Child's Play

coming to life. The Twilight Zones, Talking Tina bart Simpson's sentient Krusty, the clown doll on a Halloween episode of The Simpsons, and perhaps the most famous of all, the Murderous Chucky from the popular child's play film franchise, all of which have haunted the nightmares of children and adults alike. But where did our fear of evil dolls come from?

Is it the cold black void of their unblinking eyes, the rigid movements of their arms and legs, or could it be the tinny robotic voices emanating from deep inside their chests? Thanks to Thomas Edison, it was all three. Back in nine, Edison saw how technology was changing In fact, he was responsible for a lot of those changes, and he believed that there was no better place to explore

its benefits than within the home. He had already made history with the phonograph twelve years earlier, but its lack of success in the market had led him to abandon the project. Other inventors stepped into advance what Edison had begun, specifically by replacing his tinfoil wrap cylinder with one made entirely of wax. The breakthrough was achieved by Alexander Graham Bell,

his cousin Chichester Bell, and frequent collaborator Charles Tainter. Edison recognized the benefits of using wax instead of foil and debuted his up aided phonograph, produced by his Edison Phonograph Company. That company was eventually bought by a man named Jeff Slippingcott, who saw phonographs as perfect for the business world, specifically for dictation purposes. Edison, however, believed the device's future was within the average American home, and he wanted to demonstrate

that belief in a profoundly bold way. He got to work in his New Jersey lab on a new product, one that would be made for children, not adults. It was a doll measuring twenty two inches tall and fitted with four wooden limbs. It's porcelain head boasted a long mane of hair, and its metal torso held a tiny phonograph inside, the sound cone of which pointed out toward the holes in the doll's chest, so kids could hear

twenty second long nursery rhymes and songs. All they had to do is turn the crank on the back of the doll a few times, and suddenly they'd hear Jack and Jill or Mary had a little lamb pumping out from the minuscule wax disc inside. At least that's what they expected to hear. Unfortunately, the dolls were often returned due to the wax records being broken or the sound

quality being dismal. It was believed that a few of the women working in Edison's factory had recorded the sound bites, which came out distorted and incomprehensible when replayed via the miniscule phonograph, especially after repeated use. Although Edison had expected these dolls to wind up in the arms of all kinds of children, their price tags made them affordable only to the wealthiest ones whose parents could actually afford them. A doll without clothes sold for ten dollars back then,

while a fully clothed version sold for twenty. If they were on store shelves today, those prices would be two hundred dollars and five dollars, respectively. Worse yet, the dolls were heavy, weighing four pounds apiece, and customers often demanded better quality in terms of sound and manufacturing, especially given their cost. Edison, when asked about them, often referred to them as his little monsters. They were more trouble than they were word, and after only one month in production,

he shut the whole operation down. Edison was believed to have made over dollars, only selling five hundred or so during those turbulent weeks on the market. He had also planned on building a second version with better internals and clearer sound, but there was no way to get the cost down. Combined with the mountain of debt crushing the company, any chances for a talking doll two points Oh, we're

dashed pretty quickly. Today, Edison's talking to toys are considered one forgotten loss among many of the famous inventor, and by today's standards they're charming glimpses into how technology has advanced at the turn of the century. Just make sure you admire them with the lights on. Famous people aren't just fascinating while they're alive. They also keep us asking

questions long after they're gone. When Albert Einstein died in nineteen fifty five, pathologist Thomas Harvey conducted an autopsy on his body and removed the physicist's brain. Then he took it to the University of Pennsylvania to be studied. It was dissected and pieces were handed off to other experts for further examination. In the end, a large portion of Einstein's brain was preserved by Harvey, while much of it was cut into small pieces and put on display in

museums and laboratories later on. His wasn't the only body part save for posterity, either. Visitors to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland, can see fragments of President Lincoln's skull alongside the bullet that killed him. Truth be told. The preservation of body parts belonging to historical figures is fairly common, and it's been going on for a long time. Way back in sixteen ten, astronomer Galileo Galilei was attacked by the Roman Catholic Church for

his belief in helio said trism. By claiming that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way around, Galileo went against the commonly held belief that the Earth was the center of the universe. An inquisition was formed and he was accused of contradicting the Church. The deck was stacked against him as experts of his day, also known as qualifiers, concluded that the astronomer was wrong in his assessment. Holy scripture dictated that the Earth stood still

while other planets moved around it. Galileo was ordered to stop discussing heliocentrism going forward, and it was not to be taught or written about unless he wanted to receive further punishment, and he agreed, although he didn't stay silent for long. He published a book soon after which featured a dialogue between a scientist, a philosopher, and a scholar where the concept of heliocentrism came up more than once.

Its conclusions were a clear shot across the bow of the Church, and Galileo was brought before the court once more to defend himself. He was found guilty of heresy and sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest, which is how he spent the rest of his days. It wasn't all bad. He welcomed guests to his home, and he continued to write, publishing books that eventually found their way into the hands of great thinkers like Albert Einstein. Then, in sixteen forty two, Galileo died of heart failure, and

the world lost one of its stars. Now he was originally meant to be buried alongside his father in the main body of Italy's Basilica of Santa Croce. Instead, the pope had his body placed in a small, unmarked grave, continuing his punishment, and it would reside there in obscurity for almost a hundred years. Attitudes changed in seventeen thirty seven, though, by which time Galileo's actions didn't seem so sacrilegious anymore. So a monumental tomb was erected in the Basilica in

his honor. His remains were exhumed and placed within the new tomb, giving the disgrace scientists both the respect and the peace he had deserved all along. However, during the move three of His fingers as well as a tooth, were all taken off his corpse, not theft, but an act of admiration by men who saw Galileo as a saint despite the Church's views. The fingers and tooth found

their way to numerous owners over the years. One finger, his middle finger, in fact, was sealed in a glass egg and put on display in museums all over Italy, while the two others wound up in a private collector's vase around nineteen o five, and that was where the trail went cold, with no one knowing exactly what had happened to the missing appendages until two thousand nine. That

year the vase was put up for auction. It had been kept inside a wooden box adorned with the bust of Galileo on top, although the label describing its contents had fallen away. The new owner had opened the box with his daughter and did some research of their own, coming across the story of what had happened to the man's remains and how they had been tampered with during their move Tests were run on the finger, confirming that they once belonged to the man who had watched the

stars and stood up for what he believed in. Today they are on display in Florence, Italy, pointing up towards the sky, just like their owner had done so many years before. 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. Yeah,