If today's stories are any indication, an early start at your dream job is a good thing. But it never guarantees a happy ending.
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 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. On the night of September tenth of two thousand and one, a man lounged on a couch in a New York City hotel suite. Outside his window, the bright lights of Manhattan cut through the darkness. He could see the twin towers jutting upwards, taller than any other buildings in the city. The man hadn't felt this good in a long time. His whole body was exhausted from the show he'd put on a few hours before. But it was okay because his tour was finally over, and for once he wasn't alone in his hotel room. His relatives were there with him. You see, this man was always traveling, always away from home, always missing his family. But that night, his mom and his sister sat across from him, smiling and laughing. I don't know what they talked about. Maybe they told stories about when the man was just a kid, even back then he'd been a star. Maybe they told him how great that evening show had been, how excited the fans at Madison Square Garden had been. Or maybe they asked him what he had going on the next day. If they did, he would have told them this. The very next morning, September eleventh of two thousand and one, he had a meeting on the top floor of the World Trade Center. Whatever they talked about, it must have been a great conversation, because the man's mom and sister didn't leave his hotel room until four o'clock in the morning. By the time they were gone, he was totally drained. He barely remembered to set his alarm before he crawled into bed and fell asleep. Next morning, at eight forty six am, American Airlines Flight eleven crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Seventeen minutes later, Flight one P seventy five struck the South tower. In the process, Manhattan became the setting of the deadliest terrorist attack in US history, with over three thousand people killed. Rubble littered the ground, smoke rose high into the air, and first responders risked their lives to save others. Across the country, new stations played footage of the horrifying tragedy. Even today, it would be difficult to find a single person over the age of thirty that doesn't remember exactly where they were the moment they heard the news. Back then, though, word was still spreading, and in that New York City hotel room, the man's alarm beaped and beaped and beaped. He should have been inside the World Trade Center at the very moment the plane struck, but he was so tired that he had slept through his alarm. It wasn't until the sounds of explosions and sirens broke out that he woke up, got out of bed, and ran to his window. A peaceful scene from the night before was gone. The twin towers were in shambles. Just as he began to understand what happened, the man's hotel phone rang. He picked it up and heard his mom's frantic voice on the other end. She wanted to make sure that her son was alive, he told her, and I quote mother, I'm okay. Thanks to you. You kept me up talking so late that I overslept and missed my appointment and listen the last I slept through my alarm. It pretty much ruined my whole day. But I can't even begin to imagine how grateful this man must have been. He went on to live for another eight years, but those were trying times for him. The man who had once sold out shows at Madison Square Garden became the subject of widespread controversy. Fame, something that he had had since he was eleven years old, took its toll. His legacy had been damaged time and time again, and this might be what inspired his brother to write a memoir. The story about this man narrowly escaping nine to eleven was revealed in his brother's book, which was published in twenty eleven. It also gives more intimate details of the man's life and reminds readers that while he was a complicated and often troubled figure, the impact he made on music and pop culture is undeniable. Without him, there would be no Moonwalk, no glittery White Glove, no thriller Knights. After all, he was Michael Jackson, the King of pop. In September of eighteen sixty three, the Civil War was at its height. The Union and Confederate armies faced off in northwestern Georgia in a conflict now known as the Battle of Chickamauga. It was a horrible, brutal fight, becoming the second deadliest battle of the Civil War, only behind Gettysburg. But in the midst of this fighting stood a very curious soldier. His name was John Clem. He was from Ohio, and he left to join the Union Army a little over two years prior. At first, he served as a drummer for Michigan's twenty second Regiment, but anxious to do more, he quickly traded his drumsticks for a musket. When the twenty second Regiment entered the Battle of Chickamauga on September eighteenth of eighteen sixty three, John Clem marched alongside them for two days. They fought for two days. They stuck together, Then disaster struck. A group of Confederate soldiers surrounded them. John became separated from the rest of his regiment. When he looked up, he found himself staring straight into the eyes of a Confederate colonel. The colonel sized John Clem up and said, and I quote, I think the best thing a mite of a chap like you can do is drop that gun. But John Clem did not drop his gun, quite the opposite. He lifted the musket, aimed it right at the colonel and shot. Then he turned around and sprinted away as fast as he possibly could and behind him. The colonel yelled out some choice words, calling John a damned little Yankee devil. But John probably did hear that bit. He'd managed to make it back across the Union lines and was safely with his fellow fighters. Although the Confederate Army won the battle that day, John Clem survived, and he would soon be honored for his bravery against the colonel. He was promoted from soldier to sergeant, which meant that he was now officially an officer in the US Army. The only catch was John Clem was twelve years old. It's crazy, I know. It was a journey that started just a few years earlier too. John's mother had died when he was nine years old, and after she was gone, he ran away from home in the hope of joining the army. He'd actually been turned away from at least one other regiment on account of the whole thing of being a child. Before the twenty second Michigan regiment accepted him. When they did finally let him in, it was only so that he could be a sort of unofficial mascot slash drummer boy. He was more like an adopted child who the other soldiers took care of than an actual member of the US military. But John kept insisting that he wasn't there to drum, he was there to fight. Eventually, his commander agreed that he could have a musket, although they had to saw part of the end off to make it light enough for the child to carry. Regardless, at the Battle of Chickamauga, John clem clearly proved that he met business. Still, for all his bravery, there was the pesky problem of being a minor. About a year later, in July of eighteen sixty four, the US War Department announced that it would be instituting strict penalties for anyone who allowed boys under the age of sixteen to enlist, So John's commanding officer was forced to let him go. He told the boy, in so many words, that he ought to trade the musket for a pencil and go to school. John followed his commander's orders. From his new place in a high school classroom. He kept in touch with his friends from Michigan's twenty second Regiment, and when he graduated in eighteen seventy, he received nomination to West Point from none other than President Ulysses S. Grant, But that didn't go quite as planned either. John failed the West Point entrance exam. However, due to his highly unique experience, President Grant appointed John as an army lieutenant. Anyway, John Clem spent the next forty four years in the military, eventually rising to the rank of major general. When he retired in nineteen fifteen, he was the last active duty member who had served in the Civil War. He died in nineteen thirty seven and is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery with a headstone that says John Lincoln Clem, the Drummer Boy of Chickamauga, a fitting nickname for such a strange soldier. 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 hou 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 Theworldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.