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>
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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>
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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>
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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>
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