Big Winner

can lead to big ratings and big money. Ken Jenning's famously one seventy four games of Jeopardy, earning a total of four point three million dollars. This led to Jenning's becoming an author, a magazine columnist, and even a temporary host of Jeopardy itself. Perform well on a game show and a lot can change quickly, but one woman's appearance on a popular program in the nineteen fifties did more than make her famous. It made her a household name

for generations to come. Joyce Bauer was born in Brooklyn, New York in n but raised in Queens. Her parents were lawyers who ran their own practices and demanded greatness from their children, boy or girl. The expectations were clear, do well in your studies if you want to do well in life. As a result, Joyce spent a lot of her time with her nose in a book. After graduating high school, she enrolled at Cornell University, where she

majored in both home economics and psychology. Her efforts earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors, after which she attended Columbia University to get her masters and then a pH d in psychology. Joyce never stopped learning, nor did she ever grow complacent. Her studies led to several jobs over the years, including one as a research assistant at Lumbia, followed by a research fellowship at the United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization otherwise known as UNESCO. However, her big break, so to speak, came in nineteen fifty. Joyce, then twenty years old and married with a child, was cast on a hot new game show called The sixty four thousand Dollar Question. She had written a letter to the producers all about herself, describing what she liked to do for fun and how she planned on using the

money if she actually won. Her main goal was to get her and her family out of their current living situation, which was not only unsafe, but also unaffordable even on two salaries, and unfortunately, competing on a game show seemed like the only way to accomplish this. Producer Mert Copland saw something in her and brought her in for an interview. The sixty four thousand Dollar Question was a pretty straightforward quiz show where contestants chose a category on any topic

from a large board. As they answered questions about that subject, they earned money. With each correct answer, the amounts doubled, so the first question was worth sixty four dollars, the second one, and so on until the final question was worth sixty four thousand, oh and The five hundred and twelve dollar question was at checkpoints, and if answered correctly, was the least a person could win if they answered

any of the subsequent questions incorrectly. Things got progressively difficult as the game went on, and the contestant had the choice to walk away at any time with whatever they'd already earned, but getting an answer wrong meant walking away with nothing or at the least five hundred and twelve dollars. Mert Copland, however, set some pretty strict rules for Joyce. She could not answer any questions on topics she knew

through her education or profession. Copland figured he could earn higher ratings by pushing Joyce toward a subject more often associated with men at the time, like sports. Little did he know she had an ace up her sleeve. Joyce had an idetic memory, often called a photographic memory. She chose boxing as her favorite topic, a favorite sport of her husband's, and went home to study. She read every boxing related book and magazine she could get her hands on.

She also had help from a top boxing writer as well as former Olympic champion Edward P. F Egan. With all that expertise under her belt, Joyce could have earned a third major in boxing history. When it finally came time to compete, she had no problem keeping up with the questions. Her real challenge came from the show's sponsor, Revlon. The founder Charles Revson demanded she put on makeup before each show. Joyce refused, so Revson made its mission to

get her booted from the show. He had the producer's right questions that were so difficult even the most ardent boxing fans would have trouble answering them. They also had sportswriters sending questions that nobody would have the answers to. Things got so esoteric the host started asking Joyce about referees instead of boxers. To their surprise, she got every question right. There wasn't anything they could ask her that she didn't already know. The final question, the one worth

sixty four thousand dollars, was comprised of sixteen parts. The last episode of her run was so long it ate into the next show on the schedule, but the extra time was worth it because Joyce won it all, every last penny. She was told she'd get her money after a couple of weeks. Apparently the network CBS didn't have it available. Nobody had expected her to win. Eventually, though, Joyce got all the money she'd earned, and she spent some of it on a new dishwasher for herself and

her extended family. She also managed to elevate herself out of poverty. Winning the sixty four thousand dollar Question had kicked off a lifelong career in the public eye, with a monthly column in Good Housekeeping magazine, several television shows, numerous talk show appearances and a few game show runs over the years, but she didn't go by Joyce Bauer.

The woman who had won sixty four thousand dollars on a game show and went on to change the face of modern psychology was known by her married name instead, Dr Joyce Brothers. San Juan Island is small, just nineteen miles long by seven miles wide, and despite its name, it is nowhere near San Juan, Puerto Rico. No. This little island sits off the Washington State coastline in the

Pacific Ocean. Tourists arrived there by ferry to take in the island's wind sweat beaches, iconic lighthouses, and gorgeous rock outcroppings. Much of the island is farmland, and visitors can see large herds of alpacas. There's plenty of hiking and picnic areas. The marina is a perfect place to rent a kayak, by seafood or take a whale watching tour. There are also two camps on the island, the American Camp and

the English Camp. Tour guides at each tell tourists about the conflict between the two countries from eighteen fifty nine to eighteen seventy two, but even before then, the island and surrounding areas were rather contentious. It all started when Britain, Russia, Spain, and the United States all sent explorers to chart the coastline of what was once called the Oregon Territory that stretched from the southern border of Alaska down to California

and eastward to the Rocky Mountains. Each country believed that they discovered the territory and that it now belonged to them. None of the countries asked what the indigenous people living there thought of this arrangement, though, and discounted them as having no say in the matter. Russia and Spain eventually backed off any claim to the land. In eighteen forty six, the Treaty of Oregon cut the territory into two parts

with a distinctive line the US and Canadian border. That solved the mainland problem, but it didn't take into account the channels and the islands. When farmers from both countries began to settle closer to the coastline, Britain made a bold move to keep San Juan Island under British rule. Controlling the island meant controlling the strait. All the natural resources and the local political power. The Britains sent in units. Naturally,

the Americans noticed. They promptly presented the British with a large tax bill. When the bill went unpaid, soldiers planted an American flag in the area, but the units stayed. Both sides brought in more units. Lyman Cutler oversaw the American line and Charles Griffin brought in the British, and while they mostly got along in a live and let live situation, there was a thief in their midst He ventured from the British line over into the American camp

and stole some tubers. Having gotten away with it, he did it several more times before Lyman Cutler shot and killed him. Matters after that escalated quickly. It became a shouting match. Griffin threatened to have the Americans removed. Cutler said that was rich, considering the island was American territory. Word got back to General William Harney, in charge of the U. S Military forces. He dispatched sixty six men by Captain George Pickett to settle on the island. Two

days later, the British sent three warships. Harney sent more American troops to the island. Back and forth. The escalation went until there were two thousand British sailors and hundreds of American troops squaring off. Seeing that they were headed for war, leaders from both sides agreed to reduce forces by late fall. By March, both agreed to keep a camp on opposite ends of the island for twelve more years. Neither side was willing to give up their claim to

the island. Finally, they decided to let a neutral commission decide. After both presented their case, the commissioner decided in favor of the Americans. After all those years, the conflict was officially over and named for one of the casualties that started it. That's right, the Pig War was started over a pig, one of thirteen hundred units of livestock the British used to try and establish claim over the territory.

In the end, I guess it could be said that both sides had been a little pig headed, requiring higher powers to step in and stop everyone from going hog wild. 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. The show was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership

with how Stuff 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 World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Ye