Death
RIP Yon Zircle Bowlin
Yon Zircle Bowlin died last week at the age of 94. His weird claim to fame was that he was the final-born member of the Bowlin "alphabet family."His parents, Allen and Sarah Bowlin, named all their kids in alphabetical order (first and middle names). They ended up having 13 kids, completing the alphabet.
The 13 kids: Audie Bryant, Curtis Drue, Era Faye, Grady Hampton, Ida Jeanette, Knola Leantha, Millard Nathan, Olivia Penelopi, Quincy Ruth, Sarah Thelma, Ulysses Vinson, Wilson Xava, and Yon Zircle.
Yon Zircle's obituary: Brown Funeral Home
Montgomery Advertiser - Feb 15, 1950
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 27, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Odd Names
Death by metric system
1976: Leonard Dodge "hung himself — because he could not cope with the change-over to metrication, it was suggested at the inquest on him."
Devon Herald Express - Oct 9, 1976
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 20, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Suicide, 1970s
The Mole Torpedo
Weapon tunnels through the earth to the enemy. Why is this not in constant use today? Too easy nowadays to sense seismic activity?Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 10, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Death, Inventions, Patents, War
Biggest gratuity ever?
In 1941, when Dolores Moran was 15, she worked as a waitress at a drive-in restaurant in San Jose, California. One day she served a local farmer some coffee and hamburger. The next year Moran left San Jose and moved to Hollywood where she achieved brief fame as an actress.
Dolores Moran. Image source: wikipedia
By the 1960s her acting career had ended. But then, in 1968, Moran learned that the farmer she had served at the drive-in 27 years ago had died, leaving her his apricot orchard valued at around $300,000 (or $2.5 million in today's money).
Moran had no memory of serving the farmer, whose name was Anthony Ponce. Nor had the two ever communicated since then. She said, "for the life of me I can't remember the man." But evidently she had made a big impression on him.
Monroe News Star - Dec 18, 1968
Ponce's relatives contested the will, arguing that he was not of sound mind when he made it. I haven't been able to find out how the case was settled, but I'm guessing Moran got to keep the orchard since it's usually fairly difficult to invalidate a will.
If she did get to keep it, then that would have to count as one of the biggest gratuities of all time. Perhaps the biggest? Especially for an order of coffee and hamburger.
Peninsula Times Tribune - Feb 19, 1969
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 06, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Inheritance and Wills, Law, Restaurants, Actors
Deathbed Wedding
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 01, 2023 -
Comments (4)
Category: Death, 1900s, Weddings
Robin orders sparrow to be shot
Aug 1979: Frustrated by a sparrow that was chirping in his church when a guitar recital was going to be recorded, Rev. Robin Clark ordered the bird to be shot.I'm sure that, after that, no one made a sound during the recital.
The Vancouver Columbian - Aug 8, 1979
I couldn't find a recording of the sparrow-death recital, but here's some music by Konrad Ragossnig.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 31, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Death, Music
Unlikely Reasons for Murder No. 13
Source: The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)03 Apr 1912
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 23, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Money, Teenagers, 1910s
The Hurricane Party of 1969
Based on the press coverage from 1969, it sounds like the couples who remained in the path of Hurricane Camille to have a "hurricane party" certainly deserved to become Darwin Award winners (bestowed on them in 2000 by Wendy Northcutt in her Darwin Awards book)."The last time I went up to try to get them out, the water was just over the sea wall. They were having a good time and they wouldn't leave. That's the last anybody saw of them," he said.
Orlando Evening Star - Aug 19, 1969
But digging deeper into the story, thirty years after the hurricane people began challenging the tale of a "hurricane party." According to the debunkers, there was no party, and the people who stayed had been told by the apartment manager that the building could withstand a hurricane because it was a designated Civil Defense shelter.
One apartment resident who survived the hurricane continued to insist that the people on the third floor had been having a party. But this woman also claimed insanity as the reason she killed her 11th husband. So not the most credible witness.
More info: Hurricane Camille party in 1969: Fact or fiction? -- Hurricane Party
image source: Acts of God: the Old farmer's almanac unpredictable guide to weather and natural disasters
Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 21, 2023 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Dinners, Banquets, Parties, Tributes, Roasts and Other Celebrations, 1960s, Weather
Running Bear
The singer's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 18, 2023 -
Comments (8)
Category: Death, Music, 1960s, Native Americans
No seatbelt
1987: While making a safety film about the benefits of wearing a seatbelt, Anthony Galati lost control of his car and crashed, dying of his injuries. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt.More info: AP News
click to enlarge
Bowling Green Sentinel Tribune - May 18, 1987
Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 17, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Death, 1980s, Cars
| Who We Are |
|---|
| 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 |