Dec. 27, 1909: A mob in Hurley, Va., lynches Henry Pennington after he killed Samuel Baker, who was on his way to a Christmas program with his family. Pennington had run away, but Baker’s wife tricked him into coming back by asking him to help her take the body home. When Pennington returned, she grabbed his pistol and shot him. Pennington got the gun away from her, shot her and tried to kill the two Baker children and a companion.

The Rev. E.A. Devennis flees after promising Portland, Ore., worshipers that Christ would return for Christmas.

Notice the mention of Police Chief August Vollmer of Berkeley. Vollmer took a one-year appointment as police chief in Los Angeles from 1923 to 1924 and is often credited with many reforms in law enforcement. He was replaced by Chief R. Lee Heath, who was followed in 1926 by Chief James Davis, a prominent figure in the corrupt Frank Shaw administration of the 1930s.