Jonathan Wild is perhaps the most famous criminal of London, if not of the United Kingdom, in the 18th century, both because of his own actions and the uses novelists, playwrights, and political satirists made of them. He invented a scheme which allowed him to run one of the most successful gangs of thieves of the era, all the while appearing to be the nation's leading policeman. He manipulated the press and the nation's fears to become the most loved public figure of the 1720s; this love turned to hatred when his villany was exposed. After his death, he became a symbol of naked corruption and hypocrisy.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Wild
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
474: As the seven-year old Leo II was deemed too young to rule, his father Zeno was crowned as the co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno_%28emperor%29)
1895: Volleyball was invented at a YMCA in Holyoke, Massachusetts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volleyball)
1943: World War II: Allied forces secured Guadalcanal of the Solomon Islands from the Imperial Japanese Army, concluding the Battle of Guadalcanal, a key victory in the Pacific War. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalcanal)
1950: Red scare: Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the U.S. State Department of being filled with Communists. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy)
1960: Joanne Woodward was honored with the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Walk_of_Fame)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue, An everlasting vision of the everchanging view, A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold, A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold. -- Carole King -- (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carole_King)