Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On March 29, 1951, Copenhagen, Denmark was the scene of one of the most bizarre bank robberies ever, a robbery that cost two people their lives! Digging Deeper Investigators later reconstructed the crime, with the two robbers probably sharing a jail cell after being convicted of treason during World War II.  In prison they developed an interest in hypnosis and Asian mysticism. One ex-con allegedly hypnotized the other to rob a bank, and in the process killed a teller and the bank manager.  The robber fled by bicycle but was soon captured.  The hypnotist half of the…

A Brief History On March 23, 2018, the President of Peru, Pedro Kuczynski, resigned in disgrace due to corruption.  Although Kuczynski was born in Peru, you might tell from his name that his parents were not, and in fact were from Germany, of Polish Jewish descent. Kuczynski even lived in the USA for a while before becoming a politician. Digging Deeper Some other national leaders of ethnicities other than the host country that did not fare well include: Alberto Fujimori, another Peruvian President born in Peru, but this time of Japanese immigrants. After a decade as President, in 2000 Fujimori…

A Brief History On March 17, 1945, the Ludendorf Bridge over the Rhine River fell 10 days after the US Army seized the span allowing them to cross the Rhine into Germany.  The Germans failed to blow up the bridge, and again failed to take it down later, a major blunder in World War II. Digging Deeper Bridges are often magnificent, and when they fall the event is major news.  Some notable bridge collapses include the following: The Ponte das Barcas of Porto, Portugal in 1809, is the deadliest bridge collapse, with 4,000 people fleeing French soldiers falling to their…

A Brief History On March 14, 1964, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby was convicted of killing the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald.  Ruby was sentenced to death for the murder, which had been broadcast live on national TV, but on appeal a new trial was ordered that did not happen when Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism in 1967. Digging Deeper Born Jacob Leon Rubenstein in Chicago to parents of Polish/Jewish heritage, Ruby got in trouble as a juvenile but later served in the US Army during World War II.  Moving to Dallas, Ruby was…

A Brief History On March 11, 222, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known better as Elagabalus, was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard and replaced by his 14-year-old cousin. Digging Deeper Elagabalus served four years as Emperor and died at age 18, after a depraved reign of murder, torture, and perversity.  Some of the other Roman Emperors that vie for the title of “Worst” include: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, known as Caligula, who was so awful that a major motion picture was made about his bizarre reign. Nero, although not guilty of fiddling while Rome burned, was pretty bad, murderous,…