Lost Daylight

be pretty alarming. A simple misunderstanding can result in a bitter feud between two people, or even two countries, or one culture's customs can become too much for another to bear. Wars may be sparked, lives may be lost, and nations may be overthrown. But for one king and queen, the outcome of their miscommunication was a bit more uh complicated. It started in the city of Calabar, Nigeria, during the

eighteen hundreds. The Ethic people who lived there had been quite active in the Transatlantic slave trade of the seventeenth century. They often acted as facilitators, capturing people from other communities and selling them to the British. The Ethic also helped load their kidnap neighbors onto the ships and provided travelers with food if necessary. It wasn't uncommon for Ethic families to have European captains teach their children English or the

ins and outs of the slave trade. For their efforts, the Ethic were given many items from Europe which they enjoyed. They began adopting various aspects of British culture, including their clothing and Western sounding names, often as a way to endear themselves to the foreigners. As missionaries moved throughout the towns and villages, Christianity became a dominant religion among the Ethic as well. In eighteen o eight, the trans Atlantic slave trade officially came to an end, at least on paper.

A British law was enacted prohibiting the practice in many Bish territories, yet it persisted in others, oftentimes illegally. And sitting at the top of it all on the English side was none other than Her Majesty herself, Queen Victoria. She knew how important trade with Africa was, though she had no intention of continuing slavery. She did, however, need the other things Calabar could provide, such as palm oil, ivory,

and rubber to keep the lines of commerce open. Victoria wrote directly to King Ayamba of Calabar, also known as Obong of Calabar. She promised him and his people more gifts, as well as protection in case someone found out about their deal. Victoria oversaw the British Empire of the time. It was an era of expansion and conquest, and so the title Queen of England was nothing to sneeze at. In factually signed all of her letters to King Ayamba

that way, Queen Victoria the Queen of England. But when the King's interpreter read her letters aloud, he didn't quite get her title right. Rather than announced her as the Queen of England, he instead called her the Queen of all white Men. To say the King was surprised would have been an understatement. He believed that it wasn't right for him to accept such incentives from a woman he wasn't married too, so he told his scribe to write back to her with a marriage proposal. Together they would

conquer the world. He signed it King Ayamba, the King of all Black Men. That was sure to get her attention well. She received his letter and wrote back, saying as much she was happy, the king was still interested in maintaining a business relationship with her. Along with her response, Victoria also sent over some gifts for him, including a sword, a royal cape, and a bible. Yet she never said she would join him on the throne as his queen.

King Ayamba didn't care. He took the gifts as acceptance of his proposal and had another throne placed beside his, a seat fit for the Queen of England. Their correspondence didn't stop after that either. She continued to send more gifts while he made sure that her county tree got the palm oil it deserved. And though the queen never traveled to Calibar to become his wife, a tradition was started to honor their relationship, a tradition that has continued

to this day today. When a new king is crowned there, a second throne is placed next to his own, upon which is placed a bible. The obong's wife, the one he is actually married to, occupies a seat behind him. A second coronation ceremony takes place in a Presbyterian church, where the obong dones the English cape and crown before sitting upon his throne, waiting for his queen to come and take her rightful place beside him. Do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to

get everything done. Our to do lists get longer, but the days never seem to keep up. If anything, they're getting shorter. If only there was some way to add more time to the clock, to bend it to our wills. Well, one man figured out how to do just that, and it was easy to literally make time when you were the King. Edward, the seventh eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was born at Buckingham Palace on November

nine of eighteen forty one. As a child, Edward was raised in a way that would prepare him for his assent to the throne later in life. There was a strong focus on his education, thanks to his father, who made sure Edward had the best tutors. Unfortunately, the young prince didn't have a mind for school work. He did, however, have a knack for socializing and schmoozing, which he did

while studying abroad when he got older. From the age of eighteen, Edwards spent much of his time in Rome Edinburgh, and in eighteen sixty he became the first Prince of Wales to tour North America. His trip there was a great success. He visited Niagara Falls and spent several days at the White House with President James Buchanan. Buchanan then escorted Edward to Mount Vernon, where both men visited Washington's

tomb to pay their respects. Two years later, after a lengthy trip to the Middle East, Edward returned to England and got engaged to Alexandra of Denmark. The couple was married one year later. They spent most of their time as newlyweds in London at a mansion known as the Marlborough House, but when they wanted to get away, they jettied off to Norfolk along the English coast, to a

twenty thousand acre estate called Sandringham. Edward had purchased Sandringham for the princely sum of two hundred twenty thousand pounds. The house underwent so many changes it was practically rebuilt from the ground up. The main hall was torn down and a newer, much larger hall was built in its place. However, Edward often found the size lacking, and he had new

rooms and wings added over the years. Yet, despite his displeasure with sandering Him's magnitude, it allowed him to indulge in one of his greatest passions hu teen on his travels to Nepal when he was younger. For example, he would mount an elephant and ride into the jungles to hunt tigers and rhinos. Back in Sandringham, the game was

less intense. Edward hunted mostly birds. His head keeper, Jackson, was responsible for maintaining the grounds and knowing the hunting schedule in order to provide his employer with optimal hunting conditions. Jackson's job was to make sure that groundskeeping staff never worked the land in the days leading up to a hunt, so as to avoid upsetting the game. On the day of the event, Edward would mount a brown cob or strong short legged horse and traverse the terrain with red

and blue flags in his hand. He instructed his men, called beaters, to corral the animals towards the route, directly in the path of his rifle. Edward often hunted at Sandringham during the late fall and winter months, but there was just one problem with that. The sun didn't stay out as long as he liked in the winter, which meant that there was less to him to shoot. Of course, he was Edward, the seventh King of the United Kingdom

of Great Britain and Ireland and the British dominions. If he wanted the song to hang in the sky a little longer, he was going to get it. And he did. You see, Edward had all the clocks at sendering him moved half an hour ahead of Greenwich. Meantime. The result was an extra half hour of daylight with which to hunt. The rest of England measured their days one way, while at sendering him, the sun set whenever the king decided it. So the phenomenon even got its own name, sendering him time.

And it was a tradition that carried on until Edward the Seventh death. In his successor, Edward the Eight hated the confusion that it caused, and so he refused to let it continue during his reign. Unusual, you bet, but that's just the sort of thing that makes this world curious. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 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, Yeah,