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Fascinating True Stories From the Flip Side of History

On the Web Since 1994

Podcasting Since January 2008

Grandfather’s Good Deed

Published on July 29, 2015

Posted in: Money & Financial, Tidbits

Eight-year-old Edith Diane Brown was the luckiest girl on Earth back in October 1956. That’s when her family learned that she would be inheriting an $1.8 million.

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The Honest Man with an Evil Eye – Podcast #84

Published on July 10, 2015

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Death and Murder, Money & Financial, Podcast

In 1935, Frank Greges stumbled across a wallet containing the stocks. Find out what really happened and how he killed a man simply by staring at him.

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Character Day Bank Holdup

Published on May 20, 2015

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Crime & Punishment, Money & Financial, Tidbits

Six students from the Santa Rosa Junior College found themselves in hot water in 1960. They dressed up in roaring ‘20’s clothes and decided to rob a bank...

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The Penny Covered Desk

Published on February 15, 2015

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Money & Financial, Tidbits

Bank floor manager William H. Oglesbee had a very unusual desk. It was covered with more than 12,000 pennies using 77 tubes of cement.

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The Bowery’s Santa – Podcast #78

Published on December 12, 2014

Posted in: Holidays & Celebrations, Money & Financial, Podcast

Joe Bonavita went to the Bowery in 1946 to give away a big chunk of his hard-earned money to those less fortunate. The true story about an unusual Santa Claus.

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Dog Causes Minibike Accident

Published on March 18, 2014

Posted in: Animals & Pets, Law & Order, Money & Financial, Tidbits

In 1978, New Canaan, CT resident Charles Bach was awarded $100,000 for injuries sustained after a dog startled him while riding a motorbike.

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Baltimore’s Buried Treasure – Podcast #71

Published on March 15, 2014

Posted in: Money & Financial, Podcast

The fascinating true story about two Baltimore boys that discovered a pot of gold in a basement in 1934. It proved to be anything but lucky.

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Mr. Moneybags – Podcast #67

Published on October 30, 2013

Posted in: Money & Financial, Podcast

Alexander Ector Orr Munsell was an incredibly wealthy man during the Great Depression. Then he gave it all away to live among the poor in a flophouse.

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The Baby is in the Mail – Podcast #66

Published on September 22, 2013

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Money & Financial, Podcast

When the USPS started Parcel Post service in 1913, both babies and small children were mailed. Find out why it was done and why it finally ended.

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Apple Annie – Podcast #56

Published on August 21, 2012

Posted in: Entertainment, Fashion & Design, Money & Financial, Podcast

The long forgotten story about a poor woman named Helen McCarthy, also known as Apple Annie, who was able to live a fairytale life for 24 hours.

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Noach Goldberg’s Wooden Leg – Podcast #42

Published on March 15, 2011

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Money & Financial, Podcast

Frank Laiken skipped town to avoid paying alimony in 1928 and was never to be seen again. His ex-wife Rose learned of a man named Noach (Noah) Goldberg who had died in Vienna. It was his wooden leg that made her certain that Noah was her husband.

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Conrad Cantzen’s Shoes – Podcast #41

Published on February 11, 2011

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Death and Murder, Entertainment, Money & Financial, Podcast

Conrad Cantzen died in 1945 and is long forgotten, but his shoe fund still lives on. Read the story of this bizarre provision in this down-on-his-luck actor's handwritten will.

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The Little Widow of Herald Square – Podcast #33

Published on May 5, 2010

Posted in: Death and Murder, Money & Financial, Podcast

Ida Mayfield Wood lived as a recluse in the Herald Square Hotel in NYC for 24 years. When she died, 1,103 people claimed to be the heir to her fortune. Eight years later not a single one of them got a penny.

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The Sterilization of Ann Cooper Hewitt – Podcast #32

Published on April 6, 2010

Posted in: Love & Marriage, Money & Financial, Podcast

Wealthy Ann Cooper Hewitt was sterilized at age 20 by her mother and two doctors, yet had no knowledge that the procedure was being done.

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The Spirits of St. Louis – NBA’s Most Profitable Team – Podcast #15

Published on July 5, 2008

Posted in: Money & Financial, Podcast, Sports

The long-defunct Spirits of St. Louis basketball team may actually be one of the most profitable of all time, earning more annually than most likely any team in the NBA.

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