When Tristan Ellis, a notorious burglar, showed up in front of Australian Judge Dean Mildren on March 29, 2004, it was the third time that year he had been arrested. The judge […]
Never Argue With a Judge — Even When He Calls Himself an Idiot
Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death
Drinking coffee in Turkey was against the law in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Those caught breaking the law were put to death. source
Once Is an Accident. Twice is a Coincidence. Three Times is a Habit
Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926), the eldest child of President Abraham Lincoln, was a witness to the murders of three presidents.
I’ll Get You, My Pretty… And Your Little Kitten/Bunny, Too
In a move certain to make Grumpy Cat even more surly, Russian tax collectors have started arresting cats and holding them in custody to motivate delinquent taxpayers to make good on their […]
Spider-Man is Dead. A New Hero is Born
When Aaron Purmort (1979-2014) knew that he didn’t have much time remaining to live, he wrote his own obituary, in which he made a startling revelation: “Purmort, Aaron Joseph age 35, died […]
I Have a Banana, And I’m Not Afraid to Use It!
Nathan Channing was arrested after pointing a banana at two Mesa County, Colorado Sheriff’s deputies, both of whom thought it was a gun. Under the category of “Truth is Stranger Than Fiction,” […]
Cleaning Up in Real Estate — the Con Man’s Way
Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava (1912-2009), also known as “Natwarlal,” was a noted Indian con man who repeatedly sold the Taj Mahal; the Red Fort; the Indian presidential residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan; and the Parliament […]
Forget the Brooklyn Bridge… I Have a Whole Country to Sell You!
One of the most successful con men of all time was the Scotsman Gregor MacGregor (1786-1845). Among his most successful and notorious scams was to encourage investment in the fictional country of […]
The Rough and Ready Life of Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), twelfth President of the United States, showed such little interest in politics that he never cast a vote in a presidential election until his own election in 1848.
Perhaps They Will Find That Part About “Thou Shall Not Steal”
The most shoplifted book in the United States is the Bible. Nationwide, bookstores net about $16 billion in sales every year, according to the American Booksellers Association. Stores estimated that they lose […]
Appropriate Name in the End
In the late 1880s, Lester Moore worked as a Wells Fargo Station Agent in the Mexico-United States border town of Naco, Arizona. One day a man named Hank Dunstan arrived at the […]
The Ladies’ Man with the Ghastly Face
Describing the appearance of the 19th century murderer John Williams, Thomas de Quincey wrote, “One fact, however, was striking, and fell in with the impression of his natural tiger character, that his […]
The Jury Has Deliberated… And Deliberated… And Deliberated….
The longest U.S. jury deliberation in a civil lawsuit took place in a 1992 California trial in which a woman and her son sued the City of Long Beach for preventing the opening […]
A Handy Last Request
Convicted murderer James W. Rodgers was put in front of a firing squad in Utah in 1960. When asked if he had a last request, he replied, “Bring me a bullet-proof vest.”
Leave ‘Em Laughing
Convicted murderer George Appel’s final words before being executed in the electric chair in New York in 1928 were – “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.” Read more […]
Commonplace Fun Facts 