1656: Never Pregnant, Never Guilty: Colonial America’s First All-Female Jury Acquits an Accused Child-Killer
In September 1656 the General Provincial Court at Patuxent, Maryland impanelled the first all-woman jury in the American colonies to try Judith Catchpole, an indentured maidservant accused of murdering her newborn child. Read more →
1776: But One Life to Give: Nathan Hale Hanged as a Spy in New York City
Captain Nathan Hale, a young American officer serving under George Washington, was captured behind British lines on Long Island while gathering intelligence on troop movements ahead of the British occupation of New York City. Read more →
1913: The Last Man Hanged in Queensland Walks to the Brisbane Gallows
Ernest Austin was the last person ever executed in Queensland. Read more →
1933: The Michigan City Breakout: Ten Men Escape Using Guns Smuggled by John Dillinger
On September 22, 1933, ten prisoners broke out of the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City in a violent escape that killed two guards. Read more →
1975: The Bystander Who Saved a President: Second Failed Attempt on Gerald Ford in San Francisco
Just seventeen days after Lynette Fromme aimed a pistol at Gerald Ford in Sacramento, a second attempt on the president’s life unfolded outside a hotel in San Francisco on September 22, 1975. Read more →
1976: Rejected From a Model Plane Club, He Opened Fire on the Streets of Spring Hill in Brisbane
On 22 September 1976, 36-year-old William Robert Wilson opened fire on Boundary Street in Spring Hill, a suburb of Brisbane. Read more →
1985: France Finally Admits State-Sponsored Terrorism: the Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland
On 10 July 1985, agents of the French secret service DGSE attached two bombs to the hull of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior as it lay moored in Auckland Harbour, sinking the vessel and killing Portuguese photographer Fernando Pereira, who drowned trying to retrieve his camera equipment. Read more →
