Category Archives: Crime and Courts

November 8, 1947: Tokyo Rose Seeks to Return to U.S.

Posted on November 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 8, 1947: Iva Toguri of Los Angeles seeks to return to the U.S. after being stranded in Japan during the war, when she was known as Tokyo Rose. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Immigration, Radio, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on November 8, 1947: Tokyo Rose Seeks to Return to U.S.

November 5, 1947: ‘Amazing Career of a Girl Drug Addict’

Posted on November 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 5, 1947: Arrested in October for driving erratically on Wilshire Boulevard, a woman calling herself Margaret Burton told police she was a former actress and had become addicted to sedatives during the London Blitz, when a physician gave her tranquilizers to calm her nerves. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on November 5, 1947: ‘Amazing Career of a Girl Drug Addict’

November 3, 1941: Wingy Manone Puts the Swing in Swing Shift

Posted on November 3, 2025 by lmharnisch

November 3, 1941: Tom Treanor goes to a dance at the Glendale Civic Auditorium for swing shift workers, about 5,000 of them, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Most of the couples are married, he says, and the wives are 18 or 19. Continue reading →

Posted in 1941, Art & Artists, Columnists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Dance, Film, Hollywood, Music, Obituaries, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on November 3, 1941: Wingy Manone Puts the Swing in Swing Shift

October 28, 1907: Former LAPD Chief Calls It ‘Most Detestable Job Ever Created’

Posted on October 28, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 28, 1907: A former LAPD chief says the job is the worst in the city. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, City Hall, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on October 28, 1907: Former LAPD Chief Calls It ‘Most Detestable Job Ever Created’

October 27, 1927: Follies Theater’s ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

Posted on October 27, 2025 by lmharnisch

On Oct. 27, 1927, a campaign to “sweep Main Street clear of questionable shows” resulted in the arrest of 27 women of the “Hot Mamma” show. Police also arrested “12 chorus men, four tattooed women wearing their working clothes and last, but not least, Ill Ill, an untamed tree-climbing South African pygmy” Continue reading →

Posted in 1927, Crime and Courts, Found on EBay, Photography, Stage | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on October 27, 1927: Follies Theater’s ‘Hot Mamma’ Show Led Court to Overturn Law on ‘Indecent Shows’

October 26, 1942: Lon Chaney’s Ghost Haunts Hollywood and Vine!

Posted on October 26, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 26, 1942: Councilman Norris Nelson tells a story about the ghost of Lon Chaney sitting on a bench at Hollywood and Vine. Continue reading →

Posted in 1942, African Americans, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood, LAPD, World War II, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on October 26, 1942: Lon Chaney’s Ghost Haunts Hollywood and Vine!

October 24, 1907: Sanitarium Doctor Tells Patients to ‘Live on Love’ and Forget About Food

Posted on October 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 24, 1907: Upon the suicide of Dr. H. Russell Burner, advocate of the “radium milk” cure, his sanitarium was taken over by Dr. F.S. Kurpiers, who is now in trouble with the Health Department. Kurpiers didn’t have a medical license, so he obtained the certificate of Dr. C.H. King, a dying physician who wept as he told authorities that the only way he could support a few relatives was to rent out his license. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, Medicine | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on October 24, 1907: Sanitarium Doctor Tells Patients to ‘Live on Love’ and Forget About Food

The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 — Part 4

Posted on October 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 24, 1871: Part 4 of a series on the Chinese Massacre. Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 — Part 4

The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 — Part 3

Posted on October 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 24, 1871: Part 3 of a series on the Chinese Massacre. Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 — Part 3

The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 – Part 2

Posted on October 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 24, 1871: Part 2 of a series on the Chinese Massacre. Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 – Part 2

The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 — Part 1

Posted on October 24, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 24, 1871: Part 1 of a series on the Chinese Massacre. Continue reading →

Posted in 1871, Chinese Massacre, Crime and Courts, Homicide | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Chinese Massacre: October 24, 1871 — Part 1

October 19, 1907: Toku, Abandoned by Man Who Claimed to Be Wealthy, Denied a Divorce

Posted on October 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 19, 1907: Visiting Japan, K. Tsuneda met a young woman named Toku. Claiming that he was a wealthy Stanford student, Tsuneda married Toku and they came to the U.S. so his new wife could get an American education. She learned that Tsuneda wasn’t rich or a Stanford student. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts, Education, Immigration | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on October 19, 1907: Toku, Abandoned by Man Who Claimed to Be Wealthy, Denied a Divorce

October 18, 1947: S.S. General Saw Mass Executions as ‘Necessary to Win War’

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

NEURNBERG, Oct. 17 (A.P.)—S.S. Gen. Erich Naumann, whose commandos killed thousands of Jewish men, women and children on the eastern front, told a war crimes court today he saw nothing wrong with that. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

October 18, 1943: Errol Flynn Named in Paternity Suit

Posted on October 18, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 18, 1943: Shirley Hassau charges that Errol Flynn is the father of her 3-year-old daughter. Her lawsuits were dismissed in 1951. Continue reading →

Posted in 1943, Art & Artists, Comics, Crime and Courts, Film, Hollywood | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on October 18, 1943: Errol Flynn Named in Paternity Suit

October 16, 1947: LAPD Issues Guns to Policewomen!

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 16, 1947: The LAPD changes the uniform for policewomen and issues them guns — to be fashionably carried in a shoulder-slung black purse, also convenient for carrying handcuffs. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, LAPD | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on October 16, 1947: LAPD Issues Guns to Policewomen!

October 16, 1907: Man With Three Wives Believes in Marriage but Not Divorce

Posted on October 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 16, 1907: George S. Best is a great believer in marriage and strongly opposes divorce, which is why he has three of one and none of the other. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , | Comments Off on October 16, 1907: Man With Three Wives Believes in Marriage but Not Divorce

October 13, 1907: 2 Die in Tong War

Posted on October 13, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 13, 1907: Gunmen imported from out of town by the Hop Sing Tong entered the tailor shop of Lem Sing at 806 Juan St. in Chinatown and under the pretense of having some clothing made, wounded him and killed Wong Goon Kor. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Education, Food and Drink, Homicide, LAPD, Streetcars | Comments Off on October 13, 1907: 2 Die in Tong War

October 12, 1947: Father Charged With Beating Son, 2, for Talking During Movie

Posted on October 12, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 12, 1947: Sheppard W. King III is jailed on charges of child abuse after hitting his 2-year-old son in the lobby of the Pantages because the boy talked during the show. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Crime and Courts, Film, Theaters | Tagged , , | Comments Off on October 12, 1947: Father Charged With Beating Son, 2, for Talking During Movie

October 11, 1947: Jury Overturns Dog Lover’s Will Leaving Fortune to 2 Irish Setters

Posted on October 11, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 11, 1947: Pat and Gunner, 6-year-old Irish setters who were left a $30,000 estate by their late master, Carleton R. Bainbridge, retired attorney, yesterday were disinherited by a jury of eight men and four women. Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Animals, Comics, Crime and Courts | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on October 11, 1947: Jury Overturns Dog Lover’s Will Leaving Fortune to 2 Irish Setters

October 9. 1907: Trellis, The Confidence Woman

Posted on October 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 9, 1907: She was known as Trellis C. Harris or Trellis Blessing—or Edna Hall. But her method was always the same. She would commit some theft, then fake an epileptic fit, spitting up blood from a capsule hidden in her mouth. Continue reading →

Posted in 1907, Black Dahlia, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Pasadena | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on October 9. 1907: Trellis, The Confidence Woman