April 11 in strange history

1. 1839
   In the old newspapers

   A wild man of the woods brought back from the Mississippi

   Mendota, Minnesota

   A Boston paper reported that a lumber company agent had returned from the St. Peters River on the upper Mississippi with a living wild man of the woods and two small cubs. The story ran in papers from North Carolina to Vermont.

2. 1888
   In the old newspapers

   A bushy-tailed 'varmint' raids Anderson County farms

   Anderson, South Carolina

   A dark animal with erect ears and a bushy tail, "very much like a dog", ate a pup, tried to get in through a farmhouse door and tore the ears and face off a pig in one night. The paper's correspondent was shown the mangled pig and the tracks.

3. 1897
   In the old newspapers

   A snapshot of the airship at Rogers Park

   Rogers Park, Illinois

   Walter McCann of Rogers Park said he photographed the airship at 5:30 one morning and showed two negatives, with three witnesses saying they saw him take them. Papers pointed out that modern photography could fake almost anything.

4. 1897
   In the old newspapers

   Following the Hennepin canal

   Moline, Illinois

   A farmer named Karr living on the Rock River said he saw the airship following the Hennepin canal south of South Moline before dawn, heading west. The whole Moline police force swore they had seen it the night before.

The US Air Force opened 820 Project Blue Book files for sightings in April, 1947 to 1969. Browse the Air Force files.

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