Episode 1 History Hunt


Episode 1

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I'm Joe Crowley and this is History Hunt,

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where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.

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Big stuff...

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-Incredible, isn't it?

-Whoa.

-It's massive!

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Surprising stuff.

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Clever stuff.

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The clues are everywhere if you know where to look,

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and finding them is fun.

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On this episode of History Hunt, four inquisitive kids

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track down a real life war hero,

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and learn about some big guns to find out why

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a teenager died in a sea battle and became the bravest boy in Britain.

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This is Little Ilford in East London,

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just over the border from Essex.

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We're at the Jack Cornwell Community Centre

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on Jack Cornwell Street, to start today's History Hunt.

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This is Tharshika, Rajeevi, Bradley and Kwasi,

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and today we're going to be looking for clues

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to find out who Jack Cornwell was.

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Right, guys, let's go.

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So, guys, do we think the fact that his name is here

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-that he might have been local?

-ALL: Yes.

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The History Hunters think that

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if he lived round here he might be buried round here, too.

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We can go to the cemetery, and on his grave maybe there'll be

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-information about who Jack Cornwell was.

-Ah, OK.

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-Like what he did.

-When he was born and when he died.

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Come on, then, let's go.

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Jack Cornwell is actually buried in the local cemetery

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in nearby Manor Park, so that's where the hunt started.

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We are on a search for Jack Cornwell.

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This is Jack Cornwell's grave.

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"First-class boy John Travers Cornwell VC

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"dies of wounds received at the Battle of Jutland, 2nd June, 1916."

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-So, did you find the grave?

-ALL: Yes.

-I've even got proof.

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Good, you've got a photo. Tell me what's on there?

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He was born 8th January, 1900,

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died of wounds received at the Battle of Jutland, 1916.

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-1916?

-That means he died during the First World War.

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And what was that first bit, just before his name?

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First-class boy.

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Anything else? He has "VC" after his name. What's VC?

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Vice captain?

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It's a good suggestion, but as they're not too sure

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they'll need further confirmation.

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So, now we have two tasks ahead of us -

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finding out what a first-class boy is, and what VC is.

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We're going to split into two teams. Who wants to work with who?

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OK, boys and girls, how surprising.

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Bradley and Kwasi look up what a VC is online,

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The girls find out that first-class boy was a naval rank,

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so they're off to the local naval cadet centre to see

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if they can get any clues about what Jack's job would have been like.

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Hello, girls, welcome to TS Chester.

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This is the home of Newham Cornwell VC Sea Cadets.

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First we need to get you in uniform, so go and get changed.

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Shoulder arms!

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Guard, into line, left turn!

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This is the kind of training Jackie would have done at Keyham.

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Although the weapons are different,

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the drill manoeuvres are virtually identical.

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-Was it hard for Jack Cornwell?

-Yes, it was very hard,

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he had to be up at 5:45 every morning.

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He crammed a lot of training into a very short time.

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I think it's time you two had a go.

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Remember, don't point it at anyone.

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Just hold that for me.

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It's quite heavy, so be ready for it.

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And if you follow me I'll take you to the drill squad.

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Guard halt!

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Not bad for your first go, well done.

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Kwasi and Bradley's internet research reveals that

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VC stands for Victoria Cross -

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the country's highest award for bravery in the face of enemy attack.

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They've also uncovered someone in the UK who's won a VC like Jack.

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Living VC holders.

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Johnson Gideon Beharry.

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Bradley and Kwasi want to speak to someone who knows

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just what it takes to win a VC, and they're super lucky,

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as Johnson Beharry, the only living man to win a VC in 20 years,

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has agreed to tell them his story.

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This is the boys' chance to speak to a real, modern day war hero.

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Do a lot of people have VCs?

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In the UK, we have five Victoria Crosses alive with the UK medal.

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How do you get one?

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You have to do something brave in the face of enemy fire,

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and you have to be in 97% of losing your life.

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How did you get it?

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I received the Victoria Cross for saving 42 members

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of my comrades in Iraq.

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Private Beharry explains he'd been driving a tank

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in the Iraq War when he was ambushed by enemy fighters

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who attacked his vehicle with rockets and set it on fire.

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His only exit was blocked by a mine in the road.

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Johnson knew that he would almost certainly die

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if he drove over the mine,

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but that his fellow soldiers would probably die if he stayed still.

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Someone had to set the mine off to clear the route.

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And that's what I did, I drove over the mine knowing I was going to die.

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And, still under enemy fire, he helped his comrades to safety.

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A year later, Johnson Beharry became the first living man for 20 years

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to be awarded the VC for his bravery.

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But receiving the award is a huge honour for me.

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Thank you very much we enjoyed chatting with you.

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Thank you, you are welcome.

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Right, hello, guys.

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'Bradley and Kwasi meet the girls outside the Sea Cadet Centre,

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'and the four History Hunters tell me what they've learned.'

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-We learned what sort of clothes he wore.

-Right, how was that?

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-It was itchy.

-Itchy?

-And very heavy. And the rifle he used was...

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Ten times every other than what we use.

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-But a good experience?

-Yeah.

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OK, and you feel you know what he'd have gone through?

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-You know a bit more about him now, do you?

-Yeah.

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How do you get a VC?

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Well, you just have to be willing to give 90% of your life away.

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-Right, you've got to take a huge risk?

-Yeah.

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I was doing a bit of research and I'll show you what I've got here.

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'I'd found Jack's naval service record at the National Archives

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'which mentioned the ship he'd served on - HMS Chester.

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'It also repeated the fact that Jack had won the VC

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'for conspicuous bravery at the Battle of Jutland.

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'So, we need to find out more.'

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-So, where do we go, what do we do?

-The library?

-Very good.

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Anyone we can speak to?

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The people who fought in the Battle of Jutland,

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maybe their relatives are still alive.

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-Yeah, everyone happy with that?

-Yeah.

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Right, here we are at the Imperial War Museum.

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I'm going to introduce you two to a relative of someone

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that served in the battle, OK?

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You guys, I'm going to test your research skills.

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-What could we use to find out a bit more?

-Newspapers?

-Newspapers, yeah.

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-Everyone ready?

-ALL: Yeah.

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Girls, this is Philip Douglas.

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Now, his dad served in the Battle of Jutland.

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The Battle of Jutland was a huge sea battle

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that Jack fought in during the First World War.

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It took place on 31st May, 1916.

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It's really valuable to speak to someone

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so directly connected to the event itself.

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What job did your dad have?

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My father was the Gunnery Commander on HMS Warspite.

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The guns you probably saw as you came into the museum

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were 15 inch guns.

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They're 50 foot long, they weigh 100 tonnes each

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and could be fired over 16 miles.

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Was it hard for him in the battle?

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The battle was very hard indeed.

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It was a very short-lived battle,

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but the biggest battle that has ever taken place at sea.

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That's Jock Cornwell's ship, HMS Chester, and that was

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the gun that he was operating on when he got hit in the chest.

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The Chester got caught out between the two fleets,

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and the Germans managed to hit her

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and did quite a lot of damage but didn't sink her.

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That hole would have been about seven feet across.

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Who won the battle?

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They both claimed they'd won, but nobody was the obvious winner.

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That's interesting, girls, it just shows we can't always trust

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everything we read, even when it's a newspaper in 1916.

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Boy hero of the naval battle.

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John Travers Cornwell of HMS Chester was mortally wounded

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early in the action.

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He nevertheless remained standing alone at the most exposed post

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with the gun crew dead and wounded all around him.

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What did he do that was so brave?

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Well, even though he was wounded he decided to carry on

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and followed the orders of the captain.

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Jack was only a few years older than Bradley and Kwasi when he died,

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and the two History Hunters try to put themselves in his shoes.

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I would have run away or gone to a safer place on the boat.

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I would feel a little bit scared,

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but I would have to make a decision if I either wanted to run away

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or I would fight for my crew members and for the whole of England.

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So, guys, it's been a very productive day.

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What have we learned about our Jack?

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'The team have uncovered loads of information

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'about Jutland Jack Cornwell,

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'but with the story nearly complete, one thing's caught my eye -

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'I wonder if the History Hunters have noticed it, too.'

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We found a newspaper having Jack's face on it.

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You guys took a photo, right? Let's see the photo.

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This is the front page of a newspaper.

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Look at his hat.

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HMS Lancaster.

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-What boat was he on?

-HMS Chester.

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Ah. So what's happened there?

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Maybe they put somebody else's picture in.

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Right, they did.

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'Jack's bravery was an inspiring story to tell people,

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'but because he was dead there was no picture of him

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'to show people what he looked like.'

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That's actually his brother.

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This is wartime, you want to keep people's spirits up,

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they want people to feel good about the war and keep going.

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-We've learnt a lot today, haven't we?

-ALL: Yes.

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So, it seems this community centre was named after a 16-year-old lad

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who was not just a hero to the people of Little Ilford

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but also to young people all around the country.

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And that's the story our History Hunters team has uncovered.

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John Travers Cornwell - or Jack, as he was widely known -

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was born on 8th January, 1900, in the district of West Ham,

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which was then in Essex.

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A year into the First World War, in July, 1915,

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the 15-year-old Jack joined the Royal Navy.

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He was soon sent to war aboard HMS Chester.

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Jack's job was to operate one of the ships' huge guns

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in the war's deadliest sea battle -

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the Battle of Jutland on May 31st, 1916.

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HMS Chester was hit several times by enemy shells,

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and Jack Cornwell was severely injured in the chest.

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With dead and wounded all around him,

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he continued to stand by his weapon awaiting orders until help arrived.

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He was taken to Grimsby hospital, but died two days later

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on 2nd June, 1916.

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He was just 16 years and 5 months old.

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Jack was awarded a full military funeral,

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and in September that same year he was awarded the Victoria Cross

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after his death, for a conspicuous act of bravery.

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Photographs, paintings and cigarette cards

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were all issued in his memory to increase morale but,

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as there was no photograph of Jack,

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his brothers were used as models instead.

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I'm Joe Crowley and this is History Hunt,

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where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.

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'Big stuff.'

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-Incredible, isn't it?

-Whoah!

-It's massive!

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'Surprising stuff.'

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'Clever stuff.

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'The clues are everywhere if you know where to look,

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'and finding them is fun.'

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Today the History Hunt teams are in the lab,

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investigating a scientific scandal.

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Why was a woman who helped make a massive discovery ignored

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when the biggest prize in science was won by her male rivals?

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I'm in Cambridge, home to one of the world's top universities.

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And this is Rosalind Franklin House, a doctor's surgery close to the city

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and the starting point for today's history hunt.

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This is Neil, Elizabeth, Holly and Henry.

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They're today's History Hunters.

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Together we're going to look for clues to find out

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who Rosalind Franklin was and what she did.

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Look what I found.

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This is a picture by Quentin Blake

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at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, OK?

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It says "DNA, Franklin, Crick and Watson."

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'Crick and Watson are dead famous

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'because they cracked the secret of DNA,

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'but the name Franklin is much less well known.

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'The picture does suggest she had something to do with it.

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'We need to find out more about Crick and Watson.'

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If we want to find out more, where would we look?

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Search on the internet.

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-What other form of news do we get?

-The television.

-Television, right.

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1953, there wasn't a lot of television around at that point.

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They went and saw newsreels in cinemas.

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These are often online, so you're going to go and look online.

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I want you to keep an eye out for Crick and Watson.

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You head off to the Chemistry Department

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-and find out a bit more about the background of...

-DNA.

-DNA.

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Come on then, let's go.

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As our Crick and Watson team settle down to some

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internet archive research, the DNA team head off

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to Cambridge University's Chemistry Department.

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There, with help from scientist Adrian Nixon,

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they discover that DNA is in every living thing on earth.

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It's like a big instruction manual.

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It says are you going to have blue eyes or blonde hair?

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For something so important,

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it's surprisingly easy to extract DNA.

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Adrian's using a strawberry and a type of alcohol

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which scientists call ethanol.

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And the DNA is soluble in water - you know what soluble means?

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Yeah, it's a solid which can dissolve.

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Absolutely, but it can't dissolve in ethanol.

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So any DNA that floats into that ethanol,

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suddenly it's not soluble, so it starts clumping together,

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and what you can see here is the DNA and, if we're really lucky,

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we can actually get it to float free of the strawberry.

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You can see it starting to come free.

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So, that is DNA - that's the instruction manual for a strawberry.

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So, what does Rosalind Franklin and Crick and Watson

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have to do with DNA?

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They were the people who came up with the structure of DNA,

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this wonderful, beautiful double helix.

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-I recognise it.

-Where have you seen that so far?

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We saw it in the picture of Rosalind Franklin.

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The Quentin Blake picture.

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Finding the structure of DNA

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was one of the biggest scientific discoveries in history.

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It means that scientists can do things like make new medicines

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and also grow new plants to help feed people living in

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very hot and dry countries and prevent them from going hungry.

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Meanwhile, our Crick and Watson team

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are targeting cinema newsreel archives...

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Julie says try Pathe and Movietone.

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..and they find something on the Movietone site.

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Nobel prize-winners 1962.

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Dr John Kendrew, Dr Francis Crick.

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There you go.

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Like all good historians, they take notes on what they've found.

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-I think we should Skype Joe and tell him what we've found.

-OK.

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Hi, guys. So, how did you get on?

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-We find out that Crick and Watson won prizes.

-Nobel Prize.

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Nobel Prize?

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That's huge, that's the biggest prize a scientist can win.

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You said Crick and Watson - any mention of Rosalind Franklin?

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-No, there's wasn't.

-No.

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'So far, our History Hunters have done well.

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'They've found out that discovering the structure of DNA

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'was a huge breakthrough.'

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It's a really big deal because it helps people create medicine.

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'And Crick and Watson were in the news.

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'They won the Nobel Prize for something to do with DNA.

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'But Rosalind is on Quentin Blake's picture, too,

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'and no mention of her so far.

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'Time to dig deeper in the archives -

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'that's a place where the historical records are kept.'

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Right, guys, Rosalind Franklin hasn't come up much,

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so I think we've got a couple of tasks ahead.

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You guys I want you to look and see what you can find out

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about Rosalind Franklin in the archives, yeah?

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And you guys,

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I've arranged for Rosalind Franklin's niece to come and see us.

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Let's get started.

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You can find out loads from talking to people

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who actually knew someone from history.

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And sometimes they might have original notes

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or drawings or photos, and these can be really important.

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Rosalind's niece is called Shirley.

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-What was her job?

-She was a scientist.

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She was invited to do some work at King's College,

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which was to do with finding out about DNA.

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What connection did she have with Crick and Watson?

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They were both doing work separately on DNA.

0:17:470:17:50

Shirley explained Crick and Watson saw themselves as Rosalind's rivals

0:17:500:17:54

in a race to identify how DNA was made up.

0:17:540:17:57

Part of Rosalind's job was taking a special type of photograph

0:17:570:18:01

which shows what tiny things like DNA actually look like.

0:18:010:18:04

In 1952, Rosalind took a photograph

0:18:060:18:08

that was the final piece in the jigsaw,

0:18:080:18:11

but she didn't realise it at the time.

0:18:110:18:14

Tell me more about the photograph.

0:18:140:18:16

This photograph showed what the structure of the DNA was,

0:18:160:18:19

in a sense.

0:18:190:18:20

But what happened was somebody showed it to Crick and Watson,

0:18:200:18:24

and that's what they used to do their discovering.

0:18:240:18:26

But she didn't know they'd got hold of it.

0:18:260:18:29

It's called Photograph 51.

0:18:290:18:31

The team tell me about Photograph 51 and how and why Rosalind was beaten

0:18:320:18:37

in the race to discover what DNA looked like.

0:18:370:18:40

but Shirley is very close to Rosalind.

0:18:400:18:43

It would be really good to get someone else

0:18:430:18:46

to confirm what she believes.

0:18:460:18:48

It's what good historians do all the time.

0:18:480:18:50

And that's Neil and Elizabeth's job in the Churchill College archives,

0:18:500:18:55

with the help of Cath Senker, a Rosalind Franklin expert.

0:18:550:18:59

She knows all about Photograph 51, which is actually an X-ray.

0:18:590:19:04

What sort of photo does an X-ray take?

0:19:040:19:06

It shows a photo of inside you, your bones.

0:19:060:19:09

When Watson saw Photograph 51,

0:19:090:19:11

his jaw dropped, it was that obvious to him

0:19:110:19:14

that it meant DNA was a helix.

0:19:140:19:16

Cath shows the History Hunters Rosalind's original notebooks

0:19:160:19:20

where she wrote about her research. It seems Shirley's right -

0:19:200:19:24

Photograph 51 was incredibly important,

0:19:240:19:26

and when Crick and Watson saw it

0:19:260:19:28

they knew they'd found the secret of DNA.

0:19:280:19:32

It was hailed as one of the biggest scientific discoveries in history.

0:19:320:19:35

It won them the Nobel Prize, and they became world famous.

0:19:350:19:40

But they failed to say how much they'd relied

0:19:400:19:43

on Rosalind Franklin's work.

0:19:430:19:44

They didn't say, "We used the data from Rosalind Franklin

0:19:440:19:49

"and we've put it in our paper."

0:19:490:19:51

Crick and Watson did mention Rosalind,

0:19:510:19:54

but didn't say how important the photograph had been.

0:19:540:19:57

It seems Shirley was right -

0:19:570:19:59

Rosalind's meticulous work didn't get the credit it deserved.

0:19:590:20:03

But why would that be?

0:20:030:20:04

Some people believe it was the simple fact that she was a woman.

0:20:040:20:09

I spoke to a science historian earlier on.

0:20:090:20:13

This lady is Patricia, and let's see what she had to say.

0:20:130:20:16

The way we tell stories about science,

0:20:160:20:18

we always focus on the great big heroes, we choose one person

0:20:180:20:22

or two people and focus on them,

0:20:220:20:23

and Rosalind Franklin happens not to be one of those two.

0:20:230:20:27

60 years ago, being a woman in science was really very unusual,

0:20:270:20:31

so there was a lot of discrimination against women,

0:20:310:20:33

women couldn't even go and have tea and coffee

0:20:330:20:36

in the same room as the men, so it was a really hard

0:20:360:20:38

for a women to achieve as highly as Rosalind Franklin did.

0:20:380:20:42

Right, so there we go.

0:20:420:20:44

When we're looking at history, we have to put ourselves

0:20:440:20:47

in the situation as it was then,

0:20:470:20:49

and in the 1950s men and women weren't treated equally,

0:20:490:20:53

and that's also part of the reason, perhaps,

0:20:530:20:55

why Rosalind Franklin wasn't celebrated

0:20:550:20:57

for her role in discovering DNA.

0:20:570:20:59

Thanks to all the work you've done today,

0:20:590:21:02

-you know the real story, don't you?

-ALL: Yeah.

0:21:020:21:04

By speaking to family members, experts,

0:21:040:21:06

and going through the archives,

0:21:060:21:08

we've found out a lot about Rosalind Franklin,

0:21:080:21:11

so the doctor's surgery where we started is named after

0:21:110:21:14

a very intelligent scientist who was involved

0:21:140:21:16

in one of the biggest discoveries in the 20th century.

0:21:160:21:19

And that's the story our History Hunters have uncovered.

0:21:190:21:23

Rosalind Franklin was brought up in London

0:21:260:21:28

and studied at Cambridge University in the 1940s.

0:21:280:21:31

It was a very different world from now.

0:21:310:21:34

Very, very few women did science,

0:21:340:21:36

and even when they went to university,

0:21:360:21:38

the men just assumed women shouldn't be doing science.

0:21:380:21:41

In 1950, she was offered a job at Kings College -

0:21:410:21:45

which is part of London University - to work on DNA.

0:21:450:21:49

Every living cell has DNA in it.

0:21:490:21:51

It's vitally important in making us how we are.

0:21:510:21:54

It's like an instruction book for the human body.

0:21:540:21:58

Rosalind was an expert in using X-rays

0:21:580:22:00

to look at how very small things are made up.

0:22:000:22:03

In 1952, she produced Photograph 51,

0:22:040:22:07

which was a real clue to finding the shape of DNA,

0:22:070:22:11

that it was a something called a double helix,

0:22:110:22:13

like two springs coiled together.

0:22:130:22:15

Francis Crick and James Watson - scientists at Cambridge University -

0:22:150:22:20

were also very close to discovering the structure of DNA,

0:22:200:22:24

and then someone showed Jim Watson Rosalind's Photograph 51.

0:22:240:22:28

He was shown that photograph without Rosalind's knowledge,

0:22:280:22:31

and the minute he saw that photograph

0:22:310:22:33

everything fell into place in his mind.

0:22:330:22:35

It was a Rosalind Franklin who took the crucial photograph

0:22:350:22:39

that enabled him to work out how DNA operates.

0:22:390:22:42

Crick and Watson published their discovery in the magazine Nature

0:22:420:22:46

without saying they'd used Rosalind's picture.

0:22:460:22:49

It was a huge breakthrough, and they won the Nobel Prize for it.

0:22:490:22:53

But Rosalind never knew how important her work had been to them.

0:22:530:22:57

She died in 1958, before Crick and Watson won the big prize.

0:22:570:23:03

A lot of women feel very angry about the way

0:23:030:23:06

Rosalind Franklin's been treated.

0:23:060:23:08

If Crick and Watson hadn't already worked out the structure,

0:23:080:23:11

she might have worked it out herself, but what is certain is that

0:23:110:23:15

Rosalind Franklin played a far more important role

0:23:150:23:18

than Jim Watson was ever willing to acknowledge.

0:23:180:23:21

I'm Joe Crowley, and this is History Hunt,

0:23:290:23:31

where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.

0:23:310:23:35

'Big stuff.'

0:23:390:23:40

-Incredible, isn't it?

-Whoa.

-It's massive!

0:23:400:23:43

'Surprising stuff.

0:23:430:23:45

'Clever stuff.

0:23:450:23:46

'The clues are everywhere, if you know where to look.

0:23:460:23:51

'And finding them is fun.'

0:23:510:23:52

Today's History Hunters are on the trail of a man who was

0:24:100:24:13

obsessed with the tiniest things in the universe.

0:24:130:24:16

Atoms - they can be used to make terrible bombs,

0:24:160:24:19

but their peaceful use gives us much of the energy

0:24:190:24:22

we need for our homes.

0:24:220:24:23

This is Todmorden on the Pennine border

0:24:270:24:29

between West Yorkshire and Lancashire.

0:24:290:24:31

It made its fortune in the 19th century as an industrial town,

0:24:310:24:35

milling wool and cotton.

0:24:350:24:36

And it's by one of those old mills you'll find a plaque

0:24:360:24:39

to Sir John Cockcroft.

0:24:390:24:41

And this is James, Hannah, Callum and Maisie.

0:24:420:24:45

They're today's History Hunters, and they're going to find out about it.

0:24:450:24:49

Come on, guys, let's go.

0:24:490:24:50

OK, guys, look what's behind us - a blue plaque.

0:24:530:24:55

Can anyone read the name on it?

0:24:550:24:57

"Sir John Cockcroft lived here from 1899 to 1925."

0:24:570:25:01

Apparently he was a pioneer.

0:25:010:25:04

Pioneer. What does that mean?

0:25:040:25:06

-The one that does it first.

-Yeah, very good.

0:25:060:25:09

'He split the atom, whatever that means,

0:25:090:25:12

'and he won something called a Nobel Prize.'

0:25:120:25:14

Splitting the atom - do you know what that is?

0:25:140:25:17

'The History Hunters decide they need someone to explain

0:25:170:25:21

'what splitting an atom involves.

0:25:210:25:23

'They look online where might be a good place to find

0:25:230:25:26

'a scientist who has the answer.'

0:25:260:25:28

-What have we got?

-Cockcroft Institute.

0:25:280:25:30

That sounds like a winner.

0:25:300:25:32

You guys, I think you should look into this Nobel Prize thing.

0:25:320:25:36

-Where could you find out more information?

-The internet.

0:25:360:25:39

-Anywhere else?

-Museums?

-Museums, yeah, very good.

0:25:390:25:43

While Callum and Maisie follow up on the Cockcroft Institute lead,

0:25:450:25:48

James and Hannah are off to learn more about Nobel Prizes

0:25:480:25:52

at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

0:25:520:25:54

Albert...Alfred Nobel.

0:25:540:25:56

"Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been honouring men and women

0:25:560:26:00

"for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry,

0:26:000:26:02

"medicine, literature and for work in peace.

0:26:020:26:05

"Each prize consists of medals,

0:26:050:26:07

"a personal diploma and a cash award."

0:26:070:26:10

Awesome. I want one of them.

0:26:100:26:11

"The Nobel Prize in physics 1951 was awarded jointly to

0:26:110:26:15

"Sir John Douglas Cockcroft and Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton.

0:26:150:26:20

"He married Eunice Elizabeth Crabtree in 1925

0:26:200:26:23

"and has four daughters and a son."

0:26:230:26:26

-Hi, guys, how are you getting on?

-Good.

-OK.

0:26:290:26:31

I have found a clip in the BBC archives that

0:26:310:26:34

I think will be really useful for you.

0:26:340:26:37

-I'm going to send it across now and I want you to have a look at it.

-OK.

0:26:370:26:41

'In the concert hall at Stockholm, there took place last week

0:26:420:26:45

'the presentation of Nobel Prizes.

0:26:450:26:47

'And from the hands of King Gustaf, said John Cockcroft

0:26:470:26:50

'and Professor Walton received their awards.'

0:26:500:26:52

The atom team are going to meet a scientist at a rugby ground.

0:26:540:26:59

Seems a bit weird.

0:26:590:27:01

Atoms are what everything is made of, and atoms are incredibly small.

0:27:010:27:04

In one of those salt grains...

0:27:040:27:06

Dr Rob Appleby from the Cockcroft Institute tells the team

0:27:060:27:10

that one grain of salt contains a billion billion atoms.

0:27:100:27:14

For a long time, people thought that atoms were the smallest thing.

0:27:140:27:18

Actually, atoms are made of smaller building blocks.

0:27:180:27:21

Dr Appleby explained that at the centre of every atom

0:27:210:27:25

is something called a nucleus, and that's even tinier.

0:27:250:27:30

So if this whole stadium was one tiny atom,

0:27:300:27:34

the nucleus would be smaller than a table tennis ball.

0:27:340:27:38

The rest of the atom would be empty space,

0:27:380:27:41

and in fact, where the stands are now are particles called electrons

0:27:410:27:44

that are whizzing around and around the nucleus at a very high speed.

0:27:440:27:49

And even the nucleus can be broken down into smaller bits.

0:27:490:27:52

The nucleus is made up of smaller particles

0:27:520:27:55

called protons and neutrons.

0:27:550:27:57

So John Cockcroft figured out how to take the nucleus of an atom

0:27:570:28:01

and split it up.

0:28:010:28:02

-Now, how do you do that?

-Drill a hole down the middle?

0:28:020:28:05

That's one way of doing it.

0:28:050:28:07

Sir John Cockcroft used a particle accelerator,

0:28:070:28:09

which takes a little proton and accelerates it to very high speeds,

0:28:090:28:13

so if you fire protons at a nucleus, the nucleus splits up.

0:28:130:28:17

Why would he want to split the atom?

0:28:170:28:19

It turns out that energy comes out.

0:28:190:28:22

That energy is called nuclear power.

0:28:220:28:24

-How did we get on? Have we all been learning lots of things?

-Yes.

0:28:260:28:30

'Time to all meet at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

0:28:300:28:34

'to discuss what we've learned and what to do next.'

0:28:340:28:37

I think you guys need to learn about nuclear power.

0:28:370:28:40

-Where could you learn about nuclear power?

-Newspapers.

-Newspapers.

0:28:400:28:43

-Very good. Anything else.

-On the news.

-On the news.

0:28:430:28:46

Really good suggestions.

0:28:460:28:47

So, I want you to look up a company called British Pathe.

0:28:470:28:50

They've got loads of old news reports. See what you can find out.

0:28:500:28:54

While Callum and Maisie go online to use British Pathe's search engine,

0:28:560:29:00

James and Hannah want to know more

0:29:000:29:02

about the machine called a particle accelerator

0:29:020:29:04

which is used to smash up atoms.

0:29:040:29:07

They've got an invite to the ALICE particle accelerator

0:29:080:29:11

at Daresbury Laboratory.

0:29:110:29:13

So inside this vessel is a Cockcroft-Walton power supply.

0:29:130:29:18

This is a key contribution from John Cockcroft

0:29:180:29:21

to the science of particle accelerators.

0:29:210:29:24

Dr Lee Jones is a particle scientist

0:29:240:29:26

and he explains that to smash an atom

0:29:260:29:29

you need to make the particles go very, very fast.

0:29:290:29:32

And to do that, you need massive amounts of electricity.

0:29:330:29:36

Sir John Cockcroft's machine, using the Cockcroft-Walton voltage ladder,

0:29:380:29:42

made this possible for the very first time.

0:29:420:29:45

The Cockcroft-Walton ladder multiplies voltage.

0:29:450:29:48

So we have 5,000 volts on the top

0:29:480:29:50

and 500,000 volts on the bottom.

0:29:500:29:52

That gives as the high voltage that we need

0:29:520:29:54

to accelerate our charged particles.

0:29:540:29:56

Dr Jones explains that the high voltages mean

0:29:560:29:59

the charged particles soon end up going at super-fast speeds.

0:29:590:30:03

How long does it take for an electron

0:30:030:30:06

to get round the accelerator?

0:30:060:30:08

An accelerator is about 70 metres long.

0:30:080:30:10

It would take some slightly over 210 nanoseconds.

0:30:100:30:14

A nanosecond is a thousandth of a millionth of a second.

0:30:140:30:18

So could you use this to split the atom?

0:30:180:30:21

You would use exactly the same technology to split your atom.

0:30:210:30:24

The machine Sir John invented allowed scientists to split the atom

0:30:240:30:28

whenever they wanted, and every time they did,

0:30:280:30:31

huge amounts of energy were released.

0:30:310:30:34

Callum and Maisie's job

0:30:340:30:35

is to look for how Sir John's discovery was used.

0:30:350:30:38

They found old news reports that showed that scientists

0:30:380:30:41

built on Cockcroft's work

0:30:410:30:42

and soon worked out ways of using this reliable release of energy.

0:30:420:30:46

They find out that Sir John's work led to scientists in America

0:30:460:30:50

building a huge bomb that used the power created by splitting atoms.

0:30:500:30:54

But they also find out Sir John worked at somewhere called Harwell,

0:30:580:31:01

which looked to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy,

0:31:010:31:05

just like it said on the plaque.

0:31:050:31:07

A report from 1956 explained how splitting the atom

0:31:070:31:11

could be turned into electricity for people's homes.

0:31:110:31:14

'The research done here has made possible the huge power plant

0:31:140:31:17

'at Calder Hall which soon will be going into operation, making Britain

0:31:170:31:21

'the proud owner of the world's biggest nuclear power station.

0:31:210:31:25

'Heat from the atomic pile in the reactor

0:31:250:31:27

'is applied to heat exchangers which produce steam.

0:31:270:31:29

'Along these pipes, the steam travels to the generator building

0:31:290:31:33

'which houses the giant turbines.'

0:31:330:31:35

Next, Hannah and James are meeting

0:31:360:31:38

some of Sir John Cockcroft's relatives.

0:31:380:31:41

Son Chris and nephew Peter Cockcroft

0:31:410:31:43

have brought along a few of his things as well as their memories.

0:31:430:31:46

Sir John has become a really important man in history,

0:31:460:31:50

but to them, he was a good dad and a wise uncle.

0:31:500:31:53

This is his faithful suitcase that he took on many journeys overseas.

0:31:530:31:57

In here, we've got some pictures of him.

0:31:570:31:59

This one which was taken at the Nobel Prize giving.

0:31:590:32:02

You've got my father being presented with the Nobel Prize medal

0:32:020:32:06

by the King of Sweden.

0:32:060:32:07

Here is a picture of my father receiving the Freedom of Todmorden.

0:32:070:32:11

-I think you said it was 1949.

-'46.

-'46.

-1946.

0:32:110:32:14

What was he like as a father?

0:32:140:32:16

He always had an open door for the family.

0:32:160:32:19

He gave us lots of good advice and he was a wonderful dad,

0:32:190:32:23

really, even though he was away an awful lot.

0:32:230:32:25

Guys, well done today. I know you have learned a lot.

0:32:270:32:29

It doesn't get any more complicated than that.

0:32:290:32:31

'At the end of a mind-boggling day,

0:32:310:32:33

'the History Hunters tell me what they've learned.'

0:32:330:32:37

Have we got our heads around how a nuclear power plant works?

0:32:370:32:40

You've got the atom that's split

0:32:400:32:45

and it creates the heat which turns the wheel

0:32:450:32:49

which creates the energy

0:32:490:32:52

which creates the electricity that goes around.

0:32:520:32:55

-Yeah.

-And then it goes to homes.

0:32:550:32:57

Goes to your home, my home, goes everywhere.

0:32:570:33:00

-So now can we all see how important Sir John Cockcroft was?

-Yes.

0:33:000:33:05

Yeah.

0:33:050:33:06

From a small plaque in Todmorden,

0:33:060:33:08

today's History Hunters have travelled across the North West

0:33:080:33:11

to discover more about the amazing life of Sir John Cockcroft,

0:33:110:33:14

a real pioneer,

0:33:140:33:16

whose work spread much further than his hometown of Todmorden.

0:33:160:33:21

John Cockcroft was born in 1897 in Todmorden in Lancashire

0:33:240:33:29

to a family of mill owners.

0:33:290:33:30

He was fascinated by mathematics and the world around him.

0:33:300:33:34

In the 1920s, he started to research the properties

0:33:340:33:37

of the smallest particles in the universe - atoms.

0:33:370:33:40

John Cockcroft and his partner Ernest Walton wanted to know

0:33:400:33:44

what would happen if you split up the nucleus of an atom.

0:33:440:33:47

In 1932, they invented a machine called a voltage multiplier

0:33:470:33:51

that could create enough energy to reliably split atoms

0:33:510:33:55

time after time the first time anyone in the world had done this.

0:33:550:33:59

The discovery led to Sir John Cockcroft winning the Nobel Prize,

0:33:590:34:03

one of the top awards in the world.

0:34:030:34:05

They also discovered this reaction created huge amounts

0:34:050:34:09

of heat and light energy which they knew could be useful.

0:34:090:34:12

The first application of splitting the atom was to take this energy

0:34:120:34:16

and create a nuclear bomb

0:34:160:34:18

that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Japan.

0:34:180:34:21

Cockcroft spent the rest of his life trying to invent peaceful uses

0:34:210:34:26

for this atomic energy,

0:34:260:34:27

and in 1956 his work led directly

0:34:270:34:29

to the opening of the first nuclear power station in the world

0:34:290:34:33

at Calder Hall in Cumbria.

0:34:330:34:35

By focussing on the very smallest particles known to man,

0:34:350:34:38

Sir John Cockcroft had laid the basis for creating

0:34:380:34:41

a new source of energy for the world's homes.

0:34:410:34:44

I'm Joe Crowley, and this is History Hunt,

0:34:500:34:53

where children investigate exciting stuff from the past.

0:34:530:34:56

Big stuff.

0:34:590:35:00

-Incredible, isn't it?

-Wow! It's massive.

0:35:000:35:03

Surprising stuff.

0:35:030:35:04

Clever stuff.

0:35:060:35:07

The clues are everywhere if you know where to look,

0:35:070:35:11

and finding them is fun.

0:35:110:35:14

The History Hunters are thinking big

0:35:280:35:31

and finding out about a man who won a competition

0:35:310:35:34

and got to design a giant cathedral that took 70 years to build.

0:35:340:35:38

That's a bit different from his other famous design -

0:35:380:35:41

a tiny telephone box.

0:35:410:35:43

Today, I'm in Liverpool, home to the Beatles, the Mersey Ferry

0:35:450:35:48

and one or two football clubs.

0:35:480:35:50

But the real reason I'm here is to try to piece together

0:35:500:35:53

the story of a local historical figure

0:35:530:35:55

who literally changed the landscape of Liverpool.

0:35:550:35:58

And giving me a hand on this chilly day

0:36:000:36:02

are Erin, Jade, Elliott and Jack.

0:36:020:36:05

They are today's History Hunters. Right, guys, let's go.

0:36:050:36:08

Behind us is our starting clue, the big, red thing. What is it?

0:36:100:36:14

-A telephone box.

-Good.

0:36:140:36:16

Now we have mobiles, telephone boxes don't get used so often,

0:36:160:36:20

but they're still a symbol of Britain,

0:36:200:36:22

and there are thousands across the country.

0:36:220:36:24

What could be historically important about a telephone box?

0:36:240:36:28

-How long it's been around.

-Yes, anything else?

0:36:280:36:30

-The person who made it.

-The person who made it. Yeah, very good.

0:36:300:36:33

Like old London buses and red postboxes,

0:36:330:36:36

they're instantly recognisable,

0:36:360:36:38

but someone had to decide what they looked like.

0:36:380:36:41

If we wanted to find out more about the design, where would we go?

0:36:410:36:45

-A museum.

-Museum, that's a good suggestion.

0:36:450:36:47

'The team work out the telephone box was in some ways

0:36:470:36:49

'a type of building - it's got doors and a roof, just like a house.'

0:36:490:36:54

-Who designs a house? Any idea?

-Architect.

0:36:540:36:58

So if we want to find out more about the design of the phone box

0:36:580:37:01

and who was behind it,

0:37:010:37:03

I reckon an architect is a really good place to go, OK?

0:37:030:37:05

This is Mushtaq. He's an architect.

0:37:110:37:14

We've been looking at the telephone boxes

0:37:140:37:17

and we'd like to know who gets picked for the designs and how?

0:37:170:37:21

The K2 telephone box was a competition.

0:37:210:37:24

They chose that design from lots of different designs

0:37:240:37:27

from lots of different architects.

0:37:270:37:29

Lots of building designs are chosen this way.

0:37:290:37:32

Mushtaq shows us the designs for a competition he'd won.

0:37:320:37:35

This is it. It's a cafe building on a park.

0:37:350:37:39

We came up with an idea that was very different to everyone else's.

0:37:390:37:43

It's a bit like origami,

0:37:430:37:44

and that's what won the competition for us.

0:37:440:37:47

Where can we see the telephone box entry?

0:37:470:37:50

Well, sometimes the RIBA,

0:37:500:37:51

which is the Royal Institute of British Architects,

0:37:510:37:55

they hold competition entries.

0:37:550:37:58

It sounds like a good clue,

0:37:580:38:00

so we all headed off to the local branch of the RIBA

0:38:000:38:03

to take a look on their online photographic archives.

0:38:030:38:06

-What do you think we should search?

-The K2.

-K2! Well done, Elliott.

0:38:060:38:11

We know it's called K2, don't we? What is that looked like?

0:38:110:38:14

-A telephone box.

-Telephone box!

0:38:140:38:17

So that is clearly a design on paper for the telephone box.

0:38:170:38:22

The history hunters are looking at the actual

0:38:220:38:24

original designs for the phone box!

0:38:240:38:26

They showed the designer was called Giles Gilbert Scott. Result!

0:38:260:38:31

It also says he was born in 1880 and died in 1960

0:38:310:38:34

and that the telephone box design was for a competition in 1924.

0:38:340:38:39

The History Hunters look to see what else he had designed.

0:38:390:38:43

They all had a theme.

0:38:430:38:44

They all have big towers and they're big buildings.

0:38:440:38:48

Yeah, they're huge, aren't they?

0:38:480:38:50

'They wonder if he had anything to do with

0:38:500:38:52

'Liverpool's biggest building. That also has a big tower.'

0:38:520:38:56

The Anglican Cathedral.

0:38:560:38:58

I'd say it was one of the biggest buildings in Liverpool.

0:38:580:39:02

-Look, the designer is...

-Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

-Yeah!

0:39:020:39:06

The archive shows that the cathedral was also

0:39:070:39:09

the result of a competition, held in 1903.

0:39:090:39:12

And the competition was won by the same man -

0:39:120:39:16

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

0:39:160:39:18

That meant Sir Giles was only 22 when he won the competition!

0:39:180:39:24

It appears the red telephone box is closely linked

0:39:240:39:26

to one of Liverpool's most famous buildings.

0:39:260:39:29

There's only one place to go to search for more clues.

0:39:290:39:33

-What a building! Look at that tower! Incredible, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:39:330:39:37

What sorts of things might we find out at a place like this?

0:39:370:39:40

-The model of the church that he made?

-Something about the design.

0:39:400:39:44

If we want to find out more about the building,

0:39:440:39:46

what sorts of sources would we see?

0:39:460:39:49

-Files and documents.

-Good.

0:39:490:39:51

-Anything else that's not actually handwritten?

-Pictures.

-Good.

0:39:510:39:55

But let's not forget why we are here in the first place.

0:39:550:39:58

The cathedral's amazing, and that's also a historical source,

0:39:580:40:02

so remember to keep your eyes open and keep looking at the building.

0:40:020:40:05

OK? We are going to split into two teams.

0:40:050:40:08

The guys want to speak to the people who knew Sir Giles the best,

0:40:080:40:12

so we arrange for a real-life relative or three of Sir Giles

0:40:120:40:16

to chat to them.

0:40:160:40:17

The others are being given a real privilege

0:40:170:40:20

and allowed to see the actual designs Sir Giles made

0:40:200:40:23

and old photos of the cathedral's construction.

0:40:230:40:26

These are the drawers where we keep all the drawings

0:40:260:40:29

Giles Gilbert Scott did.

0:40:290:40:31

He did hundreds and hundreds of drawings every single year.

0:40:310:40:34

You know there was a competition to build the cathedral?

0:40:340:40:37

-Yes.

-Well, lots of people entered,

0:40:370:40:39

but they had to choose just six designs

0:40:390:40:43

to see who was going to win the competition,

0:40:430:40:46

and these are some of the early designs.

0:40:460:40:48

This one's from a very famous architect called

0:40:480:40:51

Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

0:40:510:40:53

And there's the one Scott had originally as his entrance.

0:40:530:40:57

What do you think is different, Jack?

0:40:570:41:00

-It's only got one tower.

-Why you think he changed his mind?

0:41:000:41:03

He grew older and he had different ideas

0:41:030:41:06

and the first design is very fussy and cluttered and ornate,

0:41:060:41:11

this one is much simpler.

0:41:110:41:13

There's an interesting one there. That's Mr Scott there, yes.

0:41:130:41:16

How many people worked on it, because it's so big?

0:41:160:41:18

Over the years that it took to build the whole cathedral,

0:41:180:41:23

there were hundreds and hundreds of men worked on the cathedral.

0:41:230:41:26

Some of them started when they were only 14 and they carried on

0:41:260:41:30

until they were old men.

0:41:300:41:31

They worked the whole of their life building this cathedral.

0:41:310:41:34

Do you notice anything about the dress of the people?

0:41:340:41:37

-What's missing, do you think?

-Helmets.

-Helmets, yes.

0:41:370:41:41

You won't see one hardhat in any of these photographs.

0:41:410:41:44

Did Gilbert Scott live to see his cathedral fully built?

0:41:440:41:49

No, he didn't, because he died in 1960

0:41:490:41:52

and the cathedral wasn't actually finished until 1978.

0:41:520:41:56

So it was finished a long time after he died.

0:41:560:41:59

Sir Giles's son Richard, daughter-in-law Eline

0:42:020:42:05

and grandson Nicholas have brought some photographs

0:42:050:42:08

to show Erin and Jade. It's a terrific opportunity to meet people

0:42:080:42:12

who really knew the man himself.

0:42:120:42:15

That's Giles there. He was rather a sweet little boy.

0:42:150:42:21

-Apparently, he didn't enjoy school very much, did he?

-No.

0:42:210:42:26

That's Giles, and you see the little boy on his shoulder?

0:42:260:42:29

Guess who that is.

0:42:290:42:31

Richard is now nearly 90 years old!

0:42:320:42:35

What was he like as a dad?

0:42:350:42:37

He was a great dad.

0:42:370:42:40

Mischievous and humble.

0:42:400:42:43

How did he get to design something so big?

0:42:430:42:46

He won a competition at the age of 22.

0:42:460:42:52

Formerly, he designed a pipe rack,

0:42:520:42:58

-but nothing else.

-A pipe rack!

0:42:580:43:01

-Do you know what a pie rack is?

-No.

-You know people who smoke pipes?

0:43:010:43:05

-Oh, yeah.

-It's just something to pop your pipe in.

0:43:050:43:07

So it's quite a big jump.

0:43:070:43:09

They had great faith in him, even though he was so young.

0:43:090:43:13

-Was he at it 24/7?

-He was at it all his life.

0:43:130:43:18

And he changed it many times.

0:43:180:43:23

He often said that his rubber was his best friend.

0:43:230:43:29

-Would he be proud of it?

-No.

0:43:290:43:32

The west end is completely different to his design.

0:43:320:43:39

Guys, what a day. I imagine your heads are about to explode with all

0:43:420:43:46

the information you've got, so sum it up for me.

0:43:460:43:49

Starting with the red telephone box, what do we know about that?

0:43:490:43:52

-Sir Giles Scott invented them.

-Yeah.

0:43:520:43:55

-It was designed in 1924.

-Brilliant. Anything else?

0:43:550:43:59

He won a competition when he was 22.

0:43:590:44:02

Yeah, so he's a young guy in his early 20s.

0:44:020:44:04

He wins a competition, and what's he going to build?

0:44:040:44:08

-He was to build this.

-This! You guys spoke to his family.

0:44:080:44:12

-What did you learn from that?

-That he was a mischievous man.

0:44:120:44:16

Yeah, that's quite nice, isn't it? Anything else?

0:44:160:44:18

His son said that his rubber was his best friend,

0:44:180:44:22

because he swapped and changed everything.

0:44:220:44:25

-He didn't finish it until 18 years after he died.

-Yeah.

0:44:250:44:28

-Because he kept on changing it.

-Well done today, guys. Good work.

0:44:280:44:31

I think that's first-class history hunting.

0:44:310:44:34

The team have been all over Liverpool trying to work out

0:44:340:44:37

the story behind the red telephone box,

0:44:370:44:39

and it seems Sir Giles Gilbert Scott,

0:44:390:44:41

the man who designed the red telephone box,

0:44:410:44:43

played a huge part in making Liverpool look the way it does.

0:44:430:44:47

That's the story our History Hunters have uncovered.

0:44:470:44:51

Giles Gilbert Scott was born in 1880.

0:44:540:44:58

Aged just 22, he won a competition to design

0:44:580:45:01

Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral in 1903.

0:45:010:45:04

The cathedral was Scott's first job

0:45:040:45:06

but it wasn't his only major project.

0:45:060:45:08

After winning the competition to design the cathedral,

0:45:080:45:12

he went on to design huge buildings across the UK.

0:45:120:45:15

But perhaps his most recognisable work was far smaller.

0:45:170:45:20

They may not be used as much these days,

0:45:200:45:22

but at their peak there were around 70,000 red telephone boxes

0:45:220:45:26

across the UK.

0:45:260:45:27

Scott came up with a design for the K2 box in 1924.

0:45:270:45:31

His hugely influential work across Britain

0:45:310:45:34

led to Sir Giles becoming knighted in 1924

0:45:340:45:37

and becoming the president

0:45:370:45:39

of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1933.

0:45:390:45:42

The cathedral remained his most famous building

0:45:420:45:46

and its construction dominated his life.

0:45:460:45:49

In fact, it remained unfinished when he died in 1960.

0:45:490:45:52

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott was a hugely influential architect

0:45:520:45:55

who left his mark not only on the skyline of Liverpool,

0:45:550:45:59

but for a while at least, on almost every street corner in the country.

0:45:590:46:03

I'm Joe Crowley and this is History Hunt,

0:46:100:46:13

where children like you investigate exciting stuff from the past.

0:46:130:46:16

Big stuff.

0:46:200:46:21

-Incredible, isn't it?

-It's massive!

0:46:210:46:24

Surprising stuff.

0:46:240:46:25

Clever stuff.

0:46:260:46:28

The clues are everywhere

0:46:280:46:30

IF you know where to look... and finding them is fun.

0:46:300:46:35

In this episode, four History Hunters discover

0:46:500:46:53

why men who tried to fly like birds crash-landed,

0:46:530:46:57

until one amazing but largely forgotten man

0:46:570:47:00

invented something WAY ahead of his time -

0:47:000:47:02

the world's first flying machine.

0:47:020:47:05

I'm here at the Great British seaside, Scarborough,

0:47:050:47:09

on Yorkshire's east coast.

0:47:090:47:11

Blue plaques are often found on important buildings

0:47:110:47:15

and there's one here, but who was Sir George Cayley?

0:47:150:47:18

This is Kitty, Will, Jasmine and Calvin - today's History Hunters.

0:47:200:47:24

We're all going to try and piece together

0:47:240:47:27

the story of Sir George Cayley. C'mon, guys, let's go!

0:47:270:47:30

Right, guys, this is Paradise House

0:47:350:47:37

and we have a very attractive blue plaque up on the wall.

0:47:370:47:41

Who wants to read it out?

0:47:410:47:42

"Sir George Cayley, 'The Father of...Aeronautics'.

0:47:420:47:46

"Born at Scarborough, 1773.

0:47:460:47:49

"Died at Brompton Hall, 1857."

0:47:490:47:52

What do we know from looking at that?

0:47:520:47:54

His nickname - what he got called after all the things he did.

0:47:540:47:58

So he's known as "The Father of Aeronautics," very good.

0:47:580:48:02

-Aeronautics, anyone know what that is?

-Is it flight?

-Flight? Yeah!

0:48:020:48:06

If we want to know more about aeronautics, who could we speak to?

0:48:060:48:10

-The pilot of a plane?

-Pilot, that's a good idea.

0:48:100:48:13

Owner of a plane.

0:48:130:48:15

The History Hunters wonder if Sir Richard Branson -

0:48:150:48:19

who owns an airline and is mad about flying - might talk to them.

0:48:190:48:22

So, team one are off to see if they can track him down,

0:48:220:48:26

whilst team two are going to speak

0:48:260:48:28

to Sir George's great-great-great granddaughter, Belinda

0:48:280:48:31

and her husband Mark at Brompton Hall.

0:48:310:48:35

They tell Jasmine and Calvin what an amazing person Sir George was.

0:48:350:48:39

He lived in this house, Brompton Hall.

0:48:390:48:42

This is his workshop where he did all his drawings and experiments.

0:48:420:48:46

He invented a fountain pen, a submarine, a fire screen

0:48:460:48:50

for safety at theatres and also the tension reel for bicycles.

0:48:500:48:56

But in an era with no cars, very few trains and certainly no aeroplanes,

0:48:560:49:01

Sir George's hours of thinking

0:49:010:49:04

resulted in one amazing discovery in particular.

0:49:040:49:08

He studied why it was that birds flew

0:49:080:49:12

and from that, why an aeroplane might fly.

0:49:120:49:16

Originally, people thought birds could only stay up

0:49:160:49:18

cos they flapped their wings.

0:49:180:49:20

Various people made models of birds for themselves with big wings

0:49:200:49:25

and jumped off buildings flapping their wings

0:49:250:49:28

but they had very poor results on the whole

0:49:280:49:31

and one or two big crashes when they landed miles below.

0:49:310:49:34

Mark explains Sir George realised that sometimes birds flew

0:49:340:49:38

without flapping their wings.

0:49:380:49:40

This led to his breakthrough discovery,

0:49:400:49:43

what really makes wings stay in the air - something called lift.

0:49:430:49:48

This is a little model of an aerofoil.

0:49:480:49:51

Let's say, if you like, a little aeroplane.

0:49:510:49:54

Now what I'm going to ask you to do is to blow hard. Here we go.

0:49:540:49:59

There we are, that got some lift!

0:49:590:50:01

That's better. A good, hard one. I'll give it one final blow.

0:50:020:50:07

That's what actually makes aeroplanes go up.

0:50:070:50:12

Sir George quickly realised the significance of his discovery.

0:50:120:50:16

It was so important, he scratched it into the wall

0:50:160:50:19

cos he thought if it was on a piece of paper,

0:50:190:50:22

and it was thrown away, all he'd discovered would be lost.

0:50:220:50:26

So, right here, in Yorkshire, this is where flying started.

0:50:260:50:29

Back in Scarborough, the man who owns an entire airline,

0:50:310:50:35

Sir Richard Branson, has agreed to chat to Will and Kitty online.

0:50:350:50:38

He tells them that 150 years ago, Sir George built a glider

0:50:380:50:42

that in theory at least, should roll down a hill and take off.

0:50:420:50:46

That was 50 years before

0:50:460:50:48

the American Wright brothers flew a plane.

0:50:480:50:50

One day he asked his coachman if he'd like to fly in the plane,

0:50:500:50:54

so he climbed into the plane and to his horror, it took off

0:50:540:50:59

and it flew across the Dales

0:50:590:51:01

and I think at the other side of the Dales it crashed

0:51:010:51:04

and I think he broke his leg or arm,

0:51:040:51:07

and he promptly resigned the next day.

0:51:070:51:09

150 years later, we decided to see

0:51:090:51:11

if we could build a replica of the plane

0:51:110:51:14

and somebody said, "Richard, would you like to fly it?"

0:51:140:51:17

To my horror, the plane took off,

0:51:170:51:19

flew across the Dales and crashed on the other side

0:51:190:51:22

but we had proven that it could fly

0:51:220:51:25

using that basic craft that he designed.

0:51:250:51:27

Then you went from small planes to enormous planes

0:51:270:51:30

like the Boeing 747.

0:51:300:51:33

I think George Cayley should be really proud of what he'd done.

0:51:330:51:36

The sad thing is, you know,

0:51:360:51:39

he never saw his dream become a reality.

0:51:390:51:41

I think he's not just a local hero, he's a British hero

0:51:410:51:45

and he's a global hero.

0:51:450:51:47

Back at the impressive staircase at Brompton Hall

0:51:480:51:51

where Sir George did many of his experiments on lift,

0:51:510:51:54

the young historians tell me what they've learnt.

0:51:540:51:57

How important do we think Sir George was?

0:51:570:52:00

Very important, cos it's led to space travel and aeroplanes

0:52:000:52:05

and commercial flights.

0:52:050:52:07

Really? So, everything we have now, we can track it all the way back

0:52:070:52:11

to these original ideas from Sir George Cayley?

0:52:110:52:15

And you guys spoke to Sir Richard Branson.

0:52:150:52:18

Sir Richard had heard about George Cayley's glider, had he?

0:52:180:52:21

-Yeah, and he sort of did a replica and he flew it himself.

-Really?!

0:52:210:52:25

The only thing he changed was he put a seat belt in it.

0:52:250:52:28

So now we know at least one replica glider exists,

0:52:280:52:31

I think it's time to track one down.

0:52:310:52:34

The glider is currently on display at the Yorkshire Air Museum.

0:52:340:52:38

-I think it's time to go and see the glider.

-Yeah.

-Sounds like a plan?

0:52:380:52:41

-ALL:

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

0:52:410:52:44

Does anyone get the idea we've come to the right place

0:52:480:52:51

to learn about planes?

0:52:510:52:53

-ALL:

-Yeah!

-Yes, good, OK. We learnt about lift earlier.

0:52:530:52:56

What I want you two to do, is go and see an engineer.

0:52:560:53:00

Find out how you make that lift work with wings on an actual aircraft.

0:53:000:53:04

You two are coming with me.

0:53:040:53:05

-We'll try and find a glider. Everyone ready?

-Yeah.

0:53:050:53:08

Let's go.

0:53:080:53:10

Kitty and Will are going to speak to an engineer

0:53:120:53:16

from a company that builds aircraft.

0:53:160:53:19

Andrew White tells the History Hunters just how amazing

0:53:190:53:22

Cayley's discovery of lift was and how it's still used today.

0:53:220:53:26

For an aeroplane to fly, it has to create lift

0:53:260:53:29

and that's done by angling the wing upwards into the airflow

0:53:290:53:32

and it turns the air as it goes past the wing.

0:53:320:53:35

The shape and angle of an aeroplane wing changes the air around it.

0:53:350:53:39

This means that above the wing you get low pressure

0:53:390:53:42

and underneath it, you get high pressure.

0:53:420:53:45

That low pressure above the wing sucks the aeroplane upwards.

0:53:450:53:49

I'll show you what I mean.

0:53:490:53:51

We're going to use this tube.

0:53:510:53:53

That's going to travel very fast and that's going to be stationary.

0:53:530:53:57

So that's low pressure and that's high pressure.

0:53:570:54:00

Let's tip it out and try. Are you ready?

0:54:000:54:03

It's going, it's going.

0:54:060:54:07

The low pressure air at the top of the hose

0:54:070:54:10

sucks up the paper confetti.

0:54:100:54:12

That difference between the low pressure at the top,

0:54:120:54:15

high pressure at the bottom, is what sucks the wing

0:54:150:54:18

and lifts the aeroplane into the air.

0:54:180:54:20

To put the theory into practice,

0:54:200:54:22

Kitty and Will attempt to make one of Sir George's early designs

0:54:220:54:26

for a flying machine.

0:54:260:54:27

This is a picture that Sir George drew himself

0:54:270:54:30

of the very first proper aeroplane.

0:54:300:54:33

It's got a tail at the back, wing at the front -

0:54:330:54:36

a balanced weight, and that tail is used for stability and control.

0:54:360:54:40

No-one had ever done that before, that's what's so revolutionary.

0:54:400:54:44

It left the wing to just deal with lift.

0:54:440:54:46

So, we're going to make one.

0:54:460:54:48

-Shall we see if it works?

-Three, two, one.

0:54:540:54:58

The small designs show the principle,

0:55:010:55:03

but Jasmine and Calvin have found Cayley's real breakthrough glider

0:55:030:55:07

hanging up in the museum.

0:55:070:55:09

It was the world's first ever aeroplane.

0:55:090:55:12

-Guys, what d'you think of this?

-Whoa!

-Oh, my God! Wow!

0:55:120:55:16

That is massive!

0:55:160:55:17

-Bigger than you expected?

-Yeah!

0:55:170:55:20

Let me show you what the original designs were

0:55:200:55:23

and see if you think it matches it quite closely.

0:55:230:55:25

So...

0:55:250:55:26

That was the design, the wings the same shape -

0:55:270:55:31

-a funny shape, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:55:310:55:33

-So, imagine you're in that.

-Yeah!

0:55:330:55:36

-Imagine you're the one flying it. How would that feel?

-Freaky!

0:55:360:55:40

-Amazing.

-Freaky and amazing!

0:55:400:55:43

And pretty scary when it's going... at full tilt...up a hill!

0:55:430:55:47

I understand why people thought it wouldn't fly.

0:55:470:55:50

It might not look like it could fly, but 30 years ago

0:55:500:55:53

a team of engineers and flying enthusiasts gave it a good shot

0:55:530:55:58

at the same site Sir George had flown his planes, 120 years before.

0:55:580:56:03

Have a look at this.

0:56:030:56:04

Can you see how that works once it hits a certain speed?

0:56:040:56:08

-It goes over...

-It creates enough lift to take it off the ground. Wow!

0:56:080:56:12

That's going a lot higher!

0:56:120:56:14

From watching that, can you see how it would have taken to the air?

0:56:140:56:17

And how the man would have got a sore bottom!

0:56:170:56:20

Right, guys, you've joined us, excellent.

0:56:200:56:23

Fresh from making their models,

0:56:230:56:24

Kitty and Will are back to discuss today's findings.

0:56:240:56:28

Final question, then - why isn't Sir George Cayley very well known?

0:56:280:56:32

-The Wright brothers had put an engine in theirs...

-Right.

0:56:320:56:36

..and George Cayley hadn't,

0:56:360:56:38

cos engines hadn't really been made when George Cayley was around.

0:56:380:56:43

I think we can all agree now after today's History Hunt

0:56:430:56:46

that we know that Sir George Cayley - he put in the groundwork.

0:56:460:56:49

Finally, guys, thinking back to that blue plaque,

0:56:490:56:52

does Sir George Cayley deserve the title of "Father of Aeronautics?"

0:56:520:56:56

-ALL:

-Yes.

0:56:560:56:57

It's been a fascinating look through the history

0:56:570:57:00

of a major, early Victorian inventor

0:57:000:57:02

who's been overlooked by the history books.

0:57:020:57:05

It seems that small blue plaque in Scarborough commemorates a man

0:57:050:57:09

who almost certainly changed the world forever,

0:57:090:57:12

and that's the story our History Hunters' team has uncovered.

0:57:120:57:16

The Wright brothers have become famous

0:57:180:57:21

as the inventors of the aeroplane,

0:57:210:57:23

but the principles that allow us to fly

0:57:230:57:26

were in fact discovered nearly 50 years earlier

0:57:260:57:29

by a proud Yorkshireman called Sir George Cayley.

0:57:290:57:32

He was born here, in Scarborough, in 1773.

0:57:320:57:36

Sir George Cayley's hours in this workshop

0:57:360:57:39

resulted in dozens of inventions.

0:57:390:57:41

The most important discovery here

0:57:410:57:44

was a calculation that showed just how a plane goes in the air.

0:57:440:57:48

This simple drawing describes the principle of lift.

0:57:480:57:51

It was so important, he scratched it in the doorframe of the workshop

0:57:510:57:55

so it could never be lost.

0:57:550:57:57

Cayley designed a series of gliders to prove his theory,

0:57:570:58:00

including this one in 1804,

0:58:000:58:03

that's 100 years before the Wright brothers' famous Kitty Hawk flight.

0:58:030:58:07

But it was Cayley's first ever heavier-than-air manned flight,

0:58:070:58:11

in 1853,

0:58:110:58:12

that really laid the foundations for plane travel as we know it.

0:58:120:58:16

This replica of Cayley's glider was built in the 1970s

0:58:160:58:20

and here's the moment it took off at Brompton Dale,

0:58:200:58:23

close to Sir George's home.

0:58:230:58:24

He may be less famous than the Wright brothers

0:58:240:58:27

who put an engine on their plane,

0:58:270:58:30

but they conceded they'd never have been able to get up in the air

0:58:300:58:34

without the work of a brilliant but largely forgotten Yorkshire genius.

0:58:340:58:38

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0:59:030:59:06

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