This interesting little article found in Washington D.C.’s The Evening Times in 1899 seems to have left out a good number of clarifying details.

One wonders where they get the poker?

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Today in 1967, the Beatles release their album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, generally considered the first “concept album.” The album marked a shift in the group’s career as they moved from being crowd-pleasing stage performers to more studio-focused artists.

The album got a pretty decent reception, receiving mostly positive reviews to match its commercial success. It topped the US Billboard 200 charts for 15 weeks after release.

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On this day in 1897, Bram Stoker’s sensational novel Dracula is released upon the London public.

…and it was pretty well received! By most, anyway. Though some reviewers found the novel not to their taste, many remarked on Dracula‘s ability to capture your attention from beginning to end.

Dracula has since become one of the quintessential classical Gothic novels and has inspired countless other stories in the years since its release.

Have you read Bram Stoker’s Dracula? What’s your favorite vampire story?

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Whoops! I think they must have counted themselves lucky that this mistake didn’t turn out much worse.

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There can be no argument that mothers across the world play an incomparable role in raising, teaching, helping and loving their children and the children around them. In honor of Mother’s Day, here are three mothers whose contributions to their families and to history were truly remarkable.

Candy Lightner

Founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving:

As the article above (from The Town Talk, 1985) says, Lightner’s teenage daughter was struck and killed by a drunk driver in 1980. The organization has only grown since then and continues the fight to end drunk and drugged driving and offer support to those affected by these avoidable tragedies.

Abigail Adams

 First Lady

Abigail Adams is recognized as an extraordinary woman whose strong intellect, attention to politics, and fierce support for women’s rights and the abolition of slavery made her a true trailblazer. Public sentiment at the time shows similar respect for her hard work in every area of life…
….and whose opinion can be trusted more than that of her own son?

Irena Sendler

Mother of the Children of the Holocaust

A fearless woman who was as much a mother to the children around her as she was to her own, Irena Sendler risked her life to save thousands of others.

As an employee of the Social Welfare Department in Warsaw, Sendler had permission to enter the Ghetto to conduct inspections. Instead, she used her time there to smuggle out young Jewish children and babies in whatever ways she could, with the help of a small network of volunteers. Around 400 of these children were aided by Sendler directly, a risk for which she eventually paid when she was arrested, beaten, and sentenced to death in 1943.

A friend bribed the guards to let Sendler go and she was freed…after which she jumped right back into helping those who couldn’t help themselves.

Of course there are countless more amazing mothers who could not all be mentioned here. Why not try a search today on Newspapers.com for other famous mothers or a relative? Or feel free to browse the papers—who knows what sort of interesting things you might stumble upon?

Happy Mother’s Day!

Ah, to live in the 19th century when people wore hats and pocket watches, automobile technology was on the horizon, and a husband could sell his wife and child to another man for dollars.

You’ll have to click through to the full article for the whole story. But the gist of it is that Mr. Rosengrant was annoyed by a remark made by his wife after a streak of bad luck with his business ventures, so he decided to shuffle her off to someone else and make some money in the process. Below is a copy of the contract made with his cousin, Raymond Parmer.

July 5 1900 Raymond Parmer Bought Gorge Rosengrant woman of him for 300 dolers and the little girl throw in and he agread to not Bother me nor me to Bother him X Gorge Rosengrant

Raise your hand if you’re not surprised.

Find more strange and interesting articles like these in the pages of Newspapers.com with a search or using the browse feature. And big thanks to Ann Sinton on Facebook for bringing our attention to this incredible article.

On this day in 1933, a monstrous modern legend was born in the waters of Loch Ness. The first claims of a sighting mentioned a large reptilian creature rolling around in the lake, a description that carried on through dozens of subsequent reports. The claims were met with pretty heavy skepticism, which continues today. But then again, so does the legend.

The monster captured the attention of locals and tourists alike, drawing those who just wanted a glimpse as well as those with bigger aspirations.

Today, the Loch Ness monster has taken ranks with other mythical marvels and continues to be a source of curiosity, real or not.

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On this day in 1918, German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen was killed. Both notorious for his deadly record and respected for his skill even by his enemies, he was known as “The Red Baron.”

Richthofen’s flying career began in 1916, and he immediately proved himself in the field with his 15 victories against enemy aircraft in the first year. 1917 saw his incredible record continue to climb as he became a terror of the skies in the red-painted Fokker triplane that led to the “Red” half of the Red Baron nickname. He also published an autobiography, after which this post is titled, and his skill and character were so admired that even those who supported the Allied troops grudgingly admitted that maybe he wasn’t completely terrible.

By April 1918 Richthofen had an unprecedented 80 victories to his name, making him the ace-of-aces of the war. But we already know how this story ends. On April 21, while flying low in pursuit of an Allied plane, the Red Baron was shot with a single bullet through the chest. There are multiple theories about who fired the shot, but there is no debate that it was fatal. As stated in the above clipping, Richthofen, only 25 years old when he was killed, was given a full military funeral by the Allied squadron responsible for his body.

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On this day in 1861, the tension that had been building for years between the Union and the recently seceded Confederacy broke into Civil War.

The war continued for four long years, during which hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed on both sides.

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The above clipping describes Hank Aaron’s record-making moment on this day in 1974. After finishing the previous season only one home run shy of making history, the victory was truly one for the books.

The months leading up to that historic swing were pretty rough for Aaron. Expectations were high and fans were waiting to see Aaron take the record that had been held by Babe Ruth for nearly 40 years.

He certainly had his share of haters. A large portion of the incredible amount of mail Hank Aaron received included death threats and general vitriol. The racism and hatred toward him was so strong and so persistent that Aaron himself feared he might be killed before the 1974 season ever came around.

Peanuts writer Charles Schulz addressed the hate mail in a string of his August 1973 comic strips, in which Snoopy is also attempting to break the home run record and receives similar reactions.

From August 10, 1973:

And August 11:

But, detractors notwithstanding, Aaron won the day in the Braves’ home turf of Atlanta to roaring applause and a standing ovation.

Aaron went on to hit another 40 home runs during his career, retiring with a total of 755. He held the record for most home runs until it was broken by Barry Bonds in August 2007.

Find more about Hank Aaron’s world-record moment, Babe Ruth, other news-worthy moments in baseball history or a topic of interest to you with a search on Newspapers.com.