Amazing Tales About History

During the Cold War, the U.S. identified 40 cities that required protection against Russian nuclear attack. Those cities were ringed by missile silos in the 1950s. In the 1960s, some silos were outfitted with active nuclear warheads, often without public knowledge. Three silo sites were in Connecticut.

Students hid under their desks during 1960s nuclear raid drills. The true protection was found inside mammoth underground fortresses built at strategic locations nationwide. Supplementing this are nuclear missile silos. In part one of this two-part series, learn about the fortresses - some decommissioned and some still operating.

He walked the same, 365-mile, circuitous route every 34 days. He passed through the same two dozen towns, usually at the same hour, like clockwork. He wore a 60-pound, all-leather outfit and spoke to no one. He slept in caves and bothered no one. The Leatherman was beloved, but no one ever learned his true identity.

Trains started operations in the U.S. in the early 1800s. One of the earliest was The Housatonic, traveling from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. It is struggling today, but 1 or 2 freight trains still operate. Passenger service stopped 50 years ago. The long history of the line is magical.

P.T. Barnum didn't start his famous circus until he was 60-years-old. But, in his 20s, he spent a couple of years touring with another circus, handling their finances. Barnum's mentor was Aaron Turner, a rags-to-riches story who was one of the first circus owners in the U.S.

Transportation evolved when the Industrial Revolution was born. Stagecoaches and canal barges gave way to steam-power locomotives and ships. Eventually, electricity and batteries powered trolleys and early cars. On the dirt turnpikes, toll evaders formed off-road shunpikes, as an agrarian society morphed towards industrialization.

Two brothers. So much grisly crime. Bank robberies, murders (including family members), jail breaks and kidnappings in New York, Connecticut, Missouri, Colorado, and Maryland. The volume and horrendous nature of their deeds defies belief. They often convinced others to do their bidding. It will leave you shaking your head.

The 100-year-old Appalachian Trail, an iconic walkway through the eastern U.S., has generated interesting statistics: who walked it the fastest, who did the first walk along the entire trail, how many hike the entire trail each year, who was the first woman to do so, who's the youngest, and how many murders have been recorded on the trail?

Colonial settlers in the U.S. had only Native American hiking paths to get around. It took 6 days to ride a horse from New York to Boston. Early earthen roads were neither pleasant nor efficient. Who made up the initial highway crews? How did settlers communicate over long distances? Why did we use miles instead of kilometers?

Bigotry was alive and well in the U.S., leading up to WW II. Supporters of Germany's Adolf Hitler bought land in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, where Nazi sympathizers could fly the swastika flag, march, and sing. When they tried to build such a camp in Southbury, Connecticut, there was a decidedly different outcome.