The Monkey Signalman (Futility Closet Podcast #009)

Futility Closet 11:44 am Mon May 12, 2014

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Hosted by Greg and Sharon Ross, Futility Closet is a celebration of the quirky and the curious, the thought-provoking and the simply amusing. This podcast is an audio companion to the popular website that catalogs more than 7,000 curiosities in history, language, mathematics, literature, philosophy, and art. In each episode we explore intriguing finds from our research, share listener contributions, and offer a contest in which listeners can match their wits.

After losing his feet in an accident in the 1880s, South Africa railway worker James "Jumper" Wide found an unlikely friend in a baboon named Jack. In this week's episode we'll learn how Jumper taught Jack to work as a signalman on the railway line, where he won the trust of both authorities and passengers.

We'll also meet an Englishman who dreamed the winners of horse races, ponder the strange case of the Stringfellow Acid Pits, and present the next Futility Closet Challenge.

monkey signalman 1

(See show notes for the episode.)

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