On this day, May 23, in 1934, outlaws Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down on a desolate road near their hide-out in Bienville Parish, La. The exploits of Clyde Barrow, 23, and Bonnie Parker, 24, caught the American imagination during the Great Depression. The public romanticized the lovers’ “Robin Hood” adventures, even though the Barrow Gang was responsible for killing nine police officers.

Bonnie, a pretty honors student, penned poems predicting their own deaths. Clyde wrote a letter complimenting Henry Ford for the company’s “dandy car,” which Ford used in advertisements: “For sustained speed and freedom from trouble, the Ford has got ever[y] other car skinned.”