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Michael Collins' Assassination In Béal na Bláth: August 1922
In August 1922, Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins was killed in an ambush at Béal na Bláth during the Civil War. His assassination shocked the nation, cutting short the life of one of Ireland’s most influential figures at a pivotal moment in its history.
Minnie Dean: The Baby Killer And The Only Woman To Be Executed In The History Of New Zealand.
"On the morning of 12 August 1895, at Invercargill Gaol, a woman walked with measured steps towards the gallows. She cast a glance at the executioner, her lips pressed together in quiet defiance. When asked if she had any last words, she simply declared, 'I have nothing to express except my innocence.' Moments later, the trapdoor beneath her feet opened, and Minnie Dean became the only woman ever executed in New Zealand."
Lizzie Borden: An Analysis of Historical Theories and Familial Dynamics
Left Lizzie Borden in 1890, two years before her father and stepmother's murders. Right, the aftermath of the murders. The story of...
The Story Of Ruth Ellis, The Last Woman To Be Hanged In The UK
"I have always loved your son, and I shall die still loving him." On a quiet summer morning in 1955, Ruth Ellis stepped through the doors...
Ken McElroy, The 'Town Bully' Murdered In Front Of A Crowd Of Witnesses But Nobody Saw A Thing
Ken Rex McElroy, a name that could evoke fear and anger among the residents of Skidmore, Missouri, was notorious for his reign of terror...
The Disappearance And Murder Of 2 Yr-Old Caylee Anthony
The death of two-year-old Caylee Anthony from Orlando, Florida, back in 2008, still stirs strong feelings and curiosity even now, more...
The Murder Of Civil Rights Leader Medgar Evers And The 30 Year Wait To Convict His Killer
Shortly after midnight on June 12, 1963, civil rights organizer Medgar Evers pulled into his driveway in Jackson, Mississipi. He stepped...
The Story Of Victor Lustig, The Man Who Sold The Eiffel Tower Twice
Victor Lustig was a master of deception, infamous for his bold scams that spanned Europe and the United States in the early 20th century....
The Summer Camp For Auschwitz Personnel
In the heart of the Holocaust, a grotesque paradox was unfolding. Just 30 kilometres south of Auschwitz, a place where over a million...
Robert McGee, As A 14-Year-Old He Was Scalped By Native Americans.
In the early part of 1890, Robert McGee sat for photographer E.E. Henry (1826-1917). The picture, the portrait you see above, shows...
The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre: On A Very Crowded Field, Possibly The British Empire's Darkest Day
On the afternoon of Sunday 13 April 1919, British officer General Reginald Dyer entered the city of Amritsar in Punjab, northern India,...
MugShots From The 1800s And The Criminal Stories That Accompany Them
Starting in the mid-1800s, police began capturing the faces of known criminals. Dubbed "mug shots" (derived from the British slang "mug" meaning "face"), these images replaced sketches and descriptions on wanted posters. Scientists even analysed mug shots to explore whether physical characteristics could forecast criminal behaviour. Once convicted, men underwent another round of photography after their hair and beards were shaved to prevent lice spread, while women’s hair rem
Heaven’s Gate: The UFO Cult and the Mass Suicide of 39 Members
The mass suicide of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult in March 1997 remains one of the most chilling and enigmatic episodes in modern...
When Frank Sinatra Jr Was Kidnapped And Held For Ransom
In the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963, another American icon faced a tragic incident, albeit with a...
When Bob Marley Survived Getting Shot During A Home Invasion
It is almost impossible to listen to a Bob Marley song and picture the man ducking bullets in his own home. Yet that’s precisely what...
The Clutter Family Murders: An Examination of Truman Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood’
On 14 November 1959, the quiet Kansas town of Holcomb was shattered when Herb Clutter, his wife Bonnie, and their two teenage children were brutally murdered in their farmhouse. Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, ex-convicts chasing a rumour of hidden cash, left no witnesses. Truman Capote later immortalised the case in In Cold Blood, but his narrative blurred fact and fiction — leaving behind a legacy of controversy as well as tragedy.
Black Bart: The Gentleman Bandit Who Robbed Stagecoaches with Poetry
Black Bart, the gentleman bandit of California, robbed Wells Fargo stagecoaches politely and left poems—until a laundry mark exposed him in 1883.
Mary Surratt and the Lincoln Assassination: Her Involvement, Legacy and Execution
Mary Surratt was an American boarding house owner executed in 1865 for her role in the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. She became the first woman executed by the U.S. government.
When Nazis ‘Played’ in Madison Square Garden In 1939: A Dark Chapter in American History
Six and a half months before Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland, an unsettling event took place in New York City’s Madison Square Garden...
The British Enthusiasm For Concentration Camps: A History of Hypocrisy
The concept of concentration camps is often associated with Nazi Germany, but their origins stretch deep into British history. Over the...
The Capture, Trial and Death of Adolf Eichmann
“Un momentito, Señor.” They were the only three words Israeli intelligence Peter Malkin knew in Spanish, but they were about to change...
Beheaded by the Nazis at Age 21, Sophie Scholl Died for Leading Anti-War Student Resistance
“Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go,” 21-year-old Sophie Scholl lamented, before she was guillotined by the Nazis. “But what does...
The Evil Story of Larry Hillblom, the H from DHL
Everyone knows DHL , a lot of us will have used them from time to time. The business was set up in 1969 by three guys called Adrian...
When “Mona Lisa” Was Stolen In 1911 And The Police Questioned Picasso
The Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda , is arguably “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most...
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