Today in History - April 10 | Honking goose at the centre of high-profile divorce case
One of the most scandalous marriages in American history took place on April 10, 1926.
Wealthy real estate developer Edward "Daddy" Browning wed Frances Belle "Peaches" Heenan, with her parents' permission.
At the time, he was 51 and she was 15.
The wedding appalled polite society and the pair became tabloid fodder.
The couple became known for their incredibly expensive shopping trips, and crowds flocked to see them.
But the marriage ended only a few months later. That October she sought a legal separation, citing cruelty.
One of the examples cited was Mr Browning keeping a honking goose in their bedroom.
This doctored "composograph" from the New York Evening Graphic mocked the pair.
The judge ruled in Mr Browning's favour, and they remained married but separated until his death eight years later.
Peaches Browning later became a successful vaudeville actress until her death at age 46 after a fall in her bathroom.
F Scott Fitzgerald published his magnum opus The Great Gatsby on April 10, 1925.
The novel about wealthy socialites on Long Island was an unmitigated commercial flop.
Fitzgerald was talked into using the title The Great Gatsby at the behest of his editor. His intended title was Trilmachio in West Egg.
At the time of his death in 1940, Fitzgerald believed his novel had been forgotten.
In 1944, just 120 copies of the book were sold.
But the government body tasked with printing books for American troops overseas selected it as one of their picks.
They chose The Great Gatsby specifically because they were looking for good books that the soldiers probably hadn't read.
By the end of the war, 155,000 copies of the book were printed, making it a genuine hit.
Now, The Great Gatsby sells an average of half a million copies a year.
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