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Thursday, January 1, 2026

A Year's Worth of Bummer Posts

Erin O'Riordan's Almanac for January 1: https://ko-fi.com/post/Happy-New-Year-Z8Z0Z4QUR

Today's Observance: New Year's Day
Author Julie S. Howlin post of the day: J. Edgar Hoover


And Now: The collection is complete! Now you can go back and read the entire updated, revised, and consolidated "Bummer" collection of history posts for each month of the year. 

January
Reading List at Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/lists/bummer-january-reading-list

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October
Reading List at Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/lists/bummer-october-reading-list

November 
Reading List at Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/lists/bummer-november-reading-list

December
Reading List at Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/lists/bummer-december-reading-list

Happy new year! I hope your 2026 isn't a bummer. And now, because I still haven't published this in book form and you won't find these anywhere else online, here are my sources. 

Physical Books

1959: The Year Everything Changed by Fred Kaplan. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009.

Our Dreaming Mind: A Sweeping Exploration of the Role That Dreams Have Played in Politics, Art, Religion, and Psychology, from Ancient Civilizations to the Present Day by Robert L. Van de Castle, Ph.D., Ballantine Books, 1994.

When Bears Attack: Close Encounters of the Terrifying Kind, edited by Joseph B. Healy, Skyhorse Publishing, 2016.


Web Resources

https://abc7chicago.com/michigan-pool-death-boy-dies-teen-niles/1832154/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/paste-eaters-grave

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-strange-secret-behind-the-tragic-deaths-of-oscar-wildes-halfsisters

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49551353

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/venice-lightning-strike-victims-mother-writes-touching-obituary/

https://www.charlesdickensinfo.com/life/staplehurst-railway-accident/

https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/October-2012/Chicago-Tylenol-Murders-An-Oral-History/

https://href.li/?https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/they-came-in-through-the-bathroom-mirror/Content?oid=871084

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-01-18-9001050483-story.html

https://copycateffect.blogspot.com/

https://www.csb.gov/cta-acoustics-dust-explosion-and-fire/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10898259/Mother-daughter-no-training-arraigned-murder-charges-performing-illegal-butt-lift.html

https://depressinghistory.tumblr.com/archive

https://www.grunge.com/83770/performers-died-live-audiences/

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/grave-robbers-steal-charlie-chaplins-body

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/self-help-gurus-sweat-lodge-ceremony-turns-deadly

https://www.historylink.org/File/10167

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/zhanna-samsonova-diet-vegan-influencer-dies-b2388656.html

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2013/10/01/indiana-unsolved-the-1943-murder-of-cpl-maoma-ridings-at-the-upscale-claypool-hotel-remains-a-mystery/2901193/

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2018/07/13/true-crime-dresser-drawer-murder-claypool-hotel/769276002/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-01-ca-5220-story.html

https://lithub.com/federico-garcia-lorca-predicted-his-own-death-in-a-poem/

https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/12/07/this-hitchcock-movie-was-inspired-by-crab-toxin-frenzy-in-capitola/

https://www.myplainview.com/news/article/Rig-worker-sentenced-to-18-years-in-co-worker-s-8873564.php

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16614865

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6726376

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cirque-du-soleil-star-yann-arnaud-plunges-death-during-florida-n857761

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/actor-accidentally-hangs-himself-stage-while-enacting-passion-christ-flna732563

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PTMdAAAAIBAJ&pg=4215,2121527

https://nypost.com/2011/04/11/wisconsin-man-gets-probation-for-shooting-tv-over-bristol-palins-dancing/

https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/15/archives/radium-paint-takes-its-inventors-life-dr-sabin-a-von-sochocky-ill-a.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/26/archives/intruder-in-car-smashes-white-house-gate-us-aides-son-gives-up-held.html

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/25/obituaries/robert-bloch-author-of-psycho-and-many-such-tales-dies-at-77.html

https://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/life-saving-lessons/all

https://www.racked.com/2017/12/19/16710276/burning-dresses-history

https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a20801399/the-dangers-of-running-in-the-heat/

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Final-texts-released-Chung-Gerrish-deaths-16930376.php

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/died-onstage/

 https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2002/03/22/archive-employee-kills-four-at-south-bend-factory/46474487/

https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/strange-indoors/joshua-maddux

https://www.theartstory.org/influencer/mallarme-stephane/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/nov/03/film.filmnews

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/06/16/fatal-peanut-laced-kiss-serves-as-public-health-lesson-about-allergies.html

http://takarazukaforever.weebly.com/timeline.html

https://time.com/4286323/irma-bule-snake-bite-cobra-singer-dangdut-indonesia/

https://time.com/4741481/sun-dial-westin-peachtree-plaza-hotel-death/

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/77361771

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/RippedFromTheHeadlines/Music

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/02/A-psychologist-says-the-televised-version-of-The-Exorcist/6511360302400/

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/08/25/Entertainer-Jerry-Lee-Lewis-fifth-wife-found-dead-in/8620430632000/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/food/2024/01/25/orla-baxendale-died-mislabeled-cookies-stew-leonards/72350767007/

https://web.archive.org/web/20090320090055/http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/12/news_6132357.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20140315061028/http://www.texnews.com/texas97/coup071497.html

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/plane-crash-kills-tesla-employees/

https://www.wltx.com/article/news/friends-remember-man-woman-who-fell-off-building/101-381983920


Wikipedia Pages

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Death_conspiracy_theories

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Death-related_lists

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Deaths_onstage 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Filmed_deaths_from_falls 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Last_known_speakers_of_a_language

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Musicians_who_died_on_stage 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unsolved_deaths

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endling

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_during_consensual_sex

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_baseball_players_who_died_during_their_careers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_book-burning_incidents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_destroyed_libraries

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_entertainers_who_died_during_a_performance

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foodborne_illness_outbreaks 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_food_contamination_incidents

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hazing_deaths_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unusual_deaths 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stunt_performer#Deaths 


This is not an exhaustive list of all the Wikipedia pages I used.


My Favorite History Podcasts

All Bad Things
https://open.spotify.com/show/4l2PqxbyjQBATOjcJCe2Mb?si=20f1f3bb94a04d9f

The Atlas Obscura Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/0s0c4Z99PwbW8efTmHckyT?si=1abbcb403b404f54

Behind the Bastards
https://open.spotify.com/show/0rOatMqaG3wB5BF4AdsrSX?si=2140bfbfc7f749ec

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
https://open.spotify.com/show/2yPlb6ynbhTJbziSIcykQd?si=750530929a884a2d

The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong
https://open.spotify.com/show/31OE1hgQ9lUCKyc78VIDiI?si=d67002b4073c445c

The Dark Histories Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/2HCs3hT2txXyBbSo0FPyx8?si=0dc2b2e9f4944c1a

Disaster Area
https://open.spotify.com/show/7GVw4FWL2GkSo0C4iX9Qkh?si=b5fced699f1f49b8

Disastrous History: A Disasters of History Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/415WhUe8bT1EVHlBjqFdFz?si=eda004a650054534

Footnoting History
https://open.spotify.com/show/5WwSZ2i4NJqoQF13L8z4U0?si=4b50ab38e77b47c6

Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & The Paranormal
https://open.spotify.com/show/4iUdTQnVVmyjM8je06uzR3?si=016003c24be041ca

The History Cache Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/5TgL9JgbWVp6m55wpmxoI1?si=d0191f167d02444e

History Extra Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/67EPVbpyjlDxGWsrfzdYu5?si=91630cd629d642d3

History for Weirdos
https://open.spotify.com/show/5PfQzwbYi6ClQU00QYgmMB?si=76625d8a00554d53

History Uncovered
https://open.spotify.com/show/7s57UR52dTMdXZqXzDqpxc?si=1add79a0ccef405e

Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/1JeYsvYZI4OxGTC9TJljLV?si=29f735c6b5f24f45

Now & Then
https://open.spotify.com/show/6wDS3Y2t0RyQ3ncCUxiNs6?si=d582a8ae05844f5b

Omnibus
https://open.spotify.com/show/5kgS2QYm7MC0WIlZ8Q9ZgC?si=8efd457014314d57

Strange Year: A Strange History Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/0H8dKe4PG23EMdX8BPj5xR?si=7fb4f4cb01da4b26

Useless Information
https://open.spotify.com/show/7s6WmaPqVSStBWZJ5PYolG?si=e4f1ff0362a94693

You Must Remember This
https://open.spotify.com/show/2sYCMjQed0gHYtXzPvcj5K?si=3d25bd57a42d4b88

***

And now, for something completely different, an affiliate link to a Gumroad creative product you may enjoy: Small Town novel by independent author J.P. Kennon

If my words are not being censored by the Trump Regime, you may find my books here on Gumroad.

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