Boulton and Park, two Victorian homosexuals from upper-middle-class
English families, were cross-dressers and enjoyed playing the women's
roles in theatrical performances. Lord Arthur Clinton, Member of
Parliament for Newark, entered into a relationship with Boulton. Boulton
and Park were arrested in 1870 after leaving a London theatre in drag.
They were still in women's dresses the next morning when they appeared
in court, where hundreds had gathered. Boulton and Park were charged
with conspiracy to commit sodomy, a crime that carried a maximum prison
sentence of life with hard labour. They were found not guilty after the
prosecution failed to establish that they had anal sex. The judge, Sir
Alexander Cockburn, was highly critical of the police investigation.
Boulton and Park admitted to appearing in public dressed as women, which
was "an offence against public morals and common decency". They were
bound over for two years. The case was reported in all the major
newspapers, much of it in lurid terms.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulton_and_Park>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1223:
Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus': Mongol forces defeated a Kievan
Rus' army at the Kalka River in present-day Ukraine.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kalka_River>
1468:
Cardinal Bessarion announced his donation of 746 Greek and
Latin codices to the Republic of Venice, forming the Biblioteca
Marciana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana>
1935:
An earthquake registering 7.7 Mw struck Balochistan in the
British Raj, now part of Pakistan, killing between 30,000 and 60,000
people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1935_Quetta_earthquake>
2013:
A tornado struck Central Oklahoma killing 8 people and injuring
more than 150.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_El_Reno_tornado>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
unctuous:
1. Of a liquid, semisolid, or other substance: having the nature or
properties of an unguent or ointment; greasy, oily.
2. Having fat or oil present; fatty, greasy, oily.
3. Of an aroma or taste, or a beverage (such as coffee or wine) or food
(such as gravy, meat, or sauce): having layers of concentrated, velvety
flavour; lush, rich.
4. Of soil: soft and sticky.
5. (figuratively) Of a person:
6. Complacent, self-satisfied, smug.
7. Profusely polite, especially in an insincere and unpleasant manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unctuous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The sum of all known reverence I add up in you whoever you are,
The President is there in the White House for you, it is not you who are
here for him, The Secretaries act in their bureaus for you, not you
here for them, The Congress convenes every Twelfth-month for you,
Laws, courts, the forming of States, the charters of cities, the going
and coming of commerce and malls, are all for you.
--Leaves of Grass
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass>