A Brief History Fans of the film Braveheart may recall the heir to England’s throne, future king Edward II, having eyes for men rather than his French wife, Isabella the She-wolf. One of these men, Hugh Despenser, 1st Lord Despenser (c. 1286 – November 24, 1326), became a victim of that vengeful woman in one of history’s all-time most brutal executions, because as they say, well, sort of, “Hell hath no fury like a she-wolf scorned”! Digging Deeper Earlier on our site, we presented an article on hanging, drawing, and quartering. As that article mentioned, the process took multiple steps…
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A Brief History On this date in 1876, a public cry for justice was answered when W. M. “Boss” Tweed was turned over to legal authorities in New York city after having been captured in Spain. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find perhaps the most famously corrupt American government official of all time, and that is saying a lot! Holding a variety of political offices, from congressman to New York County Board of Supervisors to state senator, Tweed also held several appointed local government jobs, all of which he used to enrich himself. He did so by selling jobs and…
A Brief History The 22nd of November is indelibly etched in the public’s mind with the death of a revered hero! (And John F. Kennedy also died on November 22nd.) Yes, pirate aficionados everywhere mourn the 1718 loss of one of the most colorful pirates of all time, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find him born in England around 1680, and at some unknown point, becoming a sailor and finding himself in the West Indies. Back in the bad old pirate days, pirates often took on an alias to avoid prosecution (the penalty of…
A Brief History On November 21, 1916, the new and improved version of the Titanic became the largest ship sunk during World War I! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the third of the Olympic class ocean liners having been built after the Olympic and Titanic and actually being a bit bigger, incorporating new design features to prevent a disaster like the 1912 loss of Titanic. Entering service in December of 1915, she was almost 900 feet long and displacing 53,000 tons, the Britannic was fitted as a hospital ship for wartime service and was carrying 1066 souls on the…
A Brief History On Wednesday, November 20, 2013, the cable network, FX, aired the second episode of American Horror Story: Coven to feature Danny Huston as The Axeman of New Orleans, the nickname given to a never identified serial killer responsible for at least eight unsolved murders! Digging Deeper As already covered in an earlier article on our site, an previous incarnation of American Horror Story featured two characters based on mysterious historical figures. One later episode introduced yet another: the Axeman of New Orleans. The Axeman of New Orleans has never been identified or as far as we know even…