He was found near death by his housekeeper, who arrived about an hour after Elwell received the early morning post. Whoever committed the crime got through 2 locked doors and shot Elwell once at close range in the forehead as he was casually reading his just-received mail. Elwell had a reputation for teaching the wives and daughters of wealthy families more than just how to play cards. Robbery was obviously not a motive as money and valuables, including an original Rembrandt, were untouched. A half-smoked cigar was still warm on the mantle. The murder weapon was never found. Despite sensational coverage at the time for this true locked-room murder, no killer was ever brought to justice.
June 11, 1955: Eighty-three spectators are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.
June 12, 1967: The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.
June 13, 1893: Grover Cleveland notices a rough spot in his mouth and on July 1 undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the public until 1917, nine years after the president’s death.
June 14, 1931: The overcrowded cruiser Saint-Philibert capsizes in rough weather near the mouth of the Loire, killing approximately 500 passengers and crew. Only eight people on board survive. An interesting first person account of one of those eight here.
June 15, 1904: The PS General Slocumcatches fire, burns and sinks in the East River in New York City. Somewhere between 1000 and 1200 people die.
The paddle-wheel style cruiser had been chartered by a church in a German neighborhood of New York to take picnickers to Long Island for a day of fun. Most of the passengers were women and children. When the ship caught fire, the crew did little to help the passengers. The ship had never even had a fire drill. Required life preservers were found to be filled with rotten cork and were falling apart. Some parents who managed to get their children in these preservers watched in horror as their children immediately sank in the water. Fire hoses on the ship were worn out and useless. Bodies washed up on the shore for days and days afterwards.
The captain of the ship went to prison for four years. The owners of the steamship company were never held accountable. The safety inspectors who had recently given the ship a passing grade were not held accountable. This horrible preventable tragedy was New York City’s deadliest disaster before September 11.
June 15, 1878: Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs; the study becomes the basis of motion pictures.
June 17, 1940: The troop ship RMS *Lancastria *is sunk by German bombers. Somewhere between 4000 and 6000 die. This is the worst maritime disaster in British history.
June 17, 1994: Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
June 18, 1178: The Moon blows up. Well not really, but 5 reliable witnesses report seeing some sort of massive explosion on the Moon. Some have theorized a meteor strike. Others suggest a meteor coming down to Earth and burning up in front of the Moon. What happened on the Moon 839 years ago? The cosmic mystery endures.