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before her. Working with a model of molecules, she twirled the pieces in her hand. She connected and disconnected them, going over the chemistry project again and again. Those who knew her often said that when she set her mind to something, she was deterred to see it through to the end. It took a little time, but then everything just sort of clicked into place. Clara put the model together and reviewed her work. Not only had she finished her assignment, but she felt pretty sure that she might

have just discovered something new. To verify her results, she handed the model over to Kenneth Bonner, an employee ad Border Star in Kansas City, Missouri, and waited patiently for his opinion had she come up with a new scientific discovery. Although he'd given her the assignment, he wasn't a chemistry expert. Kenneth snap some photos on his cell phone and sent them to Professor Robert Zohner, a friend of his working at humbold State University in California, and then Clara and

Kenneth waited. Robert stared at the photos on his phone. Usually he could tell right away if a new molecule was the real deal or not, but this time he had to take another look. He had never seen anything quite like it. Intrigued, he ran one of the photos through an online chemistry database. After an exhaustive search through literature dating back to nineteen oh four, the software came

back with something he never expected. Although Clara's molecule that contained carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen didn't exist in nature, it was something very real. It shared a formula with another finding, except the Adams had a different arrangement. The reports showed that adams between the two discoveries had similarities, namely nitroglycerin. Essentially, Clara had created a molecule capable of creating an explosion, and while that sounds simple enough, it also showed promise

for storing energy in theory, it could do both. No one at the university was sure of which and to what degree. Robert published a paper in Computational and Theoretical Chemistry on the breakthrough, with Clara and Kenneth as his co authors. They called the molecule tetra nitra toxicarbon, and if you think that's a mouthful, my friend, that is

the short name for it. The trio is still unsure of how the scientific community will respond or what the discovery might be used for in the fuel future, but Clara was a static and kitted that she had never expected to be published as an author at that point in her life. Given the circumstances, the press couldn't wait to interview Clara. The attention didn't seem to face her, though. She suggested to the journalist that maybe she could sell

the ideas to the military. Outside of the government, it also might be of interest to scientists searching for new ways to store energy. Meanwhile, Clara has a renewed love of chemistry and biology. Even her peers seem more interested. Back at the university, Robert hopes that his co author will inspire young girls to become scientists. He admits that he's never co authored with anyone like Clara before, and

to Kenneth, nothing makes him happier. It's unclear if the interviewer asked what was next for the talented inventor, but I can imagine her response. Graduation, not college or high school. We're talking middle school here. You see. Kenneth is a teacher at the Border Star Montissori School in Kansas, and at the time of her explosive discovery, his student, Clara Lasin, was just ten years old. Mind blown. I guess you could say that when it comes to science, Clara is

in her element. In the eleven seventies BCE, the world was ending. The Late Bronze Age was a great moment for humanity, with an explosion of trade, agriculture, technology, and in less than a century it was all gone. It was like something out of an apocalypse movie. Cities left totally abandoned and crumbling, farmlands burned to ash, and the remnants of battles between the inhabitants and some mysterious foe. For years, historians have debated the cause of such a

massive and widespread collapse of civilization. Some believe that there were natural explanations earthquakes or climate change, which could have caused drought and famine. Natural disasters would of course lead to internal instability that could spread far and wide. Maybe that's what happened to the near mythical Sea Peoples. We have no idea where they came from or why they

took up rating. Maybe it was a grudge, maybe it was sheer desperation, or maybe it was jealousy that brought the Sea People to egypt shores time and time again. When the collapse began in the eleven seventies, heralded by a solar eclipse if you can believe it, Plenty of civilizations crumbled, yet Egypt endured. It was hardly a comfortable position to be in, especially given the frequent raids by

the Sea Peoples. Ramsey the third has gone down in history as the last good pharaoh of the New Kingdom, and a lot of that was likely due to his defeat of the Sea Peoples and an end to their reign of terror. Still, casualties were heavy on both sides. This loss of life, combined with a diminished harvest and fewer viable trade routes, was steadily tanking their economy. This was hardly the time for a grand tour, but Ramsey's the Third was determined to raise Egypt back up to

their former glory. That kind of ambition took money and resources, and Egypt was kind of flacking in both at the moment. Ramsey's attempts to raise those funds were unsuccessful. The country was in a deep pit following the wars with the sea people's and corrupt officials Siphoning the money away couldn't have helped. The coffers remained relatively bare. When in eleven fifty nine BCE, wages for tomb builders and artisans, Egypt's most important laborers arrived a month late and a time

when money and food were stretched thin. He would think that officials would have been falling all over themselves to correct the problem. And to be fair, there was a distribution of grain, but nothing was fixed. Essentially, what the officials gave them amounted to a modern office pizza party. Officials had bigger things on their mind at the time, namely a huge celebration that was being thrown in honor

of Ramsey's the Third's thirty years on the throne. The Grand Festival was eating up labor, time and money, and once again, a month later, wages were delayed. The workers waited eighteen days for their pay to be delivered, and when the officials weren't forthcoming with coin or information, they threw down their tools and marched towards the city, shouting, we are hungry. It was the first recorded strike in history. They assembled at Ramsey's, the third Mortuary Temple, agitated and

calling for their wages. The officials were flabbergasted. According to their religious beliefs, anyone from the pharaoh to a peasant had a place in the universe that they could never rise or fall from. A strike totally violated those principles, and they didn't know what to do. After deliberating for some time, officials had an airtight plan pastries, which were

delivered to the furious workers. After all, they were hungry. Unsurprisingly, the workers weren't persuaded and marched on to the grain storehouses in Thebes the When they broke in, pol police were summoned and the chief demanded the workers returned to their posts. The laborers, though refused. The chief baffled, shrugged over the lack of results, and abandoned the officials to

handle the situation. Negotiations were about to begin. Officials forked over the back pay to the workers, who then dispersed, But no sooner had they reached their village than word arrived that their next wages were not coming. Once again, they went on strike, but this time they took it a step further and blockaded access to the valley of the King's In a culture that so revered death, offerings

were incredibly important, so this was a devastating measure. They meant business and stood their ground when officials arrived with armed guards. When threatened, the strikers threatened to damage the royal tombs. Both sides had reached an impasse. This strike could have brought down the pharaoh himself. According to their order of the universe, the pharaoh was supposed to take care of their people, and if he wasn't, then what good was he. The strike lasted for three years, off

and on. Finally, though officials reached out to a vizier for help, but they might not have told them the whole story. The strike didn't really reflect well on them, and there was a possibility that they could be executed for failing to do their duty. Negotiations began, pay was distributed, the laborers abandoned their strike camps and returned home, and

the jubilee went off without a hitch. In eleven fifty six BCE, a party would help anyone forget their daily woes, But the shadow of the strike lingered, and it was only the first one big event in the deep mists of time, reminding all of us that were stronger together. 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 podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at Theworldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.