The Thorpe affair of the 1970s was a British political and sex scandal that ended the career of Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for North Devon. The scandal arose from allegations by Norman Scott of a homosexual affair, at a time when such relationships were illegal in the United Kingdom. Thorpe denied any such liaison and largely managed to avoid public and press scrutiny, but Scott's allegations were a persistent threat for years, endangering the Liberal Party's mid-1970s revival. Unsuccessful attempts to buy Scott's silence and frighten him culminated in 1975 with the shooting of his dog by a hired gunman. The police investigation and publicity forced Thorpe's resignation. He and three others were charged with conspiracy to murder Scott, but the main prosecution witnesses were undermined by, among other factors, their financial arrangements with newspapers. All four defendents were acquitted, although there were later claims that important prosecution evidence had been suppressed by the police. Thorpe's reputation was damaged irreparably by evidence that was uncontested, and he did not return to public life.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1811:

A climbing team led by two German brothers became the first to reach the summit of the Jungfrau, one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungfrau

1913:

A strike by agricultural workers in Wheatland, California, US, degenerated into a riot, one of the first major farm labor confrontations in California. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatland_hop_riot

1936:

African American athlete Jesse Owens won the first of his four gold medals at the Berlin Summer Olympics, dashing Nazi leaders' hopes of Aryan domination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens

1960:

Niger officially gained independence from France as part of the decolonization of the French Community. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger

2007:

Former Deputy Director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga was captured after having been on the run following a conviction for kidnapping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%BAl_Iturriaga

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

ladder: 1. (firefighting) To ascend a building or wall using a ladder. 2. (of a knitted garment) To develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ladder

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

It was a hopeless thing, he thought, this obsession of his to present the people of the Earth as good and reasonable. For in many ways they were neither good nor reasonable; perhaps because they had not as yet entirely grown up. They were smart and quick and at times compassionate and even understanding, but they failed lamentably in many other ways. But if they had the chance … if they ever got a break, if they only could be told what was out in space, then they'd get a grip upon themselves and they would measure up and then, in the course of time, would be admitted into the great cofraternity of the people of the stars.   --Clifford D. Simak https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak