Five rounds. Two strange stories each. Only one made the paper. Choose, then see the proof.
Five rounds of unusual stories from historical newspapers. Pick the real headline, then see the original clipping.
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The five historical items from this edition, with their newspaper proof. Play first if you want to guess.
The Journal Times reported from Madras that a trained monkey helped reveal a murder. Its subheadline says the animal witnessed its master’s killing and led police to the guilty man. This is a real newspaper report; the clipping records what the paper claimed.
The Journal Times · Sep 11, 1926 · p. 4
Open the original newspaper ↗A sports-column brief said terrapin racing had become popular in Oklahoma. Several hundred turtles were entered in an annual “Kentucky derby” at Ponca City. The item had no separate headline; the game headline summarizes the printed paragraph.
Kewaskum Statesman · Oct 2, 1926 · p. 6
Open the original newspaper ↗Harold Haushalter of Campbellsport lit a basement stove to dry freshly whitewashed walls. A strange smell led him to discover a gallon jug of wine in the oven. It exploded as he removed it, injuring him and breaking every basement window, according to the report.
Kewaskum Statesman · Oct 2, 1926 · p. 1
Open the original newspaper ↗Under “Peculiar German Belief,” the paper described a New Year’s custom in Germany. A pig was let loose on the floor at midnight on December 31 so guests could touch it for good luck. The article presents this as a tradition rather than reporting one particular party.
Kewaskum Statesman · Sep 11, 1926 · p. 6
Open the original newspaper ↗A translated item described an entomologist’s claim that removing butterflies’ heads could lengthen their lives. It said he had tried the experiment on eighty butterflies and claimed an extra one to two weeks of life. The clipping proves that this extraordinary claim appeared in print; it does not independently establish the science.
Kewaskum Statesman · Sep 11, 1926 · p. 6
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