Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities Tower of Weird
Feb 26, 2026
A pair of strange historical moments are explored, from a medieval siege that linked trade and pestilence to a modern Texan who built a 30-foot Cathedral of Junk in his backyard. The story covers recycled materials, inventive structural details, and the city code battles sparked by an eccentric tower. It closes on why the builder persisted and how the neighborhood responded.
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Siege Of Kaffa As A Pandemic Catalyst
- The Siege of Kaffa links warfare, trade, and disease as a single catalyst that helped launch the Black Death into Europe.
- Mongol besiegers brought plague into their camp, allegedly hurled infected corpses over Kaffa's walls, and retreating ships spread Yersinia pestis westward in 1347.
Genoese Night Raid During Kaffa Siege
- Genoese defenders slipped out at night, burned the Golden Horde's trebuchets, and killed many attackers in a daring counterattack during the 1346 siege of Kaffa.
- Despite this bravery, a second plague wave decimated the Mongol army, forcing Khan Jani Beg to lift the siege on October 4th, 1346.
How Trade Routes Spread The Black Death
- Plague entered the Mongol camp via rats and rapidly infected besieging forces, which then accelerated transmission to other ports through retreating ships.
- The story that corpses were catapulted into Kaffa is debated, but the siege nonetheless created channels that brought the Black Death into Europe.
