Murder in Front of the White House --February 27,1859  From Harper's Magazine      The Honorable Daniel E. Sickels (D-NY) murdered the DC Federal Attorney, Philip Barton Key II in broad daylight in front of the White House.   Key, son of the composer of the Star Spangled Banner, a widower with four children, was known as the most handsome and eligible bachelor in town.      At least a dozen witnesses testified Sickels shot Key several times using two of the three pistols he carried. Sickels himself immediately confessed to the murder to the Assistant DC Federal Attorney.      It took the jury almost no time to acquit Sickels.        He was the first person to use the temporary insanity plea in America.     " Scoundrel" would have been a great first, middle, and last name for Daniel Edgar Sickels. He lived to be 94, so had ample time to be involved in too many scandals to cover in one blog entry....

  Medical Advances in Weirdness DC Evening Star July 2, 1862 Who Needs Accutane? Shut Up And Take Your Tar Pills Tar in Alabama--1858   CURIOUS SPRING IN ALABAMA—The Talladega Watchtower, in an interesting review of Professor Tuomey’s last report on the Geology of Alabama, states near the line between Hancock and Lawrence, there is a spring of liquid bitumen or mineral tar, which is said to be somewhat remarkable for its curative properties and is said to be known as a cure for scrofula, cancerous sores, rheumatism, and other diseases in which alternatives are required. The water runs out from a seam or crevice in the limestone and the tar bitumen floats on the surface, a black foam very cohesive and insoluble in water. The tar can be collected in patients visiting the springs frequently take it in the form of pills. Really, Doctor, It's Just a Bump On My Head Feel the Bumps On Your Head Know Thyself! September 1859, Harper’s Magazine KNOW THYSELF-THE PHRENOLOGICAL JOURNAL f...