Spring Heeled Jack is a character said to have existed in England
during the Victorian era. Sightings of Spring Heeled Jack officially
began in 1837 and are recorded all over England, from London up to
Sheffield and Liverpool, but they were especially prevalent in
suburban London and later in the Midlands, where they peaked between
the 1850s and 1880s. Although some unconfirmed reports claim that it
could still be active, it is generally believed to have disappeared
after 1904, year of the last recorded incident. Many theories have
been proposed to ascertain its nature and identity, none of which have
been capable of clarifying the subject completely, and the phenomenon
still remains unexplained. The story of Spring Heeled Jack gained an
immense popularity in its time due to the tales of his bizarre
appearance and his capacity to perform extraordinary leaps, to the
point that it transcended the role of a mere paranormal phenomenon and
attained the status of urban legend. Since the moment the events
gained notoriety, it gradually became an integral part of English
folklore, exerting a lasting influence on England's popular culture
that endures to present date.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Heeled_Jack
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1495:
Friar John Cor recorded the first known batch of scotch whisky.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scotch_whisky)
1779:
Benedict Arnold was court-martialed for malfeasance.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Arnold)
1922:
A police force in Northern Ireland called the Royal Ulster
Constabulary was founded.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ulster_Constabulary)
1938:
The first Superman comic was published.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman)
1980:
The Cable News Network began broadcasting.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"I want to walk through life instead of being dragged through it." --
Alanis Morissette
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alanis_Morissette)