The 2006 Securitas depot robbery in Tonbridge, Kent, was the largest ever cash heist in the UK. Seven criminals stole almost £53 million in used and unused Bank of England sterling banknotes. After months of preparation, the gang abducted the manager and his family, then tricked their way inside the building (pictured) and tied up fourteen workers at gunpoint. Kent Police recovered over £19 million; by 2007, 36 people had been arrested in relation to the crime. At trial in London, five people were convicted and received long sentences, including the inside man, Emir Hysenaj. Lee Murray, the alleged mastermind of the heist, had fled to Morocco with his friend and accomplice Paul Allen. Murray successfully fought extradition to the UK and was eventually imprisoned for the robbery there instead. Allen was extradited and after a second trial in 2008 was jailed. A decade later, £32 million had not been recovered, and several suspects were still on the run.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securitas_depot_robbery
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1775:
American Revolutionary War: Continental Army colonel Henry Knox arrived at Fort Ticonderoga in New York to arrange the transport of 60 tons of artillery (depicted) to support the siege of Boston. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_train_of_artillery
1936:
The 1936 Soviet constitution, also known as the "Stalin constitution", was adopted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Constitution_of_the_Soviet_Union
1995:
Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 56 crashed shortly after takeoff from Nakhchivan Airport, killing 52 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Airlines_Flight_56
2005:
The Civil Partnership Act came into force, granting civil partnerships in the United Kingdom rights and responsibilities identical to civil marriage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Partnership_Act_2004
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
scarecrow: 1. An effigy, typically made of straw and dressed in old clothes, fixed to a pole in a field to deter birds from eating crops or seeds planted there. 2. (by extension, derogatory) A person regarded as resembling a scarecrow (sense 1) in some way; especially, a tall, thin, awkward person; or a person wearing ragged and tattered clothes. 3. (dated) Synonym of crow scarer (“a farmhand employed to scare birds from the fields”) 4. (figuratively) 5. Anything that appears terrifying but presents no danger; a paper tiger. 6. (military, World War II, historical) Military equipment or tactics used to scare and deter rather than cause actual damage. 7. (Britain, dialectal, obsolete) 8. The black tern (Chlidonias niger). 9. The hooded crow (Corvus cornix). 10. To cause (a person, their body, etc.) to look awkward and stiff, like a scarecrow (noun sense 1). 11. To splay (one's arms) away from the body, like the arms of a scarecrow. 12. To frighten or terrify (someone), as if using a scarecrow. 13. (archaic) To spoil the appearance of (something, such as the landscape or a view), as scarecrows may be regarded as doing. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scarecrow
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
In general, scientific progress calls for no more than the absorption and elaboration of new ideas — and this is a call most scientists are happy to heed. --Werner Heisenberg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg