26 July

First robbery: the Sonora to Milton stage is held up near Copperopolis by a lone masked man.

Black Bart Convicted

A polite robber in a flour-sack mask held up Wells Fargo stagecoaches for eight years. A laundry mark on a dropped handkerchief led detectives to his door.

Eliza Barrow and the boy Ernest Grant move into the Seddons' house at 63 Tollington Park.

Frederick Seddon Executed

An insurance man took over his lodger's savings for an annuity. Weeks after she fell ill and died, the arsenic in her body sent him to the gallows.

The Post begins its critical series, and a run on the company starts.

Charles Ponzi Convicted

Boston, 1920: an Italian immigrant promised 50% in 45 days on postage coupons. Eight months later his name was a byword for fraud.