Author Archives: lmharnisch

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times

June 4, 1947: Television Comes to Los Angeles

Posted on June 4, 2026 by lmharnisch

June 4, 1947: Television comes to Los Angeles on T-Day (March 10, 1947) with KTLA and W6XAO. By June 4, the stations aired baseball, test patterns and Queen for a Day. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Film, Television | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

June 4, 1941: Burbank Man Invents Death Ray!

Posted on June 4, 2026 by lmharnisch

June 4, 1941: A Burbank man claims to have invented a death ray that will kill rabbits at 100 yards. Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, 1941, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Death Rays, Film, Hollywood, Lee Shippey, Tom Treanor | Leave a comment

June 3, 1947: Soldiers Fight Army’s Ban on Japanese Brides

Posted on June 3, 2026 by lmharnisch

June 3, 1947: In a letter to Pacific Stars and Stripes, enlisted men assigned to Japan urge the Army to lift its ban on marrying Japanese women. Congress eventually granted a one-month period in which veterans could marry Japanese women, resulting in 823 unions. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Immigration, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

June 3, 1907: Runaway Couple, Aided by Minister, Leave Parents at the Altar

Posted on June 3, 2026 by lmharnisch

June 3,1907: Dr. Harris Garcelon and Genevieve Smith dreaded the large, formal wedding her mother planned for them. After the rehearsal, the Rev. Baker P. Lee performed a small ceremony and the couple ran off to Salt Lake City, leaving Lee to inform Mrs. Smith of the couple’s flight. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, LAPD, Medicine, Obituaries, Religion | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Black Dahlia: Ask Me Anything, June 2026

Posted on June 2, 2026 by lmharnisch

In the Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case for June 2026, I took questions and highlighted David Oranchak’s final installment in his three-part video series on the false claims of Black Dahlia/Zodiac sleuth Alex Baber. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Black Dahlia, Black Dahlia Book Club, Cold Cases, Homicide, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + +)

Posted on June 1, 2026 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a mysterious girl. Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

May 30,1958: ‘Crisis in Morals’

Posted on May 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 30, 1958: The Times publishes a 12-part series titled “Crisis in Morals” by Howard Whitman. This installment reflects 1950s attitudes on gays, at least in the pages of the Los Angeles Times. Continue reading →

Posted in #gays and lesbians, 1958, Front Pages | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

May 30, 1908: Snake Stops Traffic

Posted on May 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 30, 1908: A large gopher snake causes a disturbance in downtown Los Angeles. Continue reading →

Posted in 1908, Animals, Downtown | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

May 30, 1907: Hop Chung, Chinese Laundryman, Presses Zoning Case in Court

Posted on May 30, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 30, 1907: Hop Chung is arrested for opening a laundry in an area designated residential, but because he isn’t a U.S. citizen, he takes the case to federal court claiming there is no such thing as what we now know as zoning. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, City Hall, Crime and Courts, Streetcars | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

May 29, 1908: Concert Pianist Put on Chain Gang in Crackdown on Gays

Posted on May 29, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 28, 1908: Concert pianist Peje Storck is put on chain gang after being arrested in a room full of men, pleading guilty to a reduced charge of “vagrancy.” Continue reading →

Posted in #courts, #gays and lesbians, 1908, classical music, LAPD, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

When a ‘Marilyn Monroe Letter’ Sells on EBay for $879.99

Posted on May 28, 2026 by lmharnisch

A letter supposedly regarding young Marilyn Monroe has sold on EBay for $879.99. But there are numerous red flags about its authenticity. Continue reading →

Posted in Found on EBay, Hollywood | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Black Dahlia – Elizabeth Short Letter Listed on EBay — Authentic or Not?

Posted on May 27, 2026 by lmharnisch

An EBay vendor has listed an undated letter, claiming that it is signed by Elizabeth Short. But is it authentic? Probably not. Continue reading →

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Reminder — My Next ‘Ask Me Anything’ on the Black Dahlia Case Is June 2

Posted on May 26, 2026 by lmharnisch

Reminder: I will be doing an Ask Me Anything on the Black Dahlia case June 2, at 10 a.m. Pacific time on my YouTube channel: YouTube.com/LMHarnisch Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Ask Me Anything, Black Dahlia, Cold Cases, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

May 31, 1947: Los Angeles Marks First Memorial Day Without a Civil War Veteran at Ceremony

Posted on May 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 31, 1947: Memorial Day is marked for the first time without a single Civil War veteran at the VA facility. There were five Union Army veterans living in Los Angeles. CSA veteran Sampson Simmons died in 1942 and was buried in Inglewood, wrapped in a Confederate flag. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Civil War | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Movieland Mystery Photo (Updated + + + +)

Posted on May 25, 2026 by lmharnisch

For Monday, we have a mysterious girl and Back of the Head Woman. Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, Film, Hollywood, Mystery Photo | Tagged , , , , , | 28 Comments

May 23, 1947: Lloyd Osbourne Dies; Inspired Stepfather Robert Louis Stevenson to Write ‘Treasure Island’

Posted on May 23, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 23, 1947, L.A. Times, Lloyd Osbourne, who as a boy inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write “Treasure Island,” dies in Glendale. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Books and Authors, Obituaries | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

May 22, 1947: Art Club Calls LACMA Exhibit ‘Subversive Propaganda’

Posted on May 22, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 22, 1947: The California Art Club yesterday lambasted the current Los Angeles County Museum art exhibit—the museum’s eighth annual show—as favoring “radical art” and containing “subversive propaganda.” Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Art & Artists, Museums | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

May 21, 1947: South Carolina Jury Acquits 28 in Lynching

Posted on May 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 21, 1947: A South Carolina jury acquits 28 people in the lynching of Willie Earle, who was suspected of killing a cabdriver. The Los Angeles Times editorializes that a federal anti-lynching law is unnecessary. Continue reading →

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May 21, 1907: J.G. Fleenor ‘Barefoot Burglar’ Talks!

Posted on May 21, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 21, 1907: In a jailhouse interview before he is taken to San Quentin, James G. Fleenor, the barefoot burglar, sets the record straight on his escapes, his relationship with a white woman and how he began a life of crime. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Real Estate, Streetcars | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on May 21, 1907: J.G. Fleenor ‘Barefoot Burglar’ Talks!

May 20, 1939: Midnite Show at the Follies

Posted on May 20, 2026 by lmharnisch

May 20, 1939: Marion Morgan at the Follies Burlesque: “Political crises, European crises or stock market troubles mean nothing to our busy businessmen. They still heed the call of relaxation….” Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Stage | Comments Off on May 20, 1939: Midnite Show at the Follies