Oct 17, 2013
by Michael Thomas BarryOn October 17, 1835, Texans approve a resolution to create the Texas Rangers, a corps of armed and mounted lawmen designed to guard the frontier between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers. In the midst of their revolt against Mexico, Texan leaders felt they...
Oct 16, 2013
by Michael Thomas BarryOn October 16, 1991, George Jo Hennard drives his truck through a window in Luby’s Cafeteria in Kileen, Texas, and then opens fire on a lunch crowd, killing 23 and injuring 20. The rampage at the Central Texas restaurant began at approximately 12:45 p.m....
Oct 15, 2013
by Michael Thomas BarryOn October 15, 1917, exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by a French firing squad for the crime of espionage. She was born Margueretha Gertruida Zelle in a small town in northern Holland and formerly married to a captain in the Dutch army; Mata Hari had...
Oct 14, 2013
Scene of the Amityville murdersby Michael Thomas BarryOn October 14, 1975, the murder trial of Ronald DeFeo Jr. began. DeFeo was accused of killings his parents and four siblings in their Amityville, New York home. The family’s house was later said to be haunted and served as...
Oct 12, 2013
by Michael Thomas BarryOn October 12, 2002, three bombings shatter the peace on the island of Bali. The blasts, the work of militant Islamist terrorists, left 202 people dead and more than 200 others injured. The attacks shocked residents and those familiar with the mostly Hindu...
Oct 11, 2013
Edward O. Heinrich, private detectiveby Michael Thomas BarryOn October 11, 1923, three men blow up the mail car of a Southern Pacific train carrying passengers through southern Oregon in a botched robbery attempt. Just as the train entered a tunnel, two armed men jumped the...
Oct 10, 2013
Joseph Harrisby Michael Thomas BarryOn October 8, 1991, former U.S. postal worker Joseph Harris shoots two former co-workers to death at the post office in Ridgewood, New Jersey. The night before, Harris had killed his former supervisor, Carol Ott, with a three-foot samurai...
Oct 9, 2013
Roger Touhyby Michael Thomas BarryOn October 9, 1942, notorious Chicago area bootlegger Roger "The Terrible" Touhy escapes from Statesville Prison by climbing the guard's tower. Touhy, who had been framed for kidnapping by his bootlegging rivals, was serving a 99-year...
Oct 8, 2013
James Arthur Rayby Michael Thomas BarryOn October 8, 2009, two people die and more than a dozen others are hospitalized following a botched sweat lodge ceremony at a retreat run by motivational speaker and author James Arthur Ray near Sedona, Arizona. A third participant in the...
Oct 7, 2013
Achille Lauroby Michael Thomas BarryOn October 7, 1985, Palestinian terrorists hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro shortly after it left Alexandria, Egypt. The well-armed men, who belonged to the Popular Front for the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), the terrorist wing...
