Betelgeuse/Beetlejuice!

Today is very important. On December 13, 1920, Albert Michelson uses Francis G. Pease’s interferometer to measure the diameter of a star – Betelgeuse. This is the first time a star’s diameter is measured, aside from our own Sun. Of course, the star made me think of one of my favorite movies, Beetlejuice. I’m a … Read more

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Houdini & the Spiritualists

Harry Houdini was a well-known escape artist, a film star, and a tireless warrior against spiritualism. He placed advertisements in local newspapers, including this one in the December 1, 1922 Richmond Times Dispatch. Spiritualism was a religious movement based on the belief that the dead and the living could have contact with each other. Houdini … Read more

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Monday’s Molls & Mugs – Elizebeth Friedman

Far from being a ganster’s moll, Elizebeth Friedman was the codebreaker who helped to bust them. Elizebeth Friedman is widely known as the first female cryptanalyst. She and her husband William led a team of codebreakers during World War I. During Prohibition, Elizebeth worked with the federal government to break the rum runners secret codes. … Read more

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Monday’s Molls & Mugs

Have you heard of the Queen of the Bootleggers? Her name was Gertrude “Cleo” Lythgoe and she was a famous female rumrunner who kept the liquor flowing between the Bahamas and the United States for three years before calling it quites. Cleo called herself the Rum Queen of the Bahamas, but to me she was … Read more

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Back in time

I’ve spent the past year or more immersed in the 1920s and vaudeville while working on a historical mystery series. Everyone seems to pick their favorite era in history and for some reason, mine has always been the Roaring Twenties with the flappers, gin joints, and gangsters. What I wouldn’t give to be a gangster’s … Read more

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On this day in history…

On October 28, 1920, the United States was preparing for a presidential election. It was also the first time women would have the opportunity to vote in an election. Thank goodness we had mansplaining even then to guide us on how to vote. The Danville Daily Messenger from central Kentucky explaining how the ballot would … Read more

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