The Baker Street robbery was the burglary of safe deposit boxes at the
Baker Street branch of Lloyds Bank in London, England, on the night of
11 September 1971. A gang tunnelled 40 feet (12 m) from a rented shop
two doors away to come up through the floor of the vault (diagram
shown). The property stolen was probably worth between £1.25 and
£3 million; only £231,000 was recovered by the police. The burglary
was planned by Anthony Gavin, a career criminal, who was inspired by
"The Red-Headed League", a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle in which
Sherlock Holmes waits in a bank vault to arrest a gang who have
tunnelled in through the floor. Gavin and his colleagues rented a
leather goods shop, and tunnelled during weekends. Police found members
of the gang soon after the break-in; one of the burglars had signed the
lease in his own name, and informers led investigators to Gavin. Many of
the papers relating to the burglary remain under embargo at The National
Archives until January 2071.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Street_robbery>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1945:
The Japanese-run camp at Batu Lintang, Sarawak, in Borneo was
liberated by the Australian 9th Division, averting the planned massacre
of its 2,000-plus Allied POWs and civilian internees by four days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Lintang_camp>
1978:
British medical photographer Janet Parker became the last
recorded person to die from smallpox, leading to a debate on whether the
virus should be preserved.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_smallpox_outbreak_in_the_United_Kingdom>
1995:
Mir EO-19, the nineteenth crewed mission to the Russian space
station Mir, returned to Earth after approximately 75 days in space. It
was the first Mir expedition launched on an American Space Shuttle.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir_EO-19>
2001:
Al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger airliners to carry out a
series of terrorist attacks (second attack pictured) against targets in
New York City and the Washington, D.C., area.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
obtrusive:
1. (obsolete) Protruding or sticking out, especially in a way that
obstructs.
2. (figurative)
3. Of a person: overly assertive, bold, or domineering; pushy; also,
ostentatious.
4. Of a thing: noticeable or prominent, especially in a displeasing way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/obtrusive>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We are today, as human beings, evolved and cultured far beyond
the taboos which are inherent in our culture. This is a very important
fact to realise.
--D. H. Lawrence
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/D._H._Lawrence>
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