Death
Murdered by Human Wolves
In Oklahoma's Konawa Memorial Cemetery stands the gravestone of Katherine Cross (Mar. 13, 1899 - Oct. 10, 1917), which bears the mysterious epitaph, "Murdered by human wolves."
This has generated all sorts of local legends, and it's also inspired a novella by Steven Wedel, Murdered by Human Wolves (The Werewolf Saga).
The most likely explanation is that she died as a result of a botched abortion operation, and that the mysterious phrase was meant to be metaphorical. But still, cool epitaph!
More info: wikipedia, 405 magazine
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 26, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Death, 1910s
Human Resurrection Company
A new Australian company, Humai, has an ambitious goal. It wants to make people immortal. From its "vision" statement:
So, you see, they'll use "artificial intelligence," "nanotechnology," "multiple sensor technologies," and "cloning." Simple.
If this company had been founded 100 years ago, they would have used buzzwords like "electro-galvanic processes" and "radium power." And they would have had about the same chances for success as today.
via TechRadar.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 30, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 26, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Death, Food, Holidays, 1920s
Corpse by Mail
Original article here.
Was she found innocent or guilty?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 22, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, 1950s, Postal Services
Carnivorous Buffaloes
Nothing much about California has really changed since this 1849 warning, has it?
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 21, 2015 -
Comments (10)
Category: Death, Hillbillies, Country Bumpkins, Ruralism and Flyover Country, Rants, Warnings, Jeremiads, Prophecies and Cassandra-like Figures, Regionalism, Nineteenth Century
“Life-sized” Alien Facehugger & Egg
Too bad this won't be available until April 2016. Imagine the screams of terror, as depicted, when your lucky first-grader opens this under the Xmas tree.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 20, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Aliens, Death, Toys, Children, Eggs
Killed by washing machine while reading comics
A number of things puzzle me about this 1955 news story. First of all, why was the washing machine outside beneath a tree?Second, was the kid really so lazy that he felt the need for an elaborate method of supporting his head while reading? Or was he trying to kill himself?
Finally, what kind of washing machine has a lid that rotates? I found a picture (below) of a washing machine from the late 1940s that may have a lid that could rotate, but it doesn't look like it would have been comfortable to sit on, which would support the suicide theory.
But whatever happened to John Mattson, his death clearly demonstrates the danger of reading comic books.
Gettysburg Times - July 20, 1955
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 06, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Death, 1950s
Mao’s Crystal Coffin
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 28, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Body, Celebrities, Death, Politics, 1970s, Asia
Punching Cadavers
University of Utah researchers rigged up a "pendulum-like apparatus" in which they placed cadaver arms, and then proceeded to make the arms punch a padded dumbbell with clenched or unclenched fist. The idea was to test the theory that the human hand evolved its shape so that men could "fistfight over females" — aka the "pugilism hypothesis of hominin hand evolution."The researchers believe that their experiment supported the pugilism hypothesis.
More info: Science Daily and the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 24, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Experiments
Funeral Traffic Control
1948: Chicago's Mt. Carmel cemetery sought FCC approval so that it could operate a two-way radio system to direct funeral processions, so as to avoid traffic jams in the cemetery.I wonder if they had to build a traffic control tower as well?
Freeport Journal-Standard - Apr 14, 1948
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 17, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Jobs and Occupations, 1940s
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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 |