Crime
Illinois Canal Scrip
With USA paper money in the news, let's look at a wild and woolly era in the history of the USA when just about anyone could issue their own cash.
Explanation here.
And more info here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 22, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Crime, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Nineteenth Century
Which Way Did They Go?
You are out at an Easter egg hunt and you see a police helicopter searching the area. Then you see two men running away, what do you do? These kids knew just what to do. They formed an arrow on the ground to point the police in the right direction. Yes, the cops got the criminals. Great job kids!
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 02, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Communications, Cops, Crime, Children
The Mystery Machine
Parolee tries to escape police in a high speed chase while driving a replica of the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. The real mystery here is how a 1994 Chrysler Town & Country got up above 100 MPH during the chase.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 19, 2016 -
Comments (17)
Category: Crime, Motor Vehicles, Can’t Possibly Be True
Strip-o-Scam
December 1989: In Des Plaines, Illinois, a man was reported to be showing up at the door of single women and telling them he was a male stripper hired as a gift by one of their friends. It's not known how often this ploy was successful, but if asked to go, he would leave.The guy came to the attention of the police after one woman, who had invited him in to do his act, suspected he wasn't on the level because he was wearing "dingy" underwear. She noted, "They were supposed to be white, and in the back the band was torn."
Oddly, he only ever showed up at women's homes on Tuesdays.
Doesn't sound like the guy was caught, but I wonder if they could have charged him with anything. Is it illegal to impersonate a stripper?
More info: Chicago Tribune, 12/12/1989
Newsweek - Jan 1, 1990
Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 07, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime, 1980s
Arrested for eating grapes
April 1988: Albert Culberth of Miami ate a few grapes as he and his wife were doing their grocery shopping. An off-duty cop saw him, put him in cuffs, and took him to jail, despite Culberth's insistence that he had every intention of paying for the grapes during checkout.If the grapes were charged by weight, then yes, he would have been stealing. But from what I can gather, the grapes were part of a set-price pack in his cart. So if he had been given the chance to pay during checkout, the store would have had no loss. The charges were eventually dropped for that reason.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Apr 26, 1988
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 05, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime
They lurk in libraries
Originally I was going to write this article about the 1980 case of "Leonardo da Toenail," but then I realized how many additional cases of foot-fanciers lurking under library tables there have been. So I ended up writing a round-up article instead.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 28, 2016 -
Comments (9)
Category: Crime
Drive-By Dairy Attacks
Maybe it's a turf war between rival haberdashers.
Since it's in the UK, you have to say "YAW-gurt" instead of "YOH-gurt."
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 25, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Crime
Hoped brain would prove his innocence
1913: Charles Gilbert, imprisoned for 48 years for the murder of a bounty officer, was so determined to prove his innocence that he requested that his brain be examined after his death — believing that "the investigation would corroborate his claim of innocence by revealing that such a brain as his could not have conceived or exercised the Caldwell murder."Scientists at Yale Medical School complied with his wish and examined his brain. However, I've not yet been able to find any report of their findings.
Sources: Leavenworth Times (Oct 18, 1913); Lincoln Star (Oct 14, 1913)
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 02, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, 1910s, Brain
Death By Condom Machine
Three men decided to boost a condom machine and blow it open to get at the condoms, and presumably, the money inside. They set up the blast and ran to their vehicle for cover. Unfortunately the last guy in the car did not get his door shut in time and was struck in the head by a piece of the machine when it blew up. He later died at the hospital, Darwin Award.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 28, 2015 -
Comments (15)
Category: Accidents, Goofs and Screw-ups, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Death
The Fainting Woman Sex Case
Classic weird news from 1993. Posted over at about.com.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 23, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, 1990s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |