On This Day

Tuesday 4th December 1928

91 years ago

"Dapper Dan" Hogan, a St. Paul, Minnesota (US) saloonkeeper and mob boss, was killed when someone planted a car bomb under the floorboards of his new Paige coupe. Fat and bloated from a big breakfast, Dapper Dan walked towards his Paige coupe to go to work. He had the car parked in the garage in back. Hogan climbed in, turned on the ignition, and stepped on the starter pedal. Unbeknownst to him, an explosive charge had been hidden between the engine block and the floorboard, wired to the bolt on the top of the engine block and attached by wires to the explosive. As he started the car the bomb detonated, with an explosion so great the car leapt backwards out of the garage. The hood blew off, all the coupe’s windows shattered, the gears flattened, and the steering wheel was blown from its base. Hogan’s right leg was smashed beyond recognition. He was taken to the hospital, slipped into a coma, and nine hours later died from his wounds. According to some accounts, Hogan probably would have perished instantly if he had been the size of a normal man. He was so fat, though, that he had to lean back in his car seat a ways to operate the vehicle, and his head was protected by the distance his stomach created; otherwise his head would have likely been ripped from his body during the explosion. His murder is still unsolved.