Decidedly Grim

Today’s Low and Guttural Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Taylorism is an old name for an ear condition, now called pressure-bonded tinnitus, which leads sufferers to hear sudden sounds which are not real. These noises are low and guttural and can sound like waves, cars or growling creatures. The condition is notable since the sounds sometimes trigger phantom sight phenomena – sufferers can momentarily see a wave or car lunge towards them. Although the condition is not named after him, its most prominent victim was James Taylor Markham, an explorer and financier who travelled extensively in Southern Africa in the late 19th century. Markham had come to terms with his disability and had conditioned himself not to jolt or run when he heard or saw something unexpected. In 1902, he was charged and gored to death by a rhino in what is now Botswana.

Culled from: Infowisps
Generously submitted by: Aimee

Facts

Today’s Godly Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

For mass public execution with the most pomp and circumstance, the Inquisitions of Spain and Portugal are difficult to top. An enormous crowd of 20,000 dressed in their finest clothes jammed the main square of Lisbon to witness the burning of 21 heretics on June 30, 1682, among them noblemen and Church dignitaries. Here is an eyewitness account:

“At the place of execution… there are so many stakes set up as there are prisoners to be burned, with a good quantity of dry furze about them. The stakes of the Professed, as the inquisitors call them, are about four yards high and have a small board, whereon the prisoner is to be seated within a half yard of the top… The Professed go up a ladder betwixt two Jesuits, who have attended them the whole day of execution.

“When they come even with the aforesaid board, they turn to the people and the Jesuits spend near a quarter of an hour in exhorting them to be reconciled to the Church of Rome. If they refuse, the priests come down and the executioner ascends and turns the professed from off the ladder and puts them upon the seat, chains their bodies to the stake and leaves them.

“Then the Jesuits go up a second time to renew their exhortations and if they find them ineffectual usually tell them at parting, that they ‘leave them to the Devil, who is standing at their elbow to receive their souls and carry them with him into the flames of hell fire, as soon as they are out of their bodies.’

“Upon this, a great shout is then raised, and as soon as the Jesuits are off the ladder, the cry is ‘Let the Dogs’ beards be made, Let the Dogs’ beards be made!’ This is done by thrusting flaming furzes against their faces with long poles. This barbarity repeated until their faces are burnt coal black, and is accompanied with such loud acclamations of joy as are not heard even at a Bull-Feast or a farce.

“Fire is then set to the furzes, which are at the bottom of the stake, but the flames seldom reach as high as the seat they sit upon… If the day is windy, then they do not die even after an hour and a half or two hours, and so are really roasted and not burnt to death… The sufferers as long as they are able to speak, cry out: ‘Misericordia por Amor de Dios’ (’Mercy for the love of God’).”

Culled from: An Underground Education

“Let the dogs’ beards be made” is my new favorite expression. For the love of God, of course.

Facts

Today’s Crushing Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In 1982, 27-year-old David Grundman and a roommate decided to do a little “cactus plugging,” by shooting the desert plant with a shotgun. The first one, a small cactus, went off without a hitch and Grundman was encouraged to try a larger prey: a 26-foot-tall Saguaro cactus, probably a 100-year-old plant. Unfortunately, Grundman blasted off a large chuck of the cactus that fell on him and crushed him to death! To date, this was probably the only known instance of revenge killing by a plant.

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

Facts

Today’s Restrained Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Bilboes were a method of restraint which consisted of a long iron bar attached to the floor. Free to slide along the bar were a number of hinged iron rings which were riveted about the ankles of the prisoners, forcing them to sit or lie down until the restraint was released. Some prisons in Britain also found bilboes invaluable for securing prisoners who were being flogged, and indeed the punishment cell in Newgate Prison was given the name of the Bilboe or Bilbow. The word is a corruption of the Spanish town Bilboa, for when the Armada was defeated in 1588, chests of these shackles were found in the galleons, reputedly to pinion English captives. In actual fact similar devices were widely used for naval prisoners on board ship and the Royal Navy was equipped with them until the 18th century. Doubtless that was how they found their way to the West Indies, where they were used during the slave trade era. Ten or more slaves would be secured in bilboes, being released each day before being taken to work in the plantations.

Culled from: Rack, Rope and Red-Hot Pincers

You can get your own personal bilboes from Irontree Works. What a nifty Christmas gift!

Facts

Today’s Inadequate Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The Ballantyne’s Department Store Fire on November 18, 1947, remains the worst fire disaster in New Zealand history. Forty one people died in the blaze, mostly employees who had failed to evacuate the second floor workrooms at the time of the fire. J. Ballantyne & Co, located at the corner of Colombo Street and Cashel Street in Christchurch, employed about 300 people at the time of the fire. Many of these worked on the second floor in various departments, including millinery, dress-making, and bookkeeping. When the fire was first noticed, at 3:31 in the afternoon, the owners were informed and the fire department was called. The shopping area on the first floor was evacuated by sales employees. When firemen arrived shortly after, they initially did not realize there were still people on the second floor of the building. Many of the victims on the second floor died of smoke inhalation as they tried to leave via fire escapes. Kenneth Ballantyne was the last person to be rescued by firefighters. A commission later determined that the fire response was inadequate and the building did not meet fire codes, though it had passed its last inspection.

Culled from: Wikipedia
Generously suggested by: Robyn

Facts

Today’s Violent Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Madge Augustine Oberholtzer (10 November 1896 – 14 April 1925) was an American schoolteacher who was born in Clay City, Indiana, grew up in Fulton County, Indiana, and worked in an Indiana state program to combat illiteracy. She was a key figure in the downfall of the 1920s Ku Klux Klan in Indiana. On 15 March 1925, David Curtiss Stephenson, a powerful political figure (then a member of the Republican Party, earlier a member of the Democratic Party), Prohibitionist, and “Grand Dragon” (state leader) of the Ku Klux Klan, kidnapped Oberholtzer after enticing her from her parents’ home to his. Stephenson took her onto his private train car and forced her to drink. He then raped her while the train went towards Chicago. Stephenson also chewed and bit Oberholtzer all over her body. One of her nipples was literally bitten off and her genitals were severely mutilated. A doctor who examined her later on said these injuries and the resulting infection could have itself been fatal. He said it looked like Oberholtzer had been attacked by a pack of wolves. One historian described her condition as akin to having been “chewed by a cannibal”. On the second day of her ordeal in an Indiana hotel, Oberholtzer attempted to shoot herself, but was foiled by Stephenson. Oberholtzer then purchased mercuric chloride tablets under the guise of shopping for something else, and consumed them in another attempt at suicide. She was discovered vomiting blood by Stephenson and his companions, and they drove her back to Indianapolis. Before leaving his house she threatened him, saying “The law will get their hands on you!” He laughed and said, “I am the law.” Stephenson’s Klan connections gave him a good deal of political power in the state.

When Oberholtzer got home, she sought medical attention, though it was too late. With what strength she had left she accused Stephenson and, dying of mercury poisoning, made a deathbed statement on 28 March detailing her treatment at his hands. Oberholtzer died on 14 April from an infection and kidney failure, and Stephenson was indicted on charges of rape and second-degree murder. His lawyer’s defense was that Oberholtzer had committed suicide. The prosecution pointed out that Madge had vomited so violently there might not have been enough mercury to prove fatal and that prompt medical attention could have saved her. During closing statements, Stephenson was decried as a “destroyer of virtue and womanhood”. He was found guilty of second degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison. The assault on Oberholtzer by Stephenson outraged many members of the Klan to the point that entire lodges left the Klan as a group. By 20 February 1928 Indiana Klan rosters had decreased from over 178,000 members to approximately 4,000 members.

Culled from: Answers.Com
Generously submitted by: Karen

Facts

Today’s Unmarketable Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

The Ideal Maternity Home operated in East Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada from the late 1920’s through at least the late 1940’s. William and Lila Young operated it. William was a chiropractor and Lila was a midwife, although she advertised herself as an obstetrician. While they were tried for various crimes involving the home, including manslaughter, the entire truth of the horrors perpetrated there was not widely known until much later.

The Ideal Maternity Home promised both maternity care for local married couples and discreet birthing and placement for children of unwed mothers. The home was the source of babies for an illegal trade in infants between Canada and the United States. During this period the laws in the US forbid adoption across religious backgrounds. There was an acute shortage of babies available for Jewish couples to adopt. The home would provide these desperate people “black market” adoptions charging up to $10,000 for a baby. Many of the babies in the 1940’s ended up in Jewish homes in New Jersey. At the same time they would charge the mothers $500 for their services. At this time the average wage in the area was $8 a week. Many of the mothers could not afford this sum, and were forced to work at the home for up to eighteen months to pay their bill.

During WWII business was booming because nearby Halifax was a major port serving as the point of departure for convoys crossing the North Atlantic to England. Many of these ships never completed the journey. The sailors and merchant seamen would squeeze as much of life into their days in port as they could, and many women were left as unmarried or widowed expectant mothers. The Ideal Maternity Home offered almost the only place that could provide for these women and their children.

What was discovered later was that the Youngs would purposely starve “unmarketable” babies to death by feeding them only molasses and water. On this diet the infants would usually last only two weeks. Any deformity, a serious illness or “dark” coloration would often seal their fate. Babies who died were disposed of in small wooden grocery boxes, typically used for dairy products. Thus the term Butterbox Babies is used to refer to these unfortunate infants. The Butterbox Babies’ bodies were buried on the property, adjacent to a nearby cemetery, at sea or sometimes burned in the home’s furnace. In some cases married couples who had come to the home solely for birthing services were told that their baby had died shortly after birth. In truth these babies were also sold to adoptive parents. The Youngs would also separate or create siblings to meet the desires of customers. It is estimated that between four and six hundred babies died at the home, while at least another thousand survived and were adopted. Even these lucky survivors often suffered from ailments caused by the unsanitary conditions and lack of care at the home.

Culled from: Canadian Children’s Rights Council
Generously submitted by: Carolyn

Facts

Today’s Semi-Paralyzed Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

A fatal case of mass mercury poisoning occurred on the British ship HMS Triumph in 1810. The Triumph had taken on a cargo of mercury from a Spanish ship that had been driven ashore in a gale. Originally, the mercury was placed in the hold where the crew’s spirit rations were kept, but there was so much of it that soon the bags were being stowed in sleeping quarters as well, such as those of the petty officers, pursers and surgeons, all of whom became badly effected from mercury poisoning. They found their tongues swelling and their mouths salivating to an alarming degree. The salvaged mercury had been held in leather bags in wooden boxes, but it was only the bags that were salvaged. Many of them had split and spilled their contents. Soon large amounts of the metal were sloshing about below decks and indeed some of the officers had it rolling about on the floor beneath theri bunks. By April 10, 1810, around 200 men on board the Triumph were suffering from mercury poisoning which caused excess salivation in some, while others were semi-paralyzed and many suffered ‘bowel complaints’.

The sick were taken to other ships where they soon recovered while the Triumph itself was sent to Gibraltar to be decontaminated. Not that this was effective because a new crew also started to suffer in the same way. The ship was dispatched back to England on June 13th and then things did begin to improve somewhat, thanks to the movement of the vessel and the ventilating of the lower decks. Even so, 44 sailors and marines had to be transferred to other ships. All the sheep, pigs, goats, and poultry on the Triumph died, as did the ship’s cat, a dog, the mice and rats – and a canary. Five men eventually died, two of gangrene of the cheeks and tongue. A woman passenger, who had a fractured leg and was confined to bed during the voyage, lost all her teeth and the skin on the inside of the mouth all peeled away.

Culled from: The Elements Of Murder

I just finished reading the above-mentioned book, The Elements of Murder: A History Of Poison, by John Emsley. It was a very interesting book that will provide many morbid facts in the future, although Emsley is a rather dry author and it was hard to get through parts of it. There were also times when I felt like he rushed through the interesting stuff (the tragedies) and belaboured the dull stuff (chemical formulations and other technical details), but on the whole it was a worthwhile read. I’d have to give it 3 1/2 skulls out of 5.

Facts

Today’s Nightmarish Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

It sounds like a recurring nightmare: an armed male intruder breaks into a women’s dorm and with a gun and a butcher’s knife, binds and gags all the residents. Then one by one, he kills them cruelly and with great brutality. All of that happened in Chicago on the night of July 14, 1966, in a dormitory that housed eight nurses who worked at the South Chicago Community Hospital. The perpetrator was Richard Speck, then 24, a drifter born in Illinois, raised in Texas, wandering from petty crime to petty crime and bar to bar. At the age of 19, he had the words “Born to Raise Hell” tattooed on his arm. His victims were all eulogized as saints, people who had committed their lives to helping others. He would be positively identified by one of his intended targets, Corazon Amurao, who survived the attack by hiding under a bed. Speck knew there were eight women in the dorm; he did not know that a friend was also staying over that night. So Amurao survived as the guest was led to slaughter. The jury found Speck guilty after a mere 49 minutes of deliberation and he was sentenced to the electric chair. In 1972, however, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the death sentence unconstitutional. Resentenced to hundreds of years in prison, Speck died in 1991. No one claimed his body, which was cremated and the ashes scattered to the wind.

Culled from: Time.Com

You may remember that Speck gained infamy after his death when a prison video came out showing him with hormone-enhanced breasts snorting cocaine, having oral sex with a fellow prisoner, and bragging about how much fun he was having in prison. Apparently, this was all a survival mechanism to make himself more desirable to his fellow inmates so they didn’t kill him.

The amazing thing to me about this murder is that 8 girls could allow themselves to be so paralyzed by a gun that they would let a man tie them up one by one like that. Maybe it was a different time, but I can’t imagine not jumping the guy. Eight against one, after all. (Well, actually, nine against one.) But, I guess they were hypnotized by the power of the gun, or by the power of men. Shame.

Last Sunday (August 9th), I took a drive to the townhouse where the girls were murdered to photograph it for Chicago ghostlore author Ursula Bielski’s upcoming book. (She’s featuring several of my photographs in the book, and I’m quite excited about it.) It’s amazing to me that the building is still standing. I wonder if the current residents know its history?

Facts

Today’s Automated Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

Robert Williams was the first man ever killed by a robot. On January 25, 1979, Williams climbed into a storage rack at the Ford Motor’s Flat Rock casting plant to retrieve a part because the parts-retrieval robot malfunctioned. Suddenly, the robot reactivated and slammed its arm into Williams’ head, killing him instantly.

The second death by robot happened just a couple of years afterwards in 1981. Kenji Urada, a 37-year-old Japanese maintenance engineer was working on a broken robot at a Kawasaki plant when he failed to turn it off. The robot’s mechanical arm accidentally pushed him into a grinding machine.

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

Never trust a robot, I always say! It hasn’t failed me yet.

Facts