Recent Posts
Foundry Worker Killed When Flywheel Burst Without Warning
The machinery was running at the Payne and Joubert Machine and Foundry Company when a sudden burst turned an ordinary morning into tragedy. Around 10…
Ohio Undertaker Used a Corpse as a Business Sample
Mr. Pearce, an undertaker in Ardmore, Ohio, believed his work deserved to be seen. After all, shoemakers displayed their shoes, tailors hung their finest garments…
Why Some People Buried the Dead With “Hell Shoes”
A pair of shoes placed on the dead might seem like a small kindness, but in many old-world traditions it carried a much deeper meaning….
Passengers Thought Ship Hit a Mine During Storm
The passengers aboard the Albania were dancing in the dining salon when the sea behind them exploded. During a violent electrical storm, a lightning bolt…
Woman’s Coin Toss to Organ Grinder Hid a Stolen Pin
The organ grinder outside the jeweler’s shop seemed like nothing more than an annoyance. A well-dressed woman had entered a Paris jewelry store and asked…
Chorus Girls Told to Wear Tights Despite Heat Wave
Even a heat wave could not loosen Birmingham’s rules about bare knees on the stage. In the summer of 1926, chorus girls appearing in the…
Woman Leaves Daughter $1 and Orders Parrot Chloroformed
Pretty Polly had been marked for death in her mistress’s will, but the parrot was not gone yet. When Mrs. Ottilie Stock died in June…
Girl Thought Dead Revived After Lightning Hit Her Coffin
The mourners were on their way to the cemetery when the storm broke over Hanston, Kansas. Inside the metallic coffin was the 5-year-old daughter of…
Wedding Dance Custom Ends in Brawl and Bride Gets Black Eye
The wedding celebration began with music, dancing, and an old social custom. It ended with broken heads, a riot call, seven arrests, and a bride…
Parents Feared Missing Teen Girls Ran Away With the Circus
When two teenage girls vanished from Washington, D.C., their parents feared the lure of the circus had carried them away. Seventeen-year-old Edith Holmes and fifteen-year-old…
