Polly Adler did not get the best start in life, but she managed to turn an odd situation into a thriving business opportunity that survived prohibition, police raids, and more. 

Charles Hatfield was known for his rainmaker, but he was no boxer. In the early 1900's, he made a name for himself by attracting rain. And then he made a bigger name for himself when it rained way too much.

Sources:

Abbott, Karen. The House that Polly Adler Built. Smithsonian. April 12, 2012. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-house-that-polly-adler-built-65080310/

Adler, Polly. A House Is Not A Home. New York: Reinhart, 1953.

Charles Hatfield. Wikipedia. Accessed on January 24, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hatfield

Dimuro, Gina. Charles Hatfield: The “Rainmaker” who Brought on a Deadly Flood in 1916 San Diego. All That’s Interesting. December 10, 2018. https://allthatsinteresting.com/charles-hatfield

Klein, Christopher. When San Diego Hired a Rainmaker a Century Ago, It Poured. JSTOR Daily. December 12, 2015. https://daily.jstor.org/charles-hatfield-rainmaker/

Madam LaLaurie was so nice to her slaves that, publicly, she was known to raise a few eyebrows. Today, her estate is known as one of the most haunted locations in the south. And if the whole "slave owner" thing didn't give it away, it's not because she kindness'ed people to death.

From assault with a deadly animal, to bombing your coworkers as pranks, crimes are often as weird as they are stupid. This week, we look at a handful of very unusual run-ins with the law. 

Sources:

A Torture Chamber is Uncovered by Arson. History.com. November 13, 2009. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-torture-chamber-is-uncovered-by-arson 

Florida Man Arrested for Throwing Alligator Through Drive-Thru Window. Fox News. February 10, 2016. https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man-arrested-for-throwing-alligator-through-drive-thru-window

Golgowski, Nina. Man Skipped Work For 6 Years And No One Noticed Until He Won An Award. Huffington Post. February 15, 2016. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/man-skipped-work-for-6-years_us_56c1d32ae4b0b40245c72512

Madam LaLaurie — The Sadistic Slave Owner of the French Quarter. Historic Mysteries. February 28, 2017. https://www.historicmysteries.com/madame-lalaurie-female-serial-killer/ 

Rapatoni, Linda. Mother, Missing Girl Reunited For Christmas. LA Times. December 26, 1990. http://articles.latimes.com/1990-12-26/local/me-6529_1_half-brother

Serena, Katie. Madam LaLaurie's Most Sickening Acts of Torture and Murder. All That's Interesting. October 31, 2017. https://allthatsinteresting.com/madame-lalaurie

Stead, Lauren. Meet 2 Nominees for Worst Manager of the Year. HR Morning. April 6, 2016. http://www.hrmorning.com/nominees-for-worst-manager-of-the-year/

Stiles, Jackson. Naked Man Freed From Pigeon Cage After 20 Years. The Daily Mail. December 30, 2015. https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2015/12/30/naked-man-freed-cage-20-years/

Those who have seen the movie Gladiator know that Emperor Commodus was a terrible man. What they may not realize, however, is that he was so bad that the movie actually makes him look better than he was, even if they made up the part about him killing his own father.

Lord Timothy Dexter couldn't understand why his high-society peers wouldn't accept him as their peer. But what he lacked in taste, education, personality, grooming, and manners, he more than made up for in sheer dumb luck.

Sources:

Crockett, Zachary. The Strange Life of Lord Timothy Dexter. Priceonomics. January 9, 2015. https://priceonomics.com/the-strange-life-of-lord-timothy-dexter/

Dimuro, Gina. Commodus: The True Story of The Mad Roman Emperor Immortalized in 'Gladiator'. All That's Interesting. December 30, 2018. https://allthatsinteresting.com/emperor-commodus-gladiator-true-story

Lord Timothy Dexter. A Pickle for the Knowing Ones. Via LordTimothyDextor.com. http://www.lordtimothydexter.com/the_holl_pickle.htm

Oliver, Mark. 10 Insane Facts About Emperor Commodus Left Out of 'Gladiator.' Listverse. September 18, 2017. http://listverse.com/2017/09/18/10-insane-facts-about-emperor-commodus-left-out-of-gladiator/

After a string of sexual assaults and an eventual murder landed the troubled Jack Unterweger in jail, it looked like justice would prevail. But after writing a hit book, and serving out his 15 year sentence, Jack was released, and given a job as a crime reporter. But had Jack really changed? Sadly, no.

George Boynton was a born explorer. At least, he thought he was. His journey around the world on foot may not have gone completely as planned, but it'd take more than a little setback to knock George off his feet.

Sources:

Oliver, Mark. They Thought Killer-Turned-Writer Jack Unterwerger was Reformed - Then He Started Killing Again. All That's Interesting. Jan 1, 2019. https://allthatsinteresting.com/jack-unterweger

Raphael, Shannon. Poet of Death: The Twisted Case of Jack Unterwerger, The Vienna Strangler. The Lineup. August 24, 2018. https://the-line-up.com/jack-unterweger

Roberts, Charles. George Boynton: the Greatest Explorer Who Never Was. National Geographic. Dec 27, 2018: http://geographical.co.uk/people/explorers/item/3047-the-greatest-explorer-that-never-was

Rosso, Mike. Barnes City - A Scam on Hayden Creek. Colorado Central Magazine. August 1, 2016. https://cozine.com/2016-august/barnes-city-a-scam-on-hayden-creek/

Drugged teas, trapdoors, and spikes, or maybe just murderous thugs in the night. Either way, John and Lavinia Fisher would eventually pay for their crimes against those who stayed at their inn.

Margaretta Peter had a passion for the Bible. But when that passion became an obsession, things got a little weird for the would-be martyr and her sister-turned-disciple. 

Feat. Kelly Bristol

Sources: 

Aguillard, Anna. 10 Historical Ghost Stories Guaranteed to Make You Shudder. Southern Living. https://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/holidays-occasions/scary-ghost-stories?slide=229866#229866

Morrow, Jason Lucky. Charleston's Most Inhospitable Hosts: The Story of John and Lavinia Fisher. Historical Crime Detective. August 18, 2017. http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/charlestons-most-inhospitable-hosts-the-story-of-john-and-lavinia-fisher/

Vitelli, Romeo. The Crucifixion of Margaretta Peter. Provedentia. October 22, 2017. https://drvitelli.typepad.com/providentia/2017/10/the-case-of-margaretta-peter.html

Weiser-Alaxander, Kathy. Lavinia Fisher. Legends of America. March, 2017. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/sc-laviniafisher/

Unaccredited. Lavinia Fisher. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavinia_Fisher

Feat special guest Kelly Bristol.

Since the historic twice-sinking of Kublai Kahn's fleets, the Devil's Triangle has been a place of mystery and lore. Storms, volcanoes, gas bubbles, or even dragons; what's sinking ships off Japan's coasts?

Like many parts of the world, Australia had its share of post WWI problems. Perhaps not the least of which was a destructive herd of ravenous Emu. As it turns out, these giant birds are no laughing matter, but losing the Great Emu War is. 

Sources:

Craven, Richy. The Five Most Embarrassing Failures in the History of War. Cracked. August 20, 2012. http://www.cracked.com/article_19981_the-5-most-embarrassing-failures-in-history-war.html

DeLong, William. Unraveling the Deadly Legend of the Pacific's Own Bermuda Triangle. All That's Interesting. June 7, 2018. https://allthatsinteresting.com/dragons-triangle-devils-sea

Mambra, Shamseer. Unexplained Mystery: The Devil's Sea (The Dragon's Triangle). Marine Insight. April 16, 2018. https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-history/unexplained-mystery-the-devils-sea-the-dragons-triangle/

Powell, Devin. Japan's Kamikaze Winds, the Stuff of Legends, May Have Been Real. National Geographic. November 5, 2014. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141104-kamikaze-kublai-khan-winds-typhoon-japan-invasion/

Unattributed. Emu War. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

Giuseppe Marco Fieschi was a man of honor, at least, when it suited him. Which, unfortunately for those around him, was not particularly often. He was also the mastermind behind his 25-barreled gun, The Infernal Machine. It didn't end well for anyone.

Barry Bremen loved being in the limelight, and was blessed to live out his dream in professional sporting events across the country. The only problem? He was not a professional athlete. For The Great Impostor, getting into the game was the game.

Sources:

Avery, Jim, The 4 Most Ridiculous Assassination Plots Ever Attempted, Cracked, Oct 1, 2010, http://www.cracked.com/article_18758_the-5-most-ridiculous-assassination-plots-ever-attempted.html

Giuseppe Marco Fieschi, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Marco_Fieschi

Harsin, J, Barricades: the War of the Streets in Revolutionary Paris 1830-1848, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Johnson, Bryan, To 10 Strange, Interesting, and Unique Biographies, TopTenz, Feb 20, 2012, https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-strange-interesting-and-unique-biographies.php

Vitello, Paul, Barry Bremen, Professional Impostor, Dies at 64, The New York Times, Jul 10, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/us/11bremen.html

Canadian legends are full of mythological creatures, from the wendigo and a blonde big foot, to a sinister creature that may or may not collect heads in the Valley of the Headless Corpses. This week, Ben takes a look at a number of these myths.

In the mid 19th century, tensions were at a tipping point between the newly founded Mormon church, whose founder had been murdered by a lynch mob, and the US Government. As the Baker-Fancher party would discover, people can do terrible things in the name of fear.

Sources:

Offutt, Jason, Exploring Canadian Monsters: Ontario, Mysterious Universe, Aug 19, 2018, https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/08/exploring-canadian-monsters-ontario/

Offutt, Jason, Exploring Canadian Monsters: Quebec, Mysterious Universe,  Oct 22, 2018, https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2018/10/exploring-canadian-monsters-quebec/

Swancer, Brent, The Mysterious Valley of the Headless Corpses, Mysterious Universe, Oct 2, 2014, https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2014/10/the-mysterious-valley-of-the-headless-corpses/

Van Hyugen, Meg, 8 Mythical Canadian Monsters, Mentalfloss, Jul 1, 2016, http://mentalfloss.com/article/81818/8-mythical-canadian-monsters

Uncredited, The Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Mass Murder Mormons Blamed on the Native Americans, Nov 21, 2018, https://allthatsinteresting.com/mountain-meadows-massacre

In perhaps the most implausible witch-ghost tale we've covered to date, it's the legend of Tennessee's Bell Witch. Scratching, hair pulling, incessant religious debates; the only thing this ghost won't do is shut up.

In the 60's, the CIA made it their mission to kill the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Fortunately for him, the CIA was in no way qualified to assassinate a president. We examine some of the weirder (read: stupider) attempts on Fidel's life.

Sources:

Smith, Alexander, Fidel Castro: The CIA's 7 Most Bizarre Assassination Attempts, Nov 28, 2016, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/fidel-castros-death/fidel-castro-cia-s-7-most-bizarre-assassination-attempts-n688951

Taylor, Troy, The Bell Witch Cave, Prairie Ghosts, https://www.prairieghosts.com/b-cave.html

Wagner, Stephen, The Bell Witch, ThoughtCo., Aug 20, 2017, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-bell-witch-2596741

Wikipedia, Bell Witch, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Witch

For 300 days, Verdun, France bore witness to some of the most intense shelling and chemical weapons attacks of World War I. Nearly 100 years later, much of the land remains uninhabitable. Today, the area stands as both a monument and a reminder to the far-reaching horrors of war.

In the mid 19th century, the Donnellys moved from Ireland to Biddulph, Ontario. For years, their fellow Biddulphians fell victim to the families famously short tempers and violent nature. Until one night, when the Peace Society decided enough was enough.

Sources:

Messynessy, The Real "No-Go Zone" of France: A Forbidden No Man's Land Poisoned by War, Messy Nessy, May 26, 2015, https://www.messynessychic.com/2015/05/26/the-real-no-go-zone-of-france-a-forbidden-no-mans-land-poisoned-by-war/

Thornton, Stuart, Red Zone, National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/red-zone/

Uncredited, The Story, Black Donnelly Brewery, http://www.black-donnellys.com/the-story/

Wikipedia, The Black Donnellys, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Donnellys