The Sandy Diamond and the Legend of Berquem
A condensed history traces Louis de Berquem’s claim to inventing diamond faceting. It covers the tale of Charles the Timid, the Sancy diamond, and early European and Indian cutting practices, noting Berquem’s celebrated method and the diamond’s perilous, storied path through rulers and thieves before ending in Russia.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Louis de Berquem
Touls
Charles the
Timid
Louis de Ber
Louis XI
Vaia
Louis de Terquement
Charles
Berquem
Charles the Timid
Nancy
Florence
Portugal
Brusseel i
India
Europe
Louis
Duke of Anjou
Paris
Duke of Burgundy
Louvre
Louis de Berguer
Sancy
Henri 11
Forest of
Dole
Baron de Sancy
Russia
New York World
Religious Acrobats and the Sacred Rope Descent
The New York Tribune describes a religious aerial performance in which a rope spanning a deep gorge is drawn taut 2000 feet long. The performer sits astride a wooden seat, belts carry sand bags to aid balance, and a carpeted rope end slows descent. The ritual aims to reveal the gods’ will for the harvest. success promises a plentiful season.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tadae Toa
Kei
Imatayus
Andale
Orisa
New York Tribune
Legend of the Phantom Ship Haunting Medford Town
In Medford Massachusetts a local legend speaks of a phantom ship, the Flying Dutesman, a peace merchantman pursued by a buccaneer. The tale tells of a rum and silver laden vessel bound for a West Indian port that becalmed, its crew perishing, and a cursed pirate captain who boards it before vanishing, doomed to roam the seas aboard a ghastly, skeletal craft guided by a raving madman.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Medford
Mass
Lever
Maduman
Jenny and uncle discuss dialect and manners on May day
In a brief dialogue from Ladies' Home Journal a schoolteacher uncle rebukes Jenny for saying Tain't going and teaches proper speech with examples like Tam not going. He presses the point with the line There ain't nobody going as variation in a street encounter on a May day.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jenny
Dean
Ladies’ Home Journal
Jury Seen at The Theatre Royal in Nelson Auckland
An Auckland News report notes the Nelson Theater Royal jurors who had been locked up three nights for a non verdict in a murder case were allowed to attend a picture display. They requested to attend and the Judge granted permission.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Theater Royal
Nelson
Auckland
Auckland News
A Work Maker
Quip shows a cranky cartoonish merchant saying Biks is weak financially and has little money yet provides employment to many people. The dialogue asks who the workers are and replies that they are other people’s bill collectors, a pun reflecting debt and labor.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Biks
Notorious Outlaw Billy the Kid and Sheriff Garrett
Harper's Weekly recounts the rise and fall of Billy the Kid in the Lincoln county cattle wars. Pat Garrett, Governor Lew Wallace, and the pursuit across New Mexico are named along with dates from 1880 to 1881. The story notes Billy the Kid's capture attempts, his escape, a final confrontation at the Maxwell ranch, and his burial at Fort Stanton.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lew Wallace
New Mexico
Billy the Kid
Lincoln County
Pat F. Garrett
Wallace
Dughter
Garrett
Billy
Pat Garrett
Kid
Stinking Springs
Las Vegas
Santa F
Fort Stanton
Lincoln
Murphy & Dolan
Peter Maxwell
Fort Sumner
Maxwell Hacienda
Garett
Maxwell
Gareete
Willam Bouney
Harper's Weekly
None Left Alive in Our Defense
An unclear excerpt recalls a public address urging Americans to defend their rights and question why great men fail to act, with cries of frustration about silence and inaction echoed by a cynic in the crowd.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tie
America
Fiiram Spars With City Woman Over Sign Stakeout
In a Boston Transcript excerpt, Bucoite Huron teases Fiiram about speaking to a woman seated on the grass by a city street sign. Mandy dismisses the young woman as beneath notice.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mandy
Boston Transcript
Not the One Mrs Hoyle Ciphers Mentioned in Bohemian
In a brief exchange a speaker notes her husband had $100,000 at marriage. Mrs Doyle asks current amount. Mrs Hoyle replies he has most of the ciphers left, evoking a Bohemian quip.
The Whale's Blow Cartoon Exchange About Notices
A humorous cartoon caption exchanges jests about a whale blowing and swallowing Jo Nah as a metaphor for progress curing over intimacy. The piece sketches a playful dialogue contrasting communication and self-improvement without dramatic events.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jonah
Old Time Forceps and the Teeth Drawer
Eugene Wood in Success Magazine recalls early dental practices and tools. He contrasts the old forceps with modern gear, notes the turnkeys once used for every tooth, and recalls the tense moments during extractions as patients brace for the unexpected outcome.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Uncle Dee
Eugene Wood
Success Magazine
A Gentle Reproach. Lamblike Violet Eyed Beauty Narrative
Rehoboth Sunday Herald recounts a luncheon scene where a tall 19 retort of a violet eyed beauty triggers a sharp clash. A younger guest greets with innocence, another older guest retorts with a poised lash, turning a civil moment into a charged exchange.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ike
Rehoboth Sunday Herald
The Cellar Stairs and a Sneaky Glove Thief
A playful tale from the Philadelphia Press narrates Plmitus briefly snagging a glove while discreetly watching for others to notice. A shopwalker offers a bottle of glue that supposedly “sticks,” then shifts to warning readers about cellar stair safety. The piece ends with a practical tip: paint a white strip or use oilcloth to mark the last step to prevent falls.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia Press
Advertising faith and prudent company quoted
A Louisville Courier Journal quote notes advertising as a path to success in business and marriage while warning that choosing companions matters. The message echoes Jeremy Taylor on prudence in one’s circle, urging cautious associations in a turbulent era.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Louisville Courier-Journal
Land of the Crossbow The Deadly Poisoned Arrows of the Lissoo
English traveler George Forrest details the Lissoo tribe on the Salwin frontier in Burma China. They wield two five foot crossbows and poisoned arrows with bamboo shafts and bone triggers. Poison comes from aconitum tubers mixed with resin. Arrows kill quickly, and warriors rely on ambush and shielded defense. The Lissoo are described as cowards yet deadly in disciplined warfare.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
China
Burma
George Forrest
Salwin
Chile
Chengka
Laowo Chiet
Boone
Porter Fired For Drinking Recovers Lost Parcel
A Greenwich street porter was discharged for drunkenness after losing a valuable parcel at a New York warehouse. He vowed to abstain, pleaded for reinstatement in vain, and searched for the missing item. In a drunken relapse he recalled its location and recovered it, with his two decades of honesty noted by the Times.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Times
Where Willie Was and the Dinner Table Revelation
A professor learns Mrs Chopsticks has not seen her boy Willie since 10 o clock. Pat and Martha discuss the missing child as the professor recalls a memory about seeing Willie fall down a well around 10. The fragment suggests a mystery or missing child scenario in a historical Atlanta Constitution item.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Willie
Mrs. Chopsticks
Lttle Wille
Atlanta Constituton
Sympathy For the Orphans Fable
A jungle elephant accidentally steps on a mother bird, crushing it. Hearing the nest’s cries, the grieving bird mother sits on the nest and sighs that she would be a mother to keep the little brood warm, as recounted in George Lanigan's fable The Kind Hearted Elephant.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George Lanigan
Aladdin Quotation Sparks Formal Washington Exchange
In a formal Washington Herald style exchange, Aladdin asks to be at another’s beck and call. The reply lists exceptions including Tuesday and Friday afternoons, Monday and Saturn 1 evenings, and every other Sunday in a genteel register.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Aladdin
Washington Herald
Early pledges to abstain from gambling and drinking
Chicago News reports on two medieval Italian records showing early written pledges to abstain from gambling and excessive drinking. It notes three Milanese documents detailing oaths with fines, plus German temperance orders from 1517 and 1600. The piece suggests these were likely private bindings by workers rather than organized movements.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Italy
Turin
Studi Medievali
Girolamo Biscaro
Milan
Giacomo Pasquali
Armanino Duca
Pavi
Paolo Boratorio
Perano de Bono
Uberto de Proto
Mentiro
de Proto
Sileto Ferrario
Lamperio
Order of St. Christopher
Sigismund de Diettrichstein
Landgrave of
Hesse
Chicago News
A Parisian ruse in Parisian dress shops exposed
Grace Margaret Gould describes how Parisian dressmakers lure American buyers in a September Woman's Home Companion piece. A fake princess greets customers to boost sales, while two prices exist for gowns, American and French, with prices rising when Americans visit and dropping only after they depart.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Grace Margaret Gould
Paris
The Bad Spot Irish Sign Joke
A humorous anecdote from Harper's Weekly tells of an Irishman named Mike who places a sign reading To Motorists This Hit Is Dangerous at the bottom of a steep hill. His boss discovers him and scolds him for not placing it higher where accidents are more likely to occur.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mike
Harper's Weekly
Harduppe and Riggs A Dime Worth of Truth
In a humorous Old West style exchange from the Catholic Standard and Times, Harduppe asks for a hundred dollars from Riggs and insists it is serious, while Riggs teases he is not broke but cracked, highlighting a comic dialogue about money and pride.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harduppe
Sas
Riggs
Standard and Times
Hidden Math in Love and Letters
A humorous exchange notes that Cupid did not design the alphabet with romance in mind. One speaker jokes that if love were coded, 0 and 1 would be closer, not apart, reflecting a lighthearted take on relationships and symbols in language.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Charles the Timi
Baxter
South‘western Territories
Macdonald
Plmitus
Bin
Jeremy Taylor
Land OF the Crossbow
Washington Star
A Temperance Union
Cupid
Be H
St. Louis
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!