Welcome to Erin Mankie's Cabinet of Curiosity's, a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm

and Mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display,

just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

When it comes to transportation, people have always had their eye on the sky.

From Da Vinci's winged wonders to Orville and Wilbur Wright's flights at Kitty Hawk,

we've dreamed of soaring above the trees, zipping from place to place swiftly and efficiently.

There's no traffic in the sky.

Go flat tires or detours to delay us and getting to our destinations.

And Alexander Vegers saw the benefit of air travel, but he had a much different idea

of achieving it than others.

He was born in 1901 in Indonesia to Dutch parents who owned a sugar plantation as well

as a hotel.

His mother, Johanna, and his father, Albert, pushed Alex toward a life of constant learning.

Johanna spoke numerous languages and taught literature while Albert educated him on design

and botany.

In 1916, Alex went off to the Netherlands to study numerous subjects, including blacksmithing,

mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, and art.

Upon his return to Indonesia in 1926, he married his fiance, Jacoba, and the two eventually

moved to the US where they settled down in Seattle, Washington.

...