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Our Motto: Strange but true.
Our Mission: Amuse, surprise, perplex, astonish, and otherwise connect you with your past.
Our Method: Lower a bucket into the depths of Wisconsin history and bring to light curious fragments of forgotten lives.
Odd Wisconsin
Considered ugly by some and revered by others, sturgeon boast a rich history in Wisconsin. After having survived whatever killed the dinosaurs, they evolved into a robust fish that can enjoy a lifespan of more than a century. In 1932, one sturgeon proved its lasting power in a particularly fragrant way. For years, state law required that confiscated fish and...
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Posted in Animals on November 12, 2009
The New York Times reported this week on a Stoddard, Wis., couple who build homes not from dead lumber but from living trees. Apparently their methods have many advantages, including not only beauty but also unexpected structural strength and minimized ecological impacts. Their story reminded us of John Krusback, president of the Embarass State Bank, who had a similar idea...
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Posted in Bizarre Events on November 5, 2009
Today's visit by President Obama to Wright Middle School in Madison swamped our Library with calls about previous visits by incumbent chief executives. The first of those occurred on Sept. 10, 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes spent the day in our capital city. Unlike Obama, Hayes was not an especially noteworthy president. In 1876 he had actually lost the popular...
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Posted in on November 3, 2009
In honor of Halloween, here are a handful of Wisconsin ghost stories that we've reported in Odd Wisconsin. There's the horrible case of Monsieur Nadeau, hounded to death in 1830 by the ghost of the woman he had murdered (or perhaps by his conscience). The Hille farm in Waukesha Co. was haunted after a family tragedy in 1918. At the...
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Posted in Bizarre Events on October 28, 2009
Wisconsin is known for a many things, but few people realize we possess the world's largest penny. That's right -- Wisconsin is home to the largest penny in the world, a monument commemorating Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb (1886-1956). "Dr. Kate" was responsible for the health of residents in nearly 300 square miles of northern Wisconsin. She was a dedicated...
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Posted in Curiosities on October 23, 2009
Pope Benedict XVI canonized five new saints Sunday, including Jozef De Veuster (1840-1889), a 19th century priest more commonly known as Father Damien. St. Damien worked with ostracized leprosy patients on Molokai, an isolated Hawaiian island, until he contracted the disease himself and died in 1889. By then he had been joined by Joseph Dutton (1843-1931) of Beloit, who carried...
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Posted in Odd Lives on October 11, 2009
The origins of many Wisconsin place names are recorded in our online Dictionary of Wisconsin History. The note there on the Columbia County town of Wyocena -- that the name came to the town's founder, Elbert Dickason, in a dream -- led us to investigate. Dickason (1799-1848) was born in Virginia and migrated west gradually, arriving in Illinois in time...
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Posted in Curiosities on October 1, 2009
The soap opera Guiding Light, which went off the air a week ago after 72 years, remains alive in the Archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society. According to the New York Times, it was "the longest-running scripted program in broadcasting history." After 15 years on radio, more than 15,000 televised episodes were produced before the plug was pulled last Friday....
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Posted in Curiosities on September 24, 2009
In Encore! The Renaissance of Wisconsin Opera Houses author Brian Leahy Doyle tells the chilling story of a devoted opera house employee who refuses to vacate the premises...despite having been dead for more than 40 years. The brain-child of five local businessmen, the Grand Opera House in Oshkosh first opened its doors in 1883. Designed by architect William Waters,...
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Posted in Bizarre Events on September 18, 2009
Nathaniel Tallmadge (1795-1864), Wisconsin's third chief executive, just missed being the tenth president of the United States. Born in Chatham, N.Y., he was admitted to the bar in 1818 and served in the New York legislature before going on to two terms in the U.S. Senate (Mar. 1833-June 1844). In 1840 Tallmadge was offered the nomination for vice-president, as running...
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Posted in Odd Lives on September 17, 2009
Did You Know?
The Wisconsin Historical Museum is currently featuring Odd Wisconsin objects in the latest exhibit: Odd Wisconsin. And don't miss the Odd Wisconsin book by author Erika Janik published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
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