Recent Posts
Fined $5 for Getting the Fish Drunk
There are plenty of strange old newspaper stories involving drunken men, but this 1917 report adds a far more unusual twist: drunken fish. Originally published…
416,389 Hides a Year: The Shocking Scale of a 1906 Shoe Factory
In 1906, the scale of American manufacturing could be measured in hides, railcars, and miles. This short article offers a striking look at the Mayer…
Lawrenceburg Man Uncouples Express Train to Reach His Sweetheart
Some love stories involve stolen glances, secret letters, or moonlit promises. This one involved an express train, a coupling pin, and a very bad decision….
How Two Swindlers Sold Candy as a Cure for Seasickness
At the turn of the 20th century, transatlantic travel promised adventure, discomfort, and plenty of opportunities for sharp-eyed swindlers. Passengers trapped together on a steamship…
Woman Awarded $10,000 After Doctor Left Gauze Inside Her
In 1920, a Chicago courtroom heard a medical malpractice case that would sound painfully familiar even today. Mrs. Hulda Anderson, the wife of a letter…
When 84,000 Bottles of Milwaukee Beer Were Dumped Into the Sewer
When 84,000 Bottles of Milwaukee Beer Were Dumped Into the Sewer In 1919, as Prohibition tightened its grip across the United States, beer did not…
Father Saves Baby From Being Devoured by Hog
In the summer of 1912, a quiet moment in the shade of a tree nearly turned fatal for a five-month-old baby in Union, Salt Lake…
Gale Blows Roller-Skating Girls Into Automobile
A powerful gale tore through Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay in April 1916, leaving behind a trail of wreckage on land and water. Newspapers reported…
Schlitz Dumps 12,000 Gallons of Beer Into Chicago Gutters
In 1919, beer could still make headlines even when no one was allowed to drink it. As wartime prohibition tightened its grip across the United…
When a Surgical Sponge Was Left Inside a Patient
In 1910, a Los Angeles man brought forward the kind of medical malpractice claim that still makes patients uneasy more than a century later: he…
