Tom Hyer won the American Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship in 1841. Like most prizefighting champions of the Nineteenth Century, he did not fight very often. Hyer normally paid his bills as an enforcer for political parties in New York. Originally, Hyer employed his talents for the Whigs but would move to the “Know […]
When Twentieth Century-Fox decided to drop the Charlie Chan series after Castle in the Desert (1942), Sidney Toler purchased the rights to the series and took it to Monogram Pictures. After making 11 films with Twentieth Century-Fox, Toler would make 11 Charlie Chan films with Monogram Pictures. Shadows Over Chinatown (1946) […]
On January 21, 1904, 33-year-old Private Watchman Martin Ryan was touring the 717-719 Lucas Avenue warehouse, when he discovered a fire on the third floor. Ryan ran to notify the St. Louis Fire Department. While the fire department firefighters responded almost immediately, the fire spread through the warehouse quickly. The St. Louis firefighters arrived […]
On December 8, 1903, Sam Langford fought the reigning lightweight boxing champion in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to fighting Langford, most boxing experts felt Joe Gans could not be beaten in a legitimate bout. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Gans was able to break the color barrier by winning the World Lightweight Boxing […]
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947) is the final entry in “B” film series. RKO Pictures took the series over from Republic Pictures, who released the original Dick Tracy serials in the late 1930s and early 1940s. RKO Pictures released the film to theaters on September 26, 1947. RKO brought Boris Karloff in to play […]
On November 16, 1877, St. Louis Police Officer John S. White and his partner Officer Heffernan responded to a report of a wanted man attempted to pawn stolen merchandise at Wright’s Pawnshop. The man later identified as Frank Rande entered Wright’s Pawnshop at about 9:30 a.m. Wright sent one of his assistants for the […]
After reading Theodore Roosevelt’s autobiography in high school, he became my favorite president. I own over 50 books on TR in my personal library. One of Roosevelt’s achievements grabbed my attention much more than his political and writing accomplishments. Roosevelt started out as a very sickly child but through the application of exercise […]
On May 21, 1949, a tornado struck Cape Girardeau, Missouri. By the time it the tornado was over, 16 people were killed and 115 people injured. One of the areas most devastated was the eastern side of the Red Star subdivision. 8 people lost their lives including my Great Grandfather Parker Zimmerman. His […]
In late 1909, Stanislaus Zbyszko traveled to the United States to challenge World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch. Prior to meeting Gotch, Zbyszko toured the United States and battled many local wrestlers throughout the early part of 1910. Zbyszko would travel 37,000 miles. Early in his tour, Zbyszko met Frank Gotch in a […]
On January 3, 1930, MGM film company released the third Philo Vance film, The Bishop Murder Case (1930). Basil Rathbone played Vance in his only film in the series. Rathbone would later be famous for playing another fiction sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, in the 1940s. The 38-year-old Rathbone gives a credible performance as the urbane […]