Ghosted

to stay with them and help around the house. Sadly, Elizabeth died giving birth to their son, and the frail little infant passed away a short while later. William was in turmoil, having lost both his beloved wife and his newborn son just days apart. Fanny decided to stay and help him, and eventually the two fell in love. He wanted to marry her, so he set out for London to seek counsel on how to proceed, but there was a problem. The Church wouldn't let William mary Fanny, as

canon law forbade it. William was again heartbroken and decided to get away from his job, from his old house, from every bad memory he had. He and Fanny parted ways, and then he moved to London, where he started a new life for himself. Fanny, however, couldn't forget William. She wrote him letter as professing her love for him, and he wrote back each and every time. Eventually, William could no longer hide his feelings and he invited her to come stay with him. The two lived secretly as husband

and wife. They moved to a property on Cock Lane, just outside of London, which was owned by a man named Richard Parsons. Parsons was a parish clerk who owed William a debt for a loan given to him some time earlier. But there was something about the couple that didn't sit well with Parsons. Some believe that Fanny's family had reached out to him and let him in on their little secret because they were upset about their daughter's behavior.

Whatever the source of information that led him to the truth, he used canon law as justification to simply not repay William. One day, William was called away to a wedding out of town, leaving an now pregnant Fanny alone. To make sure she was watched over while he was gone, he asked Parson's daughter Elizabeth to stay with her, sleeping in the same bed, just in case something went wrong with

the baby. Mr Parsons agreed to the arrangement too, and then William left and that was when the scratching started. It occurred at different parts of the day and night around the home, often paired with a knocking sound. Parsons daughter Elizabeth said that a cobbler worked by and that was probably what they'd heard. But when the sounds resurfaced the following Sunday, a day of rest for many tradesmen,

they knew something was wrong. Another local landlord came to inspect the house and claimed to witness a glowing white spirit climbing the stairs. Richard Parsons confirmed that he had also seen this same thing. When William returned home, he moved Fanny out, not just because of the ghost, but also because of her pregnancy. She was only a few weeks away from giving birth and he had a comfortable place ready for her to deliver in. Unfortunately, tragedy would

strike once again. Fanny contracted smallpox, and after several days of fever, she passed away. William inherited her small estate and used the money to pay for her burial costs, leaving him with very little leftover. Still, he didn't stay down for long. He eventually remarried and became a successful stockbroker. With his new status and happy family, he returned to cock Lane, taking over for the previous tenant, who had left after the scratching and knocking noises became too much

to bear. Richard Parsons eventually discovered the cause. His daughter Elizabeth claimed the ghost had returned, but now there were two, not one. The first ghost, which had bothered Fanny prior to her death, was thought to be her deceased sister, also confusingly named Elizabeth, and this new ghost why it was Fanny herself? Of course, Parsons believed they had important messages to share, and that's why they refused to move on. Fanny's sister. Elizabeth's presence was meant to be a warning

to her sister about her coming death. Fanny, however, bore more shocking news. Her spirit, communicating yes and no through a series of knocks, let the Parsons know the secret about her widow or husband, William, that he had murdered her, possibly both of them. William had allegedly poisoned Fanny with arsenic before she could have the baby and then had her buried quickly to hide the evidence. The church believed the ghosts were telling the truth, after all, how could

you argue with the spirit. As a result, William soon became a prime suspect in the murder of Fanny. Desperate to clear his name, he asked for a seance to be held in the home so that he could ask her himself. Upstairs, Richard Parson's daughter and her sister were sleeping while William, Richard, several others in the community gathered around the table. They asked the spirit questions about her

marriage to William and whether he'd poisoned her. One knock meant yes, Two knocks meant no. Had they been married? Two knocks? Had he poisoned her? One knock? Things weren't looking good for poor Mr Kent, But there was something about the ghosts that struck everyone as odd. She seemed to go wherever Elizabeth Parsons went. While Elizabeth was staying in another person's home, knocking sounds were reportedly heard throughout

the night there. When she returned to her home just in time for another seance, though so did the noise. An investigation was conducted, as were several more seances, and present for all of them in some part of the house was Elizabeth Parsons. One night, the investigators asked her to sleep with her arms outstretched, her hands outside the bed. No scratching or knocking were heard that night, not a single sound. The experiment was repeated the next night and

the same results happened, absolutely nothing. The truth was finally exposed when Elizabeth's maids noticed the small plank of wood she kept tucked into her clothes. They alerted investigators right away. Elizabeth, it seems, had been the ghost the entire time, knocking and scratching with the block of wood. But why well, because her father had put her up to it. He still owed William Kent money for the loan he'd taken,

and he didn't want to pay it back. After Fanny died, William had sued him for the remaining money, so Parsons exacted his revenge the only way he knew how, by pretending to be a ghost and framing the man for murder. His Scooby Doo style plan didn't work, though, After a quick trial, Richard and his wife were ordered to pay hundreds of pounds in damages to William and Richard was also sentenced to prison. In the end, the lesson is

obvious and simple. If you plan to skip out on your debts, you better have a really good plan, a lot of luck, and just in case things go south, you better knock on wood. Everyone has their vices. Some enjoy playing the lottery, others love a good chocolate bar. For Antonio Magliavecki, his vice was knowledge. Born in Florence, Italy, in three Antonio apprenticed for a local goldsmith until he was forty years old. It was then when he met

Michel Ermini, the librarian for Cardinal de Vedici. Michelle saw something in Antonio, a passion for learning, a desire to rise above his status as an apprentice and do more with the mind he was given. With Michelle's help, Antonio learned several languages, including Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Years later, after decades of study, Antonio found himself in the same position as his one time tutor, becoming the librarian to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. From there, his reputation stretched

far beyond the confines of his bookshelves. He became an academic celebrity of sorts, engaging with scholars from all over the world who wanted to learn more about the self taught genius from Florence. However, genius often breeds other problems for all his intelligence, and Tonio was quite negligent about his state of dress. He tended to wear his clothes until they were literally falling off of him in tatters.

He typically only ate three hard boiled eggs for dinner with the glass of water, and as someone came to his door who he didn't care to entertain, he simply wouldn't let them in. He was an incredibly private man, devoid of pride or extravagance. He once worked for an entire year without taking a salary. In fact, the concept of money or bills just didn't occur to him, allowing him to amass quite a fortune, But he didn't really ended on anything, well almost Antonio enjoyed spending what money

he had on his greatest obsession, books. He was known as a literary glutton, filling his work library with over forty thousand titles and more than ten thousand manuscripts. His home also held thousands of volumes, many of which lined the staircases and extended outside the house onto his porch. Even more impressive was the fact that he had read every single one of them. As someone whose side table practically groans under the weight of all the new books that I want to read, I can't help but be

a little jealous. Clearly, Antonio dedicated his life to expanding his mind with a written word. Perhaps all of that reading had a profound effect on him, or maybe his brain had always been wired a certain way. But aside from his extensive library, Antonio was also known for his extensive memory. Today, he might be called a human search engine, capable of citing the exact book, author, and even pay

age number when asked of him. According to the stories, he was once asked by his employer, the Duke, where he might find a specific title without hesitation, Antonio told him there was only one copy of it in existence.

Arrested in the Grand Seignior's library in Constantinople, on the second bookcase from the right, eleven volumes in it said that a priest asking for a eulogy on a certain saint would often get a list of over a hundred authors who had ever written about that saint and where their books could be found amongst the many thousands of books in his possession. But all that book knowledge came at a price. Antonio almost never traveled outside of Florence

to see the world. He slept in his clothes, rarely ate anything other than those hard boiled eggs, and spent hours each day reading in the palace library. And yet he lived to be eighty one years old and was revered for his sharp mind and endless memory. For him, a work life balance just didn't exist, because his work was his life. When he died, Antonio left his entire

fortune to the poor. His library, though tens of thousands of books, all went to the Grand Duke, but with one condition that they'd be used to found a public library. It was called the Magliabechiana, and through various mergers with other private libraries around Italy, it went on to become the National Central Library of Florence, the largest public library in all of Italy. Antonio didn't just believe in learning. He believed that knowledge was meant to be shared with everyone.

If he were alive today, he'd be amazed at how easy the Internet has made that dream come true. Either that or he'd spend his entire life online reading everything he could get his hands on. I'd expect nothing less from the world's most ravenous bookworm. 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 Mankey 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.