The Tichborne case, a Victorian legal cause célèbre, concerned the
claim by an individual known as "the Claimant" (pictured) to be the
missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy and fortune. The real Roger
Tichborne disappeared after a shipwreck in 1854; later, rumours surfaced
that he had survived and made his way to Australia. In 1866 a butcher
called Thomas Castro from Wagga Wagga came forward claiming to be Roger
Tichborne; he travelled to England where, despite his unrefined manners
and bearing, he was accepted by Lady Tichborne as her son. Although
other family members were unconvinced, the Claimant gained considerable
public support. However, by 1871 evidence suggested that Castro was
actually Arthur Orton, a butcher's son from Wapping in London, who had
gone to sea as a boy. A civil case ended with charges of perjury against
him, and in 1874 a criminal court jury decided that he was indeed Orton.
He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. He was released in 1884; in
1895 he confessed to being Orton, only to recant immediately. He died
destitute in 1898. While most commentators accept that the Claimant was
Orton, for some a slight possibility exists that, after all, he was
Roger Tichborne.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tichborne_case>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1495:
An entry in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland made the first
recorded mention of Scotch whisky (bottle pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_whisky>
1676:
The Swedish warship Kronan, one of the largest ships in the
world of its time, sank at the Battle of Öland with a loss of around
800 men.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_%C3%96land>
1831:
British naval officer and explorer James Clark Ross
successfully led the first expedition to reach the North Magnetic Pole.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Magnetic_Pole>
1916:
Louis Brandeis became the first Jew to be appointed to the
United States Supreme Court.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Brandeis>
1943:
Eight German Junkers Ju 88s shot down British Overseas Airways
Corporation Flight 777 over the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Spain and
France, killing actor Leslie Howard and several other notable
passengers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_777>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
progeny:
1. (uncountable) Offspring or descendants.
2. (countable) Result of a creative effort.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/progeny>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Beauty cannot be defined by abscissas and ordinates; neither are
circles and ellipses created by their geometrical formulas.
--Carl von Clausewitz
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_von_Clausewitz>