By Brad Dison Mary and her husband, George, attended a dinner party at Anna’s home.  Anna’s husband was away on business so she convinced her brother, Hall, to be her escort at the formal affair.  It was a big to-do.  All of the men wore dress suits or tuxedos.  The women wore “dinner dresses,” which differed from evening party … Continue reading A flight of fancy

By Brad Dison  On the night of April 23, 2006, David Kotkin, Cathy Daly, and Mia Volmut went to dinner after work in West Palm Beach, Florida.  David was a multimillionaire and Cathy and Mia were his assistants.  At about 11:15 pm, after they had finished dinner, they left the restaurant and walked into the parking lot.  They … Continue reading Thou Shalt Not Steal 

By Brad Dison Paul was born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1915.  Five years later, Paul and his family moved to Davenport, Iowa, where Paul’s father became a candy wholesaler.  In 1924, Paul and his family moved to Hialeah, Florida, a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area.  By this time, Paul’s father was a partner in the Tibbets … Continue reading Paul’s payload 

By Brad Dison     When Mary Porter was in her final year of high school, she wrote an essay entitled “The Influence of Misfortune Upon the Gifted.”  She had no way of knowing how well that title fit the life of her son, William Sydney Porter.  In 1882, twenty-year-old William Sidney Porter decided to relocate from Greensboro, North … Continue reading The influence of misfortune upon the gifted 

 By Brad Dison Two guys walked into a bar… actually it was a tavern called the “House of Lords” in New York City. The date was Friday, April 7, 1865. Sam and his friend had been close since they were children. In the tavern, Sam and his friend “drank considerably” and discussed Abraham Lincoln’s second … Continue reading Sam’s Friend

By Brad Dison Kerri Rawson was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1978.  She had a happy childhood with loving parents and good friends.  When Kerri was about 10 years old, she and her parents watched a news report on local tv about a serial killer in Wichita, her hometown.  The news anchor briefly told of the murders, explained … Continue reading Concerned Kerri

By Brad Dison One day, 11-year-old Grace Bedell’s father showed her a photograph of a man.  Grace was instantly appalled by what she saw.  She described his appearance as having a “high forehead over those sadly pathetic eyes, [an] angular lower face, with deep-cut lines about the mouth.”  She had never met the man but … Continue reading A Letter of Criticism

By Brad Dison Hugh was born and raised in Abbott, Texas.  During the hot summers, his family picked cotton along with other poor families in Abbott to earn enough money to survive.  Hugh hated picking cotton and looked for another way to earn money.  He had a knack for writing songs which he began at the young age … Continue reading Hugh’s Stupid Song

By Brad Dison Bill grew up on a dairy farm on a country road outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.  His father and his uncle Clyde inherited a 300-acre dairy farm from Bill’s grandfather.  It was a true family business.  Bill’s father handled the business affairs.  Bill’s mother did the bookkeeping at the kitchen table.  Uncle … Continue reading Bill breaks a vow

By Brad Dison   During the summer of 1871, Mike Williams worked as a jailer for the Abilene, Kansas, Police department.  Mike and the town’s marshal became close friends.  At the end of the summer, Mike took a job as a saloon keeper but helped the police anytime he could.  On Oct. 4, 1871, Mike received a letter … Continue reading The last gunfight

By Brad Dison   Following World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in a bitter Cold War.  On June 25, 1950, some 75,000 soldiers from Soviet-backed North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and invaded pro-western South Korea.  Within a month, American troops joined the fighting on behalf of South Korea to halt the … Continue reading A gift for a lonely soldier in Korea 

  By Brad Dison   On Friday evening, October 1, 1970, thousands of people gathered at the Palazzo Dello Sportin (Sport Palace) in Milan, Italy.  People peacefully entered the event center until suddenly, 30 minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, security personnel closed and locked the doors.  The crowd outside, which numbered around 2,000, was unsure why the … Continue reading Riot in Milan

By Brad Dison On Wednesday, June 19, 1957, workers drilled, moved and crushed the earth at the Rattlesnake Uranium Pit Mine, 37 miles north of Monticello, Utah. 46-year-old James W. Rodgers normally worked outside the open pit mine and had only been moved inside the mine that very day to help in drilling operations. 33-year-old … Continue reading Remember This?: The Last Request

By Brad Dison William Brodie was born in 1741 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was from an elite family and was himself a prominent Scottish citizen in the late 1700s. He was a successful cabinetmaker and was the president, or deacon, of the trade guild called the Incorporation of Wrights and Masons. His position as deacon … Continue reading Deacon Brodie’s Downfall

By Brad Dison In May of 1941, several months before the United States officially entered World War II, Nazi Germany’s battleship Bismarck and a heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen scoured the Atlantic Ocean on a raiding mission to thwart Allied shipping between the United States and Great Britain. On May 24, the two ships entered into … Continue reading Oscar at Sea

By Brad Dison Frank Hayes was an apprentice jockey originally from Ireland. Rather than a full-fledged jockey, Frank was employed as a stable hand and horse trainer. In 1923, the 20-year old had been working with horses for about five years, had raced only occasionally, and had never won a race. Frank’s passion was to … Continue reading Sweet Kiss

By Brad Dison It was the largest ship afloat. At more than 800 feet in length, nearly three football fields long, it was a floating city. Its engineers used cutting edge technology in every facet of its design. It was considered to be the fastest and safest ship afloat. Each officer aboard the ship was … Continue reading The Unsinkable Ship

By Brad Dison Robert “Bob” Craig needed direction in his life. School was boring to him. He craved excitement. He was an adrenaline junkie.  Bob decided that he had had enough of schooling and quit Butte (Montana) High School in his sophomore year. He was anxious to get out into the real world.   Bob enjoyed … Continue reading Bob’s Bones

By Brad Dison On Friday afternoon, July 31, 1964, two gentlemen, 39-year-old James Travis and 30-year-old Dean Manuel, left Batesville, Arkansas, in a single-engine, four-seat Beechcraft 35-B33 Debonair airplane. Travis piloted the plane he had rented from the Southeastern Beechcraft Co. at Berry Field in Nashville, Tennessee. After taking off from the regional airport at … Continue reading The Gentleman’s Last Flight

By Brad Dison In 1907, Marion Robert Morrison was born to Clyde and Molly Morrison in Winterset, Iowa. Before his tenth birthday, the Morrisons moved to Glendale, California, where his father worked as a pharmacist. Marion excelled at Glendale High School. He was an overachiever who did well in academics as well as in sports. … Continue reading Marion Morrison’s Moniker

By Brad Dison At the turn of the twentieth century, traveling by commercial steamships, commonly called ocean liners, was all the rage. The finest luxuries were reserved exclusively for first class passengers such as the most exquisite dining saloons, elaborate state rooms, libraries, smoking rooms, gymnasiums, and exclusive access to the main deck, called the … Continue reading The Unsinkable Stoker

By Brad Dison Daniel was a political activist and pamphleteer in London, England, during the late 1600s and early 1700s. Pamphlets were a popular medium for authors to broadcast their opinions to a wide audience in that era because they were unbound and inexpensive. Authors shared their opinions in pamphlets as a way to shape … Continue reading Daniel’s Three Days