1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all. We're rerunning two episodes today, which means you 2 00:00:03,400 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: might hear two hosts. Enjoy the show. Welcome to this 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,200 Speaker 1: Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot Com 4 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 1: It's the show where we explore the past one day 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: at a time with a quick look at what happened 7 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: today in history. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 8 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson, and it's October six. The Reno Brothers 9 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: staged the first peacetime train robbery in the United States 10 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: on this day in eighteen sixty six. The reason we 11 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,199 Speaker 1: specify that it's the first peace time train robbery is 12 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: that there had been one train robbery before this one 13 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: on May five, just at the very end of the 14 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: US Civil War. That one was on the Ohio and 15 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: Mississippi Railroad. A group of men had fouled one of 16 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 1: the tracks to cause the train to derail. Once the 17 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: train hit that track and jumped off of it, they 18 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: robbed the passengers and the Adams Express Company call are Today. 19 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 1: Adam's Express Company is an equity fund, but at the 20 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,960 Speaker 1: time it was an express company that delivered letters and packages. 21 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: The robbers were described as guerrillas. They were dressed in 22 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: civilian clothes but armed with navy revolvers. One of the 23 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: men was called lieutenant by the others, and another one 24 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: was called captain. So most of the time, because of 25 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: all of that and the fact that had happened right 26 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: at the end of the Civil War, this is considered 27 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: part of the war rather than a matter of civilian robbery. 28 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: They're also, of course, for incidents during that war of 29 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: people commandeering entire trains for military reasons. So the one 30 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: that's usually noted as the first train robbery in the 31 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: United States is that one that happened on October six, 32 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty six. The first transcontinental railroad had not yet 33 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,560 Speaker 1: been completed. That would happen in eighteen sixty nine, but 34 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: more and more train routes had been established, and they 35 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: were traveling through very remote parts of the United States. 36 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: Often there is not any kind of law enforcement or 37 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: other person one might go to for help anywhere nearby, 38 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: and it didn't take long for people to figure out 39 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: that a train full of mail and parcels and people 40 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: who could afford train tickets, far away from any source 41 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: of law enforcement, might be a good target to rob 42 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: in this case. The people who had figured that out 43 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: were the Reno brothers, that was Frank, Simon, John and 44 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: William along with their associates. They boarded this train near Seymour, Indiana, 45 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: once again on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, Adams Express 46 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: Car was once again on their target. The robbers made 47 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: their way to that car and they demanded the keys 48 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: to the safes. The attendant who was on duty in 49 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: the car, though, only had the keys for the local 50 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: mail safe, so he opened that one up for them 51 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: and they took all of its contents. Then the gang 52 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: through the entire other safe off the train with the 53 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: intent of getting it open later on. Then they jumped 54 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: off the train. So because they had gotten on near 55 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: Seymour and they had left without anybody outside of the 56 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: Adams Express car knowing what's going on, the engineer just 57 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: continued on unaware that anything was amiss, until somebody got 58 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: his attention and told him about it. The Pinkerton's investigated 59 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: and this became the first of many many train robberies, 60 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: especially in the nineteenth century. A lot of other gangs 61 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:22,799 Speaker 1: like Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch and the James Younger gang 62 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: became infamous for their train robbing. A lot of gangs 63 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: just specialized in robbing trains, and soon train companies were 64 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: hiring armed guards and reinforcing their mail cars and otherwise 65 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: trying to defend themselves from this newly created type of crime. 66 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: The Reno brothers were all captured in eighteen sixty eight. Frank, Simeon, 67 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: and William were hanged later on that year after being 68 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: taken out of the prison where they were being held 69 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: by a vigilante mob who then took the law into 70 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: their own hands. Their brother, John, though had been captured earlier. 71 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: He was serving time and different prison, and he was 72 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: spared that particular extra judicial violence. Thanks so much to 73 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: Tari Harrison for her work on this show. And you 74 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: can subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple Podcasts, 75 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: Google Podcasts and wherever else you get your podcast, and 76 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: you can tune in tomorrow for the birth of a 77 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: Nobel Laureate. Hello again, it's Eaves and you're listening to 78 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class, a podcast that truly believes 79 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: no day is boring. The day was October six, Austria, 80 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: Hungary informed the Ottoman Empire of his annexation of Bosnia 81 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: and Herzegovina. This announcement set off what's known as the 82 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: Bosnian Crisis, a period of conflict between Austria Hungary and 83 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: the Ottoman Empire. Under the eighteen seventy eight Treaty of Berlin, 84 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: Austria Hungary gained the right to occupy and administer the 85 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: Ottoman empires provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Sanjak 86 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: of Novi Pazar, but Austria Hungary always had its sights 87 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: set on permanent possession of the provinces. Bosnia and Herzegovina 88 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: were widely sought after, but Austria Hungary put a lot 89 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:33,160 Speaker 1: of work into developing infrastructure, minds, factories, agriculture and schools 90 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time, ethnic and 91 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: religious conflict grew within Bosnia and Herzegovina, and groups in 92 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: the two provinces displayed nationalists ambitions. The Young Turk Revolution 93 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 1: broke out in the Ottoman Empire in nineteen o eight, 94 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: and it restored the Ottoman Constitution of eighteen seventy six 95 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: and revived the Ottoman Parliament. Vienna was afraid that the 96 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: new authorities in the government of the Ottoman Empire would 97 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,599 Speaker 1: try to restore Ottoman political power in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 98 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: As a pro Russia Serbia vied for control over the 99 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: Sandjak of Novi Pazar and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia itself 100 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,799 Speaker 1: was destabilized after defeat in the Russo Japanese War. Foreign 101 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 1: Minister of Austria Hungary Aloys Graflexa von Arenthal, saw an 102 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: opportunity for Austria Hungary to assert its dominance in the Balkans. 103 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: Austria Hungary's ambassador to Russia, Leopol graff Stol set up 104 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: a meeting between Arenthal and the Russian Minister of Foreign 105 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: Affairs Alexander Petrovitch Aswolski's in September of nineteen o eight 106 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: at busch Lau in Moravia. What actually happened at the 107 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: meeting is up for debate, as no minutes of the 108 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: meeting were released. Aswolski said that Russia would not object 109 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: to the annexation and in exchange, Austria Hungary would not 110 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: object to open the Bosporus and Dardanal Straits to Russian warships. 111 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: Aswolski insisted on an international conference before the annexation took place. 112 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: But on October six, the day after Bulgaria declared its 113 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 1: independence from the Ottoman Empire, Emperor Franz Joseph the First 114 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: of Austria announced that it was annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina. 115 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: The withdrawal of the Austro Hungarian army from the Sanjak 116 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: of Novi Pazar was also announced, but Asvolsky was not 117 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: expecting the annexation to happen so soon. He said that 118 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: Arenthal did not tell him the date of annexation and 119 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: that he did not know Austria Hungary planned on executing 120 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: it before the matter was settled with other political powers. 121 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: Opposition to the annexation erupted in Europe. Russia and the Balkans, France, 122 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: written and Italy protested the annexation. Pan Slavic nationalists throughout 123 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: Europe were unhappy with the announcement. Serbia insisted that Austria 124 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: Hungary seed part of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar to them, 125 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: and Asvolsky supported them, but Austria Hungary, backed by Germany, 126 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: threatened to invade Serbia. At the end of the Bosnian crisis, 127 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: Austria Hungary seemed to have come out on top. After 128 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: a boycott of Austro Hungarian goods caused commercial losses. Austria 129 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: Hungary ended up paying an indemnity to the Ottomans and 130 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 1: alienating many from Austrian policy, but the Ottoman Empire recognized 131 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: the annexation, which Russia and Serbia accepted in March of 132 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: nineteen o nine. The next month, the Treaty of Berlin 133 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: was amended to accept the annexation. The nation's managed to 134 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: avoid war, but tense relations between Austria Hungary, Russia, and 135 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: Serbia after the latter two faced such humiliation remained and 136 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,960 Speaker 1: contributed to the outbreak of World War one and nineteen fourteen. 137 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,679 Speaker 1: I'm Eve Jeffcote, and hopefully you know a little more 138 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. If you have 139 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: any burning questions or comments, you can leave us a 140 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:05,679 Speaker 1: note at t d I HC Podcast on Twitter, Facebook 141 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: or Instagram, or you can go the old fashioned route 142 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: and send us an email at this day at I 143 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks for tuning in and we'll 144 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: catch you tomorrow. Same place for more podcasts from My 145 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radio visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 146 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,320 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.