Historian and Writer
Evan “Strangler” Lewis, also called Evan Lewis “the Strangler”, was a professional wrestler from
On July 26, 1854, the bare knuckle champion John Morrissey met occasional bare knuckle
General William Tecumseh Sherman of Civil War fame had deep roots in St. Louis
The deadliest incident in St. Louis Police history was not a shootout, natural
Over the next three weeks, I will be releasing posts, which are excerpts from the book I’m currently working on and one from a previously published book. The following unedited story is from the book I’m working on which will be released in the Fall or early Winter 2017. William Rudolph proved elusive after his Independence Day escape from the
I first wrote this post in 2014 as part of Jeff Goins’ 500 Word Daily Challenge. Jeff asked everyone to write about their Best Day Ever. I thought about days such as my college graduation, the day I got my black belt or the first time I held one of my children. I quickly realized that one day stood above
Ernest Roeber was an accomplished Greco-Roman wrestler. William Muldoon, the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion from 1880 to 1889, wanted Roeber to take over from him as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. However, the world title would continue to be disputed until George Hackenschmidt won several Greco-Roman Tournaments in Europe during 1901. Yusuf Ismail, the Terrible Turk, was
On August 19, 1943, Columbia Pictures released Passport to Suez (1943). Warren William plays Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf, for the final time in this film. The film opens in Alexandria, Egypt, where Lanyard has just arrived. Lanyard meets up with his old friend Johnny Booth, a successful cafe’ owner. However, Lanayard’s real purpose is a mission for British Intelligence.
One of the things I’ve done since starting blogging on St. Louis history in 2013 is to capture the history of old buildings before they are demolished. St. Louis has some of the oldest housing stock in the United States. Tragically, many of the buildings are abandoned and neglected. St. Louis was originally built to house close to
One of the earliest talkie films based on the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Speckled Band (1931) is a public domain film heavily edited from its original form. British and Dominion Films Corporation produced the film, which they released on March 5, 1931. Raymond Massey has his first starring role as Sherlock Holmes. The film is set
On a cold January 9, 1915, Sgt. Michael Gibbons stepped off the westbound Delmar owl streetcar about 3:00 am. Sgt. Gibbons walked towards the Wabash Railroad’s Delmar Station, which was in complete darkness. Gibbons kneeled down and wrapped his nightstick on the platform to signal any nearby beat officers to report to him. Patrolman Arthur J. Saxy heard
Twenty-one years ago today, Tam walked down the aisle with her dad and Caity. My knees buckled when I saw how beautiful she was in her wedding dress. I couldn’t believe this woman wanted to marry me. Doing my best not to start crying during the ceremony, I managed to get through my vows and the minister announced
Thomas Kinney would be elected a Missouri State Senator before his untimely death in 1912. The 43-year-old State Senator was responsible for several pieces of legislation, which benefited the poor and working class in Missouri. Prior to his service, however, St. Louis knew a different Thomas Kinney. Tom “Snake” Kinney was how Kinney was known in
Republic Pictures produced many quality movie serials in the 1930s and 1940s. One of their finer offerings was Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), a twelve chapter serial based on the popular comic book super hero. Captain Marvel is known as Shazam today. Billy Batson, played by Frank Coghlan, Jr., accompanies the Malcolm Expedition to Siam. While searching an ancient temple,