Skull Buster

wrote on a variety of subjects. He believed that the human body possessed the spirits of animals, which affected the human soul, and he also helped prove our own existence with the phrase that I'm sure you've heard before. I think therefore I am. But perhaps the most interesting part of descartes life didn't actually occur while he was alive. It was how he got ahead after he died. Descartes hailed from tour in France and helped shape the age

of Enlightenment of the seventeenth century. His life was relatively short, with the noted philosopher passing away from pneumonia in Sweden at the age of fifty three. But in his wake, he didn't just lead behind one of the most influential legacies ever recorded, he also left a surprisingly tantalizing skull. You see, Descartes died at a particularly gruesome time when the dead, especially dead celebrities, were not always allowed to

rest in peace. Grave robbing and sales of remains were popular pastimes for people looking to make a quick buck. After his initial burial in a Catholic cemetery in Stockholm, Sweden, his body was transferred to the Saint Etienne du Monts in Paris in sixteen sixty six, but it wouldn't stay there forever. The French Revolution of the seventeen nineties brought with it the fear of losing descartes remains forever, so

he was dug up to be moved once again. However, the man who exhumed the body, an archaeologist named Alexander Lenoir, noticed that he wasn't all there. Literally, all that remained of Renee Descartes were his femur, tibia, and some skull fragments. Lenoir abscond with the few bones left behind and fashioned them into a set of rings. But what happened to

the skull. Well, while descartes remains were being reinterred in eighteen eighteen, everyone noticed the missing cranium, and one man in attendance, a chemist by the name of jonce yaka Brazilius, happened to be visiting France at the time. He eventually returned to Stockholm and a few years later found out that a wealthy Swedish man had bought the skull at auction. This collector had allegedly wanted it as part of his eccentric collection of oddities, which he kept in what was

called a Wunderkammer. A Wunderkammer, by the way, was actually one of the most appropriate places for descartes missing skull to end up. It's a German word that means cabinets of curiosities. Hey, how about that? Anyway, Brazilius met with the collector and persuaded him to part with the skull. It didn't take more than a quick glance for Brazilius to know that he now possessed the real deal, how because someone had gone to the trouble of labeling it

for him. Written across the forehead was the identity of the person who had taken it from its grave a man named Plantstrom. You see, back in sixteen sixty six. Planstrom had actually been tasked with guarding Descartes's body on its way back to France. However, he didn't really watch over it. It was more like he looted it, taking the skull for himself. After his own death, it was revealed that Planstrom had been in serious debt, and the skull was given to a brewer in Stockholm as payment

for the money that he owed him. The skull was then passed down from father to son before making its way into the hands of various other owners. Several of those owners added to Planstrom's note with inscriptions of their own writing directly onto the skull. Once Brasilius got his hands on it, he brought it back to France, where it has remained ever since, stored safely at the Musa

Delme in Paris. Or is it not. According to scholars at Lund University in Sweden, they believe that the writing on the skull doesn't actually prove that it was Descartes. In fact, they claim it's proof that the object is certainly a fake. The real skull doesn't exist anymore, well, not in one piece. Anyway, a fragment of parietal bone that was donated to the university in seventeen eighty bears

a curious inscription, the skull of Descartes number six. The number six seems to indicate that there are at least five other pieces out there, and perhaps more. In fact, researchers believe that descartes skull was a victim of a practice called skull blasting. This was a way of separating the cranial bones along their seams or suitures. The result turned a skull into a series of individual bones that

could then be sold to the highest bidders. They grew quite popular during the sixteenth and seventeen centuries among vendors who trafficked in unusual goods. But even the authenticity of the skull fragment at Lund University is up for debate, leaving many to wonder what really happened to the Philosopher's skull, and we may never get an answer. All we can do is philosophies it was, therefore it might still be. The Beatles had a pretty contentious relationship with the spiritual realm.

Although they had been raised as either Protestant or Roman Catholic, they eventually gave up their original religions to pursue other beliefs. George Harrison studied with Hindu gurus, and all four band members learned from an Indian yogi during the nineteen sixties, but nothing really stuck With John Lennon. He shunned all forms of organized religion, although considered himself a religious and

spiritual person. In an interview back in September of nineteen eighty, he was quoted as saying people always got the image I was an anti Christ or anti religion. I'm not. I'm a most religious fellow. So it was no wonder that Lenin was someone who participated in non traditional spiritual practices. For example, in the nineteen sixties, he employed a personal astrologist named Alex Martis, also known as Magic Alex. Magic Alex would consult the stars and provide insights into Lennon's future.

In nineteen sixty nine, John and Yoko were on a vacation in Greece with Magic Alex in tow when John asked him to tell him about his future, what would it be like, what would happen to him next? And Alex seemingly didn't know. The Beatles would break up just a few months later, but he did have a premonition of something bad happening to Lenin. According to Magic Alex, the singer songwriter was in grave danger. He was going

to be killed by a gunshot on an island. The couple were understandably shocked by the prediction and immediately canceled their scheduled boat trip around the Greek Islands. Later that week, John and Yoko returned home and continued to live their lives normally, eventually moving to New York City in nineteen seventy one. Lennon then became an activist and an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War, which nearly got him deported

by the Nixon administration. He had a successful solo career and even collaborated with legendary artists such as David Bowie and Elton John, But in nineteen eighty he came face to face with his fate in a way that he never saw coming. That fate's name was Mark David Chapman. Chapman was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in nineteen fifty five to a father in the Air Force and a mother who worked as a nurse. He had a rough childhood, his father was often abusive to him and to his mother,

while he faced regular bullying at school. Chapman eventually moved to Georgia and found religio as a born again Presbyterian. He got a job working at the local y m c A as a camp counselor during the summer of nineteen seventy one, when he was sixteen years old. He was beloved by both the kids and the staff. But around the same time, Chapman discovered something that would change his outlook on the world forever. In fact, it became something of an obsession. It was a book by author J. D.

Salinger called The Catcher in the Rye. The story followed a disillusioned teenager named Holden Caulfield who felt alienated by the world around him. It was a world filled with adults he called phonies, hypocritical and shallow, people who couldn't see what they had become. Chapman internalized the novel to a disturbing extent. He didn't just see himself in Caulfield,

he wanted to be him. Chapman had been a big Beatles fan when he was younger, but resented John Lennon for a statement that he had made back in nineteen sixty six when he had called the band more popular than Jesus. The hyper religious. Chapman wouldn't stand for such blasphemous remarks. Lennon's hypocritical beliefs also bothered him. After all, Lenin was a successful musician with millions of dollars, yet he's sang about living a life of peace without material things.

Chapman traveled to New York City in December of nineteen eighty, then checked into the Sheraton Hotel on December eighth. He exited the hotel, leaving his clothing and other belongings behind for the authorities to find later. He bought a new copy of The Catcher in the Rye at a nearby store and wrote the words this is my statement on the inside, and then he signed it Holden Caulfield. Chapman found his way over to West seventy two Streets on Manhattan's upper west side. This was the home of the

Dakota co Op building, where John and Oko lived. Chapman hung out there all day waiting to catch a glimpse of Lenin. He spotted both John and Yoko leaving the building as they headed to a recording session around five PM. Chapman even got Lennon to sign a CD for him in the process, but hours later, around eleven pm, he

was still at the Dakota. The couple eventually returned from the studio, and as they entered the building, Chapman pulled out a thirty eight Special revolver and fired four bullets into John Lennon's back and shoulder. When the police arrived, they found the shooter sitting by himself. He was reading the catcher in the rye and willingly allowed them to take him into custody. Lennon sadly passed away from his

injuries on the way to the hospital. The strange part was that John Lennon had known he was going to die, just not at that moment. He had been told eleven years earlier that he would be killed by a bullet on an island. What he didn't realize was that island would be Manhattan, and the bullet would be fired by one of his fans. 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 and 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,