Category:
Nineteenth Century

The Princess Who Was Murdered by a Moth

The story goes that Princess Caravella of Italy was found dead in her bed, shot through the heart. Her husband was accused of her murder, but during the trial a police investigator convinced the jury that the Princess had actually been killed by a moth that singed its wings on a candle in her room, then fell onto a pistol lying on her bedside table, thereby causing the weapon to fire, shooting her through the heart.

I doubt any part of this story is true. After all, I can't find any historical references to a "Princess Caravella" other than the ones about her strange death. But the story was printed repeatedly in newspapers during the first half of the twentieth, always presented as an odd but true tale.

The earliest account of the story I can find dates to 1895, where it was credited to the New York World. I assume a reporter for the New York World made it up.

Chicago Chronicle - Dec 29, 1895


Here's a slightly shorter version of the story from 1937.

Tunkhannock New Age - Feb 18, 1937


I can't find the story in papers after the 1940s, but it did continue to pop up in books about odd trivia and weird deaths. For instance, below is a version that appeared in the 1985 weird-news book Own Goals by Graham Jones. Note that Jones identified Princess Caravella only as an "Italian wife," making the story seem more contemporary.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 14, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Death, Insects and Spiders, Nineteenth Century

Mystery Gadget 109

What's it for?

The answer is here.

Or after the jump.



More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 07, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Technology, Nineteenth Century

Forehand Guns

The choice of dog killers and stagecoach robbers.

Recreation magazine - Aug 1899



Recreation magazine - Dec 1899

Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 28, 2024 - Comments (5)
Category: Advertising, Weapons, Nineteenth Century

Cancer Cured with soothing balmy oils



McClure's Magazine - Apr 1898

Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 23, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century

Unauthorized Dwellings 32




Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 11, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Unauthorized Dwellings, Nineteenth Century

Tumor Paintings

In 1834, Dr. Peter Parker obtained a medical degree from Yale University and then traveled to China as a medical missionary. There he commissioned Chinese painter Lam Qua to make portraits of patients at the Canton Hospital who had large tumors. Yale now has 86 of these portraits in its collection.

Peter Parker seems to have been a fairly common name before it became permanently associated with Spider-Man.

More info: Yale University Library







via Design You Trust

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 31, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Art, Medicine, Nineteenth Century

One Hundred Proofs That the Earth Is Not a Globe

Bone up on your arguments for this perennial topic!

Read the 32-page book here.





Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 19, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics, Gonzo, Demento, Kooky, Wacky and Out-there, Pseudoscience, Books, Nineteenth Century

Sedimentary Geology and the Civil War

I'm sure Hippensteel's new book (Sand, Science, and the Civil War) is quite interesting (especially if you're a Civil War buff), but the extreme narrow focus of his argument made me laugh. From a review:

It "describes the influence of sedimentary rocks and sediments on the tactics employed by both armies during the Civil War and the effects of these materials on the weapons, fortifications, and landscapes from the conflict". Hippensteel believes that "sedimentary geology and sedimentary rocks were important on far more battlefields than either igneous or metamorphic rocks," and that this influence "has been underappreciated by historians."

More info: University of Georgia Press

Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 01, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: War, Environmentalism and Ecology, Books, Nineteenth Century

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

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Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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