Category: 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…
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…
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…
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…
9 Men Hurt in Pittston Mining Incident
A mine cage was supposed to carry workers safely down into the darkness and back again, but when something went wrong, it could become a…
Frozen to Death on Lake Erie
This 1904 account from Lake Erie describes the terrible danger faced by men who crossed the ice in winter. Without landmarks, a traveler could lose…
NYC Subway Worker Buried Alive in Sand
In 1926, Clark was working on the new Eighth Avenue Subway in New York when he climbed into a sand bin to clear a clogged…
Omaha’s Wartime Charcoal Boom
War has a way of reviving old industries. In 1918, as World War I reshaped American manufacturing and pushed prices skyward, charcoal burning suddenly became…
Headless Body Discovered on the Pittsburgh Tracks
The discovery was as grim as it was puzzling. Early one October morning in 1915, the mutilated body of Miss Sophie McCallin was found near…
Americans Urged to Hold Nutting Parties to Win the War
During World War I, even the smallest scraps from the kitchen table could become weapons of defense. In 1918, Americans were urged to save fruit…
