Month: November 2023
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American Disc Jockey Alan Freed is Fired From WABC Radio Station in New York City for His Role in the Payola Scandal. November 21, 1959.
Image: Alan Freed, 1958. (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 21, 1958, American disc jockey Alan Freed is fired from WABC radio station in New York City for his role in the payola scandal. Though payola – paying a DJ to play a song on the radio to promote it – was not…
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On This Day in History, the Notorious Hired Killer Tom Horn is Executed for Murdering Willie Nickell, the 14-year-Old Son of a Wyoming Sheep Rancher. November 20, 1903.
Image: Tom Horn braiding a rope in the Laramie County jail office in Cheyenne, 1902. (Public Domain) Several historians have subsequently doubted whether Horn murdered the boy, indicating that the jury condemned him merely because of an intoxicated admission of guilt that Horn purportedly made to a deputy sheriff. Also, the jury did not give sufficient…
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William Magear “Boss” Tweed, leader of New York City’s crooked Tammany Hall political organization during the 1860s and 1870s, is convicted of defrauding New York City of $6 million and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. November 19, 1873.
Image: William Magear “Boss” Tweed, 1870. (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 19, 1873, William Magear “Boss” Tweed, leader of New York City’s crooked Tammany Hall political organization during the 1860s and 1870s, is convicted of defrauding New York City of $6 million and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. Thomas Nast, a…
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British Commander in Chief Sir Douglas Haig Ended His Army’s Offensive Near the Somme River in Northwest France, Ending the Larger-Than-Life Battle of the Somme After More Than Four Months of Blood-Stained Battle. November 18, 1916.
Image: Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, 1917. (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 18, 1916, British Commander in Chief Sir Douglas Haig ended his army’s offensive near the Somme River in northwest France, ending the larger-than-life Battle of the Somme after more than four months of blood-stained battle. The Battle of the Somme,…
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Wild West Wednesday – “Buckskin” Frank Leslie
Image: Nashville Franklin “Buckskin Frank” Leslie, a lawman, U.S. Army scout, gambler, and an outlaw of the American Old West. He assisted Wyatt and Warren Earp in their search for those they held responsible for maiming Virgil Earp and assassinating Morgan Earp. 1881. (Public Domain) “Buckskin” Frank Leslie was a U.S. Army scout, gambler, bartender,…
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On this day in History, Charles Guiteau Was Put on Trial for the Assassination of U.S. President James Garfield. November 14, 1881
Image: Charles Julius Guiteau in 1881. (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 14, 1881, Charles Guiteau was put on trial for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield. Charles Guiteau’s murder trial was one of the first held in which the defendant’s assertion of insanity was exposed to the modern legal test: whether…
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28-year-old Karen Silkwood Died in a Car Crash Near Crescent, Oklahoma. November 13, 1974.
Image: Karen Silkwood (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 13, 1974, 28-year-old Karen Silkwood died in a car crash near Crescent, Oklahoma. Silkwood was employed as a technician at a plutonium plant run by the Kerr-McGee Corporation, and she condemned the plant’s health and safety procedures. The evening she perished, she was going…
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Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo was Sentenced to Death By the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. He Was Declared Guilty of Seven Counts of War Crimes and Was Condemned to Death by Hanging. November 12, 1948.
Image: General Hideki Tojo lies semiconscious, limp in a chair with a gaping bullet wound just below the heart after a botched attempt to kill himself as American soldiers surround his house. September 11, 1945. (Public Domain). On this day in history, November 12, 1948, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo was sentenced to death by…
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Nat Turner, the Leader of a Violent and Blood-Stained Uprising of Enslaved People in Southampton County, Virginia, was Hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia. November 11, 1831.
Image: Discovery of Nat Turner wood engraving by William Henry Shelton, 1881. (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 11, 1831, Nat Turner, the leader of a violent and blood-stained uprising of enslaved people in Southampton County, Virginia, was hanged in Jerusalem, Virginia, the county seat. Turner, an enslaved man, and educated minister, thought God…
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Henry Wirz, a Swiss Immigrant and the Commanding Officer of Andersonville Prisoner of War Camp in Georgia, is Hanged for the Murder of Union Soldiers Interned There During the American Civil War. November 10, 1865.
Image: The execution of Henry Wirz, commandant of the (Confederate) Andersonville Prison, near the US Capitol moments after the trap door was sprung. Washington, D.C. (Public Domain) On this day in history, November 10, 1865, Henry Wirz, a Swiss immigrant and the commanding officer of Andersonville prisoner of war camp in Georgia, is hanged for…
History Daily With Francis Chappell Black 