The Hall-Mills murder case reaches its climax in a New Jersey courtroom, as Justice Charles W. Parker denies the prosecution's desperate motion for a mistrial. Special prosecutor Alexander Simpson had alleged that jurors were sleeping during testimony and calling him unprintable epithets at a local hotel. Defense attorney Robert McCarter begins his summation by painting the defendants as "church-going Christians" rather than brutal killers, while dramatically pointing fingers at James Mills, the victim's husband, suggesting he had better opportunity to know about his wife's affair with Reverend Hall than did the minister's wife. Meanwhile, in nearby Maryland, 22-year-old Richard Henry Rule takes the witness stand in his own defense for the Halloween night murder of William J. Barbee Jr. Rule claims the fatal shot was accidental after being assaulted by a large group, saying he intended only to fire into the air to frighten them away.

These sensational murder trials captivated 1920s America during an era obsessed with crime and celebrity scandals. The Hall-Mills case, involving a minister's affair and double murder, had all the tabloid elements that defined Jazz Age journalism - sex, violence, and religious hypocrisy. This was the decade that made household names of criminals and created our modern media circus around trials. The cases reflect a society grappling with changing moral standards while still clinging to traditional church values, perfectly embodying the cultural tensions of the Roaring Twenties.

• A sea gull at Del Monte, California grabbed golfer James McKenzie's mashie shot on the first bounce and flew it out to sea, creating what might be golf's most unusual lost ball story
• Dr. Florence Hamburger of Johns Hopkins told Baltimore mothers they must choose between bridge parties and proper child-rearing, declaring 'tea-party wives' unfit to be good mothers
• The weather forecast promised a chilly night with temperatures dropping to 25 degrees - quite cold for early December in Washington
• British coal miners are finally returning to work after nearly eight months on strike, with the dispute having cost Britain an estimated 380 million pounds sterling

• Richard Henry Rule's father worked for the National Capital Press - making this a case where the newspaper industry was personally connected to the crime they were covering
• The Hall-Mills case prosecutor's mistrial motion was based partly on a hotel proprietor's affidavit that jurors were using 'unprintable epithets' - showing that even in the 1920s, some language was too scandalous for family newspapers
• Rule admitted to marrying 17-year-old Gladess M. Proctor at Elkton, Maryland in 1920 - Elkton was known as the 'Gretna Green of America' for quick marriages since Maryland had no waiting period
• St. Elizabeth's Hospital received praise from investigators despite being housed in 'old structures with inadequate sanitary equipment' - mental health treatment was still primitive even at leading institutions
• The British coal strike lasted exactly eight months to the day (May 1 to December 1), making it one of the longest labor disputes in world history