Author: StrangeAgo
Coal Flies as Indiana Man Tries to Steal Engine
On a summer afternoon in Aurora, Indiana, while the engineer and fireman stepped away from their switch engine to eat dinner, 23-year-old Louis R. Henry…
Kentucky Girl With Shotgun Puts Night Riders to Flight
In the early 1900s, reports of “night riders” carried an immediate sense of terror. These masked groups moved under cover of darkness, often arriving in…
Twelve Men Killed in Johnstown Mine Blast
In the coal regions of western Pennsylvania, danger was never far beneath the surface. Men went underground each day into narrow passages where darkness, gas,…
Arizona Woman Killed in Ostrich Stampede
In the early 1900s, ostrich farming was a booming and unusual industry in parts of the American Southwest. The birds were valuable for their feathers,…
The Rat Lady Who Helped Win the War
At a small white cottage in Granby, Massachusetts, Miss Abbite Lathrop tended to one of the strangest wartime households in America: a family of roughly…
Joyride Ends in Death on Ohio Rails
In the early 1900s, railroad tracks were among the most dangerous places a person could be. Trains moved with tremendous force, often at speeds that…
The Night Black Tom Island Blew Up
At 2:15 on a July morning in 1916, New York Harbor erupted. A series of explosions tore through munitions cars, barges, and warehouses near the…
Grim Discovery in the River at Walkerville
In the summer of 1909, the waterways around Michigan and Ontario were busy with steamers, river traffic, and the constant danger that came with life…
Midnight Train Carries Soldiers to Coal Strike
In the autumn of 1919, the nation’s coal fields were tense. Across the country, miners were demanding better wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions….
Ragtime Ghost Haunts New Haven Graveyard
At the turn of the twentieth century, newspapers loved a good ghost story, especially when the haunting came with witnesses, crowds, and just enough absurdity…
