TODAY IN HISTORY: Enslaved man mails himself to freedom
An enslaved US man made an unlikely escape to freedom on March 29, 1849.
Henry Brown had himself nailed into a wooden box less than a metre long and even shorter wide.
He then was mailed from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a free state.
In a 27-hour journey, he was transported by three wagons, three trains, a ferry and a steamboat.
Not all people handling the box followed the "Handle with care" and "This side up" instructions written on the box.
In the free North, Brown became a prominent anti-slavery campaigner. He then took up a career as a magician.
Under a novel legal theory, prosecutors argued that Nielsen (right) had hypnotised Hardrup (left) in prison, and that the latter was under the former's control.
After a lengthy legal proceeding, both were imprisoned - Hardup indefinitely, and Nielsen for life.
By coincidence, they were both released from prison in 1967.
It has also become the role Marilyn Monroe became perhaps best known for.
But Monroe was profoundly difficult to work with, needing 47 takes to nail the line, "It's me, Sugar".
Share a tip-off, video or photo with us
