Today in True Crime

On this day in 1969, four members of the Manson Family broke into the home of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanksi. Just after midnight, they murdered Tate and her houseguests. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1963, a highly coordinated gang stole two and a half million British pounds from a mail train. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1934, after months of deliberation, the U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling to remove the federal ban on James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1993, Louis J. Freeh was confirmed by the United States Senate as the 5th director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he would oversee some of the most infamous criminal cases in U.S. history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1992, four Los Angeles police officers were indicted on civil charges for violating Rodney King’s rights in an act of police brutality. Guest hosted by Alastair Murden from the Parcast original, Kingpins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1944, Nazi officers raided a spice and jam warehouse in Amsterdam. They discovered eight Jewish civilians and arrested them all, including fifteen-year-old Anne Frank. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1948, the House Un-American Activities Committee held a highly anticipated congressional hearing, wherein Alger Hiss took to the stand to defend himself against accusations from Whittaker Chambers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1980, neo-fascists bombed a train station in Bologna, Italy, killing eighty-five people and injuring more than two-hundred. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1921, Sid Hatfield and his friend Ed Chambers were assassinated by agents of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 30 BCE, 53-year-old Mark Antony defended Egypt against Rome in the bloody Battle of Alexandria. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The ship had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1993, retired Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk appeared before the Israeli Supreme Court after appealing his 1988 conviction. He’d been sentenced to death for crimes committed during World War Two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1868, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1919, 17-year-old Black teen Eugene Williams was murdered after accidentally rafting into the white section of Lake Michigan’s segregated waters. His death sparked the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, and a broader wave of protests known as “The Red Summer.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte founded the federal investigative agency that eventually became the FBI. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 2019, the remains of a 12-year-old girl were found by construction workers in Weld County, Colorado. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1997, 24-year-old Amy Wroe Bechtel went missing while running in Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1969, 18-year-old Karen Beineman disappeared in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She was last seen getting onto a stranger’s motorcycle outside a wig shop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1934, legendary bank robber John Dillinger was shot and killed by FBI agents outside Chicago’s Biograph theater. Guest hosted by Ash Kelly and Alaina Urquhart from the Parcast original, Crime Countdown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1877, Pennsylvania state militia attacked railroad workers participating in one of the largest strikes of the 19th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 2015, Eddie Tipton was found guilty of rigging the lottery in Iowa. He’d used his position inside the industry to cheat the system and get rich quick… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1979, the Very Large Crude Carrier Atlantic Empress collided with another VLCC, the Aegean Captain. The wreckage spewed roughly 280,000 tons of oil into the Caribbean Sea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in the year 1290, King Edward I of England issued an edict expelling the Jewish people from his kingdom. As many as 16,000 Jews were turned into refugees overnight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1771, it’s possible that one of the most infamous events in indigenous Canadian history took place. According to the posthumously released journal of surveyor Samuel Hearne, a group of Dene tribe members killed 20 Inuit nomads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye was published. J.D. Salinger’s coming-of-age classic would be embraced by generations of teenagers. However, the book had another, much darker, legacy… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1987, Taiwan ended thirty-eight years of martial law—but that didn’t necessarily mean peaceful, democratic governing would follow. Guest hosted by Greg Polcyn from the Parcast original show Haunted Places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1789, angry French citizens and soldiers stormed a garrison-turned-political prison: The Bastille. The mob murdered, looted and destroyed the building. But they did it all in the name of democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 2003, French intelligence operatives aborted a mission to rescue French-Colombian politician Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia—resulting in an international political scandal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1562, a Spanish friar named Diego de Landa ordered the destruction of dozens of sacred texts in an attempt to convert the Maya people to Christianity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 472, enemies of Emperor Anthemius, ruler of the Western Roman Empire, captured and beheaded him in Old St. Peter’s Basilica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1086, King Canute IV of Denmark was killed during a peasant uprising. He was eventually canonized as the patron saint of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1821, 486 Greek Cypriots were executed by the Ottoman Empire. Among the victims was a prominent member of the Greek Orthodox community, Archbishop Kyprianos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1898, the Wild West’s most notorious con man, Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith, was killed in a shootout in Skagway, Alaska. Guest hosted by Carter Roy from the Parcast series Unsolved Murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1984, Virginia Temple and her ten-year-old daughter were found dead in Toledo, Ohio. They were the latest victims of serial killer couple Alton Coleman and Debra Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1415, Czech religious reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake for heresy. His martyrdom fueled a nearly 20-year war between the Pope and Hus’s followers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1934, police opened fire on the longshoreman striking at the Embarcadero in San Francisco, California. The men were protesting for better wages and working conditions, but the violent assault left over a hundred wounded and two dead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 2002, four-year-old Dannarriah Finley disappeared from her home in Orange, Texas. Residents of Orange rallied together in the search for Dannarriah… but after four days, they discovered that she was the victim of a horrific murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1844, the last pair of great auks was killed. Due to overhunting from eager collectors, these penguin-like birds were wiped off the earth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1881, President James Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau. Garfield would survive another 79 days before succumbing to his bullet wounds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1981, members of the drug-peddling Wonderland Gang were viciously beaten to death in their home on Wonderland Avenue in Los Angeles. Guest hosted by Molly Brandenburg from the Parcast series, Medical Mysteries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 2007, Kafeel Ahmed and Bilal Abdulla drove a Jeep Cherokee filled with propane canisters and barrels of gasoline into the entrance of Glasgow Airport in a failed terrorist attack. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1804, two members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were court-martialed for breaking into the party’s stores and drinking while on duty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1960, dictator Fidel Castro began seizing control of American oil refineries in Cuba. The incident caused the relationship between the United States and Cuba to deteriorate beyond repair for decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1942, the FBI captured the last of eight Nazi saboteurs planning to decimate the American war machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1977, 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald was murdered on her way home from a night out with friends. It was the fifth in a string of murders by the mysterious killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1983, four-year-old Nyleen Kay Marshall vanished in the Helena National Forest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1973, 32 members of the Metropolitan Community Church were killed in an arson attack at the UpStairs Lounge in New Orleans, Louisiana. Guest hosted by Kate Leonard from the Parcast series, Daily Quote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1848, workers in Paris revolted against France’s newly installed conservative government. It marked the beginning of a historic 4-day uprising known as June Days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1964, FBI officers were called to Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights workers. What they uncovered would shock the nation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this day in 1989, the United States Supreme Court ruled that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices