John Rykener was a sex worker who was arrested in December 1394 for performing a sex act in women's clothes with John Britby in the Cheapside area of London. The Lord Mayor questioned him on the offences of prostitution and sodomy; a record of the interrogation was found in the 1990s in the City of London archives. Rykener introduced himself as Eleanor. He told the mayor that he had sex with both men and women, including priests and nuns, and that he had paid sexual encounters in Oxford and near the Tower of London. There is no evidence that he was prosecuted for either crime; prostitutes were not usually arrested in London during this period, and sodomy was pursued in ecclesiastical courts. Rykener has appeared in studies of English social, sexual and gender history and as a character in at least one modern work of popular historical fiction. His story has been adapted for the stage.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John/Eleanor_Rykener

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1863:

Service began on the Metropolitan Railway (construction pictured) between Paddington and Farringdon Street, today the oldest segment of the London Underground. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Railway

1927:

The science fiction film Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang, was released in Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_%281927_film%29

1941:

Greco-Italian War: The Greek army captured the strategically important Klisura Pass in Albania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Klisura_Pass

2007:

A general strike began in Guinea as an attempt to force President Lansana Conté to resign, eventually resulting in the appointment of two new prime ministers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Guinean_general_strike

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

blooper: 1. (US, dated) A radio which interferes with other radios, causing them to bloop (squeal loudly). 2. (informal) A blunder, an error. 3. (baseball, slang) A fly ball that is weakly hit just over the infielders. 4. (film, informal) A filmed or videotaped outtake that has recorded an amusing accident and/or mistake. 5. (nautical) A gaff-rigged fore-and-aft sail set from and aft of the aftmost mast of a square-rigged ship; a spanker. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/blooper

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

In ancient times the State absorbed authorities not its own, and intruded on the domain of personal freedom. In the Middle Ages it possessed too little authority, and suffered others to intrude. Modern States fall habitually into both excesses. The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. Liberty, by this definition, is the essential condition and guardian of religion...   --John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton