Michael Thomas Barry's blog

Louis "Lepke" Buchalter

by Michael Thomas Barry

On March 4, 1944, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, the head of Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Lepke was the leader of the country's largest crime syndicate throughout the 1930s and was making nearly $50 million a year from his various enterprises.

Charles Ponzi

by Michael Thomas Barry

On March 3, 1882, Charles Ponzi, was born in Lugo, Italy. He became known in the early 1920s as one of the most infamous swindler’s in American history.

Charlie Chaplin

by Michael Thomas Barry

On March 2, 1978, two men steal the corpse of the legendary film actor Charlie Chaplin from a cemetery in the Swiss village of Corsier-sur-Vevey. A comic actor who was perhaps most famous for his alter ego, the Little Tramp, Chaplin was also a respected filmmaker whose career spanned Hollywood’s silent film era and the momentous transition to “talkies” in the late 1920s.

by Michael Thomas Barry

On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh III, the young son of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family's home in Hopewell, New Jersey. Lindbergh, who became an international celebrity when he flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, and his wife Anne discovered a ransom note demanding $50,000 in their son's empty room.

Olof Palme

by Michael Thomas Barry

On February 28, 1986, Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until his death, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden.

Daniel Sickles shoots Philip Barton Key

by Michael Thomas Barry

On February 27, 1859, Daniel Sickles shoots and kills his wife’s lover Philip Barton Key II. Sickles was a colorful and controversial American politician, Union general in the American Civil War, and diplomat. As an antebellum New York politician, Sickles was involved in a number of public scandals, most notably the killing of his wife's lover, Philip Barton Key II, son of Francis Scott Key.

Henri Désiré Landru

by Michael Thomas Barry

On February 25, 1922, French serial killer Henri Désiré Landru is executed. Landru was born in Paris, France on April 12, 1869. After leaving school, he spent four years in the French Army from 1887 – 1891. After he was discharged from service, he proceeded to have a sexual relationship with his cousin.