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| Lyon County Times, Silver City Nevada 1877 |
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| The Gazette, January 16, 1919 |
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| San Francisco Earthquake Headlines |
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| Status report |
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| Early reports were ominous |
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| The earthquake was devastating |
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| Looters threatened with consequences |
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| Water mains burst; fire dept. helpless |
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| Second Shock of 1906 Earthquake |
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| Fire Updates |
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| No hope |
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| Brawley lost |
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| Better news on April 21, 1906 |
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| Ford Pardons Nixon |
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| April 16, 1912 edition of The Day Book newspaper |
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| Photo taken by Carpathia passenger Bernice Ellis Palmer as they approached the area to rescue survivors |
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| Photo by Bernice Palmer shows the iceberg field was very visible from the ship's deck. |
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| The Dallas Morning News dated November 23, 1963 |
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| The Daily Mirror August 15, 1915 |
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| Obituary for Martha Washington, May 22, 1802 |
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| December 21, 1799 The Spectator Theater announced its observance of the death of George Washington |
Given at the War-Office of the United States in Philadelphia, this nineteeth day of December, A.D. 1799, and in the 24th year of the Independence of the said States, By command of the President. James Mc Henry, Secretary of War.
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| May 12, 1932 - Lindbergh Baby Found Murdered |
Every newspaper in America called it "The Crime of the Century." Each had a theory, many filled with suppositions, which sometimes were more upsetting than the true facts of the case.
History
On the night of March 1, 1932, sometime between 9pm and 10pm, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month old son of famous aviator Colonel Charles Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the bedroom of their Hopewell, New Jersey home.
Shortly after 10pm, Betty Gow, the baby's nurse told Colonel and Mrs. Lindbergh that the baby was missing. Mrs. Lindbergh was pregnant with another child and just a few months within delivery date.
The estate was searched several times and after returning from one search, a ransom note was found on the windowsill in the nursery. It demanded $50,000.
Subsequent investigation after finding the note revealed mud spatters on the nursery floor, some vague footprints outside, under the nursery window, and two sections of a ladder that had been placed against the window were found split. No blood or fingerprints were found.
The New Jersey State Police took over the investigation. Eventually they brought in the Bureau of Investigation, an agency that later became the FBI.
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| Wanted Poster for Lindbergh Baby |
There was no contact from the kidnappers over the next four days so Colonel Lindbergh made appeals for friends to communicate with the kidnappers, saying he was so desperate that he would even ask gangsters to contact them. Wanted posters appeared all over the tri-state area. His appeals to the kidnappers to begin negotiations fell on deaf ears. Meanwhile searches of the property were conducted every day to no avail.
It was kind of curious that the search parties only searched in Hopewell and within the Lindbergh property, but never searched areas outside of their town of Hopewell.
On March 6, 1932, Colonel Lindbergh received a second ransom note, now demanding $70,000. From then on, the kidnappers communicated with sending multiple ransom letters. The newspapers said it was like a circus atmosphere, trying to keep up with multiple ransom letters, weeding out the crazies from the people who genuinely wanted to help, and letters to the editor expressing opinion, suspicion and sorrow.
On March 8th, Colonel Lindbergh's attorney received the third note from the kidnappers saying they would not accept any intermediaries and wanted to continue contact only through the newspaper. Private investigators were hired and news conferences were held.
Also on March 8th, a retired schoolteacher, Dr. Condon, published an article in the Bronx Home News offering to be the go-between. If he was accepted, he said he would kick in an extra $1,000 toward the ransom money.
Lo an behold, Colonel Lindbergh accepted him and on March 10th, he gave Dr. Condon $70,000 in bills that were Gold Certificates. The kidnappers evidently found Dr. Condon acceptable too because the fourth note was sent directly to him, reiterating the demand for $70,000 and also accepting him as the go-between. Dr. Condon immediately began negotiations by placing ads in the newspaper, using a code name of Jafsie.
No one questioned this turn of events in 1932, but today in 2015, it would be suspicious to say the least for a total stranger to volunteer out of the blue to act as a go-between, and be acceptable to the family, especially when this family had the money and the celebrity notoriety to have a professional or at least someone they knew to negotiate for them.
An anonymous phone call came shortly after 8pm on March 12 followed by a fifth ransom letter that was delivered by Joseph Perrone, a taxicab driver, who said a stranger gave it to him to deliver. The letter said another note would be found under a stone about 100 feet from a particular subway station. This became the sixth note which instructed him to meet in the Woodlawn Cemetery, near 233rd Street and Jerome Avenue.
Accompanied by a bodyguard just to the cemetery entrance, Dr. Condon met alone with a man who called himself “John.” After they discussed payment of the ransom money, Dr. Condon asked for proof of life before John left the cemetery. Starting the next day, Dr. Condon ran numerous ads in the newspaper telling the kidnappers he had the ransom money and wanted to pay it but they needed to contact him with proof of life.
A seventh note came to Dr. Condon on March 16 which included a baby’s sleeper as proof. Dr. Condon delivered them to the Lindbergh estate where they were positively identified. There was no contact from the kidnappers for the next five days.
On March 21, an eighth note came demanding “complete compliance” of the Lindberghs. Then oddly enough, they offered information that “the kidnapping had been planned for one year. "
For the next eight days, there was no contact from the kidnappers. However, on March 29, near the entrance to the Lindbergh estate, the baby's nurse found the child’s thumb guard that he was wearing when he was kidnapped.
On March 30, Dr. Condon got the ninth note that threatened to increase the ransom demand to $100,000. It was possible the kidnappers were not happy with the communication in the newspapers because the note also said they would not use Dr. Condon’s code to continue talking in the newspaper ads.
Dr. Condon received the tenth note on April 1, 1932 telling him to have the money ready the next night. Dr. Condon answered that he would by placing an ad in the Press.
On April 2, 1932, a taxi driver delivered the eleventh note which instructed him where to find the twelfth note which was under a stone in front of a greenhouse at 3225 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, New York. Then he was to go to the cemetery again to meet with "John."
That same evening at the cemetery, Dr. Condon asked John if the ransom demand could go back to $50,000. Dr. Condon handed him $50,000 and was given a receipt for the money along with the thirteenth note. John left the park as Dr. Condon read the note. This was the last contact with the kidnappers.
The thirteenth note gave instructions that the child would be found on a boat named “Nellie” at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Over the following two days several unsuccessful searches for the baby were made at Martha’s Vineyard. The only lead was John. When Dr. Condon was questioned by the State Police, he said he was positive that he would recognize “John” if he ever saw him again.
For five weeks, there was no contact and searches were unsuccessful.
At 3:15pm on May 12, 1932, in the town of Mount Rose in Mercer County, New Jersey, a group of workmen found the body of the kidnapped baby partly buried and badly decomposed.
Before the family was notified, the police officials were called: Inspector Harry Walsh of Jersey City, Sergeant Moffett of the Newark Police, and Lieutenant Keaton of the New Jersey State Police.
The site they found was gruesome. The child's head was crushed, there was a hole in his skull and at least one of his limbs were missing. An impression of a footprint was found on his flannel undergarments, as if the kidnapper had tried to squish the body down into the ground.
When they were pretty sure that this was the Lindbergh baby, word was sent to the Lindbergh estate that the kidnapped child had been found dead.
Inspector Walsh sent a flannel shirt and an undershirt with an embroidered collar for the Lindbergh's to identify. Mrs Lindbergh and her mother were so distraught that Betty Gow, the baby's nurse, identified them as the clothes she put on the baby three hours before he was kidnapped.
She also went to the morgue and further identified him by certain marks on the body. However, the Medical Examiner said she had not identified the baby entirely to his satisfaction. He wanted a Lindbergh family member to make a positive identification. Mr. Lindbergh was not in residence; it was believed he had been in Virginia for three weeks following up leads about the kidnappers. Mrs. Lindbergh made a positive identification.
The next day the Coroner completed the post mortem examination. The family immediately had the body cremated.
The Coroner’s report said the child had been dead for about two months, likely the full 72 days since the kidnapping, and that death was caused by two heavy blows to the head. One blow caused a fracture on the top left of the head extending to just behind the left ear. The other left a hole half an inch in diameter in the back of the right ear, which was assumed at first to be a bullet wound.
There was police speculation on the possibility that the kidnappers killed the baby because they became frightened and alarmed by numerous search parties.
The Crimeof the Century continued with the Trial of the Century. On April 3, 1936, Bruno Hauptman was electrocuted for murder in the first degree.
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Ford advertised that the Model T was their universal car that put the world on wheels. This was one of the first mass production vehicles, manufactured on a moving assembly line at Ford's Highland Park plant. The vehicle was priced between $250 and $850, claiming that it was economical and ideal for getting a young teen to school or a young man to work.
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| Vintage ad for 1920s Ford Model T Runabout |
From 1914 to 1925, the car only came in one color - black. Customers could have it painted after purchase. Up until 1914, Ford offered blue, red, green, and gray.
This was the famous Tin Lizzie, the most popular of several dozen nicknames. Henry Ford used to say "There's no use trying to pass a Ford on the road because there's always another one just ahead."
By the early 1920s, more than half the automobiles on the roads were Fords. Ford ended production in May 1927. More than 15 million Model T's were built and sold at a price most people could afford.
In March 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his New Deal, one of his many programs to help Americans recover from the Great Depression. When he gave his package of programs to Congress so they could vote on each one, the program that was of most interest to Americans was the Social Security program. It seemed like the answer to so many problems, now and in the future.
After nearly two years of discussion and voting, Congress voted to pass the Social Security Act in August 1935. It was put into use on January 1, 1936.
Social Security was Roosevelt's vision and although the way it is used and its benefits has expanded over the nearly 100 years of its existence, the core principles remain the same.
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| In 1935, Roosevelt outlined one of his programs for Americans. |
This plan became law at a time when the economy had tanked, when homelessness was high, bread lines were long, and people could barely afford the bare essentials.
To drum up public support, advertising campaigns ran for months in every newspaper around the country starting in 1933 long before Congress passed the Social Security Act. Here are some of the posters used in the ads.
Some workers complained how much tax was deducted from their paycheck for Social Security when they needed their money to support themselves and their families.
The concept was explained that the tax deducted from the paycheck of today's workers was used to pay a monthly check to those presently on Social Security, and that the tax deducted from the paycheck of tomorrow's workers will be used to pay their own Social Security checks.
In the years since 1936, the tax has increased considerably but at the same time, the program has also been expanded to pay out a lot more than what was originally intended - spousal, blind, disabled, dependent children, etc.
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| Social Security Tax is deducted from wages |
The glimmer of an idea of "identity theft" might have been in the back of the government's mind when they said to guard your Social Security number. At the very least, they never fathomed the extent of identity theft that we have seen since the 1980s.
From the date of its inception, the public was warned to keep this number safe and to not share it with anyone. But that didn't stop institutions from asking for it in order to identify you.
You should always know why someone wants your Social Security number and know who they are before you provide it to them.
Your wages are tracked by the Social Security number you provided to your employer. You should only have ONE number because that is the one used to tabulate how much you will collect in benefits when you reach retirement age.
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| Social Security promised a death benefit |
Identification Using Your Number
Although the card specifically states it should not be used for identification purposes, it is the one number most requested to identify you in many venues - by employers to report wages, death, bank accounts, driver's license, retirement plans, credit cards, credit score companies, mortgage lenders, courts, filing income tax, health insurance plans and even your doctor and pharmacy. If you are in someone's computer or database, you can be sure your Social Security number is one of the identifiers.
Nowadays, most places don't require you to provide your full number. They only ask for the last four numbers.
Your individual Social Security number tells a lot of information about you.
The First Three Numbers
The first three numbers are area numbers pertaining to the state you lived or were born in when your card was issued. A number is assigned to each state. If they have many employees, then more than one area number is assigned. f
When out-of-state people applied for a Social Security cards at any Social Security office, that office would use the first three numbers of their area on each card.
For States in the northeast part of the country, the government issued the lowest area numbers, and States in the southwest part of the country were issued the highest area numbers.
After 1972, zip codes began to be used as identifiers. Baltimore became the central zone in charge of issuing all Social Security numbers. The area number corresponded to the zip code of the location where the application was filed.
Now it is random. After 2011, the area numbers stopped being used, and the first three numbers are assigned totally at random.
The Two Middle Numbers
The two middle numbers are group numbers. The odd numbers from 01 up to 09 were assigned first, followed by even numbers between 10 and 98, then even numbers between 02 and 08, and lastly by odd numbers from 11 to 99.
This group indicated a person's age whose Social Security numbers were assigned in the same batch as yours. So if your group number is 96, an even number, then you are older than anyone with an odd number higher than 11. Or if your group number is 17, then most people in your group are older than you.
The Last Four Numbers
The last four numbers are serial numbers assigned in ascending order from 0001 to 9999. None of them are made up of only zeros, there is always a finite number in the group of four digits.
Identity Theft
Both public and private sector rely heavily on Social Security numbers for identification purposes, to manage their records, verify benefits and eligibility of benefits, collect debt, etc.
It is the worst "best kept secret."
Unfortunately in many instances, Social Security numbers have been made public record so that anyone can see them - and steal them - which makes Social Security numbers as the primary source of identity theft. Once someone has the number that was assigned to you, they can essentially become you. Criminals have deprived victims of getting jobs, being approved for loans, and having access to their bank funds.
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| August 17, 1977 edition of the Memphis Press-Scimitar reporting the death of Elvis Presley |
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| August 1974 The New York Times -Nixon has resigned |
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| 1974 Nixon's Resignation Letter |
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| April 15, 1912 edition of the New York American reporting on the Titanic's death toll |
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| 1918 -The Daily Telegram - World War One is over. |
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| Newspaper advertisement September 19, 1792 The Baltimore News |
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| Thanksgiving Proclamation in the United States The Pennsylvania Gazette |