Tag Archives: Mysteries of History

Preserved Remains…from World War I?

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On February 4, 2012, Florence Green passed away at the ripe old age of 110. She’d served as an officers’ mess steward with the Women’s Royal Air Force during World War I. It’s believed she was the last surviving veteran of that war and thus, her death marked the end of an era.

Preserved Remains…from World War I?

However, news of that war continues to surface from time to time. Most recently, French archaeologists uncovered a World War I underground shelter. To their surprise, they discovered the preserved remains of twenty-one German soldiers. The incredible preservation of these World War I combatants was due to the lack of water, air, or light that could penetrate the area.

“It’s a bit like Pompeii. Everything collapsed in seconds and is just the way it was at the time. Here, as in Pompeii, we found the bodies as they were at the moment of their death.” ~ Michael Landolt, Archaeologist

Here’s more on these World War I remains from The Telegraph:

Nearly a century later French archaeologists stumbled upon the mass grave on the former Western Front during excavation work for a road building project.

Many of the skeletal remains were found in the same positions the men had been in at the time of the collapse, prompting experts to liken the scene to Pompeii.

A number of the soldiers were discovered sitting upright on a bench, one was lying in his bed and another was in the foetal position having been thrown down a flight of stairs…

(See German soldiers preserved in World War I shelter discovered after nearly 100 years for the rest)

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?

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On February, 14, 1929, seven gangsters were lined up inside a garage on Chicago’s North Side. Seconds later, they were brutally slaughtered in a display of violence that shocked the city to its core. Who was behind the infamous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?

83 years ago, Chicago was aflame. Prohibition had been a dreadful failure, leading to an enormous and highly profitable black market in illegal alcohol. In turn, this caused violent crime to skyrocket.

On February 14, five members and two associates of Bugs Moran’s North Side Gang showed up at Chicago’s SMC Cartage warehouse, possibly to buy stolen booze. Moran was running a little late that day and as he approached the garage, he noticed a police car pulling into the area. Moran and several others fled the area, saving their lives in the process.

Two “police officers” and two other men entered the garage, carrying Tommy Guns and shotguns. They swiftly lined Moran’s gang up against the rear wall and filled them with bullets. Then the officers led the other men out of the garage at gunpoint, presumably as a ruse to keep neighbors from notifying the real police. It didn’t work and the locals quickly called in the police. One of the victims, Frank Gusenberg, took fourteen bullets yet managed to hold on for three hours. However, he refused to identify the shooters before dying.

Who was behind the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre?

On December 14, 1929, Michigan police raided Burke’s bungalow on an unrelated murder charge. Although they didn’t find him, they did locate a wealth of evidence, including two Tommy Guns. Using the brand-new science of ballistics, the guns were connected to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. Burke was later captured in Missouri but was never formally tried for his role in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

Eight days later, police discovered a partially burned 1927 Cadillac Sedan which they were able to trace to the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The ensuing investigation initially pointed to Fred “Killer” Burke and James Ray. Both men, who belonged to a gang called Egan’s Rats, were known for disguising themselves as police officers during robberies. Police also found circumstantial ties to members of Al Capone’s Chicago Outfit, which was Moran’s biggest competition in Chicago’s bootlegging business.

Others would be accused and investigated over the next few years. A low-ranking criminal named Byron Bolton claimed to have been involved in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre along with Burke, Fred Goetz, and several others. Supposedly, they were members of the American Boys, a special gang-within-the-gang employed by Al Capone and paid handsomely to perform high-risk jobs. However, the FBI wasn’t interested in pursuing the case and the actual role of the American Boys – or whether they even existed in the the first place – remains uncertain.

Guerrilla Explorer’s Analysis

On December 5, 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment, which repealed the 18th Amendment. Thus, Prohibition finally came to an end. The cost of this social experiment in terms of blood and treasure had been steep. Ordinary folks who wished to engage in mutually beneficial exchanges suddenly found themselves criminals. Black market alcohol proved far more dangerous to drink. Crime and corruption increased dramatically. Government spending increased as well in order to combat these rising problems.

The end of Prohibition was also the end of an era. And as time rolled on, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre was all but forgotten. It seems fairly likely Al Capone was involved, especially since he and Moran were at each other’s throats for control of Chicago’s bootlegging industry. However, physical evidence is practically nonexistent. Perhaps researchers will uncover more pieces of evidence or shed new light on old ones in the not-so-distant future. But until then, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre remains an unsolved crime.

Mutiny during World War II?

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In 1942, U.S. Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson conducted a secret visit of a U.S. military base in Australia. For seventy years, the reason for his visit has remained a mystery. But new evidence suggests a horrific event that led to the death of one soldier and serious injuries to many others. Did members of the 96th Battalion, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commit mutiny?

The Townsville Mutiny?

According to historian Ray Holyoak, the answer is yes. It turns out that African-American members of the unit were subjected to ongoing discrimination and violence from their white counterparts. In retaliation, some of them seized control of machine guns and anti-aircraft guns and proceeded to rake their aggressors with more than 700 rounds. Here’s more from the Australian Broadcasting Company on the Townsville Mutiny:

An Australian historian has uncovered hidden documents which reveal that African American troops used machine guns to attack their white officers in a siege on a US base in north Queensland in 1942…

“For 70 years there’s been a rumour in Townsville that there was a mutiny among African-American servicemen. In the last year and a half I’ve found the primary documentation evidence that that did occur in 1942,” Mr Holyoak told AM.

During World War II, Townsville was a crucial base for campaigns into the Pacific, including the Battle of the Coral Sea…About 600 African-American troops were brought to the city to help build airfields…This was the site for a large-scale siege lasting eight hours, which was sparked by racial taunts and violence…

(See Secret documents lift lid on WWII mutiny by US troops in north Queensland for more on the Townsville Mutiny)

The Mystery of Glamis Castle?

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In the 1840s, strange stories began to emerge about Scotland’s Glamis Castle. Supposedly, the castle contained a secret room which was used to imprison a “monster.”

The Monster of Glamis Castle?

Although the story varies a bit, one particularly popular version is that the monster was in fact the rightful owner of Glamis Castle. However, his hideous appearance caused someone else to lock him away where no one could see him. Who was this mysterious monster? Here’s more on the answer to the mystery of Glamis Castle from Past Imperfect:

“If you could even guess the nature of this castle’s secret,” said Claude Bowes-Lyon, 13th Earl of Strathmore, “you would get down on your knees and thank God it was not yours.”

That awful secret was once the talk of Europe. From perhaps the 1840s until 1905, the Earl’s ancestral seat at Glamis Castle, in the Scottish lowlands, was home to a “mystery of mysteries”—an enigma that involved a hidden room, a secret passage, solemn initiations, scandal, and shadowy figures glimpsed by night on castle battlements.

The conundrum engaged two generations of high society until, soon after 1900, the secret itself was lost. One version of the story holds that it was so terrible that the 13th Earl’s heir flatly refused to have it revealed to him. Yet the mystery of Glamis (pronounced “Glarms”) remains, kept alive by its association with royalty (the heir was grandfather to Elizabeth II) and by the fact that at least some members of the Bowes-Lyon family insisted it was real.

(See The Monster of Glamis for the rest on the mystery of Glamis Castle)

Mysteries of the Mona Lisa?

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The Mona Lisa is Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting. Yet, it remains cloaked in secrecy to this day. Who was she? Is it even the original painting? Why was it painted? And how did da Vinci create that strange smile of hers?

Mysteries of the Mona Lisa?

Many of those mysteries aren’t going away anytime soon. However, a recent discovery might shed some new light on them. Researchers have discovered a copy of the Mona Lisa which was painted in da Vinci’s studio at about the same time as the original. Here’s more on the Mona Lisa from Wired:

A copy of the Mona Lisa that was painted in Leonardo’s studio has been discovered in Spain’s national art museum, the Prado. The discovery could change our understanding of the famous painting…

Philippa Warr, Wired contributor and editor of Art’s In The Right Place, said in an email: “The scientific processes applied to the Prado work suggest that both the Leonardo original and the Prado version were painted in tandem, with the Prado version recording the evolution of the famous work through changes in the underdrawings. The discovery of the exact nature of the Prado work could be key in answering (or at least narrowing down) some of the mysteries which surround Leonardo’s Mona Lisa.”

(See more on the Mona Lisa at Wired)

Who was the Richest President?

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Mitt Romney’s net worth is estimated at $190 to $250 million. If he ends up defeating Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential election, how would his wealth rank against other presidents? Would he be the richest president of all time?

Who was the Richest President of all Time?

It turns out that Romney’s wealth falls well short of the richest president of all time. Adjusted for inflation, George Washington was worth a whopping $500 million! JFK would’ve beaten that record but he didn’t live long enough to inherit his father’s massive $1 billion fortune. The figures were compiled by 24/7 Wall Street so I can’t verify them. And frankly, the article’s commentary sheds some light on the author’s stunning historical and economic ignorance.

“(For the first 75 years after Washington’s election)…because there was no central banking system and no commodities regulatory framework, markets were subject to panics.”

Clearly, this writer has never heard of the Bank of North America or the First Bank of the United States or the Second Bank of the United States. And even more clearly, the writer has no understanding of the lessons taught by the Austrian Business Cycle. With that said, here’s more on the richest presidents of all time from 24/7 Wall Street:

The net worth of the presidents varies widely. George Washington was worth over half a billion in today’s dollars. Several presidents went bankrupt.

The fortunes of American presidents are tied to the economy in the eras in which they lived. For the first 75 years after Washington’s election, presidents generally made money on land, crops, and commodity speculation. A president who owned hundreds or thousands of acres could lose most or all of his property after a few years of poor crop yields. Wealthy Americans occasionally lost all of their money through land speculation—leveraging the value of one piece of land to buy additional property. Since there was no reliable national banking system and almost no liquidity in the value of private companies, land was the asset likely to provide the greatest yield, if the property yielded enough to support the costs of operating the farm or plantation…

(See the rest on the richest presidents at 24/7 Wall Street)

President John Tyler and Ron Paul?

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In 1841, John Tyler became the tenth President of the United States. Now, more than 170 years later, his grandson has stepped into the political limelight. So, what does the Tyler family think of today’s politicians?

John Tyler Reenters the Public Eye?

The fact that John Tyler still has living grandsons is amazing in its own right. In 1853, at the age of 63, John Tyler gave birth to Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Lyon, in turn, gave birth to Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr. in 1924 and Harrison Tyler in 1928 (Lyon was 71 and 75, respectively, when they were born!).

So, the other day, Harrison Tyler was interviewed by the media. Although he considers himself a conservative, he doesn’t think much of the current crop of Republican candidates. In particular, he singled out Newt Gingrich for criticism, calling the former Speaker, “a big jerk.”

John Tyler…the Original Ron Paul?

One candidate Harrison Tyler might find interesting is Dr. Ron Paul, who espouses a political philosophy quite similar to that of his grandfather. Although mainstream historians like to rank John Tyler as one of the worst Presidents of all time, he’s recently gotten a lot of attention for something else…being the most libertarian President of all time. Here’s more on John Tyler from us at Guerrilla Explorer:

Eland takes a unique approach to evaluating presidents. Instead of ranking them on the usual stuff, he ranks them on how well they achieved peace, prosperity, and liberty. Presidents earn points for avoiding “wars of choice,” pursuing economic freedom, and respecting individual freedoms as well as limits on presidential powers.

His analysis leads to some interesting conclusions that differ wildly from most polls. George Washington is still fairly high at #7. But he ranks Abraham Lincoln (#29) and FDR (#31) far lower than any historian I’ve ever read. His top five are John Tyler, Grover Cleveland, Martin Van Buren, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Chester A. Arthur. These presidents are barely remembered by most Americans today which, in a way, is the point. Their terms were boring, thanks to their decisions to avoid wars and pursue policies that led to economic success as well as personal freedom.

So what about John Tyler? Well, he ended the Second Seminole War and exhibited restrained responses to an internal rebellion and a border dispute with Canada. He also vetoed his own party’s wishes to enact high tariffs and create a national bank, which ultimately cost him a second term. His record on preserving individual liberty is considered “very good.”

(See more on John Tyler right here at Guerrilla Explorer)

Darwin’s Lost Fossils?

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In 1847, famed botanist Joseph Hooker set out on an expedition to the Himalayas. While he was gone, his fossil collection – including pieces found by Charles Darwin during his famous Beagle voyage – vanished. What happened to them?

The Lost Fossils of Charles Darwin?

The lost fossils of Charles Darwin have been missing for more than 160 years. Now, they’ve been found. Here’s more on the lost fossils of Charles Darwin from the BBC:

A “treasure trove” of fossils – including some collected by Charles Darwin – has been re-discovered in an old cabinet. The fossils, lost for some 165 years, were found by chance in the vaults of the British Geological Survey HQ near Keyworth, UK…

…Dr Falcon-Lang, who is based in the department of earth sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London, spotted some drawers in a cabinet marked “unregistered fossil plants”. “Inside the drawer were hundreds of beautiful glass slides made by polishing fossil plants into thin translucent sheets,”…

(See the rest on Darwin’s fossils at the BBC)

The Guerrilla Explorer ventures into the ruins of a Lost City

Lost Ancient Megalithic Architecture?

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Lost cities are a fascinating subject. But have we found them all? Or is there ancient megalithic architecture still out there, waiting to be discovered?

Do Lost Cities Still Exist?

Do Lost Cities still exist?
David Meyer (aka the Guerrilla Explorer) ventures into ancient Maya ruins
Source: Guerrilla Explorer

Do Lost Cities Still Exist?

A few weeks back, I was trekking through the Yucatán Peninsula, in search of ancient Maya lost cities. Much of the upper part of this region is flat land. So, when you spot a hill, the chances are good you’re looking at an unexcavated ruin, which has given way to nature over the course of many centuries. The sheer number of such sites in the Yucatán is truly remarkable.

Here’s a good article from Katie Crenshaw at Technorati on the possibility of finding far more ancient “monumental architecture” (aka lost cities) in today’s modern world:

…It is widely accepted that anatomically modern humans, humans who look and think like humans today, emerged around 200,000 years ago. Linguists argue that language emerged sometime between 150,000 – 50,000 years ago. Assuming that the creation of complex sites such as Gobekli Tepe required the use of a complete language, not a proto-language, we can assume that humans had the capacity and ability to produce monumental architecture since at least 50,000 years ago, if not before…

Your next question should rightfully be “If we have had the ability to produce such impressive sites as Gobekli Tepe, the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, and Stonehenge, since 50,000 years ago, conservatively, why haven’t we found evidence of these early sites?”

(See more on ancient monumental architecture and lost cities at Technorati)

Thomas Jefferson’s Secret Bible?

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In 1820, Thomas Jefferson put the finishing touches on a strange modified Bible entitled The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. The work, which took him over a decade to complete, was not published until 1895, 69 years after Jefferson’s death. What was the purpose of the Jefferson Bible?

Thomas Jefferson & the Jefferson Bible?

Thomas Jefferson was a great admirer of the “Christian System.” However, although he had tremendous appreciation for Jesus’ moral philosophy, he had little patience for stories about miracles, the virgin birth, or the resurrection. So, using a razor, he cut out selected sections of the books of Matthew, Mark Luke, and John. Then he arranged them in chronological order and pasted them to sheets of paper. By the end, he had created his own unique and private account of the life of Jesus Christ, sans supernatural elements.

Guerrilla Explorer’s Analysis

Afraid of what other people might think, Jefferson never published the book and in fact, only mentioned it to a few people. It was finally brought to market in 1895 and then again by order of Congress in 1904. For many years afterward, “it was presented to all newly elected members of that body.” Jefferson’s secret Bible is not well known today. However, it would appear that his desire to craft his own unique faith informed his views on why religion needs to be protected from intrusion by the state.

“…I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” ~ Thomas Jefferson, 1802

Here’s more on the Jefferson Bible from Mitch Horowitz at CNN:

Imagine the following scenario: A U.S. president is discovered to be spending his spare time taking a razor to the New Testament, cutting up and re-pasting those passages of the Gospels that he considered authentic and morally true and discarding all the rest.

Gone are the virgin birth, divine healings, exorcisms and the resurrection of the dead, all of which the chief executive dismissed as “superstitions, fanaticisms and fabrications.”

Such an episode occurred, although the revised version of Scripture remained unseen for nearly seven decades after its abridger’s death. Thomas Jefferson intended it that way…

(See the rest on the Jefferson Bible at CNN)