May 7, 1896 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Herman Webster Mudgett, alias HH Holmes, is executed by hanging for murder Holmes’ murders involved designing a hotel specifically to confine and kill. To keep workers from understanding the true purpose of the rooms, he repeatedly replaced them, firing and hiring often. The building was designed with soundproof rooms, rooms…
Elderly man kills 2 neighbors, injures several others, and is killed during police standoff
May 7, 2002 Brussels, Belgium 79-year-old Hendrik Vyt shoots his downstairs neighbors to death, wounds 2 of their 5 children, sets fire to his own apartment, and is killed during a standoff Vyt was reportedly outspoken regarding his racist views, particularly those of Middle Eastern descent. Vyt was also known to be a neighborhood bully,…
FLW: the beautiful adventure of death
Famous Last Words Charles Frohman Atlantic Ocean May 7, 1915 “Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure that life gives us.” Frohman, a theatrical producer, had been aboard the RMS Lusitania when it was struck by a torpedo fired from a German U-boat. Frohman had injured his knee years before and required a…
Hatpins for defense
From The Evening Star (Independence, Kansas) Published May 7, 1904 An article suggests the use of hatpins for a fashionable weapon of self-defense, instructing women to stab a potential attacker in the face with 7-plus-inch needle-like hardened pieces of steel.
