On September 25, 1959, mobster Anthony Carfano, known as Little Augie Pisano is shot to death in Queens, New York City on the orders of Meyer Lansky. Carfano was a Captain the Luciano Organized Crime Family. His was murdered because he refused to meet with Vito Genovese after Genovese took control of the Family in 1957. He was shot to death in his car on a street in Queens, New York, along with Janice Drake, a former Miss New Jersey and wife of comedian Alan Drake. During dinner at Marino’s restaurant in New York City, Carfano allegedly received a phone call. After hanging up, he told his group that he and Drake had to leave; he had been called away “on urgent business”. Carfano and Drake left and drove away in his Cadillac. Police later theorized that this phone call was from Frank Costello warning Carfano about a possible hit. When Carfano and Drake left the restaurant, they were allegedly heading to La Guardia Airport to board a flight to Miami. However, according to this theory, assassins had anticipated such a move and had hidden in the back seat of Cafano’s Cadillac. Once on the road, the gunmen forced Carfano to drive to a quiet location near the airport. At 10:30 that evening, 45 minutes after Carfano and Drake left Marino’s, their bodies were found in Carfano’s car near the airport. Both had been shot in the head.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for CrimeMagazine.com and is the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949.

Gothic novelist and politician Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, was born on September 24, 1717 in London, England. He was the youngest son of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole and was educated at Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge. Following his father’s politics, he was a devotee of King George II. In 1764, he published the Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. From 1762 on, he published his Anecdotes of Painting in England, based on George Vertue’s manuscript notes. His memoirs of the Georgian social and political scene, though heavily biased, are a useful primary source for historians. He also created with coining the term Serendipity. Walpole died on March 2, 1717 in London and was buried within the family tomb at St. Martin’s Churchyard in New Houghton, Norfolk, England.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Literary Legends of the British Isles.

On September 23, 1969, the Chicago Eight trial begins. Eight antiwar activists had been arrested and charged with instigating the violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The defendants included David Dellinger of the National Mobilization Committee (NMC); Rennie Davis and Thomas Hayden of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, founders of the Youth International Party (“Yippies”); Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers; and two lesser known activists, Lee Weiner and John Froines. The group was charged with conspiracy to cross state lines with intent to incite a riot. All but Seale were represented by attorneys William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass. The trial, presided over by Judge Julius Hoffman, turned into a circus as the defendants and their attorneys used the court as a platform to attack Nixon, the war, racism, and oppression. Their tactics were so disruptive that at one point, Judge Hoffman ordered Seale gagged and strapped to his chair. When the trial ended in February 1970, Hoffman found the defendants and their attorneys guilty of 175 counts of contempt of court and sentenced them to terms between two to four years. Although declaring the defendants not guilty of conspiracy, the jury found all but Froines and Weiner guilty of intent to riot. The others were each sentenced to five years and fined $5,000. None of the defendants served time because in 1972, a Court of Appeal overturned the criminal convictions and eventually most of the contempt charges were dropped as well.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for CrimeMagazine.com and is the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949.

On September 21, 1780, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold became synonymous with the word “traitor.”

Arnold was born on January 14, 1741 into a well-respected family in Norwich, Connecticut. He apprenticed with an apothecary and was a member of the militia during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). He later became a successful trader and joined the Continental Army at the onset of the Revolutionary War in 1775. During the war, Arnold proved himself a brave and skillful leader, helping Ethan Allen’s troops capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and then participating in the unsuccessful attack on British Quebec later that year, which earned him a promotion to brigadier general. Arnold distinguished himself in campaigns at Lake Champlain, Ridgefield and Saratoga, and gained the support of George Washington. However, Arnold had enemies within the military and in 1777 five men of lesser rank were promoted ahead of him. Over the course of the next few years, Arnold married for a second time and he and his new wife lived a lavish lifestyle in Philadelphia, accumulating substantial debt. The debt and the resentment Arnold felt over not being promoted faster were motivating factors in his choice to become a traitor. In 1780, Arnold was given command of West Point, an American fort on the Hudson River in New York. Arnold contacted Sir Henry Clinton, head of the British forces, and proposed handing over West Point and his men. On September 21st of that year, Arnold met with Major John Andre and made his traitorous pact. However, the conspiracy was uncovered and Andre was captured and executed. Arnold, the former American patriot, fled to the enemy side and went on to lead British troops in Virginia and Connecticut. He later moved to England, though he never received all of what he’d been promised by the British. He died in London on June 14, 1801.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for CrimeMagazine.com and is the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949.

Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales was born on September 20, 1486, his parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York were married in January of 1486, uniting the houses of Lancaster and York, the rivals of the Wars of the Roses. When their first child was born, he became the physical manifestation of the union of the two houses. The prince was born at St. Swithun’s Priory in Winchester, the ancient capital of England and baptized on September 24 in Winchester Cathedral. In 1488-9, Henry VII negotiated the preliminary treaty of Medina del Campo with Spain which included the proposal that Arthur would be married to Catherine of Aragon, the young daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. In 1496, further negotiations were conducted and it was agreed that Catherine would come to England in 1500, when Arthur was 14. Catherine did eventually arrive in October 1501. After 16 years of negotiation and earlier proxy betrothals and marriages, the Spanish marriage for Arthur finally took place November 14, 1501 in old St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. In March of 1502 Arthur fell ill, possibly of tuberculosis, the plague or the sweating sickness and died on April 2nd. Arthur was buried in Worcester Cathedral. The question of whether or not Arthur and his bride ever consummated their marriage became crucial factor when Catherine’s second husband, Henry VIII, sought to have their union annulled.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Great Britain’s Royal Tombs.

On September 19, 1881, President James A. Garfield succumbs to wounds inflicted by an assassin 80 days earlier. Garfield’s assassin was an attorney and political office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was a relative stranger to the president and his administration in an era when federal positions were doled out on a “who you know” basis. When his requests for an appointment were ignored, a furious Guiteau stalked the president, vowing revenge.

On the morning of July 2, 1881, Garfield headed for the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station on his way to a short vacation. As he walked through the station toward the waiting train, Guiteau stepped behind the president and fired two shots. The first bullet grazed Garfield’s arm; the second lodged below his pancreas. Doctors made several unsuccessful attempts to remove the bullet while Garfield lay in his White House bedroom, awake and in pain. Alexander Graham Bell, who was one of Garfield’s physicians, tried to use an early version of a metal detector to find the second bullet, but failed. Historical accounts vary as to the exact cause of Garfield’s death. Some believe that experimental medical treatments may have hastened his demise. Others insist Garfield died from an already advanced case of heart disease. By early September, Garfield, who was recuperating at a seaside retreat in New Jersey, appeared to be recovering. He died on September 19th. Autopsy reports at the time said that pressure from his internal wound had created an aneurism, which was the likely cause of death. Guiteau was deemed sane by a jury, convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882.

Actress Greta Garbo was born Greta Gustafsson on September 18, 1905 in Stockholm, Sweden. She won a bathing beauty competition at age sixteen, and then appeared in several advertising campaigns. While studying at the Royal Theatre Dramatic School she was discovered by film director, Mauritz Stiller. Changing her name to Greta Garbo, she starred in Stiller’s film, The Atonement of Gosta Berling (1924). After appearing in The Joyless Street (1925), she and Stiller immigrated to the United States. In Hollywood she appeared in several silent films including The Temptress (1926), Flesh and the Devil (1927) and The Mysterious Lady (1928). Despite her Swedish accent, Garbo successfully switched to talking pictures with Anna Christie (1930). This was followed by Susan Lennox, Her Fall and Rise (1931), Grand Hotel (1932), Mati Hari (1932), Queen Christina (1933), Anna Karenina (1935), Camille (1937) and Ninotchka (1939). Garbo retired from movies after filming Two Faced Woman (1941) and remained a total recluse for the rest of her life. Greta Garbo died in New York City on April 15, 1990.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Fade to Black Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950.

On September 16, 1845, Phineas Wilcox is stabbed to death by fellow Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois, because he is believed to be a spy. The murder of Wilcox reflected the serious and often violent conflict between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the surrounding communities. Joseph Smith, who founded the Mormon Church in 1830, had been living with his followers in Missouri, where they had various conflicts with locals, including an armed skirmish with the state militia. In 1838, Governor Lilburn Boggs signed a military order directing that the Mormons be expelled or exterminated: “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary, for the public good.” Smith and the Mormons fled across the Mississippi to Nauvoo, Illinois, which quickly became the second most populous town in the state, but there were conflicts and tensions in Nauvoo as well. When a local newspaper printed editorials claiming that the religious leader was a fraud, Smith sent a group of followers to destroy the newspaper office. He was then arrested and sent to jail, where a lynch mob tracked him down and killed him. Brigham Young, who quickly took over the church, tried to stifle dissent and banished rivals. The killing of Phineas Wilcox was part of his consolidation of power. Tensions with other communities continued to escalate, and, a year later, over 2,000 armed anti-Mormons marched on Nauvoo. Young decided that it no longer was wise to stay in the area. He led his flock west and settled in the Salt Lake Valley, where he and his followers would become instrumental in founding the state of Utah.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist at www.crimemagazine.com and the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949.

On September 14, 1901, President William McKinley succumbs to gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin on September 6th. According to witnesses, McKinley’s last words were those of the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee.” McKinley was shaking hands in reception line at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York, when a 28-year-old anarchist named Leon Czolgosz approached him with a gun concealed in a handkerchief in his right hand.

McKinley assumed the handkerchief was an attempt by Czolgosz to hide a physical defect and kindly reached for the man’s left hand. Czolgosz moved in close to the president and fired two shots into McKinley’s chest. The assassin was attempting to fire a third bullet into the stricken president when aides wrestled him to the ground. McKinley suffered one superficial wound to the sternum and another bullet dangerously entered his abdomen. He was rushed into surgery and seemed to be on the mend by September 12th, but later that day, his condition worsened. On September 14th, McKinley died from gangrene that had remained undetected in the internal wound. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president immediately following McKinley’s death. Czolgosz confessed to his crime, but remained unrepentant. At his execution on October 29, 1901, his last words were “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people, the working people.”

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for CrimeMagazine.com and author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949.

On September 13, 1996, rapper Tupac Shakur died from gunshot wounds suffered in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting. More than a decade after his death Tupac Shakur remains one of the most recognizable faces and voices in music. A steady stream of posthumous album releases has kept his name near the top of sales rankings. But unlike other rappers with whom his story is intertwined, Shakur’s stature has grown with each passing year since his still-unsolved murder.

The story of Shakur’s death begins with a failed attempt on his life two years earlier. On November 30, 1994, Tupac Shakur was shot and seriously wounded during a robbery committed by two armed men in the lobby of a midtown Manhattan office building that housed a recording studio where he’d been working on his third album, Me Against the World (1995). For reasons that have been detailed obsessively in works such as Nick Broomfield’s 2002 documentary Biggie and Tupac, Shakur blamed the attack on producer Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and rival rapper Christopher Wallace—a.k.a. “The Notorious B.I.G.” Shakur’s charges, and his subsequent move to the L.A.-based record label Death Row Records, sparked the so-called “East Coast vs. West Coast” feud that defined the hip-hop scene through the mid-1990s.

In Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, for the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon boxing match, Shakur and others in his entourage were captured on tape in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel engaging in a violent scuffle with a man later identified as a member of the Los Angeles-based Bloods street gang. Hours later, Shakur was riding as a passenger in a car driven by Death Row Records head Marian “Suge” Knight when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside them at a stoplight on Flamingo Road. At least 12 shots were fired, four of which struck Shakur and one of which grazed the head of Suge Knight. Emergency surgery at University Medical Center saved Shakur’s life that night, and in the days following, doctors announced that his chances of recovery had improved, but on September 13, 1996, he died of his wounds. Six months later, his rap rival, Christopher Wallace, was murdered in similar circumstances in Los Angeles. No arrest has been made to date in connection with either murder.