Radium clocks and watches were all the rave during the Roaring Twenties. The watch faces glowed all the time and didn’t require charging in sunlight, like florescent paint. Everyone who was anyone had to have one. The Radium Girls were not rich debutants who flashed their wristwatches, but rather the simple factory women who handContinue reading “Podcast: The Tragic Story of the Radium Girls”
Author Archives: andrewspaulw
France’s Chevalier d’Eon, the First Trans Aristocrat
When the Chevalier d’Eon left France in 1762, he was a diplomat, a spy, a Dragoon captain, and a man. When she returned in 1777, at the age of 49, she was a celebrity, a writer, a fencer, and a woman—by declaration by the government of France. Chevalier d’Eon was born Charles d’Eon de Beaumont, andContinue reading “France’s Chevalier d’Eon, the First Trans Aristocrat”
The World War II Battle of Los Angeles
During the panicked weeks following the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans were told that enemy raids on the continental U.S. could be next! On the West Coast, pilots and radar had started mistaking fishing boats and even whales for Japanese destroyers and submarines. Two months after the Pearl Harbor attack, on 25 FebruaryContinue reading “The World War II Battle of Los Angeles”
The Daring Harriet Quimby, Queen of the Air
Most everyone knows the name Emilia Earhart, the famous female pilot lost at sea in 1937. But few remember another ground-breaking female aviator named Harriet Quimby. She was famous a decade before, and was an inspiration to, Emilia Earhart. Today, only aviation buffs know that Quimby was the first American woman to earn a pilot’sContinue reading “The Daring Harriet Quimby, Queen of the Air”
Jonathan Wild, London’s First Criminal Mastermind
In early 18th century England, Jonathan Wild was a notorious criminal mastermind. He lead a mafia-like empire that included everything from robbery to extortion to blackmail. What makes Wild’s story even more “wild” was that he skillfully played both sides of the coin — crime and law enforcement, profiting as an official Thief-Taker. In theContinue reading “Jonathan Wild, London’s First Criminal Mastermind”
The German Reichstag Fire Sparked Hitler’s Rise to Power
On 27 February 1933, the German parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, went up in flames from an arson attack. Adolf Hitler skillfully harnessed the after effects of the Reichstag Fire to seize absolute power. Hitler claimed the fire was a Communist attempt to overthrow the government. He played upon public and political fears of chaosContinue reading “The German Reichstag Fire Sparked Hitler’s Rise to Power”
The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster
On Sunday 27 March 1977, just after 5:00 PM, two 747 jumbo jets collided during take-off on the runway of Los Rodeos Airport in the Canary Islands off the Spanish coast. The collision caused a massive explosion and both aircraft were engulfed in flames. The Tenerife airport disaster remains the deadliest crash in aviation history.Continue reading “The 1977 Tenerife Airport Disaster”
The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident
On February 1959, nine experienced Russian hikers went missing while trekking in Russia’s Ural Mountains. They were ultimately all found dead in Dyatlov Pass with unusual injuries. The Soviet government at the time attributed the cause of death to a “compelling natural force.” But that hardy explains the bizarre frozen corpses that rescuers found. ItContinue reading “The Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Incident”
The Forgotten USS Akron Airship Disaster
Most everyone knows of Germany’s Zeppelin the Hindenburg and its infamous destruction by fire in Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1937. But few know that the United States also had an airship fleet of dirigibles at the same time. And one of its members, the USS Akron, met a tragic fate as well, just four yearsContinue reading “The Forgotten USS Akron Airship Disaster”
The Lost Spanish Treasure Fleets
The two biggest, treasure fleet wrecks happened in 1715 and 1733, just 18 years apart. Both were the result of fierce Caribbean hurricanes attacking Spanish bound fleets, loaded to the rafters with silver, gold, jewels, and other colonial treasure. Such treasure fleets were routine in the waters around Florida and Cuba. Nearly every year, fromContinue reading “The Lost Spanish Treasure Fleets”