On July 2, 1843, residents of Charleston, South Carolina got one of the weirdest weather reports in U.S. history. After a heavy storm passed through the city, people reported seeing something… bizarre. According to local newspaper The Charleston Courier, an actual alligator fell from the sky — landing on Market Street, still very much alive.

The report described a storm with strong winds and dark clouds, followed by the thud of something hitting the ground. When people ran over, they found a 2-foot-long gator squirming in the street. The theory? The alligator had been scooped up by a waterspout or tornado from a swamp or river, carried through the sky, and dropped once the storm broke up.

As strange as it sounds, there have been other rare cases of animals falling from the sky — mostly frogs or fish — usually due to waterspouts sucking them into the air. But an alligator? That’s on a whole different level, and it made headlines across the country.

So on July 2, 1843, Charleston witnessed what may be the first recorded “raining alligator” incident in history. It’s one of those weird, forgotten stories that proves nature doesn’t always follow the rules.

On July 2, 1937, legendary pilot Amelia Earhart vanished while attempting to fly around the world. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, had taken off from Lae, Papua New Guinea, on their way to a tiny island called Howland Island — one of the most remote spots on Earth. They never made it.

Earhart was already a massive icon by then — the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, and a symbol of adventure, independence, and pushing limits. Her round-the-world flight was nearly complete when her plane, a Lockheed Electra, lost contact over the Pacific. Despite an intense U.S. Navy search, no trace of her or Noonan was ever found.

Over the decades, the mystery has sparked endless theories — everything from crashing at sea, to landing on an uninhabited island, to even being captured by the Japanese. Some searches have found possible clues, like plane parts or bones, but nothing has ever been definitively confirmed.

So on July 2, 1937, the world didn’t just lose a pilot — it lost one of the most daring explorers of the 20th century. Amelia Earhart’s disappearance remains one of history’s greatest aviation mysteries.

Egyptian Red🔴
Ancient Egyptians didn’t just build pyramids — they rocked some serious color. To dye fabric a deep red, they used pigment made from crushed beetles, specifically the kermes insect, a distant cousin to the modern cochineal used in carmine dyes today. It wasn’t just for clothes — red symbolized power, life, and divinity, and the process made garments rich, expensive, and bug-based. In short: fashion with crunch. 🐞👗🔴

The Aztec Blade🔪
The Aztecs wielded one of the most fearsome weapons in the ancient world: the macuahuitl — a wooden club lined with obsidian blades so sharp they could decapitate a horse. Spanish conquistadors described them with awe (and fear), noting how they could slice through armor and flesh with surgical precision. Obsidian, sharper than steel, made the macuahuitl more than a club — it was a stone-age chainsaw. 🗡️🐴💀

England Workhouses🏚️
In 19th-century England, being poor and unemployed wasn’t just unfortunate — it was illegal. Those caught without work could be jailed in grim institutions called workhouses, where they were forced to labor in exchange for basic shelter and food. Conditions were brutal by design — a deterrent meant to scare the poor into compliance. For many, it was prison by poverty, with no way out. 🏚️⚙️

Ancient Vending Machine🪙
The ancient Greeks invented the world’s first vending machine — and it dispensed holy water. Designed by the engineer Hero of Alexandria, the device worked when you inserted a coin, which triggered a lever system and released a small, measured dose of the water. It was practical, ingenious, and proof that even in the ancient world, automation met spirituality — one coin at a time. 🏺💧🪙

If you enjoy this edition of Today In History be sure to send it to a friend and force them to sign up because that’s what good friends do. Until next time, stay curious, question everything, and keep uncovering the mysteries of the past.