Category: U.S. Historical News
Armed Dover Residents Chased a Mysterious Animal Through Town in 1900
For months, residents around Dover, Georgia, were convinced that some unknown beast was stalking their community. Dogs and hogs were disappearing. Witnesses described a large…
Children Clung to Their Mothers as Fire Swept Through Steamboat
Most of the passengers aboard the City of Pittsburg were still asleep when fire broke out before dawn. Within minutes, the side-wheel steamer was filling…
Savannah Man Set a Trap for a Newspaper Thief and Found an Unexpected Suspect
Someone in Savannah had been stealing the morning newspaper. At least, that was the only explanation that seemed to make sense. For several mornings, a…
Washington Farmer Claimed He Was Drugged, Robbed and Left With Nothing
John Johnson went to the police looking for help after claiming he had been drugged and robbed at a Ritzville gambling house. According to the…
Indiana Coal Miners Went on Strike to Protect the Mine Mules
In 1902, a group of Indiana coal miners walked off the job for an unusual reason: the mules were not being treated properly. The animals…
Fishing Boat Ran Wild After Lightning Knocked the Crew Unconscious
A fishing trip on the Delaware River turned deadly when a thunderstorm swept over three men laying nets off the New Jersey shore. A bolt…
Baby Girl Found Abandoned in Bushes Along a Vermont Road
William Dubuque was walking home near Richmond, Vermont, one August evening in 1918 when he noticed an automobile stop along the road. As he approached…
Doctors Said Coal Miners’ Lungs Were Black and Their Wages Too Low to Live On
At the turn of the 20th century, coal mining was not merely dangerous work. For many miners, it was a job that slowly destroyed the…
Teen Who Couldn’t Swim Drowned as 50 Bathers Looked On
Francis Laycock could not swim. That did not stop his companions from repeatedly throwing the 17-year-old into a gravel pit near Alexandria, Indiana, in the…
Washington Painter Found Dead After Rats Were Heard Inside His Locked Room
When fellow lodgers heard rats moving around inside George Goodman’s locked room, they knew something was wrong. The 54-year-old Washington, D.C., painter had only recently…
