The top 10 bloody 20th‑century mysteries still haunt historians, detectives, and armchair sleuths alike. From vanished heirs to unsolved murders, each case carries a chilling aura that refuses to fade with time. Below we dive into the most perplexing riddles that may never see resolution.

Why These Top 10 Bloody Cases Matter

These stories aren’t just grisly footnotes; they reveal how societies grapple with the unknown, how myths grow, and how evidence can evaporate as quickly as the truth. Let’s count down from the darkest to the most enigmatic.

10 Was The Shotgun Man Real?

Early twentieth‑century Chicago was a perilous arena for Italian newcomers who settled in the enclave known as Little Sicily. Within that neighborhood, Black Hand extortion thrived, with countless criminals operating independently yet sharing a common threat: the Shotgun Man, an alleged enforcer who dealt swift, lethal retribution to anyone who defied the rackets.

The menacing figure earned the nickname “Shotgun Man” and was said to haunt the infamous intersection of Oak Street and Milton Avenue, a spot locals dubbed “Death Corner.” According to lore, he would linger at the base of a stairwell, shotgun poised, waiting for an unsuspecting victim to appear before unleashing a hail of bullets and vanishing before witnesses could react.

Over a century has passed since the rumored gun‑wielding specter allegedly stalked Chicago’s streets, yet his legend has only inflated. Some modern accounts claim he claimed more than a hundred lives, and that he could saunter through the city, gun in hand, after a killing without anyone daring to report the crime.

These sensational numbers are likely the result of myth‑making, a common phenomenon when stories are retold through generations. In reality, many of the murders attributed to the Shotgun Man lack corroborating evidence, and some may never have occurred at all. While Chicago was undeniably riddled with crime, the notion of a single, omnipotent enforcer remains unproven.

9 How Did Natalie Wood Die?

Actress Natalie Wood’s untimely demise has been a fixture of Hollywood lore for decades. On the night of November 28, 1981, she boarded the yacht Splendour alongside husband Robert Wagner, co‑star Christopher Walken, and captain Dennis Davern. The following dawn, her bruised body washed ashore roughly 1.6 kilometers from the vessel, near a small dinghy.

Official reports initially labeled the incident an accidental drowning after noting Wood’s elevated blood‑alcohol content and the presence of several prescription medications. The prevailing story suggested she had climbed into the dinghy after a heated argument with Wagner and inadvertently fell overboard.

What many people overlook is that, in 2012, the Los Angeles County coroner amended the cause of death to “drowning and other undetermined factors.” This revision followed a renewed police investigation thirty years later, spurred by lingering doubts and new forensic techniques.

Rumors have long implicated Wagner, especially after the ship’s captain broke his decades‑long silence, claiming the tragedy stemmed directly from a fight between the couple. The captain’s revelations, published in a recent memoir, ignited renewed speculation and accusations that he was profiting from Wood’s demise. Subsequent medical examinations concluded that certain bruises likely pre‑dated her immersion in the water, yet the exact circumstances remain shrouded in uncertainty.

8 Who Killed Bob Crane?

Bob Crane, the charismatic star of the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, met a grisly end in 1978 when his body was discovered in his Los Angeles apartment, bludgeoned and with an electrical cord looped around his neck. The murder weapon was never definitively identified, though investigators zeroed in on a camera tripod as the likely instrument.

Suspicion swiftly fell on John Henry Carpenter, a friend of Crane’s who dealt in video equipment. Crane’s private life, rife with clandestine encounters that he filmed for personal amusement, intersected with Carpenter’s presence; blood evidence was found on Carpenter’s rental car, intensifying the probe.

Despite mounting circumstantial evidence, prosecutors initially refrained from charging Carpenter due to the lack of concrete proof. It wasn’t until 1992, when DNA technology advanced enough to test the blood, that a formal accusation was lodged. The tests, however, proved inconclusive, and the defense successfully argued that a host of other individuals—ranging from the women featured in Crane’s private tapes to their aggrieved partners—could have harbored motive.

In 2016, a determined news anchor petitioned the authorities to re‑examine the DNA using cutting‑edge methods. The fresh analysis revealed that the blood on Carpenter’s car did not belong to Crane. The revelation stunned Crane’s son, Robert Crane Jr., who then redirected suspicion toward his stepmother, Patricia Olson—the sole beneficiary of Crane’s estate.

7 What Happened Aboard the Carroll A. Deering?

The five‑masted schooner Carroll A. Deering met a baffling fate on January 31, 1921, when it ran aground on Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras—an area long dubbed the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” While the vessel itself remained largely intact, its entire crew had vanished without a trace.

Bad weather delayed authorities from reaching the stranded ship for four days. When officials finally boarded the vessel, they discovered that every crew member, along with personal effects, the ship’s log, navigation tools, and even two lifeboats, were missing.

Because the abandoned schooner posed a navigation hazard, officials ordered it to be scuttled and later detonated to prevent further danger to passing ships.

Multiple inquiries attempted to untangle the mystery. Some theorists posited a mutiny, while others suspected that rum smugglers from the Bahamas had seized the ship. A third line of thought suggested the crew abandoned ship to escape an approaching hurricane.

Adding a political twist, anti‑communist groups of the era floated the idea that Bolshevik agents targeted the vessel. The proximity of the incident to the infamous Bermuda Triangle also inspired supernatural speculation. Ultimately, the investigation was closed in 1922 with no definitive answer, and the crew’s fate remains an unsolved chapter of maritime lore.

6 What Happened To The Lady Of The Swamp?

Margaret Clement was born into wealth thanks to her father’s transition from a Scottish cattle farmer to a prosperous mining magnate in Australia. By the time he passed away in 1890, he had left a sizable fortune for his widow and five children.

Margaret’s early years were marked by affluence. While two of her sisters married and pursued their own paths, in 1907 she, her sister Jeanie, and brother Peter acquired the sprawling Tullaree Mansion in Gippsland, a grand estate surrounded by dense, swampy terrain.

Peter’s marriage and subsequent departure in 1912 left Margaret and Jeanie struggling to manage the property. Their lack of business savvy and agricultural know‑how soon plunged the sisters into financial distress, forcing them into a reclusive lifestyle by the 1920s.

The public first learned of their decline in 1950, after Jeanie’s death revealed the mansion’s dilapidated condition: crumbling walls, missing utilities, and overgrown shrubbery. Margaret, often seen reading mystery novels by lamplight with only her dog Dingo for company, earned the moniker “Lady of the Swamp.”

In 1952, Margaret vanished without a trace. Neighbors Stanley and Esme Livingstone, as well as Margaret’s disinherited nephew Clement Carnaghan, fell under suspicion. Some conjectured that the treacherous swamp claimed her, while others speculated that she may have taken her own life elsewhere, seeking to emulate the dramatic endings of the stories she adored.

5 How Did Eugene Izzi Die?

Eugene Izzi carved out a niche as a prolific writer of hard‑boiled detective fiction set against the gritty backdrop of Chicago. Yet the most puzzling episode of his life unfolded on December 7, 1996, when his body was discovered dangling from a rope tied to a steel desk in his 14‑story downtown office.

At first glance, authorities classified the scene as a straightforward suicide. However, several odd details complicated the narrative: Izzi was clad in a bullet‑proof vest, his pockets contained brass knuckles and mace, and reports indicated a .38‑caliber revolver had been stored in the office.

Friends and family struggled to accept a self‑inflicted death, especially since Izzi was on the cusp of releasing a new novel. The absence of a clear motive deepened the mystery, prompting speculation that he might have feared retribution.

Izzi’s acquaintances revealed that he had recently infiltrated a paramilitary group in Indiana for research, a venture that earned him at least one threatening voicemail. He also authored a scathing article in the Chicago Sun‑Times, denouncing militias and hate organizations, which could have painted a target on his back.

4 Who Was The Zodiac Killer?

The Zodiac Killer remains one of the most infamous serial murderers in American history, chiefly because his true identity continues to elude investigators. For years, many believed Arthur Leigh Allen to be the man behind the cryptic letters and gruesome killings.

Nevertheless, several pieces of evidence undermine the Allen theory: the suspect’s physical appearance did not match the composite sketch, his handwriting differed from the taunting correspondence, and DNA analysis failed to align his genetic profile with the partial DNA extracted from the envelopes.

The case, dormant for decades, was officially reopened around 2007, prompting a fresh wave of investigative effort. Over the subsequent ten years, detectives examined a handful of new suspects, expanding the pool of possibilities.

Three individuals claimed that their fathers were the actual Zodiac. Among them was retired detective Steve Hodel, who had previously argued that his own father, George Hill Hodel Jr., was responsible for the Black Dahlia murder. Additionally, two men—lawyer Robert Tarbox and his acquaintance Randy Kenney—asserted that they had heard confessions from a sailor and a friend, respectively, each alleging that the confessor admitted to being the Zodiac.

Retired highway patrol officer Lyndon Lafferty, part of the amateur sleuth group known as the Mandamus Seven, offered yet another candidate: a former real‑estate agent from Fairfield, California, who died in 2012. The group dubbed him George Russell Tucker, alleging a conspiracy involving Tucker’s wife, an affair with a judge, and a deliberate diversion of investigative focus.

3 What Happened To The Girl In The Green Mac?

On August 18, 1944, six‑year‑old Sheila Fox set off from school in Bolton, Lancashire, only to vanish before reaching home. An extensive search involving police and volunteers yielded no trace of the child.

Witnesses recalled seeing Sheila in the company of a well‑dressed, clean‑shaven man in his mid‑to‑late twenties, described as slim‑built. The press quickly christened her the “Girl in the Green Mac,” referencing the distinctive green coat she wore.

Decades later, a tipster remembered a neighbor digging a hole in his garden on the night of Sheila’s disappearance. Investigators identified the man as 20‑year‑old Richard Ryan, who later faced convictions for rape and child‑assault offenses. Despite this promising lead, police uncovered nothing in the garden.

Subsequent efforts attempted to link Sheila’s case to other contemporary child disappearances, operating under the hypothesis of a single perpetrator. To date, however, no solid leads have materialized, and the mystery endures.

2 How Did Marvin Clark Disappear?

Born in 1851, Marvin Clark vanished in 1926 during a trip from his Tigard, Oregon, home to his daughter’s Hereford Hotel in Portland. His disappearance holds the dubious distinction of being the oldest active missing‑persons case in the United States.

Initial newspaper accounts claimed Clark traveled by stagecoach, only to disappear en route. Later corrections clarified that he had taken a bus, alighting at Portland’s terminal before fading from view.

Over the years, alleged sightings surfaced, but the first concrete clue emerged in 1986 when a John Doe was found in the woods between Tigard and Portland. The remains included period‑appropriate belongings, a revolver, a spent casing, and a bullet wound to the skull, leading examiners to rule the death a suicide.

Clark’s granddaughter, Dorothy Willoughby, suggested the unidentified body could be her grandfather, though DNA technology of the era could not confirm the hypothesis.

After Willoughby’s death in 1991, the case once again cooled. In 2011, renewed interest prompted genealogists to extract DNA from the skeleton, seeking matches among living maternal descendants of Clark. The investigation remains ongoing.

1 What Happened To Dorothy Arnold?

On the morning of December 12, 1910, 24‑year‑old New York socialite Dorothy Arnold set out for a shopping excursion. After strolling along Fifth Avenue, she met friend Gladys King, who later learned that Arnold intended to walk through Central Park. King was the last person to see her alive.

By evening, Arnold’s family recognized her absence and turned to their attorney, John Keith, who urged a discreet investigation. Keith recommended hiring Pinkerton detectives to quietly probe the disappearance without attracting public attention.

The detectives canvassed Arnold’s usual haunts, hospitals, jails, morgues, and even mental institutions, yet found no trace. Some theories suggested she might have eloped with her secret lover, George Griscom Jr., who was vacationing in Florence at the time. Pinkerton agents even traveled abroad, but to no avail.

After six weeks of fruitless searching, the family finally involved the police and publicly announced the case, offering a $1,000 reward. Two ransom notes arrived, both dismissed as hoaxes, as did a postcard allegedly signed by Dorothy.

Speculation ran rampant: some believed she committed suicide due to a forbidden romance or a stalled writing career; others suspected foul play, with her father suspecting a murder in Central Park followed by disposal in the reservoir. A convict even claimed he was paid to eliminate a body matching her description. Another theory posited that an illegal abortion led to her death and subsequent cremation. Despite countless tips, the mystery remains unresolved.

Welcome to our roundup of 10 daring foolish operations that unfolded during the turbulent wars of the 20th century. These bold yet ill‑fated missions showcase how ambition sometimes outstripped prudence, leaving behind stories that are both fascinating and cautionary.

10 The Lost Squadron Of World War I

On July 10, 1918, Major Harry Brown of the US 96th Aero Squadron knew his men were itching for a fight. Though their planes had been fueled and armed, the weather had still not cleared up by late afternoon, so the men busied themselves playing poker or contemplating an excursion to a nearby town.

When the clouds lifted briefly, Brown decided it was a good time to conduct a bombing run. He had led six planes into the air before the skies once again became overcast. The men could hardly see the ground below. The winds began to pick up, blowing the planes off course, and Brown signaled to the men that they were lost. Since pilots at the time didn’t carry parachutes, they had no choice but to land their planes. To their horror, they ended up landing in Koblenz, Germany, where they were immediately arrested by enemy soldiers.

Later on, a German plane dropped a message on an Allied airfield mockingly stating, “We thank you for the fine airplanes and equipment, but what will we do with the major?” General Billy Mitchell, widely regarded as the father of the American Air Force, later wrote in his diary, “This was the worst exhibition of worthlessness that we have ever had on the front. Needless to say, we did not reply about the major, as he was better off in Germany at the time than he would have been with us.”

9 The Unbelievable Underestimation At Gallipoli

We’ve spoken before of how unsynchronized watches doomed the Gallipoli Campaign, but the tragedy that befell the brave Anzacs and other Allied forces in Gallipoli might have been months, if not years, in the making.

For one thing, previous war plans concerning an amphibious assault on the Dardanelles called for operations that needed to be fully practiced and drilled using the best military equipment available at the time. Instead, Churchill and other overzealous British military leaders favored sending aged battleships that ran aground or had mechanical and weapons systems failures. Other plans suggested that any invasion should have occurred earlier when the Turkish forces were unprepared, while some explicitly stated that no attempt should be made to assault the position.

When World War I did begin in earnest, the Greeks repeatedly cautioned the British not to be overconfident—an estimated 150,000 men were needed for the landings to be successful. Instead, British planners threw caution to the wind, believing that only half that number was necessary. Similarly, while the British had maps of the area, they had virtually no aerial photo reconnaissance. Lord Kitchener had remarked that “Johnny Turk” would run away once the first Allied soldier stepped foot on Turkish soil, so there would be no need for planes. Of course, he was completely wrong, and the Allied forces met a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Turks.

8 Advised Invasion Of Kashmir

In 1965, hawkish elements within the Pakistani government and armed forces believed that India would no longer be able to defend the Jammu and Kashmir regions in full force. Pakistan expected support from the United States and China, the former having sold them the latest in military hardware while the latter handed India a crushing defeat during a border war in 1962.

Military leaders drafted Operation Gibraltar, which called for thousands of men from West Pakistan to infiltrate the hilly and mountainous Kashmir region with the aim of destabilizing it and inciting the populace to revolt against India. Indian officials claimed that nearly 30,000 men took part in the operation, while Pakistan offered a more conservative number of 7,000.

In August 1965, the operation went underway. It seemed to be going as planned until everyone realized that no attempts were made to establish contact with Indian Kashmiris. Local leaders were actually kept in the dark about how the plan was to proceed, so no great revolt ever occurred. On the contrary, the locals actually cooperated with Indian intelligence services in apprehending the infiltrators, who gladly spilled the beans.

India broadcasted denouncements of Pakistan’s attack and war plan. Knowing that Operation Gibraltar had failed, the element of surprise was lost, and there would be no support or sympathy coming from foreign powers, Pakistan senselessly decided to launch a full-scale invasion. The entire operation devolved into a stalemate, and the United Nations enforced a ceasefire on September 22, 1965.

7 The Empty Camp Of Son Tay

On November 21, 1970, American POWs held by North Vietnamese forces heard the whirring sound of helicopters, missiles, and sporadic gunfire that meant raiders had arrived to rescue them. The team, made up of Green Berets and US Air Force special ops, had 30 minutes to get in, rescue the 60–70 prisoners believed to be held in the enemy camp in Son Tay, and get out. The unit was fully prepared, to the point that different phases of the mission were allegedly practiced 170 times.

In those pre‑dawn hours, escort aircraft blasted preselected targets while helicopters destroyed watchtowers. The raiders had killed or wounded over 100 enemy forces, yet there were no signs of the American prisoners. Apparently, due to faulty intelligence, military planners had no idea that the prisoners had been moved to another location. All the training hours and money spent on the operation were deemed a waste, and successive hearings scrutinized the failure of the mission to achieve its objective.

Despite the raid at Son Tay being a daring but ultimately failed mission, it’s worth noting that it did have a positive effect. Upon their release, POWs recalled the moment they heard the sound of battle nearby, rejoicing in the knowledge that their country had not forgotten them. Years later, these two groups—the rescuers and the once‑captive men—would meet and establish the Son Tay Raider Association to commemorate their brotherhood in war.

6 The ‘Third Force’ Program

In 2007, the CIA released declassified information regarding a failed program known as “Third Force” which aimed to create a surveillance and special ops network within communist China during the peak of the Korean War. The plan called on Chinese exiles to rendezvous with communist generals who were dissatisfied with Mao Zedong’s government. The goal was to destabilize the region, which would hopefully lead to the Chinese pulling out of the war.

On November 29, 1952, CIA operatives John Downey and Richard Fecteau were flying over the Changbai Mountains, seeking their Chinese counterparts. As the plane descended, explosions ripped through the sky as they realized they were being ambushed. There were no disaffected communist generals, it had all been a ploy concocted by their sources in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The plan was so well‑known to the Chinese that when an officer spotted Downey, he said, “You are Jack. Your future is very dark.”

He wasn’t wrong: By the end of the ambush, their two pilots were dead, and Downey and Fecteau were hauled off for interrogation. The CIA covered up the debacle by claiming that the men died during a commercial flight from Korea to Japan. For several decades, the families of the men believed them dead.

In December 1971, Fecteau was released by China as a gesture of goodwill. Downey remained in prison, and no amount of diplomatic maneuvering or pleas concerning his ill mother would convince the Chinese to let him go. In March 1973, however, the Chinese had a change of heart following President Nixon’s public admission that the men were CIA agents and apology for their presence in China.

5 The Secret War In The Baltics

For his 1993 book, Red Web: MI6 and the KGB Master Coup, British writer Tom Bower painstakingly researched and outlined the Secret Intelligence Service’s plans to create an espionage ring in Poland and the Baltic States. The operation, which was called “Operation Jungle,” was conducted from 1945–1955, the early years of the Cold War.

While a few aspects of the operation were successful, such as the delivery of new motorboats to West Germany, virtually everything else was a failure. On October 15, 1945, British conspirators sent four agents to Latvia for reconnaissance, where their boat capsized and they were captured.

Their ciphers and transmitters fell into the hands of Janis Lukasevics, a member of the Latvian KGB. Lukasevics knew that waiting for Britain to send more spies would be risky, so he baited them. One of the prisoners, Augusts Bergmanis, broke under torture, subsequently aiding Lukasevics with the trap. Bergmanis sent false radio reports as well as requests for additional agents, 42 of whom were sent and immediately intercepted by the KGB upon landing. Some were killed, but many were turned against Britain or used to hunt down anti‑Soviet forces within the Baltic States. The flawed operation continued for an entire decade until Britain mercifully pulled the plug.

4 Operation Lena

Despite Hitler postponing Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain, an Abwehr agent named Wulf Schmidt parachuted into England five days later on September 14, 1940. Upon landing, Schmidt was immediately apprehended. He was part of Operation Lena, the plan by German intelligence to pave the way for an invasion that would never occur.

Indeed, the bumbling operatives may not have made much of a difference due to their sheer incompetence. The operatives were actually so inept that many have speculated that the Hamburg branch of the Abwehr were deliberately sending incompetent agents as an act of sabotage against the Nazis. None of these secret agents were even fluent in English, and they had little to no knowledge of English customs.

Other spies were caught, much like Schmidt, because of what British official records bluntly called “their own stupidity.” One operative was arrested while attempting to buy a pint at 10:00 AM, not knowing that pubs could not serve alcohol before lunchtime. Two more were arrested while cycling in Scotland on the wrong side of the road. The men tried to explain their plight to the police in unconvincing English accents, but their covers were blown when it was discovered that their suitcases contained German sausages and Nivea cream.

3 General Patton And Task Force Baum

During the closing days of World War II in Europe, the Hammelburg POW camp in Germany was attacked in a daring but futile raid. Members of Task Force Baum—named after their commander, Captain Abraham Baum, and composed of 314 soldiers and 57 vehicles—were tasked with penetrating 100 kilometers (60 mi) of enemy territory to liberate the prisoners on March 26, 1945. The order was given by none other than General George Patton, who believed his son‑in‑law was a prisoner at Hammelburg. The general’s folly sent hundreds of men on a mission that was doomed to fail.

Task Force Baum met heavy resistance on the way to Hammelburg, losing several tanks and an entire infantry platoon. By the time they reached the camp, the contingent had lost 30 percent of its soldiers. Upon arrival, they were blindsided to find that their superiors vastly underestimated the number of prisoners at the camp—they were told there only 300, but they found a staggering 10,000.

Two days later, the Germans launched a counter‑attack. Several of the men tried to run into the nearby woods, but they were the lucky ones. Baum himself was shot in the groin. The task force’s vehicles were all destroyed, 26 men were killed, and only a handful made it back to Allied lines. The rest became prisoners, just like the men they tried to rescue. On April 6, 1945, the US 14th Armored Division finally liberated the camp, rendering the previous mission completely unnecessary.

2 The Jablonkow Incident

On the night of August 25, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Aided by Sudeten Germans, Abwehr operatives and commandos crossed the Czech‑Polish border to capture Jablonkow Pass. The objective was the railway of Mosty, as well as radio stations, telephone lines, and nearby bridges, which were needed to secure a foothold once the rest of the army arrived. The problem was, it never did.

After Hitler received word that Britain and France intended to honor their agreements to defend Poland and Italy was not ready for war, he decided to postpone the invasion. None of this was known to the commandos who were deep behind enemy lines, since they were not issued radios.

The elite unit under Lieutenant Hanz‑Albrecht Herzner was already prematurely celebrating their victory. They caught the Poles unaware and suffered virtually no losses. The men had used covert tactics and simple intimidation, such as telling the Poles that the entire German army would soon bear down on them, so fighting was unnecessary. They had even captured thousands of Polish soldiers in a troop train.

It was hours later, as dawn began to break, that Herzner was able to contact the nearest division stationed within Germany and found out that no help was forthcoming. Herzner and the men had to scurry back to Germany with their tails tucked between their legs as the Poles harassed them at every turn.

The Jablonkow Incident, as it became known, was played down via diplomatic means. It was also the last‑ditch attempt of the head of the Abwehr, Wilhelm Canaris, and his co‑conspirators to remove Hitler from power before the conflict erupted. Canaris and his cohorts tried to pressure military leaders to consider Hitler’s invasion unconstitutional, to no avail.

1 Nearly Everything Involving Italy During World War II

Mussolini’s decision to go to war against the Allies was controversial, and virtually everyone urged him to reconsider. The armed forces were not prepared, their equipment was not up to date, and their troops were scattered around the globe. Still, Mussolini insisted, wishing to “sit at the peace table as a man who has fought.” When France’s defeat against Germany was certain on June 10, 1940, Italy invaded. President Franklin Roosevelt denounced the act, calling it “a stab in the back”—though in reality, it was more of a pinprick.

The advance of 300,000 Italian soldiers was checked by a handful of Frenchmen. The Franco‑Italian armistice demanded far less compared to Hitler’s aims, which historians have pointed out was probably because Mussolini wanted to demonstrate that he was a “good sport” after his armies were humiliated. Despite the many instances when Italy’s forces were numerically superior, they were constantly beaten back by fewer yet more determined opponents. In Italian East Africa, a multitude of soldiers under the Duke of Aosta were rapidly crushed by the British under Generals Wavell and Cunningham. In North Africa, Italian offensives were also blunted.

Perhaps there was no bigger blunder than Italy’s ill‑timed attack on Greece, which hoped to remain neutral in the conflict. The Italians were pushed back after several months of fighting, eventually requesting Germany’s aid. The change in the timetable caused a chain reaction that included a spirited defense by the locals and the debacle at the Battle of Crete. Hitler’s planned invasion of Russia was significantly delayed for weeks and ground to a halt by late fall of 1941.

Despite these setbacks, Italian soldiers distinguished themselves in other theaters. In the Atlantic, Italian submarines played a key role in harassing Allied shipping. Their “manned” torpedoes were a bizarre yet innovative concept. Thousands of men, including expeditionary corps and the vaunted alpini under Giovanni Messe, distinguished themselves in the invasion of the Soviet Union.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s assessment of the quality of the Italian soldiers and their lack of good equipment was more than apt. The “Desert Fox” noted that it made “hairs stand on end to see the sort of equipment with which the Duce had sent his troops into battle.” Rommel also remarked that though “German soldiers impressed the world, the Italian Bersaglieri impressed the German soldier.”

When you think of power grabs gone wrong, the phrase 10 failed 20th immediately brings to mind a parade of daring but disastrous coups. The 20th century was a theater of ambition, where leaders and conspirators tried to seize control, only to watch their plans crumble. Below, we dive into ten of the most infamous failed coups, each with its own twist of drama, betrayal, and outright catastrophe.

10 Coup Attempt Against Haile Selassie Ethiopia, 1960

Ras Tafari, who later became the namesake of the Rastafarian movement, was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I in 1930. Even before his coronation, he pushed Ethiopia toward modernity, introducing the printing press, automobiles, telephones, and a revamped legal framework. While his reign saw advances in education, healthcare, and diplomacy, he never dismantled the entrenched class system governing agriculture, and he kept a tight grip on the judiciary, merely polishing the constitution in 1955 without real reform. Discontent simmered, culminating in a December 1960 coup attempt.

A cadre of military officers, led by brothers Germame and Mengistu Neway—Mengistu commanded the Imperial Guard—planned to seize Addis Ababa while Selassie was abroad. Mengistu falsely claimed a citywide uprising to rally his troops. The rebels captured the crown prince and several officials, holding them hostage for days; fifteen of those hostages were later killed. The plot was poorly orchestrated, lacking popular support and backing from key ministers, sealing its fate.

Selassie, having returned upon hearing of the turmoil, outmaneuvered the insurgents and reclaimed the capital. The rebels fled to the outskirts, where many were hunted down and killed, including Germame. Mengistu faced a court‑martial.

9 Attempted Coup Against Saddam Hussein Iraq, 1996

Saddam Hussein, Iraq’s brutal president from 1979, ruled with an iron fist, swiftly eliminating any dissent. In early 1996, a $100‑million operation, allegedly commissioned by U.S. President Bill Clinton, aimed to topple him. The CIA, British intelligence, and a network of Kurdish and Iraqi operatives formed the “Iraqi National Accord” (INA) as a front, headquartered in Amman, Jordan, and led by Dr. Iyad Mohammed Alawi, a former Baath Party member.

Code‑named the “Silver Bullet coup,” the plan intended to strike while Baghdad was vulnerable due to internal fractures and strained Jordanian ties. However, Alawi publicly declared his intent to overthrow Saddam, double agents infiltrated the CIA ranks, INA satellite feeds were hijacked, and Saddam learned of the plot, causing it to collapse instantly.

In the aftermath, Hussein arrested 160 military officers and conspirators, many of whom were executed.

8 The July Putsch Austria, 1934

Before Adolf Hitler rose to global infamy, he served as Germany’s Reich Chancellor from January 1933. His relationship with Austria was fraught: Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss resisted German pressure for annexation. In response, Austrian Nazis bombed government sites, leading to the party’s ban. Hitler’s economic boycott and visa restrictions crippled Austria’s trade and tourism, prompting a more aggressive stance.

After Dollfuss suppressed a three‑day revolt in February 1934, the Nazis escalated. On July 25, 1934, 150 members of SS Regiment 89 stormed the chancellor’s office, killing Dollfuss. The assassination ignited further Nazi uprisings, which the Austrian army swiftly crushed.

Although Hitler publicly denied involvement, Joseph Goebbels’ diary entry dated July 22, 1934, reveals skepticism about the coup’s success, which proved correct.

7 The Kyujo Incident Japan, 1945

By mid‑1945, Japan faced devastating losses in World War II. The nation initially refused the Potsdam Declaration, demanding unconditional surrender. After the atomic bombings of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9), Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Suzuki moved toward signing the surrender, alarming the Imperial Guard, which feared the abolition of the imperial system.

Major Kenji Hatanaka led a coup on August 14, mere hours before Hirohito’s public address. Hatanaka’s officers seized the Imperial Palace and cut external communications, aiming to prevent the surrender broadcast and preserve the monarchy under a new military‑led government.

However, Hirohito’s recorded address remained hidden. As the scheduled broadcast approached, Hatanaka took his own life at 11 a.m., and many conspirators followed suit, ending the abortive coup.

6 Coup Attempt Against Corazon Aquino Philippines, 1989

Corazon Aquino made history in February 1986 as the Philippines’ first female president. Yet her administration suffered from perceived inexperience, policy missteps, and economic challenges, including a 25 percent gas price hike and restrictions on divorce and abortion.

Former dictator Ferdinand Marcos had left the nation in ruins, siphoning an estimated $800 million and looting billions. Aquino’s husband, a rising politician, was exiled by Marcos and later assassinated in 1983, prompting Aquino’s return and eventual rise to power.

On December 1, 1989, rebel T‑28 aircraft bombed the presidential palace, seized two radio stations, and locked down the air‑force headquarters. U.S. Air Force F‑4 Phantom jets intervened, delivering a decisive blow to the coup. Despite the turmoil, Aquino retained her presidency, albeit briefly.

5 The Kapp Putsch Germany, 1920

World War I claimed ten million lives, and its aftermath left Germany shackled by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919—reducing its army, ceding territory, and imposing heavy reparations. The fledgling Weimar Republic faced intense public opposition, setting the stage for a coup.

General Walther von Lüttwitz and Wolfgang Kapp, founder of the Fatherland Party, marched 6,000 troops into Berlin on March 13, 1920. Their attempt faltered as many Germans rejected the putsch, and the press went on strike by March 14, crippling communication. The populace continued daily life, resisting the insurgents.

President Friedrich Ebert called for a general strike, halting the coup’s momentum. By March 17, merely four days after its launch, Kapp and his supporters resigned. Lüttwitz fled to Hungary, and Kapp escaped to Sweden.

4 The Algiers Putsch France, 1961

Charles de Gaulle, president of France’s Fifth Republic since 1959, faced the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN), which had been battling French colonial rule in Algeria for seven years. De Gaulle’s willingness to negotiate Algerian independence angered French generals stationed there.

On the night of April 21, 1961, four generals—Maurice Challe, Edmond Jouhad, André Zeller, and Raoul Salan—led paratroopers into Algiers, seizing government buildings and media outlets with minimal resistance. The coup initially proceeded smoothly, arresting loyalist officers.

De Gaulle appealed to the French populace, urging a one‑hour strike on April 24. Ten million workers complied, undermining the rebels. By April 25, the paratroopers withdrew without firing a shot, averting a potential disaster. Algeria would achieve independence the following year.

3 Kenya’s First Coup Attempt 1982

Daniel Arap Moi, president since 1978, promised to eradicate corruption, tribalism, and other societal ills, earning public trust through swift justice against high‑ranking officials. Behind the scenes, Moi centralized power, creating a one‑party state where opposition was illegal and the police acted as his enforcers.

In the early hours of August 1, 1982, a faction of Kenyan Air Force officers seized the international airport, three airbases, the post office, and the critical radio station. They proclaimed the People’s Redemption Council over the airwaves, encouraging citizens to rise. While some university students supported them, many civilians remained hesitant.

The rebels, many intoxicated and looting, failed to capture President Moi and lacked support from remaining air‑force personnel. Loyalist troops sabotaged fighter jets, and the broadcast station remained out of rebel hands, leading to their downfall. After fierce fighting, the government recaptured the radio station, Moi returned to Nairobi, and the insurrection collapsed, leaving an estimated 600‑1,800 dead and widespread looting and violence.

2 Soviet Coup Attempt Against Mikhail Gorbachev 1991

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s final president and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1990, presided over a fragile state plagued by economic weakness, ethnic infighting, and growing independence movements in Lithuania and Ukraine. Boris Yeltsin, head of the Russian Republic, also rose in prominence.

When Gorbachev hinted at a treaty that might dissolve the USSR, hard‑line communists formed the State Emergency Committee and placed him under house arrest on August 18, 1991, during a vacation in Crimea. Their goal was to force his resignation and halt the treaty.

In Moscow, protesters, led by Yeltsin, gathered outside the White House. Yeltsin famously stood atop a tank, defying the conspirators. The coup collapsed without bloodshed; the military refrained from firing on crowds. The conspirators were arrested, two committed suicide, and Gorbachev’s authority was irreparably weakened.

Within months, all Soviet republics declared independence, and the USSR dissolved.

1 Coup Attempt Against President Sukarno Indonesia, 1965

In 1945, Indonesia elected Sukarno as its inaugural president, striving to unite the nation’s diverse religions and ethnicities across countless islands. By 1965, the country was mired in economic disaster: inflation peaked at 650 percent, widespread starvation, severe rice shortages, dwindling export revenues, and crumbling infrastructure. Moreover, 75 percent of the national budget was funneled into the military.

The Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) swelled to 3.5 million members, becoming the world’s third‑largest communist party. Fearing a PKI takeover, a group of military conspirators known as the “September 30th Movement,” led by Lieutenant Colonel Untung of the President’s Guard, kidnapped six senior generals on September 30, 1965. The following morning, five were executed. The rebels seized the presidential palace and national radio station, broadcasting their intentions.

General Suharto, commander of the Army Strategic Reserve, swiftly regained control of Jakarta. The coup, blamed on the PKI, failed, triggering a horrific anti‑communist purge: an estimated 500 000 PKI members and sympathizers were killed, and another million were imprisoned or exiled.

Many people wonder how late 19th-century famous figures might have sounded and moved, what sorts of gestures they may have made, and what kinds of facial expressions they might have displayed. Born in the Victorian Era, these ten people saw the birth of new recording technology. Now, some early films of such renowned men and women have been converted to videos available on government or museum websites or popular Internet video-sharing platforms.

Each of these ten early films of turn-of-the-century (the 20th century, that is) celebrities brings history to life as it shares glimpses of a famous man or woman who contributed greatly to our own time and lives.

Related: 10 Bizarre Entertainments Of Victorian London

10 Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller

In a sequence from a 1930 newsreel film, now on video, Anne Sullivan (1886-1936) explains how she taught Helen Keller (1880-1968) to speak. Keller, who is also present in the film, demonstrates. Her student, Sullivan says, had been blind, deaf, and mute since she was nineteen months old. It was a mystery to Keller how Sullivan and others managed to speak without using their hands, as she herself must do. By teaching Keller to place her hand over Sullivan’s face, the teacher showed her student “how we talk with our mouths,” letting Keller feel the vibrations of the spoken word. In response, Keller immediately spelled the message, “I want to speak with my mouth.”

With her thumb on Sullivan’s larynx, her forefinger on her teacher’s lips, and her third finger alongside Sullivan’s nose, Keller could discern the various vibrations of sounds—those of the hard “G” and the “K” on her thumb; the “V” and the “T” sounds on her forefinger; and the nasal sounds, such as “M,” on the third finger on Sullivan’s nose. The first word she learned to speak was “it.” After seven lessons, Keller was able to articulate the sentence, “I am not dumb now,” as she does in the video footage while smiling in delight.^[1]

9 Pablo Picasso

In an excerpt from French filmmaker Henri-George Clouzot’s documentary Le Mystere Picasso (The Mystery of Picasso), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) draws a picture for the camera filming him. The video, posted by the Royal Academy of Arts, begins with an image of Picasso’s finished painting Visage: Head of a Faun before showing him actually creating it in 1955. Stop-action and time-lapse photographic techniques allow Clouzot to capture the artist’s process as Picasso begins drawing with a black marker and the resulting images bleed through the paper.

As he works, Picasso’s drawing undergoes a series of spontaneous metamorphoses, “from flower to fish, to chicken, to face.” Dark, heavy lines are introduced over and among the finer lines he has already committed to the paper.

Picasso looks intent as he begins to paint around the drawing, filling in the negative space with dark blue and using thick strokes of green paint to outline the face on the side of the flower-fish-chicken’s body. At this point, Clouzot, consulting his wristwatch, advises, “45 seconds left” of the five minutes total that are represented by the 450 feet of film being shot. Time enough remains to add some red to the hybrid face’s nose (which doubles as the hybrid creature’s wing), its leafy branch of a tail, its eyes, and its leaf-like wattles.

The filmmaker cheats, allowing Picasso a bit more time than the original five-minute limit. The artist colors the ground red. “8 seconds,” Clouzot announces, and Picasso brushes black over most of the strange creature before creating a trio of twig-like human figures that seem to “grow” out of the earth. Then, the filmmaker orders his camera operator to quit filming. Fifty-five years later, the video announces that Picasso’s painting is “restored” for a Picasso and Paper exhibition.^[]

8 Albert Einstein

Although Albert Einstein’s (1879-1955) famous equation E=mc² is well-known throughout the world today, it was revolutionary when he first articulated the idea that energy and matter are interchangeable. To hear Einstein himself state the implications of his famous equation is, nevertheless, impressive. Initially, the video showing the mathematician’s explanation appeared in 2011, many years after formulating it in 1905.

Apparently reading from notes, he states that “it followed from the special theory of relativity that mass and energy are both, but different, manifestations of the same thing.” He adds that such a notion is apt to be “a somewhat unfamiliar conception for the average mind.” Then, presumably to help his audience grasp the significance of the equation, he defines its terms—E, M, and C squared (energy, mass, and the velocity of light squared, respectively). He does this before explaining that “a very small amount of mass may be converted into a very large amount of energy, and vice versa,” since the two are, in fact, equivalent.

For those of average mind who may be skeptical of his explanation, he tells listeners, with just a hint of a smile, that the equivalency of mass and energy was demonstrated by John Douglas Cockroft and Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton in their 1932 experiment.^[3]

7 Mata Hari

According to the History website, after her marriage, plagued by infidelity and domestic violence, crumbled in divorce, her son’s death, and losing custody of her daughter, Margaretha Zelle (1876-1917) moved to Paris. She was seeking to reinvent herself so she could “live like a colorful butterfly in the sun.” Incorporating moves she’d observed during her time in the Dutch East Indies, she created a Hindu dance act, appearing first as Lady Gresha McLeod and then as Mata Hari or “eye of the day.” Realizing that she lacked dance skills sufficient to draw a crowd, she compensated by casting off items of her colorful costume until, at the conclusion of her dance, she was nearly nude. “People came to see me because I was the first who dared to show myself naked to the public,” she said.

The details of Mata Hari’s espionage career remain sketchy. However, it seems to have begun [if, indeed, it began at all] in the fall of 1915, when she allegedly accepted honorary German consul Karl Kroemer’s offer of money to spy for the Kaiser under the “German codename” H 21. On February 13, 1917, she was placed under arrest, charged with espionage, and confined to Paris’s infamous Saint-Lazare prison, where she was interrogated. Although she admitted to being a courtesan, she denied ever having spied. Despite the flimsy circumstantial evidence, she was convicted, and on October 15, 1917, she was executed by a firing squad at age 41.

The footage of Mata Hari humanizes the exotic dancer. Despite her later admission of having been a prostitute, her work as an exotic dancer, and her conviction for spying for Germany during World War I, she appears, in this earlier video, as simply a well-dressed, beautiful young lady. Wearing a long, pleated dress with a large hat, stockings, and high heels, she is helped into her long winter coat by a soldier who then helps her into the back seat of an automobile that has arrived to collect her. Perhaps the soldiers in the front seat are taking her to “the spy school” the video’s narrator mentions her having to attend as a condition for receiving the funds she needs to return to Paris.^[4]

6 Marie Curie

Marie Curie’s celebrated career and award-winning accomplishments are summarized by The Nobel Prize website. In her youth, Marie Curie, then Maria Sklodowska (1867-1934), of Warsaw, Poland, was trained by her father in scientific study in addition to her general education before moving to Paris after involving herself in “a students’ revolutionary organization.” Finding it prudent to leave the city, she continued her education at the Sorbonne, where she met Professor Pierre Curie. They married a year later, in 1895. She earned her Doctor of Science degree in 1903 and, working with her husband, isolated both polonium, named after the country of Marie’s birth, and radium. She also encouraged using radium as a medical treatment for alleviating suffering. During World War I, she remained focused on this work with the help of her daughter, Irene.

In addition, a Nobel laureate twice over, Madame Curie, as she was also known, served as a member, a professor, or a director of various professional and scientific organizations throughout her career. Despite both her many accomplishments and the fact that she was held in high esteem and admiration by scientists throughout the world, she remained, as The Nobel Prize website describes her, a “quiet, dignified and unassuming” woman throughout her career.

Her reserve and modest demeanor are on display in the video conversion of the 1931 Pathe News filmstrip showing her gracious receipt of yet another award bestowed upon her, the ARC Gold Medal. After the presentation, she addresses the world, wearing her hat, large round glasses, a dark dress, and her latest award: “I would like to express here all my thanks to the delegation of the American College of Radiology for the honor that brings me here and by which I am extremely touched.”^[5]

5 Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley (1860-1926), an expert shot with both pistols and rifles, was as popular, perhaps, for besting male competitors as she was for her unerring accuracy. She defeated all contenders, including her future husband Frank E. Butler. He missed one out of twenty-five shots in a contest, while Oakley’s aim proved faultless. She had had lots of practice in perfecting her aim, as she had begun hunting game at age eight, supplying it to local restaurants to help put food on her family’s table. Impressed by her accuracy, General George Armstrong Custer dubbed her “Little Sure Shot,” which became her Wild West Show stage name. One of her career’s highlights was her performance before Queen Victoria at Her Majesty’s Golden Jubilee in England. However, her travels in Buffalo Bill’s show included Spain, Italy, and France.

Her good name was impugned when a false story began circulating after she’d injured her back in a train wreck in 1901. As many as fifty-five newspapers claimed that she had stolen a man’s trousers so she could sell them and use her ill-gotten gains to purchase cocaine. This feat proved impossible since the crime had occurred in Chicago while Oakley and her husband resided in New Jersey. The reports turned out to be true in this regard: Maude Fontanella, the thief who had stolen the man’s trousers, had gone by the false name “Any Oakley.” Incensed at the newspapers for falsely accusing her, Oakley sued and won 54 out of 55 cases against the newspapers.

Her expertise with guns is put on display in a remarkable U. S. Library of Congress video that shows her shooting disc-shaped targets attached to a standing board and coins tossed into the air. Although she appears to miss one of the seven discs, which remains on the board after the other six fall, a careful review of the action shows that she did, indeed, strike the seventh disc, too—at dead center, in fact.^[6]

4 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

In his own words, as we look on during a 1929 interview, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) shares what inspired him to write detective stories featuring a consultant who uses science instead of luck to solve the mysteries he investigates. Then, ironically, he fills us in on his psychic experiences and interest in the spirit world.

He was annoyed, Doyle says, at how, “in the old-fashioned detective story,” the detective seemed to succeed either as the result of “some sort of lucky chance or fluke” or never explained the process by which he reached his solution. Doyle found this state of affairs unfair, believing the detective should have explained his methods. As a result, he decided that scientific methods should be applied to crime detection. Recalling the method that Professor Bell, one of his college teachers, used to diagnose diseases in his patients, Doyle decided to write detective stories of his own in which his detective would use methods similar to those Bell had employed. Once his readers caught on to the fact that Doyle’s stories delivered something new to the genre, his narratives of Sherlock Holmes became increasingly popular.

Doyle then turns his attention to the much more serious topic of his interest in spiritualism. His study developed “about the year[s] 1886 and 1887.” In the forty-one years between then and now, his interest became ever more profound as he read about and studied psychic matters and experimented with them. Slowly and carefully, he formed his convictions about the subject. Since then, he had taken it upon himself to educate the public about the great philosophy, the truth of which he has observed firsthand at seances and in other situations all around the world. He assures us, “I am not talking about what I believe. I am not talking about what I think. I am talking about what I know.” His devotion to spiritualism, he asserts, had comforted him, even as it had helped him, especially during the aftermath of World War I, to console many people who lost loved ones.^[7]

3 Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) reminds his audience that psychoanalysis has made much headway but is far from being universally accepted. In this film, we hear Freud’s voice over a series of film clips. The recording briefs us on the state of the psychoanalytic school of psychology he founded. It comes from a BBC radio interview conducted at his home at Hampstead, North London, on December 7, 1938. It is believed that this is the only known audio recording of Sigmund Freud.

Freud is a little hard to understand in this interview as he was suffering from incurable jaw cancer and every word was agony.

After briefly recounting the general principles of psychoanalysis, Freud gets personal, declaring, “I had to pay heavily for this bit of good luck” in discovering these findings and pointing out the intense opposition he faced by “people [who] did not believe in my facts and thought my theories unsavory.” Despite such opposition, he declares, he “succeeded in acquiring pupils and building up an International Psychoanalytic Association.” Strangely, almost as if he’s inviting his listeners to continue the good fight he has begun, he concludes, “But the struggle is not yet over.”^[8]

2 Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known to the world by his pen name Mark Twain, appears in a silent bit of footage taken at Stormfield, his Redding, Connecticut, home. The mansion was named for his iconoclastic 1907 short story “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” the profits from which helped fund the house’s construction.

The video begins with an announcement: “This is the only known motion picture of Mark Twain. Photographed in 1909 using Thomas Edison’s Kinetograph camera, it also shows what is believed to be his daughters Clara and Jean.”

After greeting us, he strolls along his driveway, coat open, vest buttoned, smoking a cigar on a breezy day. The scene shifts and he is seated at an outdoor table with his daughters, with whom he drinks tea as they appear to engage in conversation. Unfortunately, the film is unaccompanied by sound. The clip may not be much to look at by today’s standards. However, the simple fact that it provides a glimpse into the life of one of America’s greatest writers, allowing us to see the man behind literary works that have stood the test of time, makes it impressive, nevertheless.^[9]

1 Queen Victoria

As we watch a rare bit of film that was converted to video, we may feel that we are part of the crowd who assembled to greet Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The footage was shot during the queen’s last visit to Ireland in 1900 and shows Her Majesty in a horse-drawn carriage as she nods at a crowd of well-wishers lining both sides of the street down which she rides. Wearing sunglasses and holding a parasol, she nods and smiles, her carriage pausing so her attendants may accept a huge basket of flowers from a pair of curtseying ladies in white dresses and hats.

As a commentator points out, by seeing the queen, the embodiment of the British Empire, in action, “moving [and] alive in the middle of a scene [viewers] get a sense of being in the same world with her” as they make “an immediate connection” and she reveals her personality.

New York City’s Museum of Modern Art acquired “thirty-six reels of nitrate prints and negatives made in cinema’s first years,” which were restored. Among the footage is this amazing sequence of film.^[10]