Also Within this year in history

One of the worst years of the Great Depression, when one in four Americans lacked work and nearly 9,000 banks had failed, 1932 brought the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt to the U.S. presidency for the first of his four terms. Amelia Earhart flew the Atlantic in triumph, while the kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s young son ended in tragedy. In the Middle East, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud united the regions under his control to establish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Mar

01

Crime

Lindbergh baby kidnapped

On March 1, 1932, in a crime that captured the attention of the entire nation, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh and  Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey. Lindbergh, who became an international celebrity when he flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927, and his wife Anne discovered a ransom note demanding $50,000 in their son’s empty room. The kidnapper used a ladder to climb up to the open second-floor window and left muddy footprints in the room.

Estate of Charles Lindbergh Kidnapping

(Original Caption) 3/2/1932-Hopewell, NJ- Every available means have been rushed into service by police of 4 states in their efforts to trace the kidnappers of Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., son of the famous "Lone Eagle". Passing the baby through the window of the Lindbergh estate at Hopewell NJ, the kidnappers fled to a waitng auto and sped away. Photo shows a state trooper on guard at the Lindburgh home in Hopewell, on 3/2., while detectives examined the back porch. (For complete caption info see neg sleeve).

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