Some people become extraordinary through bravery, while others achieve it through ingenuity. Both of today's stories, though, share one common trait: passion.
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Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Paul like to help people. Born in two in New York City, He'd hoped to become a doctor, but the times were changing, and so was his trajectory. For one, the Great Depression wiped out any money his family had saved up for tuition. Then, when he was thirteen, Paul was diagnosed with polio. He spent a lot of time in bed recovering, and while he rested, he had his nose buried in magazines and comic books. One of those books had an advertisement on the back for a ventriloquism kit. Since his parents had no money for him to buy one, Paul asked his art chuer if he could receive extra credit from making a dummy himself once he'd returned to school. His teacher agreed, and Paul discovered a new passion. He finished his dummy and started writing down jokes that he found in his magazines. Then he took the routine he put together and entered an amateur radio competition, which he won. Ventriloquism shows aren't the hottest tickets today, but back in nineteen thirty eight, a talented performer with a funny act could get their own radio show, and in the nineteen fifties they might even end up with their own television program. Paul hit it big in the nineteen fifties with TV shows for both kids and adults. He was so popular he was invited to compete on a televised dance show against Ricardo Montablan Cohn from the second Star Trek movie. Amazingly, Paul won, and at the cast party after the taping, he met Dr Henry Heimlich. If that name sounds familiar, it's probably because the man behind it invented the technique for saving someone from choking to death, the Heimlich maneuver. Interesting side note, as a small boy, I called it the Heimlich remover, which is sort of a functional mistake right Anyway, Dr Heimlich rekindled Paul's love of medicine and told him that if he ever wanted to observe an actual heart surgery, all he had to do was ask. So Paul took him up on the offer. One morning, while watching another doctor perform open heart surgery. The patient went into cardiac arrest and died. Paul got an idea and ran out of the operating theater to tell his friend Dr Heimlich, what if there was a device with its own power supply that could keep the heart pumping during surgery. Dr Heimlich encouraged Paul to put his dummy making skills to use by building a prototype. He worked for months improving his design with advice from Dr Heimlich, until he had a working model. I'mlick then suggested Paul get his artificial heart patented, which he did immediately. Sometime later, Paul got word that the FDA had begun adopting his artificial heart for human use. His breakthrough netted him an appearance on MERV Griffin's television show alongside Dr Christian Barnard, the first cardiac surgeon to perform a heart transplant on a living human being. He told Paul a story of how he'd been performing open heart surgery on a close friend who had passed away on the table. If he'd had Paul's device at the time, the friend might have pulled through. It was an emotional moment for both Dr Barnard and Paul, who realized that his work would change the medical profession forever. Paul was a man who had begun his career as an entertainer, bringing joy to people's lives through his ventriloquist dummies, but through his artificial hearts, he had found a way to help people the way he always wanted to. In nineteen fifty nine, he enrolled in pre med at Columbia University before graduating as a Doctor of Acupuncture from the Acupuncture Research College of Los Angeles in nineteen seventy four. Most folks today don't know Paul for his medical work, but they sure do recognize the sound of his voice. Of course, he was the voice behind Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith, his ventriloque dummies, but he also was known for voice acting and countless animated cartoons in movies. Among his dozens of roles, he played Dick Dastard Lee on Wacky Racers and Gargamel on The Smurfs. But perhaps he is best remembered as the voice of the energetic Tigger in Disney's original Winnie the Pooh films. Born in New York City as Paul Wilchinsky, Paul Winchell was one of the most beloved and recognized voices in entertainment, and he devoted his mind to pursuing the greater good for the benefits of humanity. He was no dummy, just a guy with a lot of hearts. When the chips are down in a bad situation, your first thought might be to panic. Running away sounds like a great option, but it's not always possible. Sometimes you just have to stay and fight. As Robert Frost put in his poem A Servant to Servants, the best way out is always through. Alvin hailed from Tennessee. From a young age, he managed to see his way through some tough times. His parents owned farm and his father was a blacksmith. Alvin had ten other brothers and sisters, but life was rough for such a large family in nineteen fourteen, everyone had to pitch in around the farm, and when their father died, Alvin got a job as a logger and construction worker to help support the family. He also had a chip on his shoulder. There wasn't a bar in Tennessee. He couldn't fight his way out of but after a brush with religion, he swore he changed his ways. Then he was drafted into World War One in nineteen eighteen, and he didn't let his internal peace stop him from fighting for his country. Alvin got his start as an infantry privates in France before heading into German held territory with the Army's eighty second Airborne Division. Sixteen other soldiers joined Alvin on a special mission on October tenth of nineteen eighteen. They'd been tasked with capturing German soldiers in Chattel Channer Ree, France, as part of the Muzargone Offensive. It was the largest offensive in World War One and in all of US military history. Alvin had an important role to play. He just didn't know it yet. He was one of four officers and thirteen privates under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early. Their goal was to cross into enemy territory and take out the German machine guns. The men snuck in and accomplished their mission, capturing a large group of enemy soldiers. However, while Early and his team were corralling their prisoners, they were ambushed. The Germans had come out of nowhere. They fired from the hills above. No one on the ground could see where they were positioned, though six American soldiers were killed in the gunfire and three more were injured. Among the casualties was Sergeant Early. Seven other men ran for cover and took their German prisoners with them. Alvin, however, knew that they'd never get out alive if he didn't take immediate action. He got on his stomach and aimed his rifle at the one German soldiers standing above who were firing down at him. He knew he had very little AMMO left, so every shot needed to count. One by one, he picked off the gunmen. Those who couldn't see him would peek out, exposing their position. In an instant, Alvin's bullet would fire, and down went another one. A smaller group of Germans separated from the larger pack and charged at him with their bayonets pointed forward. Alvin dropped his rifle and reached for his pistol. He started by taking out the enemies at the back of the group to make those in front think they still had rear cover, and with each shot, York kept telling them that they could surrender at any time. The German soldiers wouldn't stop firing, though, but their commander couldn't stand seeing his men getting killed. So easily, so he told them to stop firing, and he told Alvin that he would surrender if he stopped shooting his men. Alvin agreed. The commander blew a whistle, and the remaining Germans and from their hiding spots, throwing down their guns and emma all except one. One of the commander's men hadn't gotten the message and tossed a grenade at Alvin. It detonated in mid air. Alvin wasn't hurt, It just ticked him off. He killed the offending German, which sent the message to the others that he wasn't messing around. Alvin and his men marched the captured soldiers through enemy territory straight toward the front lines. More machine gun men fired at them until Alvin ordered the commander to blow his whistle again at gunpoints lest he wanted to lose his head. The German agreed, and more enemy soldiers dropped their weapons and joined the parade. By the time York and his men made it across German lines, they were in charge of over one thirty enemy soldiers, which they delivered to military police for holding. Sergeant Alvin York earned a Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. That day, he saved the lives of seven fellow soldiers, killed twenty five Germans, and captured one thirty two more, almost singlehandedly. He was a real life Captain America, except well, you know, a sergeant. 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. Yeah,