Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On September 7, 1876, the infamous James-Younger gang attempted to pull off a bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, but an alert and irate group of citizens quickly armed themselves and foiled the robbery, killing three of the robbers and wounding others. Digging Deeper Frank and Jesse James eluded capture, but two Younger brothers were caught and sent to prison.  The gang had previously served the Confederate States during the American Civil War as “bushwhackers,” basically land based pirates attacking and robbing Union forces and anyone believed to be Union sympathizers. Infamous bank robber Willie Sutton explained why…

A Brief History On August 27, 1915, a member of the clergy tried to assassinate another member of the clergy, a most un-Christian act indeed.  Bishop Patrick Heffron was shot twice by a priest in his own diocese, Father Laurence M. Lesches. Digging Deeper It seems the priest was unhappy that the bishop did not see fit to grant a parish to Fr. Lesches, allegedly due to the instability of Lesches.  Apparently, Bishop Heffron was right!  Luckily, the good bishop did not die until 1927, of natural causes.  The would-be assassin was committed to a mental institution for the rest…

A Brief History On August 16, 1933, antisemitism reared its ugly head in Toronto, Canada, famous for being a nice city.  Known as the “Christie Pits riot” after the playground in which it occurred; the incident was not unique in Toronto. Digging Deeper Toronto was a mostly White, British derived city with Jewish people making up the largest minority.  Previous riots had taken place in 1875 against Catholics and in 1918 against Greek immigrants. Not just anti-Jewish, the Anglo rioters also railed against Italians.  The setting had been a baseball game with a team of Jews and Italians against a…

A Brief History On August 11, 2000, Southwest Airlines Flight 1763 from Nevada to Utah experienced one of those horrible moments when the lives of all on board were at stake. Digging Deeper An emotionally upset 19 year old man, possibly fueled by drugs in his system, engaged in an ongoing tirade in the airliner, culminating in his kicking in the cockpit door and attempting to enter the cockpit.  The flight crew pushed the angry young man out of the flight deck and concerned passengers swarmed the out-of-control passenger and subdued him. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old died while other passengers restrained…

A Brief History On August 1, 2004, about 400 people died and another nearly 500 were injured when a supermarket in Asunción, Paraguay, caught fire.  Managers had fire exits blocked to prevent theft, which resulted in the mass casualties. Digging Deeper Something as mundane as grocery shopping can be deadly, and here are some ways incidents prove the point: In 1967, an F-4 fighter jet crashed into an Arizona grocery, with 15 feared dead and 12 injured. In 2013, a store in Riga, Latvia, suffered a roof collapse, burying people under tons of debris, leaving 54 dead and 41 injured.…