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Today's featured article
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"Jack the Ripper" is the best known pseudonym given to an unidentified serial killer active in the largely impoverished districts in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter by someone claiming to be the murderer that was disseminated in the media. Attacks ascribed to the Ripper typically involved women prostitutes from the slums whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October 1888, and extremely disturbing letters from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotland Yard. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer, Jack the Ripper. Extensive newspaper coverage bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety on the Ripper. An investigation into a series of brutal killings in Whitechapel up to 1891 was unable to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of 1888, but the legend of Jack the Ripper solidified. As the murders were never solved, the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore, and pseudohistory. The term "ripperology" was coined to describe the study and analysis of the Ripper cases. There are over one hundred theories about the Ripper's identity, and the murders have inspired multiple works of fiction. (more...)
Recently featured: Funerary art – Choral symphony – Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
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In the news
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On this day...
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June 21: June Solstice (11:28 UTC, 2010); Midsummer festivities begin (Northern Hemisphere, 2010); Winter solstice festivals (Southern Hemisphere, 2010); World Music Day; National Aboriginal Day in Canada
1798 – Over 15,000 British soldiers launched an attack on Vinegar Hill, the largest camp and headquarters of the County Wexford United Irish rebels, marking a turning point in the Irish Rebellion.
1813 – Peninsular War: The Marquess of Wellington's combined British, Portuguese, and Spanish allied army defeated the French near Vitoria, Spain.
1826 – Greek War of Independence: A combined Egyptian and Ottoman army began their invasion of the Mani Peninsula, but they were initially held off by the Maniots at the fortifications of Vergas.
1898 – In a bloodless event during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam from Spain.
1948 – The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (replica pictured), the world's first stored-program computer, ran its first computer program.
1973 – The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its decision in the landmark case Miller v. California, establishing the "Miller test" for determining what is obscene material.
More anniversaries: June 20 – June 21 – June 22
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Today's featured picture
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The prickles of a rose plant. Prickles, which are needle-like extensions of the cortex and epidermis, are often confused with thorns, which are modified branches or stems, and spines, which are modified leaves. All three are hard structures with sharp, pointy ends, which are generally used by plants to protect themselves from herbivores. Thorns likely first evolved as a defense mechanism in plants growing in sandy environments which provided inadequate resources for fast regeneration.
Photo: Noodle snacks
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