Dr. H. H. Holmes, one of America’s first well-known serial killers, is hanged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Born Herman Mudgett in New Hampshire, Holmes began torturing animals as a child. Still, he was a smart boy who later graduated from the University of Michigan with a medical degree. Holmes financed his education with a series of insurance scams whereby he requested coverage for nonexistent people and then presented corpses as the insured.
In 1886, Holmes moved to Chicago to work as a pharmacist. A few months later, he bought the pharmacy from the owner’s widow after his death. She then mysteriously disappeared. With a new series of cons, Holmes raised enough money to build a giant, elaborate home across from the store.
The home, which Holmes called “The Castle,” was reported to have had secret passageways, fake walls and trapdoors. Holmes’ basement also allegedly contained a lab with equipment used for his dissections. (Many of these allegations were likely exaggerated, however.)
