Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On September 29, 1982, the first of seven victims of intentionally-contaminated Tylenol died.  The deadly Tylenol capsules had had their normal acetaminophen switched and replaced with cyanide, meaning that anyone who took them would die a quick and unexpected death. Digging Deeper When the first victim died suddenly, his family and friends gathered to mourn his passing, and then the victim’s brother and widow took Tylenol from the same contaminated bottle and became fatalities numbers 2 and 3.  Another 4 bottles resulted in another 4 deaths, and the nationwide alarm was raised.  Only 3 more tampered-with bottles were found, but the…

A Brief History On September 18, 2001, in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, people in the United States were jumpy and on edge, not knowing if another attack would occur.  They did not have to wait long.  Just one week later, the first “Anthrax Letters” were mailed.  Believed at first to be “weaponized” Anthrax, that is Anthrax enhanced with silica to facilitate infection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ultimately refuted this claim. Digging Deeper Called the “Amerithrax Case” by the FBI, a series of letters laced with powdery Anthrax were sent in two batches in September and…

A Brief History On September 16, 1920, years before the great stock market crashes of 1929 and 2008, some unknown, disaffected malcontents showed the fat cats of Wall Street some serious financial terrorism of their own by setting off a bomb in a horse-drawn wagon in front of J.P. Morgan Bank in New York’s financial district. Digging Deeper The perpetrators were never caught, and anarchists to members of various revolutionary and anti-capitalist groups were suspected of committing the crime.  Investigation showed that the bomb consisted of 100 pounds of dynamite and 500 pounds of metal sash weights meant to act as projectiles.  The bomb was…

A Brief History On September 11, 1792, in the midst of the confusion of the French Revolution, the crown jewels, which included the fabulous Hope Diamond (Le Bleu de France), were stolen. Digging Deeper Mined in India in the 17th century, it came to the attention of a Frenchman by the name of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier who brought it back to France with him where he sold it to the Sun King, Louis XIV.  Known first as the “Tavernier Blue” and then “Le Bijou du Roi” (the King’s jewel), the Hope Diamond was originally a blue, 112-carat diamond.  For the next 124 years, it remained the property of the French royal family…

A Brief History On September 10, 1898, Empress Elisabeth of Austria was stabbed in the chest by assassin Luigi Lucheni.  Just as men have been targeted over the years, women have also found themselves at the receiving end of an assassin’s bullet, sword or poison.  Here 10 women are listed who were famous or powerful enough that someone wanted to get rid of them for political reasons or personal convictions.   Digging Deeper 10. Diana, Princess of Wales, 1997. Killed in a car wreck while supposedly trying to shake off paparazzi, rumors and conspiracy theories that Diana and her boyfriend (Dodi…