The Cecil Hotel was opened in 1927 on Main Street, Los Angeles, California, in the United States. It has 600 rooms and originally targeted the business traveller and tourist market. However, despite being regarded as a fashionable destination for a number of decades, it had, by the end of the 1940s, been overshadowed by more… Read More

Surely no man has ever drawn breath whose life was shrouded in more mystery than the individual who went, or goes, by the name of The Comte de Saint-Germain. The most we can really say about him is that he actually existed, but of more than that we cannot be certain. Let’s start at the… Read More

Alfred Leonard Loewenstein was born in Brussels, Belgium on 11 March 1877. His father, Bernard, was a banker and it was no surprise when his son followed in his footsteps. Alfred, however, was a shrewd investor. Many went further, claiming he was unscrupulous or even downright crooked. Regardless of the legitimacy of his business dealings,… Read More

On a warm day in July 1954, immigration officials at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in Japan were busy processing international arrivals, when an officer checking passports noticed something odd. When a bearded, light skinned businessman handed over his passport to be stamped, the officer was perplexed to observe that his passport had been issued from a… Read More

Carl Tanzler was born in Dresden, Germany on 8 February 1877. During his childhood, Tanzler claimed to have had a visitation from a long dead ancestor, Countess Anna Constantia von Cosel, who purportedly revealed to him the face of his true love, an exotic looking dark-haired woman. Notwithstanding the image of the beautiful woman divulged… Read More

In 1981 twelve year old Todd Domboski was playing in the backyard of a house in the mining town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States, when he suddenly disappeared from view. A sinkhole 4 feet in diameter and 150 feet deep had suddenly opened up beneath his feet. Fortunately the shocked young man was able to… Read More

Henry Cyril Paget seemingly had it all. As the eldest son of the 4th Marquess of Anglesey, Henry was heir to his father’s title and vast estates, which provided an income of around £12 million pounds per year in current terms. Born on 16 June 1875, a life of privilege was assured for the young… Read More

Emilie Sagee was a teacher. In fact she was two teachers. No, she didn’t take the exam twice, it’s just that she was, well, plural. Emilie 1 was born in Dijon, France in 1813 and her story comes to us from a book called Footfalls of the Boundary of Another World, by Robert Dale-Owen, published… Read More

The weather on 30th November 1948 was pleasant, and so a couple decided to take an evening stroll along Somerton Beach near Adelaide, Australia. As they were wandering past at about 7pm, they noticed a man lying on the sand with his head propped against the sea wall. He extended his right arm, possibly as… Read More

Frank Hayes loved horses and his ambition in life had always been to be a jockey. Unfortunately for Frank he grew a bit too much, and at a little over 140 pounds, was just slightly too heavy for the job. Still wanting to work with horses however, he settled for a career as a trainer… Read More