Battle of the Ages

can you know fun? But in between bites of corn dogs and slurps of lemonade are rides that are meant to thrill and excite you. But several parks haven't always been so amusing. In fact, at one time they were pretty problematic because of the attractions or the food, but because of how they came to be. Before Six Flags, Dorney Park and Dollywood, there was Coney Island. Do a quick search online and you'll likely find early footage from

any of Coney Island's famous parks. You'll see women in long dresses and men in suits, riding on a scenic railway or holding on for dear life. As the famous Cyclone roller coaster shakes its wooden frame. But long before Coney Island was known as a place for families to spend the day riding rides and playing games, it was known by one unfortunate name, Sodom by the Sea. Let's back up for a moment. Coney Island is located in southwestern Brooklyn and became a prime vacation spot starting in

the eighteen thirties. It was far enough away from Manhattan and the other boroughs that many New Yorkers would flock to its beaches for a quick getaway. The next several decades were full of growth and development, with the installation of a ferry as well as several hotels and restaurants. Then, in eighteen ninety seven, New York businessman George till You built Steeplechase Park, complete with a ferris wheel, a wild

west side show, and various slide based rides. It was enticing to locals who were looking for a cheap way to pass the afternoon, but till You's greed and desire for growth wound up costing him dearly. You see, he had secured the rights to another ride built by two entrepreneurs for his park, but they didn't just want to

license their creation. They saw what till You had built and decided to go into business as direct competitors to Steeplechase, and so Fred Thompson and Skip Dundee started working on the now famous Luna Park. But neither amusement park was attracting posh elite clients. Coney Island became a haven for the lower and middle classes who couldn't afford the whole summer in Spain or winter in Paris, and because of its close proximity to the rest of New York, its

sandy beaches and ample boardwalk became crammed with vacationers. During the busiest seasons, music from buskers and bands filled the air, as fortune tellers and other con artists lured unsuspecting visitors into their shops, promising them a glimpse of their future for a nominal fee. Of course, in fact, it bore more of a resemblance to Pleasure Island in Pinocchio than

Las Vegas. As one writer described it in a nineteen oh five issue of the Cosmopolitan magazine, Coney Island exists, he wrote, and will go on existing because into all men, gentle and simple, poor and rich, including women, by some mysterious corybantic instinct in their blood has been born a tragic need of coarse excitement, a craving to be taken in by some illusion. However palpable, and that course excitement

took form in a number of questionable ways. For example, Thompson and Dundee brought in an elephant named Topsy to keep visitors entertained while Luna Park was being built. But after a short time, Topsy's maintenance and behavior, because after all, she was a wild animal, had them rethinking their purchase. Rather than sell her off to a zoo or a circus, though, they decided to give the people one last show. They electrocuted her to death, and the whole thing was recorded

on film. The pair also staged displays of indigenous peoples from the Philippines, portraying them as and I quote, uncivilized savages to enthrall their white patrons. Of course, as the years passed by, others like William Reynolds, erected their own competing parks with bright, flashy attractions, but in the end only two parks stood the test of time. Luna Park and Dino's Wonder Wheel amusement Park, which opened in nineteen twenty. Its famous Wonder Wheel ferris wheel has become as iconic

as the Coney Island Cyclone coaster. During the nineteen seventies and for the next three decades after that, Coney Island went through a number of ups and downs, with several parks and rides falling into disrepair. But today the former Sodom by the Sea is refreshed and revitalized, and it welcomes more than five million visitors per year from all over the country. It's fun for the whole family, and no elephants have been harmed on the property and at

least a century. In nineteen eighty six, Roy Duncan decided it was finally time to get to the bottom of a local rumor. Roy lived on one of the Isles of Silly, a tiny archipelago just off the coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. For generations, Siloians had claimed their tiny islands had been at war with the Netherlands. If there was a war, Roy thought it certainly was an odd one. He couldn't remember ever seeing a Dutch army or warship, and neither could his father or grandfather.

There was no battle, no treaties, not even a skirmish as far as he could tell. So Roy wrote to the Dutch embassy in London to get to the bottom of the mystery. The embassy's answer was surprising. According to their records, the Netherlands had in fact declared war on the Isles of Silly in sixteen fifty one, and as far as they could tell, no peace treaty was ever signed. So technically, the Dutch and the Selonians had been fighting

for three hundred and thirty five years. So how exactly did a tiny little archipelago full of fishermen become embroiled in the longest war in history. Well you can blame Oliver Cromwell for that. Back in sixteen fifty one, England

was in the grip of a bloody civil war. Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell, wanted to limit the powers of the English monarchy and give most of England's legislative power to a constitutional parliament, thus the name Parliamentarians and their opponents, the Royalists, wanted the English king to have absolute power. Cromwell's parliamentarians had swept over the country, pushing the Royalists back to the furthest point south in England, the tiny

Isles of Scilly. The entire Royalist navy was docked at the isles, waiting for Cromwell to launch his final attack. At the same time, the Dutch were fighting their own war to gain independence from Spain. Early in the con inflict, England helped the Dutch allies, so when the Netherlands were finally free of Spanish rule, they wanted to return the favor. Since England was so divided, the Dutch were forced to pick aside, and seeing the riding on the wall for

the Royalists, the Dutch backed Cromwell and his parliamentarians. Now the Royalists, who were docked at the Isles of Silly, considered this a stab in the back. In retaliation, they raided Dutch merchants in the English Channel, seizing their ships and cargo for the Royalist cause. Well. On March thirtieth of sixteen fifty one, a Dutch lieutenant admiral named Martine Tromp demanded the Royalists pay the Dutch for what they

had stolen. When the Royalists refused, Tromp declared war on the only Royalist held land in England, the Isles of Scilly. In retrospect, it's actually not certain that Trump had the authority to declare war for an entire country. At the most Dutch leadership probably expected him to establish a blockade. It's also pretty unclear if even if Tromp could declare war, could he declare it on just one small part art

of another nation. Regardless, the declaration stood, and when the Royalists finally surrendered to Cromwell three months later in June of sixteen fifty one, the Dutch sailed home without ever officially ending the war. For years, it became something of a local legend until Roy Duncan received the Fateful Letter from the Dutch embassy in nineteen eighty six. Wishing to bury the hatchets, Roy invited the Dutch ambassador to the

Isles of Silly to end the conflict. On April seventeenth of nineteen eighty six, the Dutch ambassador arrived at the Isles of Silly. He brought with him a signed peace treaty declaring that after three hundred and thirty five years, the war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Silly was officially over all without firing a single shot. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about

the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. This show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with Howstuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.