The Forgotten Man – Archibald Herron – Podcast #159 Published on October 28, 2021 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Death and Murder, Law & Order, Podcast A New Jersey man was caught in a Catch-22 situation: As long as he remained on death row, he could live. If he attempted to get off of death row by challenging his sentence in court, he would likely die. Can you guess which option he chose?Click to Read More...
Don’t Mess With Minerva Miller – Podcast #157 Published on September 29, 2021 Posted in: Forgotten History, Law & Order, Podcast In 1911, Mrs. Minerva Miller went to The Paterson Show in Paterson, NJ to watch a movie. A standard ticket cost 5 cents, but Mrs. Miller was told that she would have to pay 25 cents because she was black. She decided to challenge the theater's racist policy.Click to Read More...
16-Year-Old Girl Jailed for Cursing Published on September 28, 2021 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Law & Order, Tidbits On Friday, January 30, 1953, 16-year-old Yvonne D. Fonda was jailed for cursing while skating at the Flushing Park Skating Rink in Queens, NY.Click to Read More...
Footnote – 1928: Husband Refuses to Buy His Wife False Teeth Published on September 24, 2021 Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Footnotes to History, Law & Order, Love & Marriage, Tidbits In 1928, Mathias Blau was in a Chicago courtroom because he had his wife's teeth pulled and refused to purchase dentures for her.Click to Read More...
Mother Loans Her Son to a Stranger Published on August 27, 2021 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Law & Order, Tidbits Mrs. Florence Parker made the mistake of loaning her son Billy to a woman who had lost her son. Mrs. Parker would not see Billy for five months...Click to Read More...
Footnote – 1914: Helps Indict Himself Published on July 13, 2021 Posted in: Footnotes to History, Law & Order, Tidbits On January 24, 1914, James Severn had to sit on a grand jury and deliberate over his own indictment. Is that really legal?Click to Read More...
A Blind Eye – Helen Vasco – Podcast #151 Published on June 28, 2021 Posted in: Forgotten History, Law & Order, Love & Marriage, Podcast, Science, Technology & Medicine In 1933, Helen Vasko was diagnosed with a malignant eye tumor that threatened her life. Her parents would not consent to surgery and the case ended up in court. Find out which side won this landmark case.Click to Read More...
Penned Will on Ladder Published on June 12, 2021 Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Death and Murder, Law & Order, Money & Financial, Tidbits Hermann Strathmann, of Los Angeles, wrote his will on a step-ladder shortly before he passed away. Eight other wills were found. Which would be the accepted one?Click to Read More...
Birth Control Leases Barred Published on April 10, 2021 Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Law & Order, Tidbits On April 20, 1946, New York State Governor Thomas E. Dewey signed into law a measure that forbid “birth control” leases.Click to Read More...
Theodore Roosevelt Declares War on the Banana Skin Published on April 2, 2021 Posted in: Law & Order, Tidbits In 1896, Teddy Roosevelt declared war on the slippery banana peels that were all over the streets of New York City.Click to Read More...
A Punishment That Went Horribly Wrong – Linda Marie Ault – Podcast #119 Published on February 7, 2019 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Death and Murder, Law & Order, Podcast The parents of Linda Marie Ault were in a panic when their daughter didn't return home after attending a dance. When she returned home the next morning, they came up with a punishment that would teach her a valuable lesson. Everything went horribly wrong.Click to Read More...
Dick the Dog – Podcast #111 Published on April 30, 2018 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Law & Order, Podcast Jacob Silverman made national headlines in 1922 for the crime of owning a dog named Dick. Pennsylvania's Alien Dog Law forbid unnaturalized residents from owning dogs and required the dogs be killed.Click to Read More...
Le Mars Trilogy: Part 2 – Farmers in Revolt – Podcast #104 Published on July 7, 2017 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Law & Order, Podcast The Great Depression was an awful time for farmers in Iowa, culminating with the near-hanging of Judge Bradley in Le Mars over a farm owned by T.M. Zink.Click to Read More...
Waiter Drugs Non-Tipper Published on June 30, 2017 Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Law & Order, Tidbits In 1964 waiter Herbert A. Talmud was accused of poisoning the food of customers at the Occidental Restaurant in Washington, DC.Click to Read More...
Permitted to Wear Van Dyke Beard Published on June 26, 2017 Posted in: Law & Order, Tidbits On July 24, 1955, the NY State Labor Department ruled that a man couldn't be fired from his job as a swimming pool attendant for having a Van Dyke beard.Click to Read More...