Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities Making a Splash
11 snips
Apr 2, 2026 A tale of daring high-dives from horses and the spectacle that made fairs roar. The remarkable story of Sonora Webster who kept performing after losing her sight. A dive into Pythagoras’s secretive commune, mystical number rituals, and odd bans like avoiding beans. Legends blur math, mysticism, and strange traditions into memorable curiosities.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Origin Story Of Horse Diving
- Doc Carver invented horse diving after surviving a bridge collapse and noticing his horse could swim to safety.
- He debuted Black Bess diving from a ramp into a 14-foot tank in St. Louis, then expanded to six horses and a Steel Pier attraction.
Sonora Webster's Blind Diving Career
- Sonora Webster lost her sight in 1931 when a dive detached her retinas but she continued diving blind.
- Her career was dramatized in Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken and she dove on Atlantic City's Steel Pier until retiring in 1945.
Why Horse Diving Disappeared
- Horse diving persisted for decades but declined as audiences shrank and animal rights protests increased.
- The last diving horse leapt from Steel Pier in 1978, and revival attempts in later years failed to restart the sport.
