Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
General William Tecumseh Sherman of Civil War fame had deep roots in St. Louis stretching back to 1843. As a soldier, he was assigned to Jefferson Barracks. He was also involved in St. Louis businesses as the St. Louis Street Railroad Company President until he left St. Louis for the Civil War in 1861. After the war, St. Louis’ citizens
The series of the Charlie Chan films starring Warner Oland were probably the strongest films in the Charlie Chan series. Sidney Toler made several good films also but eventually the series would become low-budget “B” films produced by Monogram Pictures. Charlie Chan’s Secret (1936) (affiliate link) was one of the earlier Twentieth-Century Fox films about Charlie Chan. The production values
Stanislaus Zbyszko was born Stanislaw Jan Cyganiewicz on April 1, 1879 in Jodlow, Poland, which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. According to Wikipedia, he chose the ring name Stanislaus Zbyszko because it was the name of a fictional Polish knight. An article in the Walla Walla, Washington newspaper, The Evening Statesman’s Tuesday, February 8, 1910 edition, publicized Zbyszko’s university and
The Black Camel (1931) is the oldest surviving Charlie Chan film (affiliate link) starring Warner Oland. It was the second film in the series for Fox Films. The first, third, fourth and fifth films are lost although a Spanish language version of Charlie Chan Carries On (Eran Trece, 1931) does exist. The Black Camel was released on June 21, 1931.
On April 5, 1920, Frederick Charles Smith, also known as “The Red-Headed Bandit”, walked into the Easton-Taylor Trust Company at 4474 Easton Avenue. Smith had a revolver in each hand and demanded money from the cashier. Fearing for his life, the clerk promptly dropped $15,309 in a sack. John Lanigan, the bank’s president, sat in his office off the lobby