The lives of Holly, Valens, and Richardson were cut tragically short by the Buddy Holly plane crash. Here’s a look at some of the news stories from the time, and photos of the plane.
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Many well-known serial killers don’t quite compare to the exploits of Herman Webster Mudgett, alias Dr H H Holmes, perhaps one of the most fiendish mass murderers in American history. See diagrams of his infamous murder house, and images of his victims.
In her short, but impactful life, Patsy Cline managed to change the landscape of country music forever. Read on for feature stories and photos about the famed singer, both before and after her death.
The Zodiac Killer letters & cryptograms turned the case into an intricate puzzle that has confounded investigators for over half a century.
Join us as we explore the fascinating history of George Washington’s life – a true testament to the power of determination, leadership, and an unwavering belief in the potential of a young nation.
Cowboy actor Tom Mix – the horse-riding hero of scores of western thrillers of the silent film era – left a lasting legacy after he died in a single-car crash on a highway detour in Arizona.
The story of the Titanic sinking is a tragedy that has captivated audiences for over a century. Despite the passage of time, our fascination with the event and its aftermath has hardly diminished.
When Florence Nightingale died, tributes poured in from around the world — including ones from American sources like this one.
The Black Dahlia murder – the savage killing of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short in January of 1947 – was one of the biggest news stories of the 20th century, and continues to fascinate people to this day.
There is no more sordid or cynical chapter in IG Farben’s entire ugly history than the story of the concentration camp it built and ran for itself.
Here are some front pages of newspapers around the country, showing very first breaking Titanic news on the night she sank. There was very little information available at the time, and some news reports were, sadly, completely inaccurate.
Here’s a look back at Abraham Lincoln’s funeral and the entire funeral procession, where millions of people came out to see the President’s hearse pass by on the way from Washington DC to Chicago.
Below are several chapters from a book that was issued the same year as the Titanic disaster, and was called simply Titanic. While many aspects
Among the most famous letters in history was the one written near the end of the Civil War by President Lincoln to Mrs. Lydia Bixby of Boston.
When the infamous zeppelin airship Hindenburg caught fire and crashed as it was landing in New Jersey back in 1937, the spectacular disaster was caught on film and audio. Here’s how it went down.
To this day, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York on March 25, 1911, remains the deadliest industrial disaster in the city’s history,
When famed dancer Isadora Duncan was killed in a most unusual automobile accident, it was a sudden end to the life of a woman who had seen incredible success as well as unimaginable tragedy.
Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne’s death in the plane crash of TWA Flight 599 on March 31, 1931, resulted in more than just the loss of the football legend and seven others – it was a pivotal moment in early airline and aviation safety.
Buddy Holly was one of rock and roll’s early pioneers. He remains influential to this day, despite his untimely death in a plane crash. Here’s a look back at his career!
When Founding Father Benjamin Franklin died in 1790, newspapers published an account of Franklin’s last illness and death, his obituary, and even the epitaph he wrote for himself.
The Civil War wasn’t going well for the Union in the early weeks of December 1861 – and it was going still worse for William Tecumseh Sherman. Find out why here.
The Civil War’s bloodiest day: Lee turned back at Antietam (1962) A look back on the centennial, by Merton T. Akers — The Lawrence Gazette
This article bids adieu to the man whose name countless millions of people have worn: the one and only Levi Strauss, creator of Levi’s riveted denim blue jeans. Find out more about the man here.
In the late 1930s, aviator Amelia Earhart mysteriously vanished on her flights around the globe. See original newspaper reports at the time of her disappearance and a look back at the mystery 25 years later.
There have been tales of what happened at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota in 1890. Here, see original vintage news reports of the battle, plus a historical review of the events from 1976.;
When Jimi Hendrix died in 1970, the world was shocked that such a young star could have blazed so brightly, but then burned out so fast. Here’s a look back.
At just 27 years old and still at the start at what could have been a long career, singer Janis Joplin was found dead at home, and the music world mourned for years.
Samuel Colt, the millionaire inventor of the famous Colt revolver, died when he was just 47 years old. Here’s a look back at the original obituary for one of the wealthiest men in America before the Civil War.
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 – the deadliest natural disaster in United States history – after which floods swept thousands of people to their death, and many more left homeless as millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed.
In August of 1969, actress Sharon Tate and four others were found dead in what police said resembled a ritualistic mass murder. Four months later, Charles Manson and the Manson ‘family’ would be charged with the crime. Here’s how it all happened.
Take a few minutes to reflect on the awesome and terrifying power unleashed on the world in the summer of 1945 during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki while remembering the lives lost – and those possibly saved.
A doctor smashed his way into a locked bedroom, and found Marilyn Monroe dead in bed. Here’s what else he found, and how the first news stories broke.
The 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic killed an estimated 50 million people – the majority of deaths from pneumonia following an attack of influenza.
Here’s the true story of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, as reported at the time of his murder at the hand of actor John Wilkes Booth.
In 1883, the volcano of Krakatoa erupted in cataclysmic fashion. Considered the single largest natural explosion in recorded history, the eruption killed upwards of 36,000 people.
In 1967, a flash fire killed the prime crew of the Apollo 1/Saturn 204 mission. Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee lost their lives.
Kill John Dillinger at Chicago Desperado, wounded by three slugs, broke line of fire; Died in alley U.S. Justice Department Agents and East Chicago Police
George Eastman: The man behind Kodak (1854-1932) George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, and often called “the father of photography” was many things — a
From Liverpool lad to Beatle & enduring icon – revisit the life of John Lennon. His legacy is more than songs; it’s a committed pursuit of peace & love.
In the years after Mary Jo Kopechne died in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island, questions, investigations, doubts and rumors dogged the career of Edward Kennedy. Here’s a look back.
The mystery of Pan Am Flight 7, flying between San Francisco to Honolulu, crashed mysteriously midway between the two cities. The cause has yet to be determined.
Find out about the double murder Lizzie Borden may have committed – starting with the first news reports, through the court case, then summaries of the dramatic tale that riveted the nation.
After shooting several people at a school in San Diego in 1979, teen Brenda Ann Spencer told a reporter, ‘I just did it for the fun of it. I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.’
When you look back at these old photos of skyscraper construction, you’ll see men way up high without harnesses, walking along beams suspended hundreds of feet above the street, and swinging on cables.
Donna Summer burst onto the disco scene in the 1970s with a bang – her four #1 singles all reached the top chart spot within 13 months of each other – including ‘I Feel Love.’
Find out what set in motion the deadly chain of events that led to General Custer’s troops being overwhelmed by Sitting Bull’s force of 8,000 Lakota & Cheyenne during The Battle of Little Bighorn.
‘Man-eating shark attacks’ made the headlines back in 1916 after there were several attacks and deaths from sharks off the coast of New Jersey and New York. Find out what happened here!
Actor James Dean, a young Hollywood idol, was killed on September 30, 1955, in a head-on car crash. Here’s how the story was reported, and then a look back from a year later.
See damage caused by the St Louis tornado in May 1896 – considered one of the deadliest on record with at least 255 lives lost – and get the whole story.
The Titanic was one of the most luxurious, well-appointed cruise liners ever, with seemingly no expense spared… except when it came to passenger safety in the event of an emergency. Artists had a lot to say about safety and Titanic lifeboats.
In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress, and the United States formally declared war – The Great War, which became known as World War 1 – on April 6, 1917.
Although the story below was the topic of the 1994 made-for-TV movies Death of a Cheerleader/A Friend to Die For, this story has personal meaning, because I was another teen girl at the same school.
After a lengthy crime spree, Bonnie & Clyde were finally caught and killed in 1934: Clyde Barrow, the Southwest’s No. 1 outlaw, and his gunwoman companion, Bonnie Parker, were trapped and shot dead by Texas and Louisiana officers.
Upon the news of Elvis Presley’s sudden and untimely death, the nation mourned – and the singer’s records charted again after fans across the country immediately started to buy lots of his albums.
See a collection of newspaper clippings immediately after the murder of Kirsten Costas, chroniciling the immediate news reports about the crime and the community’s shock, and some of the police work involved in the effort to find the killer.
A confused and stunned nation searched for answers to what caused the catastrophic explosion of the space shuttle Challenger that sent schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe and six other astronauts to a fiery death 74 seconds after liftoff Tuesday.
Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross — nicknamed “Minty” — around 1820-1823. She died on March 10, 1913, in Auburn, New York. In the words
Regular US combat units were deployed to Vietnam beginning in 1965, and while America’s direct military involvement ended on August 15, 1973, the last soldiers left Vietnam on March 29, 1975. Here, take a look back at how some of the military action was portrayed stateside by Newsweek magazine.
May 12, 1932 – Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr, infant son of the world-famous aviator, was found dead at Mount Rose, NJ
Fabian said he was taken to Auschwitz 10 months ago with 500,000 other Hungarian Jews, and that 400,000 were gassed and cremated in the first two months, and that only 1,000 remained alive.
Get the true story behind ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ from 1882 — when, Jesse James, the Missouri outlaw, was killed by a boy twenty years old at his temporary residence on Thirteenth and Lafayette streets, in this city.
Deaths caused by automobiles are few in comparison with other causes. For example, three times as many persons are killed by horses as by automobiles.
“The greatest man in America” has fallen in a duel The Sprig Of Liberty (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) – July 27, 1804 DISTRESSING! It is with infinite regret
The old steamship City of Chester sank just inside the Golden Gate in the San Francisco Bay – but she was rediscovered more than 100 years later.
On a clear, unseasonably hot morning on September 25, 1978, residents of San Diego’s North Park neighborhood were getting their days underway — not realizing they
While the “finale” in the original article title refers to the fact that this was Clark Gable’s last movie — he died just 12 days after filming of The Misfits ended — looking back, we can see that the phrasing was oddly (and sadly) prescient: Time would eventually reveal that this was Marilyn Monroe’s final film role, too.
“Thelonious,” a tune from his very first Blue Note session, had verses fashioned from a single ingeniously hammered note, with three horns playing shifting dissonances behind it. He developed the one-note motif in his solo and then abruptly broke into some pure, old-fashioned Harlem oompah stride.
