The First Dumb Robbery in American History
From History of Everything by Stakuyi
March 6, 2026 · 20 min
About this episode
This episode recounts the story of Isaac Davis, who executed the first major bank robbery in America but failed spectacularly.
The man credited with the first big bank robbery in America was, frankly, bad at crime. Isaac Davis made off with $162,821 - or $3 million, in today's money - from the vault of the Bank of Pennsylvania sometime in the middle of the night on August 31st, 1798. This is the story of how everything fell apart. Watch the podcast Fight me at war of the barons Travel to Croatia with me here Travel to Greece with me here Travel to Thailand with me here Check out our sister podcast the Mystery of Everything Coffee Collab With The Lore Lodge COFFEE Bonus episodes as well as ad-free episodes on Patreon. Find us on Instagram. Join us on Discord. Submit your relatives on our website Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
People in this episode
Host: Stakuyi
Topics covered
- bank robbery
- American history
- crime
- 19th century
- financial crime
Keywords
- bank robbery
- Isaac Davis
- American history
- crime
- Bank of Pennsylvania
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bank of Pennsylvania
Places: America
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