Adele Spitzeder (9 February 1832 – 27 or 28 October 1895) was a German actress, folk singer, and confidence trickster. Initially a promising young actress, Spitzeder became a private banker in Munich when her theatrical success dwindled. Running what was possibly the first recorded Ponzi scheme, she offered large returns on investments by continually using the money of new investors to pay back the previous ones. At the height of her success, contemporary sources considered her the wealthiest woman in Bavaria, although she maintained the persona of a pious Christian woman who helped the poor. Brought to trial in 1872, she was convicted of bad accounting and mishandling customers' money, since Ponzi schemes were not yet illegal, and sentenced to three years in prison. In her later years, Spitzeder performed as a folk singer, living off friends and benefactors, but never completely left her criminal life, resulting in further trials and periods of incarceration.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adele_Spitzeder

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1920:

The Svalbard Treaty was signed in Paris, recognizing Norwegian sovereignty over the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard

1945:

World War II: A force of Allied aircraft unsuccessfully attacked a German destroyer in Førde Fjord, Norway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%281945%29

2001:

The American submarine USS Greeneville accidentally collided with the Ehime Maru (wreckage pictured), a Japanese training vessel operated by a high school, sinking the latter ship and killing nine people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehime_Maru_and_USS_Greeneville_collision

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gassy: 1. Having the nature of, or containing, gas. 2. (specifically) Of a beverage: containing dissolved gas (usually carbon dioxide); fizzy. 3. (specifically) Of a person: tending to burp; burpy. 4. (specifically) Of a person: tending to release flatus; flatulent. 5. Of food or drink: tending to cause flatulence. 6. (figuratively, informal) Tending to be long-winded or wordy, especially in a boastful and vain manner. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gassy

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

As during the time of kings it would have been naive to think that the king’s firstborn son would be the fittest to rule, so in our time it is naive to think that the democratically elected ruler will be the fittest. The rule of succession is not a formula for identifying the best ruler, it is a formula for conferring legitimacy on someone or other and thus forestalling civil conflict.   --J. M. Coetzee https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee