The parents of Linda Marie Ault were in a panic when their daughter didn't return home after attending a dance. When she returned home the next morning, they came up with a punishment that would teach her a valuable lesson. Everything went horribly wrong.

Bonus episode is an interview with John Murphy. His dad was a member of the Salem Trade School, which was the subject of Useless Information Podcast #90 in January 2016.

Fun story from the 1940's about a man named Harry H. Heim who converted a defunct mill town into the ultimate Christmas wonderland.

In 1957, three Chicago aluminum awning salesmen decided to quit the jobs and sail to Africa to join in on the lucrative illegal diamond trade. They were in for a wild ride along with a very big surprise waiting for them at the end.

Long forgotten headline story about a family who lost everything in the Great Kansas flood of 1951. Yet, all was not as it seemed...

As a publicity stunt, W.G. Crush crashed two trains head-on near West, Texas in 1896. More than 20,000 spectators were in the audience when it all went horribly wrong.

Pearl River, LA resident Effie Crawford made the most startling discovery in 1936. Moving through the brush near her home she spotted a large dog carrying an unusual package in its mouth. She grabbed the bundle and found that it contained a baby.

The world's fastest bicyclist in the 1890's was Charles Minthorp Murphy and he was certain that there was no locomotive on Earth that could go faster than he could. To prove this, Murphy set a goal to ride one-mile in one-minute.

John Cleves Symmes asked Congress to fund a voyage to the North Pole so that his crew could sail into the Earth's interior. You may be surprised to find out how many of our elected officials approved the voyage...

Pennsylvania resident Jacob Silverman made national headlines back in 1922 for the crime of owning a dog named Dick within the commonwealth. The law at the time required that Dick be killed simply because he was owned by Jacob. Could Dick's life be saved?

Bonus episode that includes an interview that I did back in 2014 with Lene Bech Sillesen and a recording of the NBC live news report when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

In 1948, Dorothy Lawlor decided to take an ad out in the Newsday newspaper seeking a husband in exchange for $10,000. Within twenty-four hours she became a media sensation. Did she really marry one of these men? The answer may surprise you.

Tino De Angelis was once ran a salad oil empire. Learn about his shocking downfall, how JFK’s assassination ties into the story, and how one of the world's richest men made a good chunk of change off of everyone else’s misfortune.

When author Robert Louis Stevenson learned that young Vermont native Annie Ide hated her Christmas birthday, he decided to deed his own birthday to her. Learn how she celebrate her new birthday and what happened after she died.d

In May 1929, Old Orchard Beach in Maine was the site for a race that pitted the smaller, more nimble American Green Flash against larger, more powerful French Yellow Bird. Anticipation mounted for weeks as the two planes attempted to get off the ground.

When the S.E. Massengill Co. introduced its Elixir Sulfanilamide in September 1937, there was no law in the US requiring pharmaceutical companies to test their medicines for toxicity. As a result, more than 100 people lost their lives.

During desperate times some people are forced to do desperate things. The trick is to not get caught. Let's just say that Maybelle Trow Knox was not very good at that last part.

The Great Depression was an awful time for farmers in Iowa. It culminated with the near hanging of a judge in Le Mars. This particular farm was owned by the womanless library creator T.M. Zink.

Le Mars, Iowa was thrust into the national spotlight by the actions of just one man: T.M. Zink, a man who left nearly his entire estate for the establishment of a womanless library.

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was one of the first female doctors in the United States and is the only woman to ever receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, until the government rescinded her award.

In the 1940's Ralph Marshall Wilby appeared to pull off what was the perfect crime. An incredible story that has many elements of an international thriller: deception, false identities, international kidnapping, and more.

On March 5, 2000, Ines Ramirez Perez went into labor but was unable to get any medical care to help with the delivery. In a panic, Ines used an ordinary kitchen knife to perform a cesarean on herself.

What is a political party to do when they don't want their candidate on the ballot? The Democratic party in Wilkes-Barre, PA found themselves in such a predicament when John Jay "Butch" McDevitt won their primary.

The Halloween episode. Learn about a reputable California dentist named William Shyne who supposedly gave the children of his neighborhood lollipops and laxative pills for Halloween.

On October 6, 1946 a young woman was arrested in Palisades Park, NJ for refusing to provide a police officer with her name. She had been cooperative in every way but refused to provide that single piece of information.