Don't Know Beach About History: Short Histories of Long Beach

Each day in the late 1940s, thousands of sick people visited the residential Long Beach home of Roy Beebe, a self-styled "scientist" whose homemade "cosmic ray" machine was said to cure all of mankind's ills.
Beebe's "cosmic ray" laboratory and its growing army of true believers made national news as a normally quiet Long Beach neighborhood was overrun with thousands of desperate patients...

With a wingspan as wide as a football field, the Spruce Goose was the largest plane ever built.   The craft—designed by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and made out of wood—was intended for use in WWII, but the plane wasn't finished until after the war was already over.  Under intense pressure from the government to show results, and still recovering from a major crash of his own, Hughes took the Spruce Goose out for its o...

On July 12, 1922, two young women spent the day in a Long Beach speakeasy, drinking and commiserating about their unfaithful husbands.  That evening, on a remote road in Los Angeles, one of those women would beat a romantic rival to death with a hammer.  The brutal  murder case became one of Southern California's very first trials of the century, with the accused becoming the object of almost cult-like fascination in the publi...

On July 12, 1922, two young women spent the day in a Long Beach speakeasy, drinking and commiserating about their unfaithful husbands.  That evening, on a remote road in Los Angeles, one of those women would beat a romantic rival to death with a hammer.  The brutal  murder case became one of Southern California's very first trials of the century, with the accused becoming the object of almost cult-like fascination in the publ...

1927’s Wrigley Ocean Marathon was an epic and brutal swimming race from the island of Catalina to the mainland of California, a feat never before recorded.  Many of the world’s most famous swimmers came to Long Beach to train and compete for the race’s $25,000 prize.  In this episode, we’ll look at how two virtually unknown swimmers—George Young of Canada and Myrtle Huddleston of Long Beach—battled severe exhaustion, fierce current...

In 1927, legendary baseballer Babe Ruth was arrested before his scheduled appearance at the State Theater, a vaudeville house in Long Beach, California.
In this two-part episode, we take a deep dive into the Sultan of Swat's epic visit to Long Beach--complete with Prohibition-era boozing, duck hunting, and an unhinged plane flight to make it to the show on time--and detail the events that led to the Babe's arrest for ...

In 1927, legendary baseballer Babe Ruth was arrested before his scheduled appearance at the State Theater, a vaudeville house in Long Beach, California.
In this two-part episode, we take a deep dive into the Sultan of Swat's epic visit to Long Beach--complete with Prohibition-era boozing, duck hunting, and an unhinged plane flight to make it to the show on time--and detail the events that led to the Babe's arrest for ...

In the summer of 1948, a tightrope-walking clown named Ozzie Osborne climbed up the center pole of the Sky Ride attraction at the Pike in Long Beach, California.  Sitting 200 feet in the air, Ozzie faced all manner of danger—from night bats to severely swollen legs to a serious challenge from his archrival in San Francisco—as he attempted to break the recognized flagpole-sitting world record of 49 days.  Join us as we tell Ozzie’s ...

In May 1897, two teenage boys saw a 63-foot fin whale foundering off the shore near Long Beach, California.  With the help of some local donkeys, the boys were able to pull the massive whale on shore.  This is the story of that whale and how its skeleton became a beloved local celebrity, helping put Long Beach on the map in the city’s early days.  Join us as we follow Minnie’s ever-so-slightly incredible adventures through 20th cen...

In May 1897, two teenage boys saw a 63-foot fin whale foundering off the shore near Long Beach, California.  With the help of some local donkeys, the boys were able to pull the massive whale on shore.  This is the story of that whale and how its skeleton became a beloved local celebrity, helping put Long Beach on the map in the city’s early days.  Join us as we follow Minnie’s ever-so-slightly incredible adventures through 20th cen...