Futility Closet

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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 C…

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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!