Did Matilda Rooney Spontaneously Combust? Episode #14
Manage episode 390339308 series 3512829
In 1885, on Christmas Day in Seneca, Illinois, USA, the bodies of Patrick and Matilda Rooney were found. Patrick died from asphyxiation, but Matilda's demise was mysterious—only her feet remained intact. The cause: a fire perhaps, but some have linked it to spontaneous human combustion. So did Matilda Rooney spontaneously combust?
Music
Theme Music by Dethlehem (dethlehem.bandcamp.com)
Social Links
- Website: www.mysteriouspals.com
- Email: mysteriouspalsonline@gmail.com
- Youtube: @MysteriousPals
- Facebook: @mysteriouspals
- Instagram: @mysteriouspals
- X/Twitter: @myserious_pals
Episode Resources
- Moreno, Richard. Myths and Mysteries of Illinois. Rowman & Littlefield, 6 Aug. 2013.
- “Therapeutic Gazette.” Google Books, G. S. Davis, 1889, books.google.com/books?id=u1U_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA387&dq=%22which+came+under+my+observation+while+coroner+of+La+Salle+County. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
- “Is Spontaneous Human Combustion Real? | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/story/is-spontaneous-human-combustion-real.
- “The Real Case of Spontaneous Combustion That Inspired a Death in Dickens’s Bleak House.” Www.mentalfloss.com, 20 Nov. 2018, www.mentalfloss.com/article/564288/charles-dickens-bleak-house-spontaneous-combustion-death.
- “Ball Lightning Scientists Remain in the Dark.” New Scientist, www.newscientist.com/article/dn1720-ball-lightning-scientists-remain-in-the-dark/.
- Radford, Benjamin. “Spontaneous Human Combustion: Facts & Theories.” Livescience.com, Live Science, 19 Dec. 2013, www.livescience.com/42080-spontaneous-human-combustion.html.
- Francis, Matthew. “The Dirty Secret behind Ball Lightning Is Dirt.” Ars Technica, 22 Jan. 2014, arstechnica.com/science/2014/01/the-dirty-secret-behind-ball-lightning-is-dirt/. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
- “Spontaneous Human Combustion.” Wikipedia, 2 Apr. 2022, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion.
Images
- Episode Thumbnail: Charles Dickens' Bleak House, MacMillan and Co, New-York London 1895 page 402
- Background Video by Brett Sayles from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/lighted-christmas-tree-1708601/
About the Mysterious Pals
A mysterious show about history and friendship.
52 episodes