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True Crime

Al Capone went to federal prison in 1931 for unpaid taxes, despite the murders tied to his name. Joe Valachi killed a fellow inmate with a pipe in 1962 after mistaking him for a hit man. Forensic science begins with a 1986 English case in which DNA cleared a man who had confessed. Detective fiction starts with Poe's Dupin, who appeared before the word detective existed. Silk Road ends when agents arrested its founder in a San Francisco library while he was still logged in.

  • Watergate scandalA botched burglary at Watergate led to the first resignation of a U.S. president. In all, 69 people were charged.
  • Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes never says "Elementary, my dear Watson" in any of the sixty Conan Doyle stories.
  • Central Intelligence AgencyBetween 1985 and 1986, the CIA lost every spy it had in Eastern Europe.
  • Agatha ChristieAgatha Christie vanished for 11 days in 1926, and a nationwide manhunt followed. She was found at a Harrogate hotel.
  • Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe FBI's first official assignment was surveying houses of prostitution, not chasing spies.
  • Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler sold his first story for $180 after losing his oil job at forty-four.
  • Detective fictionWhen Poe's detective Dupin first appeared in 1841, the word detective did not yet exist in English.
  • Organized crimeAl Capone went to prison for unpaid taxes, not murder. In 1931 he was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
  • CounterfeitThe Secret Service was created mainly to fight counterfeit money. Both sides printed fake notes in the Civil War.
  • American MafiaJoe Valachi killed a fellow inmate with a pipe in 1962. He mistook the man for a Mafia hit man.
  • ProhibitionIn 1922, a prohibitionist beat Winston Churchill for a Dundee seat in Parliament.
  • Forensic scienceA man who confessed to murder became the first person cleared by DNA evidence, in a 1986 English case.
  • Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle once bowled out the famous cricketer W. G. Grace and wrote a poem about it.
  • John GrishamJohn Grisham hid in a restroom during a gunfight at 17. That scare pushed him toward college, law and novels.
  • Silk Road (marketplace)FBI agents arrested the Silk Road founder in a San Francisco library while he was logged in.

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