The murder of Julia Martha Thomas was one of the most notorious crimes
in Britain in the late 19th century. Thomas, a widow who lived in
Richmond in west London, was killed on 2 March 1879 by Kate Webster,
her Irish maid (pictured). Webster dismembered the body, boiled the
flesh off the bones, and threw most of it into the River Thames,
allegedly offering the fat to neighbours as dripping and lard. Part of
Thomas's remains were soon recovered but her severed head was only
found in October 2010 during building works being carried out for the
naturalist Sir David Attenborough. After the murder, Webster posed as
Thomas for two weeks but was exposed and fled to her family home at
Killanne, Ireland. She was arrested on 29 March and stood trial in
London at the Old Bailey in July 1879, where she was convicted and
sentenced to death. She confessed to the murder the night before she
was hanged on 29 July at Wandsworth Prison. The case attracted
considerable interest from the public and press in Great Britain and
Ireland.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Julia_Martha_Thomas>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1444:
Skanderbeg organised the League of Lezhë, an alliance of Albanian
Principalities that is regarded as the first unified Albanian state.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Lezh%C3%AB>
1484:
The College of Arms, one of the few remaining official heraldic
authorities in Europe, was established by royal charter in London.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Arms>
1776:
American Revolutionary War: Patriot militia from Georgia and South
Carolina attempted to resist the British action to seize and remove
supply ships anchored at Savannah, Georgia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Rice_Boats>
1919:
Communist, revolutionary socialist, and syndicalist delegates met in
Moscow to establish the Communist International.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Congress_of_the_Comintern>
1933:
The film King Kong made its premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New
York City.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_%281933_film%29>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
leapling (n):
Someone born on a 29th of February
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/leapling>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. Look at
the sun. If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my god.
To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my
cathedrals.
--Mikhail Gorbachev
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev>
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