Amazing Tales CT Podcast

12/06/2025

Hello everybody,

Just wanted to say that I've been busy compiling background information for a new project - a deep dive into the former Nike missile sites in Connecticut. A total of 16 towns participated in this Cold War project.

The missile sites protected Bridgeport and Hartford in the 1960s from a potential nuclear bomb invasion by Russia military planes. Missiles located at these sites would blow up the incoming plane - with the unfortunate side effect of causing a large plume of radioactive material in the air.

Here, I'm checking out one of the abandoned missile sites in a state forest in Portland.

I'll be doing presentations to groups about this topic starting in January. If you know any group that might want to hear the story, just drop me a note and we can pull it together.

Stay well!

Mike Allen

11/24/2025

Dear friends,

Everyone knew her as Florence Chandler. But, her real name was Florence Maybrick – a famous woman who spent time in a British jail for supposedly poisoning her husband, a man who some said was Jack the Ripper. The case of Jack the Ripper remains unsolved by Scotland Yard in England, after almost 150 years. The back story and theories are truly remarkable. But most interesting is how Florence managed to live incognito in a small Connecticut village until she died. Was she framed? Was her husband the infamous Ripper?

I’ll be telling her amazing story next Wednesday, December 3, at the Cheshire Public Library. The talk begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended.

Hope to see you there.
Mike Allen

11/17/2025

Hello friends,

I'll be telling the story of Prohibition tomorrow evening at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, starting at 6:00 p.m. Hope you can join me. Members: free. Non-members: $5.00.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16fyRgCQWz/

11/17/2025

Dear friends,

Nobody has ever been charged with being the notorious murderer Jack the Ripper. But a western Connecticut woman did spend time in jail in England, after being convicted of killing her husband – a man who some people claim was the infamous killer. Florence Maybrick lived out her life, after prison, in western Connecticut, incognito, and only a handful of persons knew her true identity until after she died. Was she framed? Was she the Ripper's killer?

I’ll be telling her incredible story on Wednesday, December 3, at the Cheshire Public Library. The talk begins at 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended.

Hope to see you there.
Mike Allen

11/15/2025

This week, in the final episode of Amazing Tales: A look at how the “iron horse” came along and put an end to horse-drawn rail cars, revolutionizing transportation and the speed and movement of mail, people, products and even ideas. To hear the final episode, go to: www.amazingtalesct.com

11/13/2025

This week marks the final Amazing Tales podcast episode, with a focus on the beginning of trains in the U.S. We look back to the very start of railroading in the country – including the epic race between the Tom Thumb steam engine and a horse-drawn train car to determine supremacy. To hear the final episode, go to: www.amazingtalesct.com

11/10/2025

Dear friends,

I’m returning to radio station i-95 FM this month for the latest edition of The Place You Live.

Thanksgiving – or Evacuation Day? Which holiday will you be celebrating this year? Both fall during the week of November 24 – but most people have forgotten about the meaning of November 25, Evacuation Day. It’s the day the British evacuated New York City after the long Revolutionary War, leaving the Patriots – led by George Washington – to run this country. We’ll have a look at both holidays, with some surprises you probably didn’t know.

You can hear The Place You Live on WRKI-FM / i-95 FM on Tuesday morning, November 18, from 8:15 to 9:00. Just set your FM radio for 95.1 – or just click the “listen now” button to listen live: https://i95rock.com/

Hope you can join Ethan, Lou, Large Dave and me for all the fun.
Mike Allen

11/10/2025

When the U.S. decided that alcohol was no longer benefiting society, every state – except two – voted to amend to the Constitution to outlaw the manufacturing and sale of liquor. Connecticut did not support the change. When the ban on booze became the law of the land, many people in the state found creative means around it and the Long Island Sound coastline afforded many opportunities for rum runners.

I’ll be telling the story of prohibition on the evening of Tuesday, November 18, at the Connecticut River Museum on Main Street in Essex. The talk begins at 6:00 p.m.

This lecture will be available in person and over Zoom. There is no cost to museum members. The fee for non-members is $5.00.

To access the live stream, you need to purchase a Virtual Ticket: https://ctrivermuseum.org/events/live-from-the-boathouse-mike-allen/

Hope to see you there.

Mike Allen

11/06/2025

Dear friends,

When the U.S. changed its Constitution to outlaw alcohol in 1919, only two states refused to endorse the change – and Connecticut was one of them. Port cities along Long Island Sound offered ideal smuggling locations for rum runners. The populace generally helped speakeasy owners by giving them a head’s up when police were nearby. The Prohibition Era gave rise to several notorious bootleggers, including East Haven’s Nellie Green and Bridgeport-based mobster Dutch Schultz.

I’ll be telling this story on the evening of Tuesday, November 18, at the Connecticut River Museum on Main Street in Essex. The talk begins at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Hope to see you there.
Mike Allen

11/06/2025

This week on Amazing Tales: An abandoned complex in CT became a veritable ghost town, after decades of hosting unique events and providing a summer getaway for some of the country’s top engineers. To hear more, go to: www.amazingtalesct.com

11/05/2025

Dear friends,

I’m returning to radio station i-95 FM this month for the latest edition of The Place You Live.

The end of November has two holidays that you can celebrate – Thanksgiving, which we all know about, and Evacuation Day, which most have forgotten about.

Evacuation Day – which falls on November 25 – marks the day that the British left their stronghold in New York City after the Revolutionary War, leaving George Washington and the rest of the Patriots on their own to build a new nation. It was a major celebrated holiday in New York City until about a century ago.

I’ll be telling the history behind these stories – including how why the British purposely stalled the turnover of New York to the Patriots, and the true story of the Mayflower, including the fact that most of the passengers were not pilgrims, as you were taught.

You can hear The Place You Live on WRKI-FM / i-95 FM on Tuesday morning, November 18, from 8:15 to 9:00. Just set your FM radio for 95.1 – or just click the “listen now” button here to listen live: https://i95rock.com/

Hope you can join Ethan, Lou, Large Dave and me for all the fun.
Mike Allen

11/04/2025

Dear friends,

Why did Benedict Arnold betray the Patriots and fight for the British? Was it for more money, more prestige, a sense of entitlement – or a terrible childhood upbringing that shaped his personality and led him to his traitorous behavior?

Arnold was considered among the very finest military leaders on the Patriot side. His heroics at the Battle of Saratoga are widely credited with being the turning point in the fight for independence. He was terribly wounded twice in the same leg – the second time at Saratoga – and yet was overlooked for promotion and pay raises by Congress. He was one of George Washington’s most trusted confidantes.

His decision to sell top-secret plans to West Point to a British spy unraveled b a stroke of luck – otherwise, the Patriots may have lost the war. The reasons for this desperate act remain elusive.

I’ll be exploring Arnold’s life and identifying some of the factors that likely played a role in his becoming the nation’s most notorious traitor. The presentation will be on Thursday, November 13, starting at 6:30 p.m., in the North Hall of St. Stephen’s Church on Main Street in Ridgefield.

Please contact the Ridgefield Historical Society for ticket information: https://ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org/event/benedict-arnold-connecticuts-most-misunderstood-traitor/

Hope to see you there.
Mike Allen

Discover the dramatic rise, heroism, and downfall of Benedict Arnold as storyteller Mike Allen brings to life the untold struggles and pivotal choices that turned a Revolutionary War hero into America’s most infamous traitor.