Centenaries - whole and half

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 October 29 - London gangster Jack "The Hat" McVitie vanishes after attending a gathering hosted by gang heads, the Kray Brothers. "The Hat" had supposedly insulted one of the brothers and an account says that Ronnie held him down while Reggie Kray plunged in the knife. Continuing the scenario, the victim was then placed in his automobile which was then taken to a junkyard and run through a car crusher. Both brothers were sent to prison and died there.

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1967 October 31 - Sixteen-year-old Glenda Tedball vanishes after being seen outside of her Ontario home. More than 30 years later, a man came forward with the claim that he and Glenda's, by then deceased, mother had been involved in her death. His account said that she was buried under her house but this area was dug up and no remains were found. The case is still unsolved.

[sdreid]

100 years ago - 1917 November 2 - In a London road, the beaten partial remains of Emilliene Gerard, 32, are found by a passing street sweeper. She'd been dispatched by, her lover, Louis Voisin and his other "love", Berthe Roche. Voisin was hanged in 1918 while Ms. Roche was sent to prison. She quickly went mad and died in 1919.

[sdreid]

100 years ago - 1917 November 24 - An explosive device goes off inside a Milwaukee police station, killing 10. The bomb had originally been placed at a church. It was suspected that anarchists were responsible but no-one was ever convicted of the crime.

[GUT]

I really look forward to these Stan, even though some of them lead to me wasting??? A lot of time following up on them.

[Mayerling]

100 years ago - 1917 November 2 - In a London road, the beaten partial remains of Emilliene Gerard, 32, are found by a passing street sweeper. She'd been dispatched by, her lover, Louis Voisin and his other "love", Berthe Roche. Voisin was hanged in 1918 while Ms. Roche was sent to prison. She quickly went mad and died in 1919.

The case of "Blodie Belgium", that Bernard Spilsbury was involved in.

Jeff

[sdreid]

Thanks GUT and Jeff.

[sdreid]

100 years ago - 1917 November 25 - Louis-Josephine Jaume disappears after going to meet Henri Landru. She is believed to be the ninth of his, at least, 11 victims. His scheme was to seduce lonely older women then murder them after gaining access to their insurance and funds. Landru went to the French guillotine in 1922. His severed head is currently on display in a Los Angeles museum.

[ChrisGeorge]

Lest we forget. It was 54 years ago, on this date, November 22, 1962, that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

[Pcdunn]

Lest we forget. It was 54 years ago, on this date, November 22, 1962, that U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Surely it was 1963, Chris?

I was just about eight years old then, and the adults around me were all stunned. I didn't understand the impact until much later in my life, but even then I knew a very bad thing had happened.

[Ginger]

I was just about eight years old then, and the adults around me were all stunned. I didn't understand the impact until much later in my life, but even then I knew a very bad thing had happened.

I was almost three. I have a vague memory of sitting on my mother's lap watching the President's funeral on TV. My great-great grandmother, who lived just two doors down from us, had passed away a few weeks prior, so I had that
as a reference point, and was upset.

[Mayerling]

Interestingly enough this was also the date (in 1963), when Ian Brady and Myra Hindley murdered John Kilbride, who I believe was their first victim (I could be wrong about that). When I read Emlyn Williams' account, "Beyond Belief" a few years later, I remember that the similarity of initials between President Kennedy and Kilbride impressed Brady and Hindley.

I once saw Williams on stage - in his one man show as Charles Dickens. But that was around 1980.

Jeff

[ChrisGeorge]

Interestingly enough this was also the date (in 1963), when Ian Brady and Myra Hindley murdered John Kilbride, who I believe was their first victim (I could be wrong about that). When I read Emlyn Williams' account, "Beyond Belief" a few years later, I remember that the similarity of initials between President Kennedy and Kilbride impressed Brady and Hindley.

I once saw Williams on stage - in his one man show as Charles Dickens. But that was around 1980.

Jeff

Hi Jeff

I also saw Emlyn Williams in his one-man show about Dickens, at Shriver Hall on the Johns Hopkins campus in Baltimore. It was a good evening!

This link might suggest the year was 1981: http://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/15/th...s-dickens.html.

Cheers

Chris

[Qlder]

A little off-topic, but an interesting aside:
I was recently made aware that both Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis share JFK's date of decease (22 November 1963).

[Mayerling]

Hi Jeff

I also saw Emlyn Williams in his one-man show about Dickens, at Shriver Hall on the Johns Hopkins campus in Baltimore. It was a good evening!

This link might suggest the year was 1981: http://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/15/th...s-dickens.html.

Cheers

Chris

Thanks for the link. It seems to be the right review of the show I saw but I saw it in Philadelphia with a college friend of mine. After seeing the show, because he did do a reading concerning Paul Dombey Jr. from "Dombey and Son", I finally read that novel. The reference to the final bit concerning about the "bloodcurdling" tale, was Williams as Dickens telling the story of "Captain Murderer" (a bluebeard type) from "The Uncommercial Traveller". The readings also included the beginning of one of the Christmas novels, "The Battle of Life", which has a rousing beginning (but when I read it I found it falls flat after awhile - not all of Dickens is good reading.

Jeff