Amazing Tales CT Podcast

09/05/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: it’s been 125 years since the attempted robbery of the Deep River Savings Bank, where one of the four intruders was fatally shot as he attempted to gain entry. Yet, his identity officially remains a mystery. Massive efforts were made to identify the intruder, but his three accomplices got away, and his gravestone continues to read simply “X-Y-Z.” To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/31/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: One of the very first nursing home operators in CT was also one of the very first known serial killers in the state. The classic movie Arsenic and Old Lace (image from the movie seen below) was based on her case. Hear about the poisonings and untimely deaths involving family and nursing home residents alike. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/29/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: the true CT story behind the classic 1944 movie Arsenic and Old Lace, featuring Cary Grant. The serial killings that occurred in the early 1900s at a nursing home in Windsor was the basis for the original script. Hear this intriguing tale of poisoning by one of the first nursing home operators ever in CT. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/24/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: CT’s Roger Sherman is the only founding father to sign all four of the key original documents forming the new U.S. Included were the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Sherman and the other four committeemen who drafted the Declaration are pictured submitting their proposal on the back of the $2 bill. Sherman also brokered the Connecticut Compromise, breaking a huge political logjam, paving the way for the adoption of the Constitution. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/22/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: the story of how a political compromise, brokered by CT’s Roger Sherman, saved the day at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, paving the way for the new U.S. Constitution. The so-called Connecticut Compromise broke an impasse between larger and smaller states, giving us a House of Representatives based on population and a Senate based on equal voting power. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/17/2024

Here are some other views of the Airphibian - the flying car - that was invented in CT and was FAA-approved for flight. Hear the story behind it on this week's episode of Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut's Beaten Path: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/17/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: This flying car – the Airphibian – is on display at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. This FAA-approved vehicle was developed in CT and had its first test flight at Danbury Airport. The inventor, Robert Fulton, also developed the flight simulator and the Skyhook, a means for rescuing downed pilots in remote locations. You can learn about all of his amazing contributions. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/15/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: the CT man who created the only FAA-approved flying car – the Airphibian – also created the flight simulator and the Skyhook, used for rescuing downed pilots in remote locations. There’s more to this incredible man’s story, including his global motorcycle trip of 40,000 miles in the 1920s. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/10/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: this marker in Wethersfield is located where the so-called “Ten Adventurers” came from Massachusetts in 1634, led by John Oldham, to create a settlement along the CT River. While a trading post had been established less than a year earlier in Windsor, Wethersfield is considered to be the first formal settlement by the English in the state. The history of the nearly 400-year-old town is remarkable, by any measure. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/08/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: a look at the history of the first CT town to be formally settled by the English – Wethersfield. From early trading and fighting with Native Americans, to developing commodities of high trading value (including their famed red onions and seeds for plants for which they led the nation at one time), there is much to tell. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/03/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: It was CT’s second worst plane crash. The 1971 crash of an Allegheny Airlines flight into three Long Island Sound cottages near the main runway to Tweed-New Haven Airport resulted in 28 deaths and new FAA standards that exist to this day. The history of CT’s smaller commercial airport is very intriguing, as is the airport’s namesake, Jack Tweed. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

08/01/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: the story behind Connecticut’s smaller commercial airport. Tweed-New Haven Airport doesn’t get nearly as much attention as Bradley International Airport, but it plays a critical role in connecting people and spurring economic growth. It started as a dirt field, with one 4-million candlepower spotlight for night flying. And Jack Tweed made a lot of it happen. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/29/2024

Dear friends,

There are many aspects of Connecticut’s history with the high seas that have been lost to time – and we’ll review some of the most significant ones at a talk at the Southbury Public Library next week, on Wednesday, August 7.

Long Island Sound and Fishers Island Sound opened the doors for Connecticut seafarers to venture onto the high seas. Connecticut was second only to Massachusetts in whale hunting, the first American to spot Antarctica was from CT, and the recovery of the British ship Resolute (which resulted in the Queen of England fashioning the Resolute Desk from the ship’s timbers for the U.S. President’s Oval Office) was undertaken by a CT crew.

Did you know that submarines were invented in CT? Did you know that a submarine sank in Long Island Sound with 41 CT crewmen onboard?

I’ll be talking about these stories and much more in a presentation on Wednesday, August 7, at the Southbury Public Library. The program begins at 2:00 p.m.

Registration is required. Please contact the Southbury Public Library: https://www.southburylibrary.org/event/connecticuts-forgotten-relationship-high-seas-41004

Hope to see you there!

Mike Allen

07/27/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: Yankee Peddlers, a CT invention, were the original traveling salesmen. They got their start due to the popularity of cookware made from tin nearly 300 years ago. Both the peddlers and the tin industry started in the same CT town. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/25/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: Both the tin industry and the Yankee Peddler tradition were started in the same Connecticut town nearly 300 years ago. The tin industry gave birth to the earliest door-to-door traveling salesmen, starting a trend in American consumerism that even included the fabled Connecticut nutmeg. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/22/2024

Dear friends,

Long Island Sound opens the door for Connecticut seafarers to venture onto the high seas.

For centuries, CT sailors and merchants have done just that. The state was second only to Massachusetts in the hunting of whales, the first American to spot Antarctica was from CT, and the recovery of the British ship Resolute that resulted in the President’s desk by the same name in the Oval Office was undertaken by a CT crew.

Submarines were created in CT, with the first one dating to the 1700s. Misfortunes at sea have involved a submarine and a secret military vessel that sank with CT crews aboard.

I’ll be talking about these stories and more in a presentation on Tuesday, July 30, courtesy of the Ridgefield Public Library.

It’s a Zoom-only presentation and it begins at 7:00 p.m. You need to contact Ridgefield Library to register for the talk: https://ridgefieldlibrary.librarymarket.com/event/online-connecticuts-amazing-maritime-adventures-mike-allen-94703

Hope to see you there.

Mike Allen

07/20/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: The person who selected the four presidents who appear on Mount Rushmore was CT resident Gutzon Borglum. The famous sculptor turned an invitation from South Dakota to create a tourist attraction into one of the most iconic monuments in the U.S. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/18/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: a CT man defined the vision for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, including choosing the location and selecting the presidents to appear, and was the lead sculptor. Hear about Gutzon Borglum’s incredible influence on this masterful American monument. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/16/2024

Dear friends,

For those of you who enjoyed the two-part series on the sinking of the military research vessel Sea Surveyor, here's a chance to learn even more. The two-part Amazing Tales CT podcast episode is, as always, available at my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

You can also hear the featured guest and survivor, Wally Banzhaf, tell the story in a longer format. He made a presentation that's available on YouTube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eOBRY5L_FU&t=129s

See you next week, with an episode on the CT man who carved Mt. Rushmore!

You can now hear Amazing Tales CT on WICC Radio (600 AM), Saturday afternoons at 2:00 On Amazing Tales CT this week … What happened when a boat with 12 men, on a top-secret military mission at sea, sank in 25-foot seas and gale-force winds … Click here for WICC Archived Episodes Episodes PART 1:...

07/15/2024

Dear friends,

Imagine walking the same loop route, every 34 days, for 6 years straight, without a break. That’s just what an 1800s hobo named The Leatherman did in western Connecticut and eastern New York. He didn’t speak to others and yet was beloved wherever he went.

Nobody is certain who he was, although a fictitious story concocted by a Woodbury journalist convinced most people (including some to this very day) that The Leatherman was Jules Bourglay (he was not).

Mystery surrounds not only his identity, but the fate of his body itself – which disappeared after it was supposedly buried.

I’ll be telling the story of the fabled Leatherman on Thursday evening, July 25, at the Woodbury Public Library. The talk begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Hope to see you there.

Mike Allen

07/13/2024

A really good friend of mine - long time i-95 FM morning host Ethan Carey - published an article on the radio station's website today about a recent trip that he and I took. I'll let the article do the talking, but suffice it to say that every so often I go on road trips around CT to film social media promotional videos for upcoming episodes of "Amazing Tales from Off and On Connecticut's Beaten Path." I invited Ethan to join me for one of them, and this article contains his memories of the excursion:

My job was the navigator and procurer of salty snacks! We hopped in the Amazing Tales mobile at 7 a.m. on Friday, June 14th, to explore Connecticut!

07/13/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: This CT man was one of the survivors 50 years ago when a military vessel on a secret mission sank in the Atlantic. Wally Banzhaf and 11 colleagues were on a rubber lifeboat in 25-foot waves and gale force winds. We conclude the story in this episode and reveal the fate of the crew. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/11/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: the conclusion of the two-part series on the sinking of a secret military ship out of CT 50 years ago. We’ll learn what happened to the 12-man crew, stuck on a rubber lifeboat in 25-foot waves and gale-force winds for 26 hours in the Atlantic, from someone who survived the incident. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/06/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: This boat, the Sea Surveyor, was on a secret military mission out of CT in 1969 when it sank in rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the winter. There were 12 crewmen aboard and one of the survivors will share his harrowing tale in this first part of a two-part series. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

07/04/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: Many people have never heard about the ill-fated, secret military mission in the Atlantic Ocean in 1969 when a boat with 12 CT men aboard sank in high seas. One of the survivors of this incident will share his story in this, the first of a two-part series. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

06/29/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: This CT man, who never finished 8th grade, delivered top secret documents to the head of U.S. forces during World War I, obtained a machine patent for a business that continues 100 years after he started it, and developed radar parts for the Manhattan Project. He had one particularly remarkable assignment during the war, which you won’t believe. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

06/27/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: A Connecticut man had to dodge gunfire and risk his life in 1918, riding an early model motorcycle on dirt roads in France, to deliver a critically important document to the head of U.S. forces in Europe during World War I, General John Pershing. His exploits as one of the few members of Pershing’s exclusive motorcycle courier unit, as well as his life after the war, form a very memorable tale. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

06/20/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: Maybe you’ve played this word game, Jumble. The person who creates it every day is CT native David Hoyt. It’s the most syndicated word puzzle game in the U.S. Not only does he do Jumble, but he has several others that he creates on a daily basis. The story of how he got involved in word puzzles is as incredible as the puzzles themselves. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com

Amazing Tales CT is a podcast about interesting people, places, and events from Connecticut history

06/20/2024

This week on the Amazing Tales CT podcast: The #1 syndicated word puzzle creator in the U.S. is a CT native. David Hoyt, the man behind the Jumble word game, had an unbelievable path to his current career and is simply fascinated by the power of words and their ability to bring change and amaze humans. To hear the podcast, go to my website: www.amazingtalesct.com