Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. The old saying luck of the Irish doesn't have one definitive origin. Some say it comes from successful Irish miners who had found their pots
of gold while digging underground. Others claim its meaning was ironic that the Irish had been treated so poorly abroad during the Potato famine that emigrants were cursed with the luck of the Irish. Regardless of where it came from, the Irish are considered a lucky people, and non luckier than Violet Jessup. Born in Argentina in seven to Irish immigrants, Violet as the eldest of nine children. She took care of her younger siblings to help her parents until she
was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Doctors gave her months to live, but Violet had a strength Unlike some of her siblings, three of whom had already died young. She fought the disease and one only to lose her father not long after that. At sixteen years old, Violet moved to England with her mother, who took a job as a stewardess
aboard ships, while Violet stayed home to raise her younger sister. Unfortunately, not long after they'd settled into their new home, their mother grew very ill and it fell to Violet to take over as the sole breadwinner for the family. With few other opportunities available, she applied to be a stewardess like her mother, and was hired in nineteen o eight by the Royal Mail Line to work on a ship
called the Orinoco. Throughout her career as a stewardess, Violet worked aboard numerous ocean liners, helping guests and even saving lives. She had come from nothing only to find herself working on some of the fanciest, most luxurious ships ever created. But there was something odd about violent. It seemed wherever she went, disaster followed. Sure. Some of her siblings died of disease, and her father passed away when she was
a girl, but the tragedies didn't end there. After working for the Royal Mail Line, she took a job with the White Star Line. If that name sounds familiar, that's because the White Star Line built three of the most famous ships in history, the Olympic, the Britannic, and the Titanic. All three would go on to be involved in devastating accidents and to now reside at the bottom of the ocean, but each one counted Violet Jessup as an employee and
a survivor. During her time as a stewardess on the Olympic, that ship collided with the British warship the h M. S Hawk. Although it didn't sink, the ship was sliced below the water line and eventually had to have extensive repairs done to become seaworthy again. Not long after, as the Titanic sank, Violet was handed a baby to look after. She escaped with the child in a lifeboat along with other passengers. Amazingly, that baby was eventually returned to its
mother aboard the rescue ship, the Carpathia. Oh and just a side story. Many years later, after Violet had retired, In fact, she claimed to have received a telephone call from a stranger who asked if Violet had saved a baby the night the Titanic sank. When Violet answered yes, the woman on the other end told her I was that baby, and then hung up before Violet could reply. A friend of her suggested that the call had been
a hoax, but Violet knew better. She hadn't told anyone about the story before, so there was no way for a random person to have known to call her with such a joke. Finally, as a nurse on the Britannic, she jumped out of a lifeboat moments before it was sucked into the sinking ship's propellers and shredded to splinters. Violet Jessip has been depict did in various movies, television shows, and stage productions over the years, though not always by name,
often blended into other characters. Hers is a story that has slipped past the history books, though she did earn the nickname Miss Unsinkable. With all the fanfare surrounding the Titanics Unsinkable Molly Brown, it's easy to lose sight of an unsung hero of the White Star Line, such as Violet. Well. You might call her an unsung hero, others might call
her cursed. In the end, I like to imagine that the woman who beat tuberculosis, outlived her siblings and survived multiple shipwrecks was a miracle of sorts, one of a kind person who became the very definition of that household phrase, the luck of the Irish war. What is it good for? Well, if you're hoping to overthrow a government or unseat an unfavorable leader, it can help. And if you're looking out for the future of your country's imperial rule, it may
be your only course of action. That's what happened on August eighteen ninety six in the island nation of Zanzibar. For years, Zanzibar had been independent of its homeland Oman and ruled by a long line of sultan's. The United Kingdom had maintained a close relationship with the country for decades, and as the years went on, that relationship grew much stronger,
some might say too strong. By eighteen ninety three, the British had forced Zanzibar to abolish many of their inhumane yet profitable industries, much to the consternation of its citizens. The sultan himself had supported the British in their endeavors and didn't see a problem with the changes, but his people had so In August twenty five, eighteen ninety six, the Sultan was assassinated. The top suspect was the sultan's own cousin, who had most likely poisoned the former ruler.
He took over the duties of the throne and moved into the palace all before his cousin's funeral that very same day. Seriously, half an hour after the old sultan had been buried, the new one was sitting on the throne. Zanzibar leaders certainly wasted no time, except the new ruler hit a roadblock with his grand plan. As it turned out, he ignored a treaty signed ten years earlier that required anyone seeking the crown to get permission from the British consul.
The murderous cousin had not obtained that permission. It didn't matter that he declared himself the new leader publicly, or that the palace guns had fired a salute marking the occasion that afternoon. Without approval from the British, it was nothing more than a pretender wearing another man's crown. British General Lloyd Matthews urged the sultan to step down so that a more UK friendly ruler could take his place.
The sultan, however, refused. He gathered thousands of troops in the palace square, armed with machine guns, cannons, and a gatling gun, and then waited to see what the British would do with their own thousand man army. Matthews continued to press for a surrender, but his threats of retaliation didn't sway the Sultan. In fact, on the morning of August he called Matthew's bluff. British warships opened fire from
the harbor, killing forces within the palace. A Zanzibar fleet returned fire on the British ships, and within moments the country officially became a war zone. As the fighting raged on, fire broke out that consumed the palace and killed hundreds of the sultan soldiers. Before the war was even over, the new Sultan had fled the country to seek asylum in Germany, leaving the British free to install their own choice as the new ruler. And they managed to do
it without the single loss of a British life. And you might be wondering, in a war that claimed the lives of over five hundred Zanzibari men and women, how is it possible that the British didn't lose a single person on their side. The Sultan's army was well trained and well armed. They put up a fight, but the British had a few things going for them. First, they were much more prepared for battle than the Sultan's forces. Their weaponry was more advanced, and their army was much larger. Second,
the palace wasn't made of concrete or stone. It was made of wood, which provided almost no protection from the incoming cannonballs or the inevitable fire that burned it all down in the end. The most interesting detail about this entire event is how it's recorded in the history books. Even today, it's referred to as the Anglo Zanzibar War, and I suppose it technically was given that two armies traded gunfire over the fate of a country's leadership. It's
just that well, most wars last a lot longer. This one, you see, was the shortest war in history, clocking in and only forty five minutes. 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.