Random readings in history.

Following is a diverse mix of stories for history buffs. Did you know that in 2013, two Americans are receiving monthly veterans benefits because their fathers fought in the American Civil War?

US war costs last for more than a century, monthly payments to Civil War vet families, Associated Press via newser.com 

Former professional baseball start Eddie Waitkus has been gone a very long time, but Ruth Ann Steinhagen, the obsessed fan who very nearly murdered him more than 60 years ago, passed away only recently.

A Demented Fan and the Natural, at Philly Sports History

In rural Ireland, a historian has spent eight years curating a collection of Irish history documents secretly amassed by a fish merchant.

History Evergreen, at the New York Times