This Week In History News, Jan. 29 – Feb. 4

Published February 3, 2023
Updated February 10, 2023

Al Capone's sunken party boat photographed in Michigan, fourth-century sword uncovered in Japan, ancient Hercules statue unearthed in Rome.

Photos Reveal The Sunken Ship Where Al Capone Allegedly Threw Booze-Fueled Parties During Prohibition

Al Capone Shipwreck Interior

Chris RoxburghA Prohibition-era party boat allegedly operated by Al Capone, the Keuka mysteriously sank in 1932 and now sits 50 feet below the waters of Michigan’s Lake Charlevoix.

Originally built as a lumber barge in 1889, the Keuka operated in Michigan for decades without incident — until it changed hands in 1928. It was then that the ship suddenly turned into a floating speakeasy that hosted wild, booze-fueled parties complete with gambling and live jazz on the waters of Michigan’s Lake Charlevoix during the last years of Prohibition.

The Keuka’s most infamous incident came in the early morning hours of New Years Day 1931, when the ship’s manager was shot while trying to break up a drunken brawl between two men who were fighting over a woman.

The following year, the ship sank under mysterious circumstances, with some convinced that the local Woman’s Christian Temperance Union scuttled it themselves after getting fed-up with its alcohol-drenched parties.

Ever since, legends have taken root that the true operator of this infamous vessel was none other than Al Capone all along.

And now, underwater photographer Chris Roxburgh has just captured some of the first images of this sunken speakeasy in recent history. Read on here.

A Shield-Shaped Mirror And A Seven-Foot Sword Were Just Unearthed From A Fourth-Century Japanese Burial Mound

X Ray Of 7 Foot Dako Sword

Archaeological Institute of Kashihara in Nara PrefectureAn X-ray of the large dāko sword discovered at the Kofun-period tomb in Nara Prefecture.

While excavating a fourth-century tomb in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, a team of researchers made some “unprecedented and exciting” new discoveries: a massive, seven-foot dāko iron sword and a “magical” bronze mirror shaped like a shield.

Both items were found at the Tomio Maruyama burial mound, which dates to the Kofun period (circa 300-538 C.E.). They were unearthed last November during an archaeological dig, and researchers are now saying they can be classified as national treasures.

Dig deeper in this report.

An Ancient Statue Of A Hercules-Like Figure Was Just Discovered In A Roman Sewer

Hercules Statue

Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica/FacebookThe Hercules statue appears to date back to the Roman imperial period, 27 B.C.E to 476 C.E.

History hums beneath the city of Rome. In the latest exciting archaeological find from the heart of the bygone Roman Empire, archaeologists have discovered a statue of a Hercules-like figure, draped in a lion’s cloak, while excavating an ancient sewer in the Appia Antica Park.

The statue was discovered about 65 feet beneath the earth during repairs of a sewer along Rome’s ancient Appian Way. It appears to date from the Roman imperial period, but other details about the statue’s history are difficult to determine. It was apparently tossed in a trench during the sewer’s construction.

See more here.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.