Welcomed. Erin men, keys cabinet of curiosity is a production. If I hurt radio and grim and mild our world is full of the unexplainable and of history is an open book. All of these amazing tales are right there on display. Just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the cabinet of curiosities, the greatest minds and talents in history all had to start somewhere. Albert einstein worked as Hatton clerk fashion. Designer ralph lorens joined the army as a young man before working as a salesman for the Brooks brothers clothing store, but dude you Mc Williams, may have had the strangest start of all. My colleagues was born in Pasadena California, in nineteen twelve, her father was a successful

such use, its politician and her mother, the heiress to a paper company mc Williams, grew into quite the accomplish teen per one. She was tall for her each standing over her high school classmates at a whopping six feet, two inches her height, helped on the basketball court as well after graduating high school. She attended college where she continued her ass, letting trajectory until she took a job in new york working at an advertising firm, copywriter, but her life in the big city eventually ended. As the war effort came, calling Mcwilliams enlisted in nineteen forty two to serve her country. Unfortunately the terry, deemed her too tall for service. However, she was able to secure a spot with the office of strategic services or o s s where she served as a research assistant chief. most of our time typing up little white cards with the names and addresses of government operatives. It wasn't glamorous, but it did put her on the radar of o s top brass,

before long. They moved her from behind a desk to behind a lab table. You see the o s. S had a problem when they believe that Mc Williams might be able to help them solve. There was work being done in the o s s, emergency sea, rescue equipment, section on stopping sharks. They didn't want to kill any sharks, but the curious creatures had a troublesome habit of accidently setting off underwater minds that were meant for germ you boats, there had also been several reports of shark attacks over the previous three years, inciting fear among many sea bound soldiers, the less s task test, captain Harold J coolidge with developing a shark repellent to keep them away from the mines and the men coolidge had come from the harvard museum of comparative zoology

and his partner doktor Henry field was brought in from a natural history. Museum in Chicago macleans was assigned to coolidge as an assistant together with field and chemical technician, Stuart springer. The team ran a battery of tests on various substances to see how well they kept sharks away and their test. Subject: a small shark call these spiny dogfish they put dead shark meat

its nicotine pine oils and about a hundred other chemicals in the water before settling on a combination of copper, sulphate, copper acetate, mailing acid and dead shark extract. The spiny dogfish found the mixture repulsive and stayed away about. Sixty percent of the time nucleus was awarded for her work with the west and even met her future husband Paul while working there. In fact, it was Paul who helped her fine, her footing after the war to he had lived in france when he was younger and had developed a taste for fine food. After joining the EU s foreign service in nineteen, forty eight, he and jude you move to the city of lights, where she experienced one of the most credible and important meals of her life. It was at a restaurant cobb, la carogne in the city of ruin, Mc Williams had enjoyed oysters, fell buy a main course of solomon year. A french fish dish often prepared with a savory brown butter sauce. She described the experience as an opening up of the soul.

and spirit, and inspired her to enroll in french, culinary school from which she graduated in nineteen. Fifty one mc Williams eventually met to other chefs simone back and the that brutally who have been working together on a cookbook, a french cuisine back suggested. Mc Williams join them as a third author. Can and she was an american who had developed the love for french cooking. Her insight might help the book reach an american audience as well. The publisher originally turn the book down claiming it was too long and boring to be of interest to anyone, but the three women persevered and in nineteen sixty one, their seven hundred page love letter to french cooking was published to great acclaim. Claim mccoy herself went out to become a successful newspaper columnist and cookbook author, as well as the host of a very either cooking show on public television, and none of it would have happened without two major events in her life or work with the o assess on shark repellents and meeting her husband, Paul cushing, child

The world at large, never knew Williams. Juju had been childhood, nickname of hers. Instead, they fell in love with Julia Carolyn, Mc Williams, better known to aspiring chefs everywhere, as juliet I'll, be in eighteen, twenty, five, a deadly outbreak of dip theory. I hit the residents of no mollusca, it's a highly contagious bacterial infection, with a mortality rate of ten percent and twenty percent for children untreated and without vaccinations. The death

rate jumps even higher. It's rare in developed countries due to vaccination, but in the early nineteen hundreds nomes loan doctored noticed day one hundred percent mortality rate among children, even with treatment. It was often fatal in young children to save them. He needed a special serum one that he didn't have alaska is now. for some unforgiving wilderness. In that january, winter prevented getting the life saving serum to the town. Thick ice prevented ships from making passage to a nearby harbor alaskan winds and subzero temperatures rendered planes useless. Neither plain nor pilot would survive the trip, even if the handful of planes weren't in storage, too far away to even consider the dangerous attempt without treating the

well the entire town was in peril. Children were the most vulnerable and every day, more fell ill, wheezing and gasping for breath. Despite his best efforts, all the doctor could do was watch them die at an alarming rate. The bacteria produced a deadly toxin that built up in the bloodstream, causing organ failure. He ordered a quarantine, he knew that was just borrowed time. Without the serum, the children of nome would die so telegraphs flew and anchorage They had the life saving serum, although the closest they could ship. The precious cargo was by rail re to Nana there is only one thing left to do: use the winter time: male carriers. No, these warrant special vehicles equipped for snow. These were sled dogs. There was a problem, though the dogs, used for short distances. Humans and animals would have to travel seven hundred miles in a particularly harsh winter, with little to no protection from the elements, much less defend themselves against dangerous wildlife and with new cases

syria appearing daily. They were up against the clock, still running the dogs too hard and fast would frost their lungs effectively, killing them the conditions that winter were terrible even for alaska. Each team that had the serum would face similar conditions for their thirty mile run. Pushing harder would put the team at risk. The governor put out request for volunteers. They need the bravest of men and the heartiest of dogs. He didn't sugarcoat it either they travel across frozen lakes with ice that may not hold their weight, navigate through dense forests and travel in near white out conditions across the tundra in January

It wouldn't be a lot of daylight either. Most of the teams will be running in the dark. A ragged crew of locals stepped up to the challenge, mostly f a basket and into it who are familiar with the terrain short honour, not fallen tears. They would have to travel farther than others and as if they needed one more thing to worry about, the serum would be rendered useless if it reached below freezing temperatures. The first team left at night on january, twenty seventh, making the first leg of the journey and sixty below weather and travelling fifty two miles to save his dogs from the strain. The mushroom frequently ran beside them when he finally met up with the next time he had suffered from hypothermia.

May I end frostbite, alas, team encountered white out conditions, snow crusted, the dogs fur, as they ran against strong winds and eighty miles per hour, gust hit the team flipping the sled, the cargo and the dogs upside down and the snow in an instant mushroom, gunnar caisson, dover into the snow after the serum, but he couldn't find it with his mits on. After digging with his bare hands, he scooped up the fur covered package. Then he righted the sled input down to the meeting point for the next team, but his relief team never showed up. He had to ask his tire dogs to make the next leg of the journey billy at five. Thirty in the morning on February, second caissons lead dog, balto barked, as they stopped in front of the doctor's office. The serum, safe and sound man's best friend had saved the town. Forty years later in nineteen, seventy three the race became immortalized. In another way, the I did a rod, sled race, as you might have already guessed

it's run every year in march, not january, though oh and one last thing, the governor who put out the call The bravest of men in the heartiest of dogs, his name, was scott c bone. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the cabinet of curiosities subscribe free on apple podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting curiosities, podcast dot com. The show was created by me aaron monkey in partnership with how stuff works I make another award winning show called lore, which is a podcast book series and tells vision, show and you can learn all about it over at the world of lore dot com and until next time, stay curious.