Recent Posts
Alligator in the San Antonio River Stole Pigs
Something was stealing the young pigs from a small chicken and hog ranch along the San Antonio River, and 14-year-old Edmund Dullnig was determined to…
14 Men Killed in Canton When Seven Boilers Exploded at the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company
In Canton, Ohio, 1910, a battery of seven boilers at the American Sheet and Tin Plate Company suddenly blew apart. The plant was left in…
Truck Cut in Two by Falling Steel Beam in Washington, D.C.
Construction work in the heart of Washington, D.C., came to a sudden and terrifying halt when thousands of pounds of steel broke loose high above…
Reims Schoolchildren Wore Gas Masks to Class
In the winter of 1916, the children of Reims, France, went to school under conditions that seem almost impossible to imagine. German shells were falling…
A Skeleton, a Locket, and a 20-Year Vermont Mystery
For more than twenty years, the disappearance of Matilda Moss remained one of Benson, Vermont’s darkest mysteries. She had vanished only days after a violent…
When Hygienists Wanted Cows to Brush Their Teeth
In 1909, newspaper reports poked fun at what they called France’s growing “hygiene craze,” and the examples were almost too strange to believe. Tea, coffee,…
2 Miners Mad with Fear in the Cross Mountain Mine
The Cross Mountain coal mine disaster was already a scene of grief, smoke, and exhaustion when rescuers made a terrible discovery: not all of the…
10 People Seriously Injured After Chicago River Bridge Collapses
A late-night crossing over Chicago’s river turned terrifying when a section of the 12th Street Bridge suddenly gave way beneath a crowd of streetcar passengers….
“Strictly Fresh” Eggs Arrived Chirping
In the summer of 1909, a shipment of “strictly fresh” eggs arrived in Chicago with an unexpected surprise inside. After a hot ride from Missouri…
Veteran Brakeman Mangled While Coupling Cars
Railroad work in the early 1900s was dangerous, and few jobs were more perilous than coupling cars in a busy yard. One wrong step, one…
