Useless Information Podcast

A premature baby born before the 1940s had little chance of survival unless the baby was lucky enough to be part of a popular sideshow exhibit at Coney Island.  Also, learn how the real Jack Daniel died, a man fined one cent for shooting a cow, a color-changing necktie, and a flea map of the United Kingdom that was nearly 60 years in the making.  Retrosponsor: Camel Cigarettes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Albany jeweler Samuel Resnick retired to Phoenix, Arizona, but something went wrong. He ended up paying to have himself murdered. Check out this episode to learn all the details of this oddball story.  Also, learn the original purpose of Formica brand plastic laminate, who owns the air above your head, the details of a costly Halloween egg toss, and a boy who had a seed sprout in his eye.  Retrosponsor: Philco Radio Tubes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1869 discovery of this fossilized giant provided the first definitive proof that giants once did inhabit the Earth. Listen to find out the real facts in the story.  Also, find out which serial killer the Texas House of Representatives honored, a storage building destroyed by popping corn, a Denver woman who swallowed a mouse, and burglars who robbed an anchorman's house.  Retrosponsor: Shell Gasoline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Dennison was sent to prison for stealing $5.00 worth of chocolates back in 1926. He never committed another crime, yet he was still there in 1960. Listen to find out why this happened and how Steve ultimately gained his release.  Also find out which US President was once a male model, the urban parking problem of 1925, two German women who attempted to mail themselves to their boyfriends in the US, and that Richard Nixon was once the nation's best-dressed man.  Retrosponsor: Post Toasties. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slavomir Rawich's escape from a Siberian prison camp is among the greatest stories of survival ever. So great that it seems totally unbelievable at times. Also learn which classic TV show began the title of each episode with "The Big", a motorist killed in a freak accident by a horse's hoof, a jet fuel cap that fell from the sky, and the day that the US Secretary of Labor ate his hat. Retrosponsor: The Granite Furniture Company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a while, it seemed like Dumpy the Dog could survive just about anything, but a puppyhood illness came back to haunt him. Be sure to check out this incredible true story.  Also, learn about a common kitchen product invented by Thomas Edison, a woman who was knocked unconscious while her hair was chopped off, a bargain marriage deal in Fitzgerald, Georgia, and a woman who taught her class in her birthday suit.  Retrosponsor: Aunt Jemima. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William Kogut decided to end his life using a deck of ordinary playing cards. That may seem impossible, so listen to this true story from 1930 to learn exactly how he did it. Also find out which popular hairstyle was started by a woman named Barbara Terry, a doctor who dropped dead during surgery, the parking meter mystery, and why you should never request the personalized "NO PLATE" license plate.  Retrosponsor: Energine Shoe White. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ida Mayfield Wood lived as a recluse in the Herald Square Hotel in NYC for 24 years. When she died, 1,103 people claimed to be the heir to her fortune. Eight years later not a single one of them got a penny. Listen to this great story to find out who did.  Also, find out where the geographic center of the United States is located, the guy who married his mother-in-law, the 200 bees that brought the post office to a halt, and a lucky goldfish who survived an earthquake.  Retrosponsor: Teel Liquid Dentifice.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wealthy Ann Cooper Hewitt was sterilized at age 20 by her mother and two doctors, yet did not know that the procedure was being done. Find out how they tricked her into the surgery.  Also, learn about the ten-letter word that your QWERTY keyboard intentionally spells, the guy who blasted out his left cheek while smoking a pipe, a convict who complained to an officer that his wife had run off with another man, and several boys who became trapped in a railroad water tank. Retrosponsor: DeSoto automobiles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Phantom Sniper terrorized women in the Los Angeles area in the early 1950s. He was captured because of one minor mistake that most people would have easily overlooked.  Also find out the number of minutes spent playing football in an NFL football game, the fantastic world of Venus, the FBI diaper problem, and J. Paul Getty's pay phone.  Retrosponsor: Duz Laundry Soap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The long-forgotten story about the strange kidnapping of Milly McGill back in 1945. It is what happened after Milly was returned to her parents that is the oddest part of this true story. Also learn what a Blue Moon really is, how a wooden leg saved a man's life, a boy that could not pronounce the letter F, and a boy who drove to pick up his sweetie in his dad's car.  Retrosponsor: Postum Coffee Substitute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Christmas Eve celebration for the children of Calumet, Michigan turned into a death trap. Listen to find out the details of this tragic story.  Also learn about Mary Anderson's invention, a Christmas watermelon miracle, Chinese Christmas cards, and IBM computer punch card wreaths.  Retrosponsor: Ex-Lax. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you imagine Thanksgiving without cranberries? That happened in 1959 when cooks across America tossed out all of their cranberry products.  Learn about the Interrobang!? punctuation mark, a 7-story elevator plunge, an unlucky winning poker player, and a strange sequence of Friday the 13th events.  Retrosponsor: Edsel Automobiles by Ford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eleven circus elephants died from arsenic poisoning within a one-week period. The search for the murderer was on...  Also, learn about 1936's best student essay on peace, the 12-year-old who shot his principal, and the mob that went wild when the police canceled a men's club show. In addition, find out where Adolf Hitler was originally from.  Retrosponsor: Clipper Craft clothes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the best stories ever covered on this podcast. It's the story of two men placed on trial for murder and were saved from almost certain death by an event that occurred many miles away.  Also learn about two boys that were run over by a locomotive, a fortune hidden in a wall, an escaped tiger, and who the fourth Rice Krispies elf was. Retrosponsor: Grape Nuts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The fascinating true story of three Milwaukee men who started bombing Milwaukee Sears stores in an effort to obtain $100,000 and escape in their homemade submarine.  Also, learn what first the 1925 movie "The Lost World" accomplished, the parrot who committed suicide, death by seasickness, and a very unusual fishing catch.  Retrosponsor: Brylcreem. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A long-forgotten story about the sensational kidnapping of Caleb Milne IV back in 1935.  Also, discover the first #1 on Billboard's album chart, fake radio messages from Europe, two men who died during a fake bank robbery, and the $100 front-page publicity stunt.  Retrosponsor: Sal Hepatica laxative. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The residents of Palomares in Spain are still dealing with the effects of the four hydrogen bombs accidentally dropped on this small fishing village back in 1966.  Also, learn about Norman Brinker's important contribution to the restaurant industry, the nude newsboy, a postal clerk lost at sea, and an award that was better late than never by 40 years.  Retrosponsor: Klean Soap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The incredible true story of two Polish doctors who used the microbe Proteus OX19 to create a pseudo typhus epidemic, which saved the lives of over 8,000 people.  Also, learn which US president was first to appear on a circulating coin, the "doctor" who convinced women in NYC to disrobe before robbing them, the ashman who inherited a fortune, and two brothers who tried to teach in the same religious school.  Retrosponsor: Milk of Magnesia Facial Cremes.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jackie Robinson is best remembered for being the first African American to play for one of the Major League Baseball teams, but his 1944 court-martial for his refusal to "go to the back of the bus" nearly derailed his career.  Also find out about the first UPC barcode, a trained squirrel, the world's longest beard, and twins marrying twins.  Retrosponsor: Listen to the first singing radio commercial - one that saved Wheaties from extinction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices