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Top Six Conjoined Twin Pairs in History

2011-01-12 · John · watch on YouTube · History & curiosities · curiosity idea

Lower-confidence wave

2011 videos did not pass the QA gate (17 %); their analysis is shown but less reliable.

One-upping Hank's top-five video, John ranks six conjoined twin pairs from history and argues that our obsession with making unusual anatomies normal hides that conjoined lives were often rich; reality resists simplicity.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting; John's zit so big his camcorder thinks it is a face, hence conjoined twins

  • ★★ John has a zit so big that his camcorder mistakes it for a face; it has set him thinking about conjoined twins. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:13 — One-upping Hank's top five: top six conjoined twin pairs ('kind of a top twelve')

  • ★★ John one-ups Hank's top-five video from Monday with the top six pairs of conjoined twins in history, 'kind of a top twelve'. (playful) — 00:00:13 · Hank Green

00:00:23 — No. 6: the Biddenden Maids and their Easter charity

  • ★★ The Biddenden Maids, Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, were conjoined twins who left five plots of land when they died to benefit the poor of their town, Biddenden. — 00:00:23
  • ★★ For the last 500 years, continuing today, Biddenden's poor get food every Easter thanks to the twins, including Biddenden cakes printed with conjoined twins, which John calls massively disgusting. (playful) — 00:00:32

00:01:01 — No. 5: the Tocci twins and Mark Twain

  • ★★ The Tocci twins had two heads, four arms and two legs, spent their childhood on the freak show circuit and toured America for about five years. — 00:01:01
  • ★★ Mark Twain heard about the Tocci twins while they toured, which inspired 'Those Extraordinary Twins' and indirectly the novel Pudd'nhead Wilson; without them, John jokes, Twain is a lesser novelist. — 00:01:14

00:01:29 — No. 4: Lori and George Schappell

  • ★★ Lori and George Schappell, still living, share 30% of their brain matter yet lead very different lives: Lori works part-time in a hospital laundry, George is a professional country singer. — 00:01:29
  • ★★ John says the Schappells are both female, adding that all conjoined twins are identical. — 00:01:38

00:01:46 — No. 3: Jodie and Mary, the court-ordered separation (UK, 2000)

  • ★★★ 'Jodie and Mary' (not their real names), born conjoined in the UK in 2000: Jodie's heart pumped for Mary; without separation both would die, with it Mary would; over the parents' objection a court ordered surgery. — 00:01:46 · United Kingdom
  • ★★ As expected, Mary died and Jodie survived; John says Jodie is still alive today. — 00:02:11
  • ★★ The Jodie and Mary case raised all kinds of questions about personhood and medical ethics, a discussion John expects to continue in the comments. — 00:02:11

00:02:22 — No. 2: Chang and Eng, stars of God's Fool

  • ★★ John calls God's Fool, starring Chang and Eng, a great book. — 00:02:22
  • ★★ Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins, went from Thailand around the world, bought a tobacco plantation in North Carolina, married sisters and had 21 children between them. — 00:02:22
  • ★★ Like many non-separated conjoined twins, Chang and Eng had a fascinating, rich life, in some ways probably better than if they had been born singletons. (hedged) — 00:02:35
  • ★ John explains that 'singletons' is the word for people who aren't conjoined, like the brothers and most people. — 00:02:44

00:02:53 — No. 1: Millie and Christine McKoy, the Two-Headed Nightingale

  • ★★★ His favorites, Millie and Christine McKoy, 'the Two-Headed Nightingale', were born into slavery in 1851, sold repeatedly, kidnapped and toured while beaten, then returned to an owner and reunited with their mother. — 00:02:53
  • ★★ Their owner and his wife taught them five languages and harmony singing but took all their money; freed at 13 by the Emancipation Proclamation, they worked sideshows with Barnum and Bailey and made a lot of money. — 00:03:09
  • ★★ Though exploited all their lives, John says it is hard to say Millie and Christine would have been better off separated at birth. (hedged) — 00:03:25

00:03:31 — Reflection: the obsession with making unusual anatomies normal; reality resists simplicity

  • ★★★ What fascinates John: we are so obsessed with making unusual anatomies normal that we forget they can have advantages; conjoinedness isn't entirely desirable, but like most realities it resists simplicity. — 00:03:31

00:03:47 — Queensland flood relief link and sign-off

  • ★★ John tells Nerdfighters about the devastating floods in Queensland, Australia, and points to a link in the doobly-doo to help those affected. — 00:03:47 · Nerdfighteria

Humor (significant)

  • John's zit is enormous. — 00:00:02 > «my camcorder believes that my zit is a face»
  • The Biddenden Maids' charity is commemorated forever on disgusting biscuits; John draws Hank a lesson. — 00:00:57 > «if you leave your money to your brother, he will spend it»
  • The Tocci twins inspired two Mark Twain works. — 00:01:22 > «without the Tocci twins, Mark Twain is a lesser novelist»
  • Conjoined twins are all identical, and John's zit has been threatening self-consciousness. — 00:01:43 > «like an autonomous region of John Green»

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