It Happened in Wisconsin gives readers a unique look at intriguing people and episodes from the history of the Badger State.

Find out how Wisconsin’s dairy farms came to produce some of the world’s finest cheeses. Learn how the raging wildfire in Peshtigo killed as many as 2,400 people. Discover how Joe McCarthy evolved from an amateur boxer into one of the country’s most infamous senators. Marvel at the throngs who attended “The Miracle in the Sun.” And relive the Pack’s thrilling “Instant Replay Game.”

In an easy-to-read style that’s entertaining as it is informative, author Michael Bie recounts some of the most captivating moments in Wisconsin.
 

"History need not be boring and Michael Bie demonstrates that with interesting, easy-to-read accounts of thirty Wisconsin anecdotes. I've read a lot of Wisconsin history books but this was the easiest and the most enjoyable."

Lee Sherman Dreyfus
Wisconsin Governor, 1978-82


"It goes without saying that Mike Bie is a splendid storyteller, but his real gift is digging out the tales from the past that are truly worth telling. Nobody knows the truth behind more Wisconsin myths and legends than
Mike Bie, and it's his singular talent that in dealing us those truths he has produced a book as entertaining as any fiction."

Doug Moe
Capital Times columnist & author

From the very start, “Smiling Joe” McCarthy, the fearless middleweight from Appleton, had a taste for the jugular.

It Happened in Necedah, Allegedly-1950
Mary Ann Van Hoof, a slight, plain farmwoman who resided with her husband and seven children near Necedah, awoke in her bed one night with a feeling that somebody was in the room. She was right. Standing before her was the Virgin Mary, wearing a cream-colored dress with a light blue cloak that had blue stars at the bottom. Despite a thin veil that covered the apparition’s head, Van Hoof could see that Mary was a blonde.

Frightened, Van Hoof pulled the sheets over her head.

Upon Further Review: Four Minutes in Titletown-1989
Forty-one seconds remained. Majkowski would have to pull another desperate play out of thin air. Twice before he lost the ball in scoring position.

Do or die again, this time for the game.

On the next play Majkowski dropped back to pass. The Bears came hard. Majkowski escaped the pocket, his mullet flying. Trace Armstrong gave chase toward the Packers sideline. Majkowksi could hear the 260-pound man behind him. The quarterback started to bring his arm forward, resigned to throwing the pass up for grabs and hoping for the best, when Sterling Sharpe entered the corner of his eye moving left to right. Majkowski cocked his arm, bought another second, and drilled a pass off balance.

Sharpe caught the ball in a den of astonished Bear defenders.

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