Nature vs. Nurture

bit of a name for himself. He had gotten his start in a performance of Richard the Third alongside his father, who favored a more outspoken acting style to Ed's quiet contemplation. Regardless of how they performed, though, one thing was certain, the family knew how to entertain. People came from all the over to watch them and recite some of the most famous lines ever written for the stage. Then, three years after their first performance together, Ed's father passed away.

Ed chose to remain with the show for an international tour, and it was on this tour where he gained wide acclaim for his talents. People in the United States and Europe knew his name, and it became synonymous with star. But his homeland was changing. A conflict that had begun in the South had migrated north and embroiled a country in a war unlike any other, Fathers were pitted against sons. Mothers stopped speaking to their daughters. Blood was shed, and

fields and streams from Georgia to New York. As the Union fought to end the scourge of slavery infecting the Southern States, it was time for Ed to come home. He boarded a ship bound for the US and rejoined his family, who had changed considerably in his absence. He and his brothers had found themselves on opposing sides, with Ed supporting the Union and his brothers in favor of

the South. In fact, none of them appeared on stage together until eighteen sixty four, when they participated in a charity to raise funds for a statue of William Shakespeare for Central Park in New York City. Coincidentally, eighteen sixty four was also the year Ed became a hero. He had been standing on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey, when he caught sight of a boy just shy of adulthood beside him. A crowd had gathered to

board the car and pushed him forward. Before he'd had a chance to get out of the way, the train began to move, spinning him off his feet at the edge of the platform. He nearly fell onto the tracks, but there was ed ready. With lightning quick reflexes. He grabbed the boy's collar and pulled him back up next to him. The young man recognized his savior and thanked him profusely for what he'd done. Ed was only too happy to help, but had no idea who he'd actually saved.

He wouldn't find out until months later, just before the country would enter a period of mourning for President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, as we all know, was shot during a performance at Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth, an actor. Booth had a brother too, In fact, both of them also actors. He'd fallen out with one, however, a Unionist named ed Edwin Thomas Booth. Edwin hadn't known his brother was going

to assassinate the president. To perform such an act was unthinkable even to many of the very few people who hated the man and what he stood for. But Edwin tried not to dwell on the dishonor his brother brought to his family's name. Instead, he saw solace in one simple fact. He'd done some good. You see, the young man that Edwin had saved on the train platform that day wasn't some random boy. In a letter he received just before the President's death, the truth had become clear.

The boy had told his story or to a Colonel Adam Badeaux serving under General Ulysses S. Grant. The colonel then penned a letter of gratitude for rescuing his newest recruits, a young soldier named Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son. Both brothers had managed to change the nation, one for the worse, one for the better. We'll never know what might have happened if Edwin hadn't been there to prevent Robert Todd Lincoln from falling. But we do know one thing.

Despite a lifetime on the stage, it was certainly the greatest performance of his life. The nature versus nurture debate has raged on for generations. How much of our lives, our personalities, and our futures are determined by our genetics, and how much is determined by our environment. For two Ohio men, the answer was clear. Jim Lewis was born in nineteen forty and adopted three weeks after he entered

the world. His parents raised him in Lima, Ohio alongside their dog Toy, where he grew up to love math and carpentry, but couldn't spell to save his life. As he got older, he fell in love with a woman named Linda. The two married and built a life together, along with their son, James Allen Lewis. But of course people change over time, and for Jim and Linda those changes had been too great to reconcile. They divorced, but Jim eventually found love again, this time with a woman

named Betty, who he later married. Our second man is Jim Springer. He was born in nineteen forty and adopted three weeks after he entered the world. His adoptive parents raised him in Pequa, Ohio, alongside their dog Toy, where he grew up to love math and carpentry, but couldn't spell to save his life. As he got older, he fell in love with a woman named Inda. The two married and built a life together, along with their son,

James Allan Springer. But of course people change over time, and for Jim and Linda those changes had been too great to reconcile. They divorced, but eventually Jim found love again, this time with a woman named Betty, who he later married. And No, there's nothing wrong with your audio. Last Night Checked podcast can't get stuck in a loop like a vinyl record. Jim Lewis and Jim Springer didn't know each other, they didn't grow up together, but they lived incredibly similar lives.

That's why scientists at the University of Minnesota were so interested in studying them. You see, Jim and Jim, we're twins who had been separated at birth. They'd never known their mother, and the adoption agency had told each set of adoptive parents that their new baby boy had a twin who had died in childbirth. As far as they knew there, Jim was the only Jim. It was during a trip to complete the adoption paperwork when Jim Lewis's mother overheard the clerk mentioned how the other child had

also been named Jim. She encouraged her son to seek out the truth as he got older, and one day, in nineteen seventy nine, he did just that. He contacted the court for his adoption records, and once he had them, he was able to track down the other Jim. After a short game of phone tag, Jim Lewis got a call and he knew right away who it was. As it turned out, the two men had grown up fewer

than fifty miles from one another. They were both chained, smoking Chevy drivers who vacationed at the same spot in Florida every year. The similarities were astounding for two men who shared DNA but nothing else. What's even more shocking is how many times this phenomenon has occurred over the years. Jack Youth and Oscar Store grew up in two very different households, Jack being raised Jewish and Oscar as part

of the Nazi uprising in Germany. When they met, they were wearing I Dentical sweaters and found out they shared receding hairlines, the same boisterous sneeze, and they always flushed the toilet before using it. Daphne Goodship and Barbara Herbert were also separated at birth and met each other later in life. Both worked in government like their coffee cold, got married at the same time, and gave birth to

two boys and one girl. We might never have an answer to the nature versus nurtured debate, as both are extremely important to how a person becomes who they are. However, what we do know is the bond between family members, especially siblings, is something too strong to ignore. 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.