A twelve-foot bull shark in the Delaware, the 1856 tornado that tore through Kensington and the four-elephant battle royal that rolled into Fair Hill Junction are among the bizarre tales that are too often overlooked in the history of Penn's Holy Experiment. Authors Thomas and Edward White have intrepidly stormed the stacks to unearth this offbeat collection of strange stories and weird lore with accounts of body snatchers, witch trials and a snake-wielding lunatic. From the outlawing of tambourine beating to the posse that caught a "ghost" and everything in between, the Brothers White take a wickedly gleeful romp through the freak happenings, dastardly deeds and unbelievable characters that lurk in the lost chronicles of the City of Brotherly Love.

Such was the wisdom of the Pittsburgh Daily Gazette and Advertiser in 1866 when describing a railway boss's threat to decapitate a former employee. Pittsburgh has many such stories of strange but mostly true events. Local author Thomas White delves into these lost tales, from Lewis and Clark's inauspicious start involving an intoxicated boat builder to the death ray of inventor Nikola Tesla. A 1907 lion attack at Luna Park, death by spontaneous combustion, Jack the Ripper's rumored visit to the city and an umpire who was rescued from an angry crowd by Pirates players are all part of the forgotten history of the Steel City.

What do you really know about the Keystone State? William Penn, the Revolutionary figures of Philadelphia, and the strength of Pittsburgh's steel all loom large in Pennsylvania's history, but author Thomas White brings together a collection of tales that have been cast in the shadows of these giant icons. From the 1869 storm that pelted Chester County with snails to the bloody end of the Cooley gang, White selects events with an eye for the humorous and strange. Mostly true accounts of cannibalistic feats, goat-rescuing lawmen, heroic goldfish, the funeral of a gypsy queen, and a Pittsburgh canine whose obituary was featured in the New York Times all leap from the lost pages of history.

Learn the Empire State’s little known history—from bone-stealing dogs to the world’s largest puzzle—by the author of Curiosities of the Finger Lakes. Few New Yorkers remember the night when firemen, in tuxedos and top hats, were dragged from a ball to extinguish a Waterloo blaze, or the typographical error that reported Theodore Roosevelt taking a “bath” instead of his presidential “oath.” Still fewer remember Cephas Bennett, a missionary from Utica and printer of the first Burmese Bible, or H. L. Mencken’s humorous article on the history of the bathtub, still quoted today as factual although entirely invented. Seasoned storyteller Melanie Zimmer seamlessly weaves together these hard-to-believe, yet entirely true, tales. From the monster of Seneca Lake to the man who inspired the American icon Uncle Sam, discover the lost secrets of the Empire State. Includes photos!

Beneath the modern city of Philadelphia lie countless clues to its history and the lives of residents long forgotten. This intriguing book explores eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Philadelphia through the findings of archaeological excavations, sharing with readers the excitement of digging into the past and reconstructing the lives of earlier inhabitants of the city.Urban archaeologist Rebecca Yamin describes the major excavations that have been undertaken since 1992 as part of the redevelopment of Independence Mall and surrounding areas, explaining how archaeologists gather and use raw data to learn more about the ordinary people whose lives were never recorded in history books. Focusing primarily on these unknown citizens-an accountant in the first Treasury Department, a coachmaker whose clients were politicians doing business at the State House, an African American founder of St. Thomas’s African Episcopal Church, and others-Yamin presents a colorful portrait of old Philadelphia. She also discusses political aspects of archaeology today-who supports particular projects and why, and what has been lost to bulldozers and heedlessness. Digging in the City of Brotherly Love tells the exhilarating story of doing archaeology in the real world and using its findings to understand the past.

Author Keven McQueen recalls a time when skunk farms, which allegedly produced a cure for rheumatism, were speckled throughout the countryside and a miserable woman tied her husband to a fence post, coated him with salt and intended to let the cows "lick him to death." Meet the King of the Ghouls, an accomplished grave robber and notorious murderer, and a man so convinced he was an ox that he often joined neighborhood cattle for a bite of grass, and discover ghosts, monsters, giant skeletons and more in this collection of outlandish tales from the Hoosier State.

Truth, after all, still remains stranger and more engaging than most legends. And Missouri, of course, leads every other place in truth. Hop aboard Long's dragon boat or take advantage of 1846 wind wagon technology to plunge into the forgotten tales of this fascinating place. Hobnob cautiously with Stagger Lee, Mike Fink and Calamity Jane and view the chamber pot war from a safe distance. Trade witticisms with Alphonse Wetmore and Mark Twain, the frontier folk who keep us civilized today. If you keep company with storyteller Mary Collins Barile, you'll even catch a glimpse of the Mississippi River running backward from an earthquake that was all Missouri's fault.