Posted in Tragedies U.S. Historical News

Women Jump From Omaha Building to Escape Flames

Women Jump From Omaha Building to Escape Flames On a March afternoon in 1899, a meeting of women in Omaha, Nebraska, turned suddenly into a…

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Posted in Murder U.S. Historical News

West Farmington Banker Found Murdered

Some crimes arrive in the newspaper almost stripped bare, leaving behind only a few terrible details and a great deal of silence. The 1906 murder…

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Posted in U.S. Historical News

Woman Saw Mastodons After a Worm Entered Her Brain

According to a 1902 report, Freiburg’s love of flowers led to a horrifying and bizarre end. She would gather roses and sweet peas in great…

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Posted in U.S. Historical News

Rural Valley Man Dreams of Missing Neighbor’s Body

In February 1925, a strange report out of Kittanning, Pennsylvania, told of a missing man, a repeated dream, and the discovery of a body exactly…

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Posted in U.S. Historical News

Maine Man Bleeds to Death After Falling on Axe

In March 1899, a Maine woodsman named Daniel Morton set out after dinner with his axe newly sharpened and tucked beneath his arm. He had…

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Posted in Tragedies U.S. Historical News

Human Remains Found After Windsor Hotel Fire

The aftermath of a great fire is often worse than the flames themselves. Once the smoke clears, what remains is not only wreckage, but the…

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Posted in U.S. Historical News

Prisoner Tries to Escape With Rusty Scissors

There is something almost comical about a jailbreak attempted with a rusty pair of scissors, but Harry Kelly’s little excavation project was treated as no…

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Posted in Tragedies U.S. Historical News

Heroes and Horror in Tannersville’s Twilight Hotel Fire

In July 1926, the fashionable inn at Tannersville, New York, was destroyed by fire so completely that even counting the dead became difficult. The hotel…

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Posted in Culture Superstitions Witchcraft

Over 20 People Witness Werewolf in Oporto

In 1902, newspaper readers were told that Portugal had fallen under the spell of superstition, with witches, wizards, saints, spirits, and even a werewolf troubling…

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Posted in Children

When Homework Was Called a National Crime

The debate over homework, overworked children, and the need for fresh air is not nearly as modern as it sounds. In 1900, editor Edward Bok…

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