Yorkshire Ripper: Wearside Jack hoax and police blunders that derailed inquiry

Despite the 2.5-million police man hours expended on catching him, Peter Sutcliffe continued his murderous spree for more than five years

Read the full article on Independent here

 

Victorian Party People Unrolled Mummies For Fun

IF YOU WERE LOOKING TO have a great night out on January 15, 1834, Thomas Pettigrew’s sold-out event was definitely the place to be. The lucky Londoners who had managed to acquire a ticket for the Royal College of Surgeons that night, were looking forward to a rare sensation: before their eyes, Pettigrew was going to slowly unroll an authentic Egyptian mummy of the 21st dynasty–for science!

Read the full article on Atlas Obscura here

The Angry Brigade/Persons Unknown

documentary films by Gordon Carr (1972/1980)

World's first vagina museum to open in London

In a bright indoor space in Camden’s Stables Market, a giant tampon is flanked by giant menstrual cups. Illustrations of female genitalia are dotted around the walls and some underwear is in a glass case.

Read the full article on The Guardian here

The Misunderstood Legacy of Guy Fawkes

Every year, Britain commemorates the notorious Catholic conspirator’s failed plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. Elsewhere in the world, his reputation is much different.

Read the full article on The Atlantic here

Are Double-Sided Graves the Solution to London’s Burial Crisis?

Toward a new definition of eternity.

Read the full article on Atlas Obscura here

The 'mini Trump' who built a kingdom out of books

He wore a golden crown made from cardboard, appointed a horse as his prime minister and declared his hometown an independent country on April Fool's Day.

In many ways, Richard Booth was a classic British eccentric whose regular bouts of mischief and bluster could easily be dismissed as harmless follies that would never earn him much more than local notoriety.

Read the full article on CNN Travel here

America looks hopeless – a lot like the ‘mother country’ once did

A decade ago, as the scale of the disaster in Iraq began to sink in, American historians often compared the United States to ancient Rome. Both seemed to suffer from an imperial disease whose symptoms began with overreach and ended in collapse.

Read the full article on The Conversation here