener Pål Grønås Drange for suggesting the Ken Moses story. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Mirage" (accessed Feb. 17, 2017). W.H. Lehn, "The Nova Zemlya Effect: An Arctic Mirage," Journal of the Optical Society of America 69:5 (May 1979), 776-781. Wikipedia, "Novaya Zemlya Effect" (accessed Feb. 17, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tommy Honton, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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. If you have a moment, please go to podcastsurvey.net to take a very short anonymous survey about today's episode. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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, The Humor and Drama of Early Texas, 2003. Richard Selcer, "The Robe," Wild West 28:5 (February 2016), 60-64. Glen Sample Ely, "Myth, Memory, and Massacre: The Pease River Capture of Cynthia Ann Parker [review]," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 115:1 (July 2011), 91-92. Gregory Michno, "Nocona's Raid and Cynthia Ann's Recapture," Wild West 23:2 (August 2010), 36-43. Paul H. Carlson and Tom Crum, "The 'Battle' at Pease River and the Question of Reliable Sources in the Recapture of Cynthia Ann Parker," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 113:1 (July 2009), 32-52. Anne Dingus, "Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker," Texas Monthly 27:5 (May 1999), 226. "Cynthia Ann Seized History," Southern Living 25:3 (March 5, 1990), 61. Lawrence T. Jones III, "Cynthia Ann Parker and Pease Ross: The Forgotten Photographs," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 93:3 (January 1990), 379-384. Rupert N. Richardson, "The Death of Nocona and the Recovery of Cynthia Ann Parker," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 46:1 (July 1942), 15-21. Listener mail: Donald MacGillivray, "When Is a Fake Not a Fake? When It's a Genuine Forgery," Guardian, July 1, 2005. Noah Charney, "Why So Many Art Forgers Want to Get Caught," Atlantic, Dec. 22, 2014. Jonathon Keats, "Masterpieces for Everyone? The Case of the Socialist Art Forger Tom Keating," Forbes, Dec. 13, 2012. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Paul Sophocleous, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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," American Mathematical Monthly 44:3 (March 1937), 137-155. Gina Kolata, "Remembering a 'Magical Genius,'" Science 236:4808 (June 19, 1987), 1519-1521. E.H. Neville, "Srinivasa Ramanujan," Nature 149:3776 (March 1942), 293. Bruce C. Berndt, "Srinivasa Ramanujan," American Scholar 58:2 (Spring 1989), 234-244. B.M. Srikantia, "Srinivasa Ramanujan," American Mathematical Monthly 35:5 (May 1928), 241-245. S.G. Gindikin, "Ramanujan the Phenomenon," Quantum 8:4 (March/April 1998), 4-9. "Srinivasa Ramanujan" in Timothy Gowers, June Barrow-Green, and Imre Leader, eds., Princeton Companion to Mathematics, 2010. "Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan," MacTutor History of Mathematics (accessed Jan. 22, 2017). In the photo above, Ramanujan is at center and Hardy is at far right. Listener mail: "Myth Debunked: Audrey Hepburn Did Not Work for the Resistance" [in Dutch], Dutch Broadcast Foundation, Nov. 17, 2016. "Audrey Hepburn's Son Remembers Her Life," Larry King Live, CNN, Dec. 24, 2003. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tyler Rousseau. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 Loo, "Art Hoax Which Cost the World Millions," Britannia and Eve 33:4 (October 1946). "The Man Who Paints: Hans Van Meegeren Stands Trial at Amsterdam," Sphere 191:2493 (Nov. 15, 1947). "The Strange Story of the Forged Vermeers," Sphere 184:2400 (Jan. 19, 1946). Serena Davies, "The Forger Who Fooled the World," Telegraph, Aug. 5, 2006. "Han van Meegeren," Fake or Fortune?, BBC One. Peter Schjeldahl, "Dutch Master," New Yorker, Oct. 27, 2008. Listener mail: Chris Ingalls, "Scientists Say They May Have New Evidence in D.B. Cooper Case," USA Today, Jan. 16, 2017. Erik Lacitis, "Does That Evidence Truly Tie D.B. Cooper to Boeing? Plot Thickens," Seattle Times, Jan. 20, 2017. Citizen Sleuths. Wikipedia, "Avoidance Speech" (accessed Jan. 27, 2017). Bryant Rousseau, "Talking to In-laws Can Be Hard. In Some Languages, It's Impossible," New York Times, Jan. 9, 2017. Danny Lewis, "Austrian Town Seeks Professional Hermit," Smithsonian, Jan. 17, 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Ned Harkness. The "Lincolnshire Household Riddle" appears in Notes and Queries, Nov. 2, 1872. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 Literature and Language 49:3 (Fall 2007), 209-229. Christina Accomando, "'The Laws were Laid Down to Me Anew': Harriet Jacobs and the Reframing of Legal Fictions," African American Review 32:2 (Summer 1998), 229-245. Georgia Kreiger, "Playing Dead: Harriet Jacobs's Survival Strategy in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," African American Review 42:3/4 (Fall 2008), 607-621, 795. Anne Bradford Warner, "Harriet Jacobs at Home in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," Southern Quarterly 45.3 (Spring 2008), 30-47. Miranda A. Green-Barteet, "'The Loophole of Retreat': Interstitial Spaces in Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl," South Central Review 30:2 (Summer 2013) 53-72. Anna Stewart, "Revising 'Harriet Jacobs' for 1865," American Literature 82:4 (2010), 701-724. John Devine and Chris Glennon, "WWI Film to Tell How Irish Soldier Spent Four Years in Cupboard," Irish Independent, Jan. 6, 2000. Frank Moss, "He Lived in Cupboard for 4 Years: True-Life Adventure," Answers 127:3287 (April 30, 1955). "By the Skin of His Teeth," Top Spot, Nov. 28, 1959. "Left-Hand Door," Time 9:12 (March 21, 1927), 16. Tony Millett, "WW 1 Centenary: The Soldier Who Came Home to Devizes After Four Years in Hiding Behind German Lines," Marlborough News, Aug. 1, 2014. "Cupboard Used by Trooper Patrick Fowler as Refuge During the First World War," Imperial War Museums (accessed Jan. 22, 2017). Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Islay" (accessed Jan. 21, 2017). Stand Still, Stay Silent, "The Nordic Languages," Oct. 13, 2014. Stand Still, Stay Silent, "Old World Language Families," Oct. 14, 2014. Reuters has two photos from the 1999 molasses flood in Delft, the Netherlands. Listener Vadas Gintautas' bluegrass band: This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Sid Collins, who sent two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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," New York Times, Dec. 15, 1905. Emmeline Pethick Lawrence, "A Man With Two Souls," Votes for Women, Jan. 6, 1911. "The Past Year's Literary Output," Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 16, 1901. "Fiona Macleod," Athenaeum 3733 (May 13, 1899), 596. "Fiona Macleod," The Academy, May 15, 1897, 525-526. Georgiana Goddard King, "Fiona Macleod," Modern Language Notes 33:6 (June 1918), 352-356. Alfred Noyes, "Fiona Macleod," Fortnightly Review 79:469 (January 1906), 163. "Fiona Macleod," The Academy, Dec. 16, 1905, 1312-1313. Ethel Rolt-Wheeler, "Fiona Macleod -- The Woman," Fortnightly Review 106:635 (November 1919), 780-790. Frank Rinder, "William Sharp -- 'Fiona Macleod,'" Art Journal, February 1906, 44-45. "Miss Fiona Macleod," The Sketch 23:296 (Sept. 28, 1898), 430. "Fiona Macleod," Vogue 13:13 (March 30, 1899), 206. Catharine A. Janvier, "Fiona Macleod and Her Creator William Sharp," North American Review 184:612 (April 5, 1907), 718-732. William Sharp "Fiona Macleod" Archive, Institute of English Studies, University of London. James Norman Hall, Oh Millersville!, 1940. Edward Brunner, "'Writing Another Kind of Poetry': James Norman Hall as 'Fern Gravel' in Oh Millersville!", Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies 8/9 (Spring 2006), 44-59. Listener mail: Cara Giaimo, "How Millions of Secret Silk Maps Helped POWs Escape Their Captors in WWII," Atlas Obscura, Dec. 20, 2016. "A Tiger in Town," Straits Times, Aug. 13, 1902. "Notes of the Day," Straits Times, Oct. 27, 1930. Tom Standage, A History of the World in Six Glasses, 2010. Mark Pendergrast, Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World, 2010. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Davide Tassinari, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 64:1 (January/February 2011), 10-11. Kaylie Duffy, "Today in Engineering History: Molasses Tanker Explodes, Kills 21," Product Design & Development, Jan. 15, 2015. Steve Puleo, "Death by Molasses," American History 35:6 (February 2001), 60-66. Chuck Lyons, "A Sticky Tragedy," History Today 59.1 (January 2009), 40-42. Dick Sinnott, "21 Persons Drowned in Molasses Flood," Reading [Pa.] Eagle, Jan. 15, 1959. Edwards Park, "Without Warning, Molasses in January Surged Over Boston," Smithsonian 14:8 (November 1983), 213-230. "12 Killed When Tank of Molasses Explodes," New York Times, Jan. 16, 1919. Ferris Jabr, "The Science of the Great Molasses Flood," Scientific American, Aug. 1, 2013. United Press International, "The Great Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919," Jan. 17, 1979. Peter Schworm, "Nearly a Century Later, Structural Flaw in Molasses Tank Revealed," Boston Globe, Jan. 14, 2015. William J. Kole, "Slow as Molasses? Sweet but Deadly 1919 Disaster Explained," Associated Press, Nov. 24, 2016. Erin McCann, "Solving a Mystery Behind the Deadly 'Tsunami of Molasses' of 1919," New York Times, Nov. 26, 2016. (The corn syrup video is midway down the page.) Jason Daley, "The Sticky Science Behind the Deadly Boston Molasses Disaster," Smithsonian, Nov. 28, 2016. Jennifer Ouellette, "Incredible Physics Behind the Deadly 1919 Boston Molasses Flood," New Scientist, Nov. 24, 2016. The Boston Public Library has photos and newspaper headlines. Listener mail: Erik Bye's song on the 15th Wisconsin Regiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o5TUozjQXw Statistics Norway's names database. Wikipedia, "Old Norse" (accessed Jan. 5, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tommy Honton, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 pledge any amount per episode, 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. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 31:5 (January 2015), 64-70. Joe Perry, Christmas in Germany: A Cultural History, 2010. Ian Herbert, "Muddy Truth of the Christmas Truce Game," Independent, Dec. 24, 2014. David Brown, "Remembering a Victory For Human Kindness," Washington Post, Dec. 25, 2004. "Alfred Anderson, 109, Last Man From 'Christmas Truce' of 1914," New York Times, Nov. 22, 2005. "The Christmas Truce, 1914," The Henry Williamson Society (accessed Dec. 16, 2016). Mike Dash, "The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce," Smithsonian, Dec. 23, 2011. Stephen Moss, "Truce in the Trenches Was Real, But Football Tales Are a Shot in the Dark," Guardian, Dec. 16, 2014. Listener mail: Kirk Ross, The Sky Men: A Parachute Rifle Company's Story of the Battle of the Bulge and the Jump Across the Rhine, 2004. A short version of the barrel-of-bricks episode from MythBusters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt230Pd1oSo Listener Daniel Sterman recommends the original episode, "Barrel of Bricks," from Oct. 10, 2003. Wikipedia, "Sandman (Wesley Dodds)" (accessed Dec. 16, 2016). Wikipedia, "Sala Gang" (accessed Dec. 16, 2016). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was suggested by listeners Greg Askins, Stacey Irvine, and Donald Mates. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 Volunteers shows that the 15th had 128 men whose first name was Ole, 75 men whose last name was Olson, Olsen, or Oleson, but just 15 whose names were Ole Olson, Ole Olsen, or Ole Oleson. The anecdote about the Gettysburg ordinance is mentioned in Michael Sanders' 2006 More Strange Tales of the Civil War, which cites Gregory A. Coco's A Strange and Blighted Land, Gettysburg: The Aftermath of a Battle, 1995. I found it in Allen C. Guelzo's Gettysburg: The Last Invasion, 2013. Frances Wilson describes Titanic survivor Lawrence Beesley's visit to the set of A Night to Remember in her 2011 book How to Survive the Titanic, Or The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay. The observation about John Ford's eye for camerawork appears in Robert L. Carringer's 1996 book The Making of Citizen Kane. Dan Murphy's Puritan name is spelled out in Willard R. Espy's An Almanac of Words at Play, 1975. (I first wrote about unusual Puritan names in 2009.) The two long names cited by H.L. Mencken appear in his 1921 study The American Language. Douglas Hofstadter describes Stanford art professor Matt Kahn's confetti illusion in his foreword to Al Seckel's 2004 book Masters of Deception. Mark Twain wrote about Cheiro's prophecy in his notebook in 1903. His affidavit regarding the palmist's insight into his character is described in Sarah E. Chinn's 2000 book Technology and the Logic of American Racism. Three sources regarding Georges Simenon's prolificity: Stanley G. Eskin, Simenon, A Critical Biography, 1987. Henry Anatole Grunwald, "World's Most Prolific Novelist," Life 45:18 (Nov. 3, 1958). Aubrey Dillon-Malone, Stranger Than Fiction: A Book of Literary Lists, 1999. Also in Stranger Than Fiction, Dillon-Malone says that Anthony Trollope's quota of seven pages a day would sometimes carry him out of one book and into the next. Dillon-Malone says he's quoting Malcolm Cowley, who indeed says as much in this Paris Review interview, but I'd like to confirm the anecdote. British fighter pilot Ray Holmes' severing of a Dornier bomber's tail is depicted in this painting. In his 2010 book Royal Prayer: A Surprising History, David Baldwin says "the whole engagement was captured on film," but I've never been able to find it. The best I've found is the opening moments of this National Geographic documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lACDhxSLbYQ The anecdote about Arthur Conan Doyle in Africa is from Russell Miller's 2008 book The Adventures of Arthur Conan Doyle: A Biography. Among other places, the story about Kant's soul appears in Arthur Stone Dewing's 1903 Introduction to the History of Modern Philosophy. And Cornelia Parker's comment about her conversation with Noam Chomsky appears in "Apocalypse Later," Guardian, Feb. 11, 2008. Listener mail: Noah Shachtman, "They Cracked This 250-Year-Old Code, and Found a Secret Society Inside," Wired, Nov. 16, 2012. Wikipedia, "Copiale cipher" (accessed Dec. 8, 2016). "Scientists Crack Mysterious 'Copiale Cipher,'" Guardian, Oct. 26, 2011. Jon Watts, "The Forbidden Tongue," Guardian, Sept. 23, 2005. Wikipedia, "Nüshu script" (accessed Dec. 8, 2016). David Kahn, The Codebreakers, 1967. This week's lateral thinking puzzle is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 2014 book Remarkable Lateral Thinking Puzzles. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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' Reexamined," Sociological Quarterly 45:2 (March 2004), 229–248. Robert E. Bartholomew and Erich Goode, "Phantom Assailants & the Madness of Crowds: The Mad Gasser of Botetourt County," Skeptic 7:4 (1999), 50. D.M. Johnson, "The 'Phantom Anesthetist' of Mattoon: A Field Study of Mass Hysteria," Journal of Abnormal Psychology 40:2 (April 1945), 175-186. Debbie Carlson, "The Mattoon Mad Gasser -- Looking Back at a Textbook Case of Mass Hysteria," Belt Magazine, June 4, 2015. Romeo Vitelli, "The Mad Gasser of Mattoon," James Randi Educational Foundation Swift Blog, April 23, 2011. Robert E. Bartholomew, Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics, 2001. Mike Dash, Borderlands, 2000. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Battle of Blair Mountain" (accessed December 2, 2016). Wikipedia, "Shelton Brothers Gang" (accessed December 2, 2016). Wikipedia, "Tulsa race riot" (accessed December 2, 2016). Wikipedia, "The Patty Duke Show" (accessed December 2, 2016). The Dubliners -- The Sick Note: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Vfxuk8x_A The Corries -- The Bricklayer's Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZwGk5xmlq0 This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg, who gathered these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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. Steven Trent Smith, "The Great Libby Prison Breakout," Civil War Times 49:4 (August 2010), 46-53. Michael Morgan, "Breakout From Rat Hell," Civil War Times Illustrated 40:5 (October 2001), 28-37. A.G. Hamilton, "Story of the Famous Tunnel Escape From Libby Prison," 1893. Emeric Szabad, "Diary in Libby Prison," Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country 77:459 (March 1868), 385-406. Frank E. Moran, "Libby Prison's Tunnel," Toledo Blade, Nov. 9, 1882. This diagram accompanied "Colonel Rose's Tunnel at Libby Prison," Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, March 1888: Second feature: "Five Accidents, But Only One Indemnity," American Lawyer, August 1906. This story was a staple of vaudeville, made most famous, I think, by Fred Allen. But Allen was 12 when this version appeared, and 1 when the joke made its debut. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Adam Behring, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 Evans, "Cliff, the Battler's Hero, Refuses to Shuffle Off Into the Sunset," Sydney Morning Herald, June 4, 1988. R. Reed, "Westfield Highway Closed to Cliff: Old Shuffler 'Saved' From Himself," Sunday Herald, March 11, 1990. G. Legg, "Cliff, 70, Has Enough Puff for 170km," Courier-Mail, May 23, 1992. Derek Ballantine, "For Cliff, a Long Road to Nowhere," The Advertiser, April 10, 1993. Alan Rider, "'Where's Cliffy?': In Hobart Run-Walk!," Hobart Mercury, April 20, 1993. Tony Baker, "An Epic of Eccentricity," Hobart Mercury, April 25, 1997. "End of the Road for Cliff," Sydney Morning Herald, Nov. 3, 2003. Graeme Leech, "Shy Runner Shuffled Into a Nation's Heart," The Australian, Nov. 7, 2003. Charles Happell, "A Gumbooted Forrest Gump, Cliff Young Ran His Own Race," The Australian, March 23, 2013. "Running Legend's Cup Will Return to District," Colac Herald, April 17, 2015. Here's Neil Kearney's 1983 documentary Cliffy, made shortly after Young's victory and showing his trademark shuffling gait: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R276S1KMgQ0 Listener mail: "Frenemies — Churchill's Planned 1945 Surprise Attack on the Soviets," Military History Now, Oct. 15, 2012. Wikipedia, "Operational Unthinkable" (accessed Nov. 18, 2016). Historical Board Gaming: Operation Unthinkable Custom Map & Rules. BoardGameGeek: Castle Itter. Digital Capricorn Studios: Castle Itter. National Public Radio, "No, Yes, Definitely: On the Rise of 'No, Totally' as Linguistic Quirk," Morning Edition, April 12, 2015. Kathryn Schulz, "What Part of 'No, Totally' Don't You Understand?", New Yorker, April 7, 2015. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jon Sweitzer-Lamme, who sent this corroborating link (warning: this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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," Skeptical Inquirer 35:1 (January/February 2011). Diego R. Amancio et al., "Probing the Statistical Properties of Unknown Texts: Application to the Voynich Manuscript," PLoS One, July 2, 2013. Andreas Schinner, "The Voynich Manuscript: Evidence of the Hoax Hypothesis," Cryptologia 31:2 (March 2007). Marcelo A. Montemurro and Damián H. Zanette, "Keywords and Co-Occurrence Patterns in the Voynich Manuscript: An Information-Theoretic Analysis," PLoS One, June 21, 2013. Bec Crew, "Researcher Finds Evidence That the 'World's Most Mysterious Book' Is an Elaborate Hoax," Science Alert, Sept. 23, 2016. Melissa Hogenboom, "Mysterious Voynich Manuscript Has 'Genuine Message'," BBC News, June 22, 2013. Reed Johnson, "The Unread: The Mystery of the Voynich Manuscript," New Yorker, July 9, 2013. Rich McCormick, "Decrypting the Most Mysterious Book in the World," The Verge, Feb. 28, 2014. Wikipedia has scans of the entire manuscript, sortable by page, folio, or topic. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Hostage MP" (accessed Nov. 12, 2016). Wikipedia, "State Opening of Parliament" (accessed Nov. 12, 2016). Matt Field, "Queen's Speech: Your Guide to All the Parliamentary Pomp and Pageantry," Guardian, May 27, 2015. "Intertwined Love Story: Twins Who Married Twins," Morning Edition, National Public Radio, May 28, 2010. "Identical Twins Marry, Give Birth to Identical Twins," Telegraph, July 22, 2008. Danielle Centoni, "The Secret Life of Pears (in Brandy)," Oregon Live, September 2011. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jake Koethler. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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. John G. Mayer, "12th Men Free French Big-Wigs," 12th Armored Division Hellcat News, May 26, 1945. Andrew Roberts, "World War II's Strangest Battle: When Americans and Germans Fought Together," Daily Beast, May 12, 2013. Bethany Bell, "The Austrian Castle Where Nazis Lost to German-US Force," BBC News, May 7, 2015. Listener mail: Roadside America, "Omaha, Nebraska: Plaque: Japanese Balloon Bomb Exploded Here." "B-52 Accidentally Bombs Kansas Lake," Aero News Network, Dec. 16, 2006. Bill Kaczor, "Bombs Rained on Florida Family in 1944," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 14, 1994. Wikipedia, "MOVE: 1985 bombing" (accessed Nov. 4, 2016). Wikipedia, "Pavlovsk Experimental Station" (accessed Nov. 4, 2016). Ian Crofton, A Curious History of Food and Drink, 2014. Wikipedia, "1958 Tybee Island Mid-Air Collision" (accessed Nov. 4, 2016). This week's lateral thinking puzzles were adapted from the Soviet popular science magazine Kvant and the 2000 book Lateral Mindtrap Puzzles and contributed by listener Steve Scheuermann. We refer to this image in the second puzzle: 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 the Sea With Oars," New York World, Aug. 2, 1896, 10. "The Fox Arrives at Havre," Daily Telegraph, Aug 7, 1896. "They Rowed to Havre," National Police Gazette, Aug. 22, 1896. "The Following Is Worth Reading," National Police Gazette, Sept. 12, 1896. "Harbo and Samuelson and the Tiny Boat in Which They Rowed Across the Atlantic," New York Herald, March 21, 1897, 2. Andy Philpott and Geoff Leyland, "Rowing to Barbados," OR/MS Today, April 2006. Thao Hua, "Manager Backs Atlantic Crossing," Pensions & Investments 36:12 (June 9, 2008), 8. BBC News, "Artemis Rowing Crew Smashes Transatlantic Record," July 31, 2010. Listener mail: Yuko, Cher Ami, 2016. Leah Tams, "How Did Animals (Even Slugs) Serve in World War I?", National Museum of American History, Nov. 14, 2014. Jessica Talarico, "15 Animals That Went to War," Imperial War Museums (accessed Oct. 22, 2016). History.com, "War Animals From Horses to Glowworms: 7 Incredible Facts," Dec. 22, 2011. Nick Tarver, "World War One: The Circus Animals That Helped Britain," BBC News, Nov. 11, 2013. U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program (accessed Oct. 22, 2016). Mark Strauss, "These Are the Brave and Fluffy Cats Who Served in World War I," io9, Aug. 22, 2014. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tommy Honton, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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," in Brian McHale and Randall Stevenson, eds., The Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century Literatures in English, 2006. The Ern Malley website contains the complete story and poems. In June 2002 Jacket Magazine ran a special "hoax" issue, with much background and commentary on the Malley story. Listener mail: Radiohead's "Nude" played by a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, an Epson LX-81 dot matrix printer, an HP Scanjet 3c, and an array of hard drives. Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" via Super Mario World. "Logická Hádanka" by Horkýže Slíže -- a Slovak punk band sings a lateral thinking puzzle (translation and solution in video description). Guy Clifton and Emerson Marcus, "A Tale of the '70s: When D.B. Cooper's Plane Landed in Reno," Reno Gazette-Journal, July 13, 2016. Ralph P. Himmelsbach and Thomas K. Worcester, Norjak: The Investigation of D.B. Cooper, 1986. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg, who collected these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 Mysteries, 1904. J.A. Cannon, "Campden Wonder," in The Oxford Companion to British History, 2015. Bruce P. Smith, "The History of Wrongful Execution," Hastings Law Journal, June 2005. Frances E. Chapman, "Coerced Internalized False Confessions and Police Interrogations: The Power of Coercion," Law & Psychology Review 37 (2013), 159. Listener mail: Tim Hume, "Vladimir Putin: I Didn't Mean to Scare Angela Merkel With My Dog," CNN, Jan. 12, 2016. Roland Oliphant, "Vladimir Putin Denies Setting His Dog on Angela Merkel," Telegraph, Jan. 12, 2016. Stefan Kornelius, "Six Things You Didn't Know About Angela Merkel," Guardian, Sept. 10, 2013. Wikipedia, "Spall" (retrieved Oct. 7, 2016). Associated Press, "Boise City to Celebrate 1943 Bombing Misguided B-17 Crew Sought," Nov. 21, 1990. Owlcation, "The WWII Bombing of Boise City in Oklahoma," May 9, 2016. "World War II Air Force Bombers Blast Boise City," Boise City News, July 5, 1943. "County Gets Second Air Bombardment," Boise City News, April 5, 1945. Antony Beevor, D-Day, 2009. This week's lateral thinking puzzle is from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 2014 book Remarkable Lateral Thinking Puzzles. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 the Books 45 Years After Skyjacking Mystery," CNN, July 14, 2016. Christine Hauser, "Where Is D.B. Cooper? F.B.I. Ends 45-Year Hunt," New York Times, July 13, 2016. FBI, "D.B. Cooper Hijacking" (retrieved Sept. 18, 2016). FBI, "Update on Investigation of 1971 Hijacking by D.B. Cooper" (retrieved Sept. 18, 2016). David A. Graham and Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, "D.B. Cooper's Final Escape," Atlantic, July 12, 2016. Peter Holley, "The D.B. Cooper Case Has Baffled the FBI for 45 Years. Now It May Never Be Solved," Washington Post, July 12, 2016. Listener mail: Listener Mike Burns sent these photos from the Museum of World War II in Natick, Mass.: A coal torpedo with instructions. Playing cards concealing maps. A baby carriage rigged by the French Resistance to conceal sabotage equipment and a radio. Brian Dewan's song "The Cowboy Outlaw," about Elmer McCurdy. MrSolidSnake745's Musical Floppy Drives on Facebook. Star Wars' "Imperial March" on eight floppy drives. "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from Grieg's Peer Gynt, by Sammy1Am. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Philip Ogren. 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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, Oct. 27, 2012. John Kelly, "Inside the Tunnels of Washington's Mole Man, Harrison G. Dyar," Washington Post, Nov. 3, 2012. John Kelly, "A Final Look at D.C.'s Tunnel-Digging Bug Man," Washington Post, Nov. 7, 2012. Associated Press, "Secret Tunnels Shrouded in Mystery," Oct. 21, 1992. United Press, "Scientist Admits He Dug Tunnels That Caused Furore," Sept. 28, 1924. Modern Mechanics published this diagram of Dyar's B Street catacomb in its August 1932 issue. The inset photo at top left corresponds to the 32-foot shaft at right, which was lined in concrete and fitted with iron pipes to serve as ladder rungs. Two more shafts (partially obscured) can be seen to the left. The inset photo at bottom shows the inscription H.G. DYAR FEB 14 1923 on an archway near the cellar entrance. That date was Dyar's 57th birthday. Listener mail: David Hambling, "How 100,000 Weather Balloons Became Britain's Secret Weapon," Guardian, Sept. 15, 2016. Wikipedia, "Operation Outward" (accessed Sept. 24, 2016). Wanderlust has a short video about the operation. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Sharon, who offers these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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, March 28, 2007. David Sapsted, "Private Wojtek the 'Hero Bear' to be Honoured in Edinburgh," Abu Dhabi National, Jan. 7, 2012. David McCann, "Soldier Bear Wojtek to Be Given Statue in Edinburgh," Berwickshire Advertiser, Dec. 28, 2012. "Krakow Votes for WWII Soldier Bear Statue," Radio Poland, April 26, 2013. David McCann, "Prince Street Gardens Statue of Polish Army Bear," Scotsman, May 29, 2013. Alistair Grant, "Polish War Hero Bear Wojtek to Appear on Bus," Edinburgh Evening News, Nov. 11, 2014. Wojtek's unit, the 22nd Artillery Support Company of the 2nd Polish Corps, adopted this design as its emblem. In Wojtek the Bear, Aileen Orr writes, "It was very much 22nd Company's trademark; the bear logo even appeared on regimental equipment. Within weeks of its being created and approved, shortly after the Battle of Monte Cassino, the Wojtek military logo was everywhere. The bear had pretty much become a legend in his own not inconsiderable lunchtime as curious Allied soldiers from other regiments inquired about the badge's significance." Listener mail: Some recent photos of Agafia Lykov can be seen on this Facebook page. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was composed by Greg, who gathered these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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-Hansen, "Plant Breeding on the Front: Imperialism, War, and Exploitation," Osiris 20 (2005), 161-179. Peter Pringle, The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov, 2008. Boyce Rensberger, "Soviet Botanists Starved, Saving Seeds for Future," Washington Post, May 12, 1992. Michael Woods, "Soviet Union's Fall Threatens 'Gene Bank' for Food Crops," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 26, 1993. Joel I. Cohen and Igor G. Loskutov, "Exploring the Nature of Science Through Courage and Purpose," SpringerPlus 5:1159 (2016). Listener mail: Peter Nichols, A Voyage for Madmen, 2001. Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall, The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, 1970. Ed Caesar, "Drama on the Waves: The Life and Death of Donald Crowhurst," Independent, Oct. 27, 2006. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tommy Honton, who cites this source (warning: this link spoils the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 left is the site of the former Mayfield Cottages, where the murder took place. At center is the home of naturalist Sir David Attenborough. At right is the site of the former Hole in the Wall pub. Thomas' skull was discovered in 2010 at the site of the pub's stables. Listener mail: GitHub, "System Bus Radio" (retrieved Sept. 2, 2016). Catalin Cimpanu, "Emitting Radio Waves From a Computer with No Radio-Transmitting Hardware," Softpedia, March 2, 2016. A 40-second rendition of the discarded Mary Poppins song "Admiral Boom." Wikipedia, "Mary Poppins (film)" (retrieved Sept. 2, 2016). This week's lateral thinking puzzles were contributed by listeners Matt Sargent and Jacob Bandes-Storch. 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 pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 with an air of sedate enjoyment." Sources for our feature on the Lykov family: Vasily Peskov, Lost in the Taiga, 1994. Mike Dash, "For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II," Smithsonian, Jan. 28, 2013. Russia Today, "From Taiga to Kremlin: A Hermit's Gifts for Medvedev," Feb. 24, 2010. Alexis Sostre, "Siberia: Woman Who Lived Her Entire Life in Wilderness Airlifted to Hospital," Sostre News, Jan. 16, 2016. Listener mail: The original article on the 1938 San Cristobál prison break, by Jose Antonio del Barrio, in Esperanto. An article (in Spanish) about the escape on del Barrio's blog. A description (in Spanish) of conditions in San Cristobál, by one of the successful escapees. A description (in Spanish) of the escape plot, from research carried out by Fermín Ezkieta. A documentary film (in Spanish) about the escape. A study (in Esperanto) on the role of Esperanto in the working-class culture in Spain. Del Barrio's presentation (in Esperanto) on the use of Esperanto by socialists in the Basque region. A presentation (in Esperanto) by Ulrich Lins and del Barrio on the use of Esperanto during the Spanish Civil War. Lins is the German author of "La Dangera Lingvo," on the persecutions suffered by esperantists. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Sharon, who collected these corroborating links (warning: these spoil the puzzle). 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 pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 West Desperado," Dec. 10, 1976. Associated Press, "Died With His Boots On," Dec. 11, 1976. Associated Press, "Wax Figure Maybe No Dummy, May Be Old Outlaw's Mummy," Dec. 12, 1976. Associated Press, "Elmer McCurdy Goes Home to Boot Hill," April 23, 1977. Listener mail: Alexander Dumbadze, Bas Jan Ader: Death Is Elsewhere, 2013. Jan Verwoert, Bas Jan Ader: In Search of the Miraculous, 2006. Brad Spence, "The Case of Bas Jan Ader," www.basjanader.com (accessed 08/18/2016) (PDF). Rachel Kent, "Pun to Paradox: Bas Jan Ader Revisited," Parkett 75 (2005), 177-181. Wikipedia, "Bas Jan Ader" (accessed 08/18/2016). Richard Dorment, "The Artist Who Sailed to Oblivion," Telegraph, May 9, 2006. (We had referred to a collection of Ader's silent films on YouTube. Unfortunately, this has been pulled by Ader's estate.) This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Steven Jones. 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 pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 life after the war. It includes many letters and postcards, including some hinting at his efforts toward an escape. S.P. MacKenzie, "The Ethics of Escape: British Officer POWs in the First World War," War in History 15:1 (January 2008), 1-16. "A Note for Spiritualists," The Field, March 27, 1920, 457. "Jones, Elias Henry," Dictionary of Welsh Biography (accessed 07/30/2016). "En-dor," in Rudyard Kipling's Verse, 1919. Listener mail: Associated Press, "Japanese Submarine Attack in California Unnerved U.S.," Feb. 23, 1992. William Scheck, "Japanese Submarine Commander Kozo Nishino Gained Personal Satisfaction From Shelling the California Coast," World War II 13:2 (July 1998), 16. Wikipedia, "Bombardment of Ellwood" (accessed Aug. 12, 2016). California Military Museum, "The Shelling of Ellwood" (accessed Aug. 12, 2016). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was adapted from Paul Sloane and Des MacHale's 1998 book Ingenious Lateral Thinking Puzzles. 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 pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

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 very tolerant of her and they got on very well." But this quote is given in the service of promoting a film about the affair, which makes it less objective than I'd like. (Paul Tritton of the Rolls-Royce Owners' Club of Australia disputes the story here.) Alexandre Dumas' habit of eating an apple every morning beneath the Arc de Triomphe is described in this New York Times article, among many other modern sources. The earliest mention I can find is a 1911 article in the Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette, attributing the intervention to Hungarian physician David Gruby. I've confirmed that Gruby served as a physician to Dumas (père et fils), but I can't find anything about an apple. The incidents of the Savoy Hotel cloakroom and the Travellers Club suicide are both described in N.T.P. Murphy's A Wodehouse Handbook (2013). The suicide rule is mentioned at the end of this Telegraph article, which gives me hope that it's true, but I can't find anything more comprehensive. The story of the Providence United Methodist Church is told in both Randy Cerveny's Freaks of the Storm (2005) and Rick Schwartz's Hurricanes and the Middle Atlantic States (2007). Snopes says it's "mostly true." In Constable's Clouds, published by the National Galleries of Scotland 2000, Edward Morris writes, "It is this moment of early morning light -- and what has been described as 'the atmosphere of stillness tinged with expectancy' -- that Constable translates into the finished canvas." Judith Collins mentions Joseph Beuys' responsibility for snow in her introduction to Andy Goldsworthy's Midsummer Snowballs (2001). Reader Olga Izakson found the description of Tiras, Otto von Bismarck's "dog of the empire," in Robert K. Massie's Dreadnought (1991). A few further links. The role of Esperanto in the planning of the 1938 San Cristobál prison break is described (I think) here. In 1600 William Kemp published a pamphlet chronicling his 1599 morris dance to Norwich, Kemps Nine Daies Wonder, to quiet doubters. The allegation that Margaret Thatcher ordered the identities of British government employees to be encoded in the word spacing of their documents appears in Gregory Kipper's Investigator's Guide to Steganography (2003). I've found it in other technical documents, but these tend to cite one another rather than an authoritative source. Listener mail: Madison Kahn, "60 Hours of Hell: The Story of the Barkley Marathons," Outside, May 8, 2013. Wikipedia, "Barkley Marathons" (accessed Aug. 6, 2016). Wikipedia, "Kaihogyo," (accessed Aug. 6, 2016). Adharanand Finn, "What I Learned When I Met the Monk Who Ran 1,000 Marathons," Guardian, March 31, 2015. Associated Press, "Japanese Monks Endure With a Vow of Patience," June 10, 2007. Here's a corroborating link for this week's lateral thinking puzzle (warning: spoiler). 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 pledge any amount per episode, and all contributions are greatly appreciated. You can change or cancel your pledge at any time, 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 [email protected]. Thanks for listening!