The earliest articles I ever wrote were fillers for Fate Magazine. The following piece from 1877 was the basis of my first one. The incident is one of two showers of alligators I had discovered from that era.

The New York Times
New York, New York, USA
December 26, 1877

A Shower Of Alligators.
The Aiken (S. C.) Journal has this story:

“Dr. J. L. Smith, of Silverton Township, while opening up a new turpentine farm, noticed something fall to the ground and commence to crawl toward the tent where he was sitting. On examining the object he found it to be an alligator. In the course of a few moments a second one made its appearance. This so excited the curiosity of the Doctor that he looked around to see if he could discover any more, and found six others within a space of 200 yards. The animals were all quite lively, and about 12 inches in length. The place whereon they fell is situated on high sandy ground about six miles north of the Savannah River. The animals are supposed to have been taken up in a water-spout at some distant locality, and dropped in the region where they were found.”