THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU NEEDED TO KNOW

  "Andrew Borden is now dead,  Lizzie hit him on the head.  Up in heaven he will sing,  On the gallows she will swing." That is the lesser known second verse of the famous rhyme "Lizzie Borden took an axe..." that most people know even if they don't fully know Lizzie Borden's story. The murders of Andrew and Abbey Borden, possibly at the hands of Andrew's daughter Lizzie certainly were a subject of fascination in 1892, but Lizzie Borden has become an absolute legend. Her story is intriguing - why would a spoiled daughter of privilege take a hatchet (not an axe) and give her stepmother 17 (not 40), and her father 11 (not 41) whacks? If Lizzie Borden did it at all. Andrew Borden was Fall River, Massachusetts' foremost property developer. He made his fortune manufacturing caskets (oh the irony - was he buried in a casket his company had made?) He bought commercial properties then developed them into successful businesses. He made a fortune of $300,000. ...

  Witches come in many forms - old crones, green skinned neophytes, bubbly 1960s housewives, sisters unlucky in love, and middle-aged Scottish ladies. That last one really isn't typical, yet Helen Duncan was tried as a witch... in 1944. Born in Callendar in 1897 Helen Duncan was a psychic medium tried for witchcraft. Helen often gave prophecies as a child. In 1916 she met Henry Duncan, who supported her in her paranormal efforts. The two married and had six children. In 1926 Helen became a physical medium. In physical mediumship spirits manifest themselves in a physical way. A spirit manipulates the medium corporally, as in automatic writing, or putting their words into the medium's mind to be spoken. Helen would spit up ectoplasm which was supposed to be the after effects, and proof, of Helen having spirits enter her body. Helen had a spirit guide named Peggy who assisted her during seances. In November of 1941 Helen connected with a soldier aboard the HMS Barham. That soldier...

  Ladies have accomplished many things in history, some great and long-lasting, others just unique. A 17th century Countess may have been the world's first lady serial killer, and is credited as being the most prolific serial killer ever - body count : 650. But did Elizabeth Bathory really slaughter virgins to bathe in their blood, or was that way back in the day anti-feminist propaganda? Erzabet Bathori was born into a very politically well connected family in 1650. She was well educated, even by today's standards. She learned languages, literature, science and math. Her parents were wealthy and owned a great deal of land.  When she was 10 Elizabeth's father died and at age 11 she became betrothed and was sent to live with her future husband's family. She and her husband married when he was 15. They were given a castle as a wedding gift - you know, cause blenders are so over gifted. Elizabeth and her husband had five children - mostly sons. Her husband died in 1604 le...

  Two women traveling in Paris in 1901 saw many sites - The Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe. Surely they ate baguettes, brie, and eclairs and perhaps bought themselves new chapeaux. But they also traveled back in time - okay not exactly, but something similar. They saw an imprint of the past, kind of like how when exposed to bright light you can see an after image. Only this after image lasted longer than a few seconds, and featured other people, including Marie Antoinette. Let's go back to 1672. King Louis XV built Le Petite Trianon on the grounds of Versailles as a gift for his mistress - a high class shag shack if there ever was one. Louis XVI gave Le Petite Trianon to Marie Antoinette, and she decided to make the grounds of working farm. Gardeners grew vegetables, and servants tended to farm animals. In the Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette , the queen and her baby daughter feed a lamb - Marie Antoinette in her Cottage Core era. Marie Antoinette used Le Petite Trianon as her hom...

  October 21, 1888 - the New York Academy of Music - a diminutive woman stands on a stage, popping her ankle and toe joints. Is this some new craze, some avant-guard form of entertainment? The woman, Margaretta (Maggie) Fox is debunking her abilities as a psychic medium. In 1848 when she was 14 and her younger sister Kate was 11, they convinced their parents, friends, and the village of Hydesville New York that they could speak to the dead. What followed was a life of fame, money, sorrow, and questions still unanswered 176 years later. The Fox family - father John, mother Margaret, daughters Margaretta and Catherine (Kate) were a close-knit family - almost too close, as they lived in a small house near the river. A house long reputed to be haunted.  John and Margaret occupied one bed, and Maggie and Kate the other in the same room. One night in April the four Foxes hear knocking - but not at the door. Kate repeats the knocks and knocks a different pattern. Who - or- what - eve...

    "When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?" Rose Mackenberg! Not quite the refrain that 80s kids remember, Rose "The Rev" Mackenberg didn't exactly bust ghosts, but rather she busted the people who claimed to speak to ghosts. In her 43-year career Rose Mackenberg busted thousands of fake psychic mediums. She braved harrassment, testified before Congress, lied about husbands and babies, all while exposing charlatans and helping countless grief stricken individuals seeking solace. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1892 to Russian immigrant parents, Rose Mackenberg worked as a stenographer in a law office. While investigating a case involving a client suffering investment losses at the hands of an unscrupulous psychic medium, Rose met Harry Houdini. Houdini, while not folding himself into milk cans and straitjackets, committed himself to busting fraudulent psychic mediums. Advising Rose on her case, Houdini liked Rose and asked he...