"Jack the Ripper" is the best known pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished districts in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter by someone claiming to be the murderer that was disseminated in the media. Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved women prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October 1888, and extremely disturbing letters from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotland Yard. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer, Jack the Ripper. Extensive newspaper coverage bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety on the Ripper. An investigation into a series of brutal killings in Whitechapel up to 1891 was unable to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of 1888, but the legend of Jack the Ripper solidified. As the murders were never solved, the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore, and pseudohistory. The term "ripperology" was coined to describe the study and analysis of the Ripper cases. There are over one hundred theories about the Ripper's identity, and the murders have inspired multiple works of fiction.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1788:

Over 15,000 British soldiers launched an attack on Vinegar Hill, the largest camp and headquarters of the County Wexford United Irish rebels, marking a turning point in the Irish Rebellion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vinegar_Hill

1813:

Peninsular War: The Marquess of Wellington's combined British, Portuguese, and Spanish allied army defeated the French near Vitoria, Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vitoria

1826:

Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army began their invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but they were initially held off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman%E2%80%93Egyptian_Invasion_of_Mani

1898:

In a bloodless event during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam from Spain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Guam

1948:

The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine , the world's first stored-program computer, ran its first computer program. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Small-Scale_Experimental_Machine

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

flyblown (adj): 1. Contaminated with flyblows. 2. Tainted http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/flyblown

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference. --Reinhold Niebuhr http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Reinhold_Niebuhr