Category: History
Suitcase Bomb Wrecks Chicago Federal Building Entrance
On September 4, 1918, as Chicago moved through another tense wartime afternoon, a blast tore through the Adams Street entrance of the city’s massive Federal…
Morristown Mother Forgives Son With Her Dying Breath
A tragic accident in Morristown, New Jersey, turned a child’s innocent words into a family’s lifelong sorrow. In 1904, four-year-old Otto Britting saw his father’s…
Philly Girl Thought a Spider Was Eating Her Life Away
A walk through the woods near Manayunk turned into a terrifying ordeal for 16-year-old Mary Schulz in the spring of 1895. What began as a…
Tennessee Boy Said There Was a Snake in His Bed
There are few childhood fears more universal than the belief that something is hiding in the bed. The five-year-old son of Mrs. Nannie Cannon woke…
Deadly Gas Attack Hits American Trenches
In the winter of 1918, American troops in France were still adjusting to the brutal realities of trench warfare. The battlefield was not only a…
Anton Herl, Come Home
In February 1918, a desperate plea went out through Washington, D.C.: Anton Herl, come home. Your little boy is dying and asking for you. Herl,…
Deathbed Confession Cleared the Man Who Wouldn’t Hang
In 1892, William Buckley was shot from ambush after reportedly exposing the activities of “white cappers” in the area. The crime led to a sensational…
New Jersey Woman Blows Horn for Hours to Save Husband
In the winter of 1905, a blizzard could do more than bury roads. It could cut a family off from the world. Before telephones were…
Smallpox Panic Stops a Philadelphia Train
At the height of the early twentieth century, a single word could bring a train, a hotel, a ship, or an entire neighborhood to a…
She Said There Was a Snake in the Bed — No One Believed Her
There are few things more frightening than a snake in the house, but a snake in the bed is the sort of horror that seems…
