From today's featured article
|
John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (b. 18 December 1934), known as Lord Lucan, disappeared without trace in 1974. Born in
Marylebone, he attended
Eton College and served with the
Coldstream Guards, later becoming a professional gambler. Lucan had expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an
Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, with whom he had three children, but the marriage collapsed in 1972 and he moved out of the family home in
Belgravia. He lost a bitter custody battle, began to spy on his wife and children, and incurred gambling losses. In November 1974 the children's nanny, Sandra Rivett, was murdered in the basement of the Lucan family home. Lady Lucan was also attacked and she identified Lucan as her assailant. As the police investigated, Lucan drove to a friend's house in
East Sussex; hours later, he left and was never seen again. The car was found with a blood-stained interior and a lead pipe similar to one found at the crime scene in its
boot. A warrant for his arrest was issued, but despite hundreds of reported sightings, he has not been found and as of 2016 is legally presumed dead. (
Full article...)
|
Did you know...
|
![Referee retrieving doll from ring](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/Wrestling_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_85_kg_Men%27s_Greco-Roman_20.jpg/120px-Wrestling_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_85_kg_Men%27s_Greco-Roman_20.jpg) Referee retrieving doll from ring
- ... that during
wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics, coaches threw plush dolls of
Vinicius, the Olympic mascot, into the ring (pictured) if they wished to challenge a referee's call?
- ... that Hawaiian legislator
Luther Aholo was compared to the Athenian statesman
Solon?
- ... that the
Revolutionary Communist Party of India general secretary
Sudhindranath Kumar served two terms as Food Minister of
West Bengal?
- ... that artwork at
Othello station in Seattle, Washington, includes African dancers, an Asian-American "
totem pole", and
stormwater channels?
- ... that
Alice Bota, who writes for
Die Zeit and studied in Germany and Poland, won an
award for young journalists?
- ... that after the
Mataram conquest of the
Duchy of Surabaya, the son of its last duke married the sister of the conqueror,
Sultan Agung?
- ... that in 1980,
newspaper editor
Willis Tucker was elected the first
county executive of
Snohomish County, Washington?
- ... that
Cheshire Cheese may be found in
Essex?
|
|
|
In the news
|
![Bill English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Bill_English_September_2016.jpg/100px-Bill_English_September_2016.jpg) Bill English
|
On this day...
|
December 18:
Republic Day in Niger (
1958);
National Day in Qatar (
1878)
![Epimetheus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/PIA09813_Epimetheus_S._polar_region.jpg/120px-PIA09813_Epimetheus_S._polar_region.jpg) Epimetheus
-
1867 – In
Angola, New York, U.S., the last coach of a
Lake Shore Railway train
derailed, plunged 40 ft (12 m) down a
gully, and caught fire, resulting in 49 deaths.
-
1916 – The French
defeated German forces around the city of
Verdun-sur-Meuse in northeast France, ending the longest and one of the bloodiest battles in the
First World War.
-
1939 –
Second World War: The
Luftwaffe victory over the
Royal Air Force in the
Battle of the Heligoland Bight greatly influenced both sides' future air strategy.
-
1966 –
Epimetheus (pictured), one of the
moons of Saturn, was discovered, but was mistaken for
Janus. It took twelve years to determine that they are two distinct objects sharing the same
orbit.
-
1996 – The
school board of
Oakland, California,
passed a controversial resolution officially declaring
African American Vernacular English as a separate language or dialect.
|
|