Chang and Eng Bunker were Siamese-American conjoined twins born on May 11, 1811. They are most widely recognized for coining the phrase “Siamese twins,” which is generally used to this day to refer to conjoined twins. Little was known at the time about conjoined twins, and because of its rarity, they were two of the most widely studied humans within the 19th century.

The “First” Siamese Twins

Chang and Eng were born in what we today know as Thailand. They were joined at the sternum by a band of flesh and cartilage about five inches long and nine inches in circumference. Their livers were also connected. Upon consulting various medical professionals, the brothers were urged not to attempt surgery to separate them. At the time, medical technology was not advanced enough for a successful operation.

Their Life in the United States

Chang and Eng left for the United States in 1829. They were only seventeen years old. Their popularity skyrocketed after they became heavily involved in “freak shows.” However, after three years of consistent involvement in shows, they decided to tour on their own. They quickly found financial success. Upon their departure, they expressed that their managers had been cheating them of money. The brothers often performed athletic stunts, including running, somersaults, and swimming. They also played checkers and performed parlor tricks. Tickets for the show cost about 25 cents, and souvenirs, such as pamphlets or drawings of the men, were often sold at the shows as well.

The Pre-/Post-Civil War Years

In 1839, after nearly a decade of touring, the brothers decided to settle down and quit their current lifestyle. They moved to North Carolina and became citizens of the United States. Chang and Eng married local sisters and raised 21 children. Many of their children ultimately ended up touring with their fathers once they came out of “retirement.” The brothers even owned slaves in North Carolina up until the end of the Civil War. In the years following the war, they lost their slaves and a portion of their wealth as well. This is ultimately what caused the brothers to continue touring. However, many audiences in the north were unsupportive of them due to their slaveholding practices in the south. To combat this continuous criticism, the brothers presented themselves as old men with many children who simply supported their state during the period. They were even outspoken about several of their sons who were harmed during the war, even though they were part of the Confederate States Army. This made the audience angry. Many believed the men were attempting to take advantage of them.

Health Problems

In 1870, Chang and Eng visited Russia and Germany with plans to explore other parts of Europe. They returned home soon after to avoid the Franco-Prussian War. During the journey back home, Chang suffered a stroke on the ship and his right side became paralyzed. As a result of Chang’s medical condition, the brothers decided to retire from touring altogether, even though Eng remained in good health. Chang’s condition continually deteriorated and he began drinking heavily. Eventually, his right leg was slung. Chang developed bronchitis four years later in January 1874. He was urged by medical professionals to stay indoors to avoid the cold weather. Still, against this advice, the brothers traveled to Eng’s house on January 15, further exposing Chang to harsh weather. The next day, Chang appeared to have recovered from the previous day of travel. However, that same night he found himself having difficulty breathing, so they decided to sit upright in a chair for the night. Eng quickly became paranoid about spending nearly an entire week with his brother being ill and urged Chang to lay in bed instead.

The Death of Chang and Eng

Early the next morning, one of Eng’s sons came to check on the twins. He found Chang dead beside his brother. Still alive, Eng expressed that he must go also. About two hours after Chang’s death, Eng passed away before the family physician could assist him. Chang and Eng’s body was autopsied and researched following their death. They are buried in North Carolina. Their fused livers are currently displayed in a jar at Mutter Museum in Philadelphia.

Herbert George Wells, the internationally celebrated English writer, was born in the Bromley area of Kent, England, on September 21st, 1866. He was a renowned novelist, historian, teacher, and journalist. HG Wells penned dozens of artistic works, including short stories, novels, autobiographies, and biographies. The author was particularly acclaimed as a gifted writer of science fiction. Well’s book, The Time Machine, is a highly acclaimed and phenomenal work that catapulted him to literary fame. Other famous titles by Wells include War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man. The renowned author, who was dubbed as “the Shakespearean father of science fiction,” died in 1946. Despite his fame as a distinguished man of letters, the secret life of HG Wells, particularly his erotic liaisons with a coterie of women, is both controversial and shocking.

The Shocking Sex Life of HG Wells

HG Wells was recently unveiled as a determined, unrelenting, and unapologetic advocate of free love. As Wells himself famously said towards the end of his life, “I have pleased myself tremendously through romantic deeds.., every iota of sexual impulse in me… has fully expressed itself. Let me admit it, I am immoral and have preyed on admirers.” Interestingly, a newly launched biography reveals some graphic, sordid details about the author’s intriguing sex life. HG Wells has been described as an irresistible magnet that strongly attracted women. Indeed, most of the women’s adulterous appetites drove them to follow him passionately, even if it meant they would die. Much of the prolific writer’s erotic life was generally unknown by his adoring fans. His extraordinary literary exploits were more than matched by his overactive and unusual sexual thirst that led him to dally in fascinating sexual encounters with many young women. Some of them laid out elaborate love traps that would catch the all-too-willing scholar-turned sexual predator. At one time, Wells shockingly had sex with a woman within a church building. He would later have more sex with her in the nearby bushes.

The “Unattractive” Romantic Lover

It did not deter that Wells was apparently sexually unappealing, going by his physical attributes. His appearance was even described as “unprepossessing.”  The renowned writer is also described as “a short man with a high-pitched voice and a tubby in tow.” Regardless, Wells proved to be the undisputed champion of indiscriminate love escapades that paired him with an amazing multiplicity of partners. Never mind that he was already married to two wives. One of Wells’ first documented secret lovers was Amber Reeves. The young lady was the daughter of New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the UK, William Reeves. When they first met, Amber was barely 18. She studied at the Cambridge, Newnham College, was brilliant and intellectually gifted. She was a great admirer of HG Wells and enthusiastically shared his philosophies. Interestingly, Wells already had three other lovers, Rosamund Bland, Dorothy Richardson, and Violet Hunt. Regardless, the relationship between Wells and Amber gradually grew intimate, with the two enjoying a peculiar closeness. Wells described the illicit affair as “romantically spontaneous,” suggesting that Amber lured him with her youthful magnetic enthusiasm.

Sex in a Church Building

The two rented a room near the Victoria Station in Warwick. This became the love birds’ ever-cozy nest. They went for long walks and ate at restaurants.  Sometimes Wells made love to Amber in the bushy, windy area near Hythe. They even once made love in a local church building. Of course, the affair soon became a scandal with Amber revealing the matter to her mother, lecturers, and fellow students. When Amber demanded to have a child with him, Wells was more than ready. He later sent some letters addressing the newborn as “Dear Pup,” assuring it of “daddy’s love.” Years later, the author admitted “feeling happiness and unregretted exhilaration as well as relishing a sense of sin” in these illicit affairs.

The Russian Spy Lover

In the 1930s, HG wells got involved in yet another steaming love affair with Moura Benckendorf, who was the official interpreter of Maxim Gorky, a Russian writer. Moura became one of Wells’ most enigmatic lovers. As author Andrea Lynn revealed, Moura feigned love to gain access to HG Well’s high circle of friends. In her book, the “Shadow Lovers,” Lynn says that through Moura, Wells met Benard Shaw Sydney, and Beatrice Wells, and Stalin. After this meeting, the communist dictator received international praise. Wells thought of Moura as an elusive woman of surprises. She once pretended to be pregnant with him. Later still, HG Wells had a fling with Odette Keun, a Dutch writer who greatly admired him. She famously lured Wells into a room that was ready and prepared for sex. Of course, Wells could not resist. The pair soon moved into Well’s winter abode in France to enjoy a brief romantic escapade.

Madam Gustika was a performer in a freak show. That fact has come to define her memory, but there was so much more to her than that. She was famous for having stretched lips, which was considered extremely bizarre for the time. But what is bizarre? To Madam Gustika, her lips were completely normal because that was part of her culture.

Her Famous Photograph

Her fame revolves around a photograph taken on the 12th April 1930 that shows her smoking a pipe. By placing ever-larger disks between her gums and her lips, she was able to stretch her lips to about 8 inches or 20 cm out from the rest of her mouth. While we don’t know much else about her, we’re certain that she appeared in a freak show, probably on Coney Island.

Freak Show Sensation

This would’ve probably been the first time people had seen someone who was born in Africa and raised in a 100% African environment. People weren’t used to seeing such people in those days, so it caused a lot of excitement when she first appeared in the United States. This was when freak shows were still popular because T.V. had just been invented and had not yet reached mainstream acceptance. There was still a niche market to be exploited, and this was a time was when people would go to Coney Island and see the various amusements on the boardwalk there. Working-class people couldn’t afford to go overseas on holiday, so seaside attractions or picnics were the main recreational activities in those days. Seeing people from different areas of the world was one of the main draws for the local audience.

Where Did Madam Gusitka Come From?

Madam Gustika was probably from Ethiopia. However, people like her were erroneously described as being from the Ubangi tribe because it sounded exotic and was easy to pronounce. Madam Gustika was billed as being a member of the Duckbill tribe, but not much else is written about her. The fact that she was smoking a pipe in the photograph made her relatable, even though her pipe was a western model. This was probably a gimmick to show that she could still use her mouth because the practicality of having enlarged lips must be questionable.

Why Were Her Lips Stretched?

A lot of tribes around the world used plates in their mouths to stretch their lips. Such discs were often made from wood or clay because these were the materials that were readily available. Practices like these continue to this day in Ethiopia among the Mursi and Suri women. In other tribes, the practice has been discontinued. The Sara women in Chad stopped wearing plates in their mouths 100 years ago. Over in Brazil, the Suya men did the same thing while the Makonde tribe in Mozambique and Tanzania did the same thing. Historically, the practice of lip stretching could be gender-specific and either be a symbol of identity or a sign of beauty as well. As these tribes came into contact with the wider world, their priorities changed, and inevitably parts of their culture like beauty modification were lost to history. Even in these unique cultures, times change, and preserving something for its own sake can become a burden to those people who don’t care about tribal identity as much as their ancestors did.

Moving Away From Freak Shows

The days when Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey ran freak shows are over, but they still occupy a niche market. Such shows are good for one night, and then the public loses interest, which is what happened to the freak shows that peaked in popularity decades ago. Such acts are now seen as exploitive and lacking dignity. The idea that people could be different can be a profound shock to westerners. But the process goes both ways – people who aren’t used to other cultures can suffer from culture shock just as much as we can. Thankfully we live in a more enlightened era, so such spectacles as Madam Gustika are almost a thing of the past. The real “freaks” were in the audience and not on the stage. Hopefully, Madam Gustika led a happy life, and we can learn from the mistakes of the past.

The story of Grady Stiles is both fascinating and horrifying. Grady Stiles was a famous freak show performer, but his life took several dark turns and ended in cold blood.

The “Lobster Boy”

Stiles was born in 1937 with a deformity called ectrodactyly. Ectrodactyly is a genetic condition in which a person’s fingers and/or toes are fused together. This gives the appearance of a claw-like hand or foot. Ectrodactyly was in Stiles’s family for several generations, going back about 130 years before he was born. His father also had the condition and performed in a carnival sideshow attraction. He brought Grady into his act when he was just seven years old. Grady’s condition affected both his hands and feet, meaning that he could not walk properly. He got around using a wheelchair or by crawling, dragging himself with formidable upper body strength. Grady continued as a featured sideshow performer, going by the stage name “Lobster Boy.”

A Tragic Personal Life

  Grady married another carnival employee named Mary Herzog. Together, they had two children, one born with ectrodactyly. Grady included his children in his act, touring under the name “The Lobster Family.” When it was off-season, they lived in Gibsonton, Florida, also known as “Showtown USA.” Many carnival and circus performers gathered there while not on tour. Sadly, Grady’s life was plagued by alcoholism and anger issues. He was extremely abusive towards his family, especially when drunk. Eventually, he threw his wife and children out. Mary remarried “The World’s Smallest Man,” Harry Glenn Newman, and had one child together. Grady also remarried, this time to a woman named Barbara Browning. They had a child who was born with his genetic condition.

The Murder

By the time Grady remarried, his daughter Donna was engaged and planning their wedding. Apparently, Grady did not like Donna’s fiancé. On the night before the wedding, he asked her fiancé to come over to the house just to talk. Grady instead took a shotgun and murdered him on the spot. As Donna held her bleeding fiancé while he died, her father said, “I told you I would kill him.” He smiled.

The Aftermath

Grady went to trial in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he pleaded guilty to 3rd-degree murder. He never once showed any remorse. However, since there was no prison or institution in the state that was equipped to handle an inmate with his condition — he had cirrhosis of the liver which worsened his physical debility — he was only sentenced to 15 years probation. It’s said that after the incident, Donna never spoke to her father again. Yet somehow, Grady’s first wife, Mary, was drawn back to him. She left Harry and remarried Grady on the premise that he was a “new man” who would stop drinking and change his ways. Predictably, he did not change. Grady soon fell back into his typical pattern of drinking and abuse, often threatening to kill his wife and his family. Mary reportedly endured being choked by him. She would wake up to find him holding a knife to her throat. He also sexually abused her and once tried to smother her with a pillow after she suggested getting a divorce.

Grady’s Death

By that point in 1992, Mary was terrified for her and her family’s life. She decided that something needed to be done. She and her son, Harry Glenn Newman Jr. (known as Glenn), approached a 17-year-old named Chris Wyant who supposedly had gang ties. They paid him $1,500 to murder Grady. While Grady was sitting in the living room of his trailer home in his underwear, Wyant entered and shot him in the back of the head. He was 55-years-old when he was murdered. Glenn was given a lie detector test during the police investigation, but he failed. He broke down and admitted everything that happened. He was sentenced to life in prison. His mother, Mary, was given 12 years in prison on the charge of conspiring to commit murder. Wyant was convicted of 2nd-degree murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison.

The End of “The Lobster Boy”

Grady Stiles’s funeral was barely attended by anyone, and no one volunteered to be his pallbearers. Understandably, he was hated by the community. His entire life was marked by tragedy, hate, anger, abuse, and most of all, bloody violence.