2 Hours of Interesting Stories From the Past! - History Compilation

History is like a vast ocean filled with stories both known and those lost to the tides of Time in today's compilation we explore a handful of Tales From the Past We Begin by delving into the story of a pioneering pilot whose tragic death still holds mystery to this day born on July the 1st 1903 in Kingston upon Hull a port city in the northeast of England Amy Johnson or Johnny as she was sometimes called seemed destined for a Normal average life after graduating from Sheffield University with a degree in economics she relocated to London where

she found work as a secretary for a solicitor it was here though that she first became interested in flying to indulge in her hobby Amy began taking lessons at the London airplane club during the winter of 1928 and it didn't take long for this interest to grow into a legitimate passion for Aviation she soon found Herself with an allc consuming determination to take to the skies in a bid to demonstrate to the entire world that women were just as good as men when flying and handling aircraft needless to say this lofty goal made her the

subject of ridicule one of her instructors at the London airplane Club even went as far as to tell her that she would never become an aviator no matter how hard she tried Amy was also forced to take 16 hours of duwel flying lessons which was Twice as long as the usual before she was allowed to take a solo flight despite these challenges Amy earned her pilot's license in July 1929 that same year she also became the first ever British woman to meet the qualifications for becoming a ground engineer at the time the world was an

awe of Bert hinkler an Australian aviator who had made headlines in February 1928 after he flew solo from England to Australia this was the first solo flight between the two countries and the fact that Bert managed to do it within 15 days made his feet even more astounding the flight turned him into an overnight sensation with the media calling Bert the hustling HL he was also awarded a slew of trophies including the 1928 Oswald watt gold medal and two britania trophies from the Royal AO Club Bert's achievements may have been astounding but Amy was Determined

to outshine him in 1930 she sought financial help from her father and Lord Charles Wakefield a man who was known for his philanthropic causes and his Pon for helping people set World Records backed by their Deep Pockets she purchased a single engine gypsy moth airplane and christened at Jason the name a contraction of her father's business trademark on May 5th 1930 Amy and Jason set off from Cen in an effort to beat Bert hinkler record the flight Was an eventful one and on May 24th Amy touched down in the city of Darwin Australia a successful

flight but sadly not a successful record attempt Amy missing out on matching Bert's feet by 3 days in a 1930 article published by the guardian Amy described her flight to Australia when I cited Melville Island I stood up and cheered myself I threw overboard my pneumatic pillow which I carried in case I crashed into the sea I also carried a sheath knife for Protection against sharks I cried and laughed alternately until I picked up the point Charles Lighthouse and turned towards Port Darwin as stated earlier the flight had been an eventful one punctuated by forced

Landings amid a desert Sandstorm several crash Landings a tropical storm and a near collision with a mountain range as well as severe engine problems and fierce winds Amy also struggled against the cold loneliness and exhaustion as she flew 12 Hours a day in an open cockpit while her attempt ultimately proved to be unsuccessful Amy gained worldwide recognition for being the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia a trip that spanned over 11,000 miles not only did she receive the Harmon Trophy and CBE she also earned an Australian civil pilot's license to add to

that the media gave her the nickname Queen of the air and b the public to keep their eyes on her Lest they miss the extraordinary Feats that she would surely be accomplishing and they didn't have to wait long in July 1931 she once again began an attempt at a record-breaking flight this one from London to Tokyo Amy wouldn't be alone this time around as she was accompanied by Jack humph who had been one of her instructors at the London airplane Club the pair made the trip in a deav and dh80 pus moth aircraft nicknamed Jason

II after her original iy Moth was obliterated in a crash the year before by the time they landed 10 days later they had set the world record for the fastest flight from England to Japan which skyrocketed Amy's popularity and fame even [Music] more thank you very much indeed for giving me such a warm welcome here I simply haven't words to tell you how glad I am to be back in London if my trip has done nothing else it has made Me appreciate London more than ever I have done in my life before in 1932 she

married a Scottish Aviator named Jim Mollison whom she met while on a publicity tour in Australia after her extraordinary flight from Cen to Darwin he was also known for the world records that he had set including the first solar flight across the Atlantic Ocean nicknamed The Flying sweethearts by the press Amy and Jim went on highly publicized long-distance Trips which included an attempt to set another world record for flying from pendy Sands and Wales all the way to New York City Unfortunately they crashed in bridport Connecticut which left them both with horrific injuries I thought

before we took off that you might like to say something to the folks here in Bridgeport yes thanks I would like the opportunity of thanking everyone here for their kindness L unfortunately we didn't arrive in quite the way we Anticipated but we are here next the break thing and though Beauty was never my strong point I suppose that now it is still less so at in rate of Fu bear with our appearance we just Amy has said want to say how grateful we are despite failing to complete the flight the flying sweethearts were given a

hero's welcome in the United States where they were met by President Franklin Roosevelt and America's First Lady of the air Amelia aart the years that followed saw Amy breaking and setting countless World Records in July 1932 she flew solo from England to Cape Town in South Africa which she repeated four years later in 1936 to beat her own time in 1934 she and her husband also participated in an air race that involved a flight from England to Australia Manning a deavin dh8 comet aircraft the pair had to retire in India after having inine trouble though

they set a Record for fastest flight between the two countries In doing so for the couple things on the outside seemed fine however Jim and Amy's marriage was extremely volatile thanks in part to their life under constant public scrutiny this eventually proved to be too much and in 1938 the couple divorced besides her record-breaking longdistance flight Amy also undertook a number of other roles for instance the daily maale appointed her as their Aviation editor in 1934 two years later she appeared on the pages of Vogue magazine modeling a collection of flight wear from the renowned

Italian designer Elsa Shia perelli Amy also took an interest in motor rallying gliding and driving fast cars all of which she pursued alongside her career as one of the world's most prolific female aviators when the second world war broke out in September 1939 Amy was forced to Reconsider her life in the public eye thanks to her flying skills and pilot's license she was able to join the Air transport auxiliary or the ATA for short in May 1940 this unit cons assisted of aviators who fed military aircraft from Factory air strips to Bases held by the

Royal Air Force they manned a wide range of airplanes including biplanes and lightweight Spitfires as well as bulky Lancaster bombers however they weren't Equipped with any navigational AIDS or radios and were told to Simply make do with the basics specifically maps and a compass those in the ATA were also asked to fly blind in all weathers which was a directive that would ultimately play a role in Amy Johnson's demise on January the 5th 1941 Amy agreed to take a mission for the air Ministry despite the poor conditions the weather that day had been snowy foggy

and freezing cold her Mission consisted of flying an AirSpeed As10 Oxford from presswick via Blackpool Aerodrome to the Royal Air Force Base in kidlington near Oxford what was supposed to be a routine 90-minute flight turned into a catastrophe when 4 hours after takeoff reports came in that Amy had parachuted into the tamery near Hearn Bay which lay many miles off the original course the Convoy of wartime vessels spotted Amy's parachute coming down but their rescue efforts were in vain Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher the captain of HMS Hazel maneuvered his ship to attempt a rescue the

crew threw ropes out to Amy but she was unable to grab them and was lost under the ship Fletcher then swam out to what was believed to be a body in the water rested on it for a few minutes then let go when the rescue boats reached him he was unconscious the adverse weather had taken its tll and he died in hospital a few days later Amy's body was never recovered although parts Of the twin AirSpeed Oxford aircraft that she had been Manning as well as her traveling bag log book and checkbook were later found

the mysterious circumstances of her disappearance along with the lack of a body and the fact that it was wartime sparked many theories some held that she was accidentally shot down by Friendly Fire which was a theory that gained popularity in 1999 when a man named Tom Mitchell from crobar Sur went public With his allegation of shooting down Amy Johnson's plane he claimed that Amy failed to say the right identification code which was changed every day for all British forces apparently she failed to give the code twice and was shot down historian Alec Gill claimed in

2016 that the son of a crew member had stated that during the attempted rescue Amy was sucked into the blades of the ship's propellers the crewman did not observe this however he believed it to be true Another conspiracy theory claims that two bodies were actually recovered from the Tams Esty which indicated that Amy had been on a secret mission at the time others however say that Amy had merely veered off course due to the poor weather conditions because of this her aircraft ran out of fuel and she drowned before help could arrive her final seconds

May remain shrouded in mystery forever but the colorful and daring life that Amy Johnson LED has served as an Inspiration to thousands of women across the world in 2016 the 75th anniversary of her death was commemorated with the unveiling of a statue crafted by the renowned artist Steven Melton the bronze life-size Monument shows Amy with a joyful expression on her face holding a compass in her left hand while her right appears to be pulling down her flying goggles two identical statues were cast one was placed in her hometown of Kingston upon Hall while the other

stands on the shores of Hearn Bay in Kent which was recorded by the Royal Air Force accident record card as the location of her final doomed flight carved on the helmets of both statues is one of her famous quotes believe nothing to be impossible it was an adage that Amy Johnson swore by seen and how a huge part of her life was dedicated to pioneering the skies for women aviators [Music] everywhere next we look at the life of one man whose tale is perhaps unique in history Afflicted with a rare disfiguring condition Joseph meric's one

wish was to live a normal life born on August the 5th 1862 in leester England Joseph kery meric was named after his father who worked as a warehouseman and the preacher William KY his mother Mary Jane suffered from a physical disability but found work as a Domestic servant at his birth Joseph was a healthy baby boy who exhibited no signs of an anatomical disorder his parents would go on to have three children together all suffering tragic fate Joseph's brother William Arthur died of scarlet fever age four while his sister Marian Eliza was born physically disabled

and would pass away at 23 years old from militis and inflammation of the spinal cord reports differ on when Joseph began to First display signs of His condition some state that he developed a swelling on his lips along with a bony lump on his forehead around 21 months old whereas a pamphlet published in 1884 states he was five when he began developing abnormal growths on his forehead and at the back of his neck and that several of his body parts also began to swell so much so that the color of his skin turned a sickly

gray Hue according to encyclopedia britanica quote the size of His head increased to 3T in circumference with spongy skin hanging from the back of his head and across his face defamation of the Jaws rendered him incapable of showing facial expression or speaking clearly although his left arm was normal his right arm ended in a wrist that was 12 in in circumference and a fin-like hand his legs were deformed in the same manner as his arm and a defec of hip caused such lameness that he could walk only with the made of A stick end quote

his parents believed that medic's condition resulted from his mother being knocked over by a Fairground elephant when she was pregnant with him this belief stemmed from the long since discredited medical Theory which posited that if a pregnant woman were to develop a sudden fear of an animal or object their child would bear some form of Mark from it aside from his deformities Joseph suffered a fall during his childhood damaging his Hip the injury would become infected leaving him requiring a cane to Aid with walk King this added to his struggles however his mother whom he

was close to remained positive encouraging him to live his life as normally as possible unfortunately Mary Jane died when medic was 11 after Contracting bronchial pneumonia a year later his father REM married a local Widow named Emma Wood until the pair would make his life miserable Joseph senior and his two Children moved in with Emma who had her own offspring in this Full House money was an issue and Joseph Junior would find himself regularly being taunted and sneered at this led him to stay out of the house for long periods and Mis meals as those

he would have at home would be followed by the snid remark that's more than you have earned Joseph left school age 13 and found work rolling cigars in an effort to Abate his Stepmother's constant jimes he did this For several years until the deformity in his right hand progressed to a point where he no longer possessed the necessary dexterity to complete the task despite his difficulties Joseph was still Keen to work if for nothing else than to keep his stepmother from taunting him further his father was eventually able to secure him a license to sell

items door too but this endeavor did not go well Joseph's facial deformities meant He found it difficult to speak clearly and make himself understood he also found himself met with shocked and horrified Faces by the few people who answered the door to him some would even follow him out of curiosity unable to support himself financially home life grew ever more depressive until one day Joseph senior severely beat his son before throwing him out onto the street medic would live with his Uncle Charles for a time until At the age of 17 and with nowhere else

to go he ended up at the leester Union Workhouse this facility was built in 1839 with the aim of helping the city's poor however the conditions inside were incredibly harsh despite leaving briefly several weeks later Joseph would ultimately spend four years in the workhouse he even underwent surgery there having part of the growth on his mouth removed after it grew to 20 Cm with his efforts to find employment away from the workhouse failing at every turn meric eventually came to the conclusion that the only way to escape the world house was to exploit his deformities

in 1883 he wrote to a freak Show proprietor Named Sam T who agreed to hire him as a traveling exhibit freak shows were incredibly popular during the 18th and 19th centuries with Queen Victoria herself reportedly being a big fan of Them according to the website history today quote because they were often touring shows visiting large cities and small Villages alike they attracted thousands of people each year this was helped by the low entry fee with some charging only a penny for admittance they were also accessible you did not need to be highly educated to enjoy

the freak Show they appealed to every class and to adults as well as children end quote medic toured Lester Nottingham and London along the way he gained the moniker of The Elephant Man and was said to be half a man half an elephant in London Joseph was hired by a shop owner named Tom Norman who used human Oddities to drum up business ladies and gentlemen I would like to introduce Mr Joseph meric The Elephant Man before doing so I ask you please to prepare yourselves brace yourselves up to witness one who is probably the most

remarkable human being ever to draw the Breath of life it was while he was here that medic's unusual sleeping position was first noticed rather than lying on a bed he slept sitting upright with his legs drawn up and used as a headrest Norman eventually realized that this was because medic's head was so large and heavy that it could crush his neck if he laid down his show was moderate ly successful and Joseph set aside his earnings in the hopes of buying a house someday he was Said to be an excellent writer and had written a

short autobiography that was sold to audiences at the show he also loved poetry and often ended his letters with a poem adapted from false Greatness by Isaac Watts which goes quote it is true my form is something odd but blaming me is blaming God God could I create myself a new I would not fail in pleasing you if I could reach from pole to pole or grasp the ocean with a span I would be measured by the soul the minds The standard of the man end quote it was at Norman's shop that meric first encountered

Dr Frederick teves a physician who worked at London Hospital which was located nearby he would later quote his head was the most interesting thing it was very very big like an enormous bag with a lot of books in it end quote teves asked a colleague named re Tucket to return to Tom Norman's shop and inquire about the possibility of Joseph visiting the London Hospital to Be studied Joseph agreed and in order to not draw a crowd he dawned a cloak along with a encompassing a hessan sack to cover his face fascinated by medic's deformities Dr

teves took extensive notes and measurements of his various body parts and growths across several visits he recorded that Joseph had a head circumference of 36 in and was covered in watery growths with some areas of Skin hanging away from the body meric hated the treatment he received and eventually refused to return stating that he quote felt like an animal in a cattle market despite his protestations this would not be the last Joseph meric would see of the London Hospital at this time inv Victorian Britain attitudes towards so-called freak shows were changing the large crowds they

drew were seen as a nuisance and they subject an affront to public Decency with authorities cracking down on such events Joseph's managers made the decision to send him on tour across Europe in 1885 things didn't get much better on the continent they too were cracking down on such shows and while in Brussels things would take a turn for the worse when Joseph was deserted by his manager he had also made off with medic's life savings of50 equivalent to roughly 6,000 £300 Today Joseph struggled to make his way back to London but eventually made his way

from antp to Essex in 1886 from there he made his way to Liverpool Street Station on June the 24th but had no place to stay his appearance soon began to draw a crowd however until a policeman was able to move him away from them he struggled to explain himself to the policeman and instead showed him a calling card given to him by Dr teves teves was contacted And quickly whisked Joseph back to the London Hospital after examining 24-year-old medic doct teves concluded that he was suffering from a debilitating heart condition that would kill him in

a few years this drew the sympathy of the hospital committee who agreed to house Merck but they lacked the fund to care for him long term the hospital's chair Francis car gum had a letter published in the times explaining Joseph's Situation and asking for suggestions on what to do next the public put forward many ideas but perhaps more importantly many donors came forward willing to help fund his stay in the basement of London Hospital two adjacent rooms were adapted for meric as per his request it had Direct access to the courtyard and contained no MERS

because he hated being reminded of his appearance there he led a quiet yet happy life enjoying daily visits from Dr Teves with whom he gradually became close as he eventually began to understand Joseph's speech according to the website all that interesting quote Dr teves became used to his speech impediment though he'd originally assumed that the Elephant Man was an imbecile he came to find meric's intellect completely normal though merik was wholly aware of the unfairness that filled his existence he bore little ill will towards the world that had shrunk Away from him in disgust end

quote at this point the only positive relationship Joseph had had with a woman had been the one with his mother the workhouse had been segregated and those he met as part of the freak Show recoiled in fear in an effort to help him feel normal Dr teves decided it would be a good idea to introduce Joseph to his friend a young Widow named Leila Maturin she had been told of meric's appearance and agreed to The introduction the meeting was short but positive it said that Joseph quickly became overcome with emotion stating that Leila was the

first woman to smile at him and shake his hand the pair would stay in touch for the rest of Joseph's life Dr teves believed that he wished to eventually live in a hospital for the blind where he might one day meet a woman who would not flinch at his Visage other prominent figures visited meric including princess Alexander of Wales Who eventually became Queen consort of king Edward iith of Great Britain during her visit she shook his hand and even even gifted him a signed photograph of herself which he treasured from then on she sent him

a card on Christmas Day each year others in high society would visit medic and bring him gifts in return he would give them baskets and card models he had made himself the hospital staff tried their best to meet medic's wishes they also Fulfilled his desire to visit the theater Dr teves with the help of a renowned British actor M Kendall arranged a special viewing for him at the theater Royal in Drury Lane which at the time was holding its annual Christmas pantomime meric was given a seat in a private box that belonged to baroness bird

at C which lay partially concealed from the audience later Dr trees would say that the performance left medic OD Enthralled and speechless he continued to talk about it long after it ended reliving its story as if it had been real this trip to the theater wasn't the only Excursion that Dr teves planned according to the website people pill quote on three occasions mer left the hospital and London on holiday spending a few weeks at a time in the countryside through elaborate Arrangements that allowed him to border Train train unseen and to have an entire Carriage

to himself he traveled to northamptonshire to stay at forsley Hall the estate of Lady nightly he stayed at the gamekeeper's cottage and spent the days walking in the estate's woods collecting wild flowers he befriended a young Farm laborer who later recalled meric as an interesting and well-educated man end quote unfortunately these excursions ended when medic's Deteriorating Health left him bedridden and with diminishing energy however his physical deformities continued to grow his head becoming even larger on April the 11th 1890 after 4 years at London Hospital 27-year-old Joseph medic was found dead in his bed an

autopsy later revealed that he had a dislocated neck as his head grew Joseph adopted the sleeping position mentioned earlier sleeping sat up with his head resting on his knees Dr teves Stated that he had often mentioned his desire to sleep lying down like other people he must with some determination have made the experiment this led to the weight of his head crushing his windpipe causing him to asfixiate however some historians now believe that his spinal cord was either crushed or severed when his enlarged head fell back onto the bed after his death medic's body was

dissected by Dr geves Who took skin samples from him as Well as plaster casts of his head and limbs his skeleton was also preserved and kept at the London Hospital along with a mounted replica musician Michael Jackson reportedly tried to purchase the real skeleton but was refused by the hospital committee as they believed doing so would be disrespectful to merik Merck and his family believed that his deformities were the result of his mother almost being crushed underfoot by an Elephant however many now believe that he may have been suffering from a severe case of neuro

fibromatosis which is a genetic disorder that forms numerous tumors on the nerve tissue he could have also had protus syndrome a rare disease that is characterized by the overgrowth of various tissues in the body including Bone and Skin it was initially assumed that merik was never buried since all his flesh was reportedly preserved by Dr Teves and later studied by medical students however this was proven false in May 2019 when his biographer Joan Vigor mongovin discovered that some of his soft remains had actually been laid to rest in a common grave at the city of

London Cemetery her Discovery reignited calls to give the rest of Joseph Mer's remains a Christian burial he was devout and deeply religious which is why many believe that that would have been what he Wanted but so far the Royal London Hospital has refused to release Merck skeleton Joseph medik led a short and tragic Life cast out onto the streets by his own father stared at in either disgust or horror and exploited as a freak Show exhibit fortunately his final years appear to have held some happiness for him cared for by doctors and nurses who stopped

at nothing to give him everything he wished for medic may have Been for nearly all his life but his strange and tragic story means the world will never forget him in stark contrast to our last Tale the life of Henry seral padet was one filled with wealth and privilege however it was not all flowers and sunshine for the dancing Marquis in the complicated ladder of British nobility marus seems to be one of the Lesser known about titles of the peage the first marus in England was Robert D ninth Earl of Oxford Who was appointed the

marus of Dublin by King Richard II of England in 1385 from there a long string of marquises was created across the British Empire marus ranked only lower than the actual royal family directly below a Duke to make make things more confusing Dukes can also claim marus as a subsidiary title this is just to say that a marquis was quite important in British society when you think of Nobility you may conjure scenes straight out of D Abbey tweet suits Tiaras sprawling Estates and stuffy butlers you wouldn't be wrong the British aristocracy has always maintained specific standards

for a good reason Peres handed down from the Monarch themselves known as the F of Honor recipients of hereditary peages which were handed down through generations were especially mindful of ensuring their heirs were equipped to uphold the Honor of the title the fourth marus of Angley was no exception Henry sirel padet was the oldest son of the fourth marus and his second wife blanch Mary Boyd born on the 16th of June J 1875 despite some rather shocking rumors that the fourth Marquis was not his biological father Henry received all the benefits and training a soon

to be Noble sh his father was a vice admiral of the coast in the British Navy and his mother died when he was only a toddler he grew Up in splendor at his family's lavish 30,000 acre estate he received a private education at home with only an elderly nanny and his pet as companions his father a difficult character by his own admission gave Henry little attention still none of this was unusual for a young man in the upper echelons of British society and he seemed to be on the typical trajectory he attended Eden college and

following the conclusion of his education he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the second volunteer Battalion in the Royal Welsh fusers on January the 20th 1898 he married his cousin Lillian Florence mud chetwin Lillian was a striking young woman with green eyes and flowing auburn hair she looked as if she had stepped right out of a Renaissance painting the two made a beautiful pair padet himself was known for taking great care of his appearance and used makeup to cover any flaw on his delicate countenance they Also appeared to share an interest in beautiful things during

their honey hon in Paris the pair purchased an entire display in the jeweler's window beside these few small eccentricities padet was doing everything expected of an heir to a marus but when his father died later that same year it was as if young padet shed his false skin and revealed to the world exactly who he really was with his father's passing padet inherited his title becoming the fifth marus of Angley And the family's estate which stretched across Staffordshire Dorset ankley and darbishire netted him a cool annual income of £110,000 the equivalent of about £ 13

million today not bad for a young man of 23 with a seemingly endless supply of cash at hand pageant saw no need to continue with what had clearly been a charade within months his wife had left him citing non-consummation as the reason for the annulment she said the Only time she had even gotten naked in front of her husband was so he could drape her in jewels from top to bottom to admire their fact and while lady ankley decided to withdraw her request the two remained estranged free from Marriage padet threw himself wholeheartedly at his

true loves theater and spending money he began with some remodeling he re named The Family Estate from plaz nworth to Angley castle and gutted the family Chapel to be replaced By a 150 seat theater next he hired a professional theater company and began showing pantomimes and plays for free in the gy theater the Productions were not for him to watch from the audience as he would take Center Stage himself each performance featured padet adorned in Exquisite costumes and performing his signature butterfly dance he quickly earned the nickname the dancing marus and newspaper gossip columns padet

did not look anything like one would expect Of a Marcus at the turn of the 20th century indeed the photographs of him could just as easily be of a ziggy stardusk s70s rocker thick mustache long hair and dual incrusted robes according to actor and writer serial Davis who wrote and performed at acclaimed musical based on the life of padet he didn't understand the concept of costume jewelry he thought it all had to be real by some estimates a single diamond encrusted costume worn by padet in the Pantomim Aladdin was worth at least £10,000 at the

time an eye watering 1 million today Davy said that costume was worth more than the house and it was just left in a dressing room and somebody nicked it and he had a another one made if padet had lived today his style would likely be defined as gender fluid photographs show him posing in everything from bespoke Suits to flowing gowns these photographs survived because they were handed out to his audience on Postcards a souvenir to remind them of the extraordinary show the marus had just put on eventually padet decided his Productions should be shared with

the broader crowd than his small theater at angle Castle allowed and took his show on the road along with a company and crew of 50 and Lorry loads of luggage props and costumes the marus T Britain and Europe at this point despite his massive yearly income padet was deeply in debt and a theft in London didn't Help while staying at the walshingham house hotel to attend a performance of Sherlock Holmes padet valet took advantage of his employed as night out at the theater to steal jewelry valued at over £50,000 about 2 million in current times

some of the items including a pearl valued at over 1 million were recovered in Paris a year later by a British detective disguised as padet despite the debt and theft that would have caused many to hold their Cash a little bit closer padet seemed to show no signs of slowing his spending he spent Millions on horses Furs and Yachts he had his limousine retrofitted to resemble a luxury pulman Railway Carriage complete with revolving armchairs tables cabinets and solid silver fittings it cost him £2,500 around a quarter of a million in today's currency his other vehicles

had also been modified to spray rose scented perfume from the exhaust when not in one Of his leverage Vehicles he was known to stroll Mayfair with a snow white poodle under his arm one of the dozens of tiny dogs he had replaced the family's hunting hounds with feeling sporty he had a jacket made specifically for playing pingpong and wanting it to be green he had it encrusted with real emeralds it was as if padet didn't understand that anything but complete extravagance was an option Pet's outrageous spending on luxury goods Combined with his pure for dressing

as a woman on stage and not minding a bit that his beautiful wife left him led to many speculating that he was homosexual however there is no evidence that the marus had lovers of any gender historian Viv Gardner wrote that padet was a classic narcissist the only person he could love and make love to was himself others believe regardless of his sex life padet holds a place an lgbtqia a plus history for his gender Identity he was certainly far more comfortable publicly playing with gender Norms than any other member of the aristocracy and he put

on touring Productions of an Oscar Wild play just a few years after wild himself was jailed for gross indecency whatever he was at his core padet was unafraid of showing himself to the world precisely as he pleased padet spending continued unabated until he was forced to Stop by the summer of 1904 he had run out of cash and amassed debts totaling 60 million in today's money bankruptcy proceedings were started and trustees were appointed to run his Estates the winter of 1904 brought 40 days of auctions to sell off all the marquis's items to repay his

debt the auctions allowed an authentic Peak into the excessive life of the fifth marus of Angley one day was set aside to Sell his massive collection of dogs another for 900 lots of silk lined suits and fur coats the parade of extravagance marched on treasure chests full of pearls gold cigarette cases studied with rubies the world's largest collection of walking sticks their handles encrusted with jewels hundreds of pairs of shoes in leather crocodile skin and suede in all 177,000 Lots were auctioned in less than six years the marus had spent a fortune and now the

treasures he had Amassed were also gone debts paid and creditors mollified Henry padet departed for a new life in France on an allowance of £2,000 a year while the marus undoubtedly found this a mega sum what amounts to roughly £210,000 today was plenty for a comfortable life padet seemed determined to return to a life of luxury and in 1905 newspapers declared he had invented a new gambling system to take on the casinos in Monte Carlo and hoped to Break the bank he took up residence in Monte Carlo's Hotel Royale where he died of tuberculosis the

following year at the age of 29 with his death the title and estate passed to his cousin Charles padet Charles and the rest of the family were furious with Henry's decisions and understandably so he had squandered the equivalent of half a billion dollars in six short years it was also somewhat understandable that the new marus immediately turned the gayety theater Back into a chapel and restored the centuries old name to the Family Estate but what I feel is genuinely saddening is that he and his family also set about to destroy every last reminder of Henry

siral padet they burned all his journals and letters they destroyed his remaining personal effects and they scrubbed him from discussion and did their best to pretend he had never existed at all today nearly every Trace that padet was the fifth marus of Angley has Disappeared one of the few remaining relics from his life a diamond tiara called the angles Tiara was recently sold at auction despite being commissioned by padet the piece was kept in the family and worn by the seventh Martian Dame Shirley padet at the coronation of the queen in 1953 it is Testament

to Henry Pet's extravagance with diamond set Scrolls clusters and pear-shaped motifs a graduated row of more than one 100 Carats of old European and mind cut diamonds can be detached to form a Rivier necklace while no doubt today the piece is sitting in a collector's jeel room somewhere in Europe I dare say it's best remembered around Henry SEL Pet's head as he performed a butterfly dance in flowing Robes of white jewels glimmering on every inch of the dancing marus Oxford is a place known for its prestig ious University it's hard to believe that During the

1300s a riot that began over bad wine almost sorts destruction before examining the events of 1355 it is worth looking at the broader history of the University of Oxford and why there might have been tensions in the town to begin with there is evidence of teaching being undertaken at Oxford since 1096 making it the second oldest university in Europe from its earliest days there Is evidence of tension arising regularly between the students at Oxford and The Wider towns people indeed a flare up of violence in 1209 is said to have led some of the academic

staff at Oxford to abandon their jobs to set up a new University at Cambridge these instances aside the university continued to experience growth and by the four 14th century there were several colleges thousands of staff and students and a wide and varied curriculum while the University continued to grow following the incident in 129 there was still clearly conflict between the university its students and the town's people of Oxford in the decades that followed riots erupted in 1248 and 1263 much of the unrest was caused by the resp respective power of the chancellor of the university

and the mayor of Oxford in 1290 the mayor complained to King Edward I about the Chancellor's heavy-handed approach to The Civil Authorities of the Town itself but the Monarch sided with the chancellor this created additional problems in that many chancellors were unwilling to punish Wayward students who were regularly guilty of committing crimes against the town's people dozens of murders of the town's people by University students have been recorded over the years Often by students who were members of the church as these felt they were somewhat Above the Law and They seemingly were between 1297 and

1322 at least 30 murders were alleged to have been committed by students with many going unpunished a level of lawlessness consequently pertained and in 1335 some of the students left the university all together with the aim of setting up a new College in Stamford Lincolnshire one where they would not be faced with such a violent atmosphere as if this situation were not bad enough Developments in England in the late 1340s and early 1350s created an even more febrile atmosphere the Black Death struck Europe from 1346 on onwards eventually wiping out over onethird of the continent's

people England was not spared and while the worst had passed by the mid 1350s there were significant social and economic tensions created by the fall out of the plague notably the sheer lack of employees to carry out essential work And the devastation reaped across the economy by the pandemic unsurprisingly all of this served to Simply exacerbate the T ions which had prevailed in Oxford for decades as St Scholastica day 1355 approached Scholastica is not a well-known Saint today she was born in Italy in the late fifth century and went on to found the female branch

of the Benedictine order the foremost religious order across Europe during the Early Middle Ages it's stated that she established the first Benedictine naner not far from Casino the foremost religious house founded by St Benedict himself who According to some versions of Scholastic story was her brother whatever the truth of these issues we know that her feast day was celebrated hundreds of years later on the 10th of February alcohol was a spark which lit the Powder Keg on the 10th of February 1355 on the morning of St Scholastica Day some Oxford students led by Walter Dingus

and Roger de Chesterfield had made their way to the Swindle stock Tavern on the corner of Queen Street in the town there they complained about the quality of the wine that they were served and a dispute ensued with the presumed proprietor John Deen others State the owner of the tavern was actually another John John deerford the mayor of Oxford eventually with the students incessant Complaining de Cen refused to serve them better wine with that the students threw their beverages at him following which a general rockus began to break out within the tavern which soon spread

onto the streets before long in a sign of just how hostile relations between the town's people and the university had become the town's people were ringing the bell at St Martin's to bring the town's people out to fight the students while the University Bell at The church of St Mary the Virgin was ringing to gather more students hours of violence followed with both sides arming themselves with bludgeons swords and bows and arrows but as Knight descended over Oxford there had not been any deaths yet that would all change before long the morning of the 11th

of February held the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the conflict as the chancellor of the University issued a proclamation that all arms were to be Laid down and no one should disturb the peace a declaration which was soon seconded by the mayor and other civil authorities but they could not stop the torrent of violence which ensued as their proclamations were ignored by midm morning armed gangs of students and towns people were attacking each other across the town and University a group of students were surrounded in the Augustine prior with one killed and many others

badly injured similar incidents Occurred elsewhere and things only got worse as hundreds of other people from the surrounding Countryside arrived into the town to join in the riots some having been paid by the town's Bays these newcomers from the surrounding region were broadly sympathetic to the Grievances of the town's people and so as the evening wore on the students and University staff became heavily outnumbered as such the riots now effectively turned into a Siege of the University buildings where staff and students had barricaded themselves into halls and dormitories to try to save themselves from the

Wrath of the town's people the town's folk raided many University buildings ins and hostels that housed students there they took food and items and maimed or killed students they found in hiding it said that Scholars and clerics weren't spared either some reports state that some clerics were even scalped with The riers not satisfied with death alone the bodies were then buried under dung piles or discarded in prev cesspits or the river temps by the time Dawn came on the third day of the riot the 12th of February the university authorities had decided to flee from

Oxford altogether and headed for Woodstock where King Edward III was waiting by the time the college authorities made it to Woodstock and began relating to the king precisely What had occurred at Oxford the violence was already dissipating the town people's Fury had been spent by the end of the Third Day by which time much of the UN University had been burnt to the ground and at least three dozen students had been killed though the figure is unclear and some estimates place it to as many as 63 the town's people had suffered fewer deaths with probably

less than 30 killed overall nevertheless while the riots had Ended before the king could intervene there needed to be resolutions enforced to ensure that nothing like this could occur again accordingly the mayor of Oxford and the town's Bays were all arrested and sent to the Marshall sea prison in London while the town itself was find 500 marks a sum equivalent to over 330 and a substantial sum by the standards of the mid1 14th century a more longlasting resolution Was not reached until the summer of 1355 when Edward III issued a royal Charter which decreed that

henceforth the university and its authorities had Superior jurisdiction over the town for instance the chancellor of the University was given the right to tax the town's people for bread wine and beer sold in the town thus while the St Scholastica day riots had been an expression of the town's people of Oxford's desire to assert themselves Against the university and its students in in the end it only strengthened the power held by the university the riots left a considerable Legacy for years to come poems were composed commemorating the violence and the conflict lived long in the

memory of the people of Oxfordshire yet tensions between the town's people and the university still periodically arose in the decades that followed though never as violent as that Scene in 1355 indeed the Legacy lasted for many centuries for one of king Edward III's stipulations following the riots was that the mayor and Town's people of Oxford should in years to come proceed annually on St Scholastica day to the Church of St Mary's on the University grounds and there do Penance for what had happened in 1355 this practice was maintained for 470 years until the mayor of

Oxford Refused to engage in the ritual humiliation in 1825 thus the annual Penance died out assassinations of those in power have taken place throughout history it's perhaps surprising then that for as long as Britain has had prime ministers only one has ever been killed while in power and this was only due to a case of mistaken identity born on November the 1st 1762 in odley square in London Spencer Peral came from a long line of nobles his father John was the second Earl of Eggman while his mother cathine was the granddaughter of the fourth Earl

of Northampton as the second son in a second marriage Spencer grew up with many siblings he had three Step Brothers one stepsister an older biological iCal brother and three younger biological sisters the persal children spent their early years in the fam's manor house in Charlton Kent but in 1774 Spencer was sent to Harrow School a prestigious old boys boarding school in London afterward he entered Trinity College in Cambridge graduating in 1782 in school Spencer was not only known for his excellent academic performance but for his dedication to Evangelical anglicanism as well Spencer's devoutness was influenced

by his Social Circle at Trinity College one of his closest friends was Dudley Ryder the second Earl of harabi who would Later become one of the country's most celebrated evangelicals he was also acquainted with Reverend Isaac Milner the man responsible for the Evangelical Revival in Cambridge being a considerable distance down his family's pecking order Spencer couldn't rely on an heritance or his200 yearly allowance roughly £27,000 today to get him through life having to earn a living for himself he attended Lincoln's Inn to study law 3 Years later in 1786 he was called to the bar

after which he began using his extensive connections to land prestigious appointments for instance thanks to the influence of his mother's family he was given the role of Deputy recorders ship of Northampton the following year his older brother Lord Arden helped him secure the position of surveyor of the molting and Clark of the irons in the mint it was around this time that Spencer first became interested in politics he wrote and distributed an anonymous pamphlet that called for the impeachment of Warren Hastings the governor general of Bengal who was accused of misconduct this was followed by

another text wherein he offered advice to those wishing to resist radicalism in the country despite dabbling in politics Spencer remained a devout Evangelical striving to live a genuinely Christian Life according to the website the British Empire quote he was most generous and charitable of men giving away large sums of money to good causes in addition he was a Stern sabbatarian a pungent critic of gaming drunkenness hunting and adultery as well as a consistent supporter of the abolition of slavery end quote in 1796 a decade after he was called to the bar Spencer entered Parliament Rising

through its ranks with help from from William pit the younger who would later become the last Prime Minister of Great Britain and the first prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland it was under his second Administration which ran from 1804 to 1806 that Spencer would serve as attorney general in Parliament Spencer became famous for his fiery and passionate debates perhaps as most well-known took place on January the 4th 17 98 when he responded to criticisms of The country's war effort during a discussion on the assessed taxes bill this speech earned him

a lot of Praise with some historians even claiming that it established his reputation as a potential future Prime Minister a decade later he became exactly that succeeding the third Duke of Portland William caves bentin as prime minister on October the 4th 1809 9 he faced severe political challenges during the first few years of his service including a financial crisis Due to the Napoleonic Wars a disastrous campaign to the Netherlands and the loss of Sanity of King George III as prime minister Spencer was said to be a religious bigot with a cold and ungenial nature he

fiercely opposed Catholic emancipation believing that the Primacy of of the Church of England was key to the country's security he did however work to end abuse in the Anglican church and supported the abolition of both slavery and the slave trade Spencer's Administration was undoubtedly controversial thanks in part to the countless political storms that he was forced to confront he was openly disliked by the Prince of Wales who hated the restrictions he included in the 1789 region Bill and he also managed to fund the Duke of Wellington's campaign in Iberia which he managed to do without

putting the country into further debt unfortunately this was the extent of Spencer's most notable achievements his term came to an abrupt end on May the 11th 1812 when he was tragically assassinated by a then unknown man at around 5:00 p.m. that day an unremarkable Anonymous man with a thin and angular face walked into the Palace of Westminster and sat near a fireplace in the lobby that led to the House of Commons that evening Parliament was discussing the trade embargos that had recently been placed on France which Some wanted to repeal among those who were against

this policy was Henry broom who at the time was reportedly annoyed because Spencer was late to the session about half an hour passed without the prime minister showing up he informed the Secretary of the Treasury that proceedings would start anyway and so the members of parliament began to question Witnesses who had been invited to testify that their businesses had been affected by the trade Embargos Spencer meanwhile was on the way from 10 Downing Street having traveled to the Palace of Westminster on foot he arrived there about 5:15 p.m. non LLY entering the lobby that would

lead him inside the House of Commons most of the occupants inside turned towards him as he came through the doorway and unfortunately this meant that none of them noticed The Quiet Man in the corner taking a loaded pistol from an inner Pocket on his coat the man calmly walked towards Spencer and when he was close enough fired directly into his chest according to the website the history press UK quote there was a moment of shocked silence around the lobby in response to the bright flash the intense sound and the odor of gunpowder the Prime Minister

staggered forward before falling to the ground calling as he did I am murdered end quote the news that Spencer had been shot quickly spread Throughout the Palace of Westminster sessions that were simultaneously going on in the House of Commons and House of Lords were immediately suspended while the members of parliament frantically tried to make sense of what was going on meanwhile Spencer who hadn't said anything since being shot was carried into the speaker's Apartments where he was made to sit down unable to stay upright by himself he was supported on either side by William Smith

the MP for Norch and Francis Phillips from longsight hall near manchest Chester the trio waited impatiently for a doctor but after only a few minutes MP Smith noticed that the prime minister no longer had a pulse when a surgeon named William Lynn arrived at the scene he confirmed that Spencer peral was dead as described by the website the history press quote the surgeon noted that there was blood all over the prime minister's coat and white Waist coat he examed the body and found a wound of skin about over the fourth rib on the left side

near the breast bone it was obvious that this was where the large pistol ball had entered he probed an instrument into the wound and found that it had passed obliquely downwards and inwards in the direction of the heart the wound was more than 3 in deep and was in no doubt the cause of peral's death end Quote those inside the Palace of Westminster initially feared that the assassination would Kickstart an uprising however it soon became clear that the man had acted alone he was eventually identified as John Bellingham a local man who claimed that he

had murdered Spencer because of the injustices committed by the government after the shooting Bellingham was arrested and detained in a room belonging to the Sergeant at Arms a Makeshift trial was held for him with MP Harvey Christian Kum serving as presiding judge while the other members of parliament acted as magistrates as I Witnesses were questioned the local authorities were sent to bellingham's home to search for more clues as to why he had killed the prime minister they didn't have to do this though because he himself explained his motivations according to the website historic UK Quote

Bellingham did not heed the warnings of self-incrimination instead he calmly explained his reasons for committing such an act he proceeded to tell the court how he had been mistreated and how he had attempted to explore all other avenues before turning to his choice he showed No Remorse by 8:00 in the evening he had been charged with with the prime minister's murder and taken to prison awaiting a trial end Quote it was eventually discovered that Bellingham was an English Merchant dealing with Russian imports and exports in 1803 a ship owned by house of AR van binan

was lost at sea van binan then naturally attempted to claim on the insurance the ship was insured with Lloyds of London but before they could pay out they received an anonymous letter stating that the ship had been sabotaged in order to make a claim Solomon van binan believed it had been Bellingham who had sent the letter and so accused him of owing a debt worth 4,890 rubles this resulted in bellingham's travel papers being confiscated which meant he couldn't leave Russia van binan then pressured the governor general to imprison Bellingham and he spent a year Behind

Bars upon his release he began actively campaigning for the governor General's impeachment this angered the Russian authorities and he was jailed once again This time staying there until 1808 during his time inside he claims to have been tortured and marched through the streets upon his release and facing no other options he petitioned the then Zar Alexander the first who helped him secure a travel pass finally in in December 1809 Bellingham was able to return home to England Bellingham repeatedly asked the British government to pay him damages for the suffering that he had gone through however

he was Refused over and over again simply because the country had severed its diplomatic ties with Russia he begrudgingly accepted this but 3 years later began campaigning for compensation again on April the 18th 1812 Bellingham managed to secure an appointment with a civil servant at the foreign office who irritatedly told him that he was free to do whatever he felt was necessary to secure compensation shortly afterward Belling him believing that he had no Other choice purchased two 50 caliber pistols and had an inner pocket sewed into his Overcoat a month after receiving this fateful advice

he shot prime minister peral and was hanged for his crime Bellingham may have assassinated a top government official however some felt that his actions were Justified Renee Martin P a Frenchman who lived in England for almost 10 years and witnessed the execution would later write quote Farewell poor man you owe satisfaction to the offended laws of your country but God bless you you have rendered an important service to your country you have taught ministers that they should do justice and Grant audience when it is asked of them end quote less than a week after his

assassination Spencer was buried in Charlton where he had spent most of his childhood his funeral was Private attended only by his family members including his wife Jane and Their 12 children to this day Spencer peral continues to hold the unfortunate dis iction of being the only British prime minister to have been assassinated like his predecessors and his successors he was a controversial figure who divided The public's opinion according to history extra quote to some people he was Christianity personified a beacon of true and vital religion in an age when conservatives were lamenting the spread of

infidelity and immorality to others He was all hypocrisy personified a fervent anti-radical who had been involved in some of the reactionary C CBS of the age and the imprisonment of a number of prominent radical leaders end quote his administration may have been characterized by political and economic chaos however Spencer persal remains widely regarded as one of The Unsung architects of Britain's eventual victory over Napoleon bonapart tragically we will never know For sure an interesting fact to end on in 1983 a direct descendant of John Bellingham once again entered the houses of Parliament this time their

intentions were slightly more honest that person was MP Henry Bellingham who was voted into Parliament 171 years after his ancestor assassinated Spencer peral the tragic stories from World War II are innumerable the harrowing story of Harry ha is perhaps unique amongst them har haft's life was one of pain from the Beginning he was born in belov Poland in July 1925 the youngest of eight children his mother hinda wasn't even aware that she was pregnant when she gave birth to Harry the surprising arrival was all at once a blessing and a curse as the half family

were far from well off their house had several walls that had collapsed along with part of the roof leaving the family of 10 with just three inhabitable rooms their struggles were Compounded by the loss of Harry's father mosa when he was just 3 years old outside of his close-knit family Harry experienced a childhood mod by anti-Semitism during his brief time attending school he would often find himself getting into fights with Christian children and at one point even a teacher who blamed the Jewish people for the death of Christ at age 14 ha could only watch

on while Nazi troops invaded his homeland as Poland felt to German occupation after their father's death the haft family had separated with only the brothers Arya peret and young Harry or herzo staying with their mother during the occupation these remaining family members turned their hand to smuggling moving items across newly formed borders and checkpoints one bright light for Harry was a girl named Leah piny the daughter of a fellow Smuggler against the backdrop of war the pair began a relationship and were soon Engaged their engagement was one of Harry's happiest moments the next day however

would be one that would change his life forever that Day in June 1941 a month before Harry's 16th birthday signs appeared around belov stating that Jewish men between the ages of 16 and 50 must register at the local fire station Harry spoke with his older brother Arya about the signs and pondered if they were offering work not sensing anything Overly Sinister about the registration Arya decided to get it out of the way and set off for the fire station when Arya did not return from registration Harry set out to find him and discovered his brother

cared alongside every other Jewish man who had gone to register Arya informed him that they were going to be taken somewhere later that night where he did not know he still believed this was for work but Harry suspected otherwise and encouraged his brother to Try and escape to Aid his breakout Harry pretended to be drunk to create a distraction this worked and Arya was able to slip away while the guards were busy with his brother the r was soon discovered though too late to recapture ARA Southern Ares made do with his brother instead and Harry

was pushed inside and detained later that evening he along with roughly 400 other men was loaded onto one of 16 buses setting off into the night by the next day teenage Half found himself in a slave labor camp in Posen a city nearly 300 km Northwest of his family and life in belov but it was just the first of many concentration camps he would experience over the next 5 years after Posen there was lods where Harry was reunited with his brother peret and finally yoro a subcamp of the notorious aitz yoro provided forced labor for

the German war machine and most inmates were sent to the coal mine the conditions at Joro were lethal starvation disease un sustainable labor demands and Nazi brutality made life there a living nightmare thousands of Jews and hundreds of other prisoners of War died toiling at the camp and each month prisoners who were no longer able to work were taken to the gas Chambers at alitz haft's teenage body was able to push harder than most he was put to Work loading bodies of the dead into the crematoriums a task that Brought him close to a German

officer named Schneider it's impossible to imagine the bonds that form in situations like these but the two young men shared a common fear death Harry was horrified at the thought of never making it back to his family and the Nazi was sure that no life could exist for him on the other side of the war should the Germans fall both men needed an ally and they made a promise Schneider would do everything he could to ensure half Survived the death camp while half would vouch for his character after the war Schneider devised a plan to

improve half's chances of survival drawing on the teens's physical stamina size and brief experience with boxing boxing was an essential element of ss culture proof of Manliness and superiority Hitler pushed for all young males to be trained in pugilism so it was natural that the sport was a favorite pastime of the officers yoro nazas at death camps Filled their evenings and weekends with the same kind of entertainment they had enjoyed before the war alwiz had a cinema there were dancers life theater and clubs but unsurprisingly there were other more cruel forms of after hours entertainment

at hand in the death camps and one such Pastime for the SS guards was betting on bouts between prisoners it was in this cruel and unusual ring that Harry ha now found himself fighting for his life each Sunday he was brought Out to face a different opponent these were not strong well-trained athletes but emaciated half- dead concentration camp prisoners worse still many were men half new either from his Hometown or from his time working and sleeping beside them at yoro but any thought of going easy on his fellow inmates was quickly wiped from ha's head

the Nazis demanded brutality and the man who lost the about was often executed he could only live if he won every fight in front Of him it was survival in the most inhumane way imaginable haft quickly learned that pummeling an opponent in a way that satisfied his audience of nazas earned him a bit of extra care in a place entirely devoid of compassion because the guards did not want to lose their prize fighter to the usual means of death in yoro each match was followed up with extra food so he might have the strength to

survive until the following Sunday most of half's opponents didn't Stand a chance against the younger stronger better fed man but one a former French heavyweight champion had been kept alive and healthy by the NY guards just like himself and stood at roughly 6'3 to Harry's 5'9 it's hard to imagine what must have passed through half's head when he first saw his formidable opponent relief that he was exempt from thrashing a dying man fear that his first equal fight could be his last most likely a tormenting mixture of the two The battle was close Harry was

flat-footed while the Frenchman danced around the ring ha received a flurry of Jabs to the head and began bleeding profusely but eventually managed to trapped the taller fighter in a corner where he pummeled him until he fell unconscious with many bets having been placed on the bout cheers rang out as Schneider entered the ring and declared Harry the Victor the defeated Frenchman was led away and half stated that Amongst the cheers he thought he heard two gunshot ring out he know never saw the French fighter again in all he is believed to have defeated 76

Challengers he was a favorite of the Nazis who gave him the nickname Jewish animal but half knew his value to his captors was dependent entirely on his winning record not his Humanity as he fought in the makeshift ring at jorno the Allies were fighting to close in on Germany after nearly 5 years and forced labor camps he now walked outside of the barbed wire and away from the smell of burning flesh for the first time yoro had been dissolved forced to flee from the advancing Soviet Red Army har was one of the thousands of remaining

inmates sent West towards Germany in 1945 this forced evacuation was a final effort by the SS to keep concentration camp prisoners from falling into Allied hands The guards had strict orders to kill anyone who could no longer walk or travel thousands died of exposure starvation and exhaustion it was during this period that half witnessed Horrors that rivaled anything he had witnessed in the concentration camps after being worked and starved to near death the March drove many over the edge with some losing all semblance of the humanity Harry found himself fighting a new batt battle for

survival as at night one Group would prey on their fellow inmates killing and eating the weakest among them in order to survive those who made it through those nights were put to work at an Airfield for a short time before it was bombed by the Allies after this event ranking officers ordered the soldiers to gather up 300 workers and March them out of Camp had knew that with the Allies closing in this would be a death march and an hour into the March shots began to ring out as those who Fell or could no longer

walk were shot if Harry was to escape it had to be now as the group reached a wooded area he made a run for it with another prisoner though his brother parot remained several soldiers gave Chase and the Prisoner who had taken his chance alongside half was shot dead Harry however had managed to make good his Escape he was finally free but far from safe after spending several days in the Bohemian Forest he stumbled upon a German soldier bathing in a river on the banks of the river the man had left his uniform he was

an SS officer next to the uniform he had also left his rifle and handgun ha moved nearly without thinking seeing the plan unfold and the called calculated movements of a boxer he killed killed the soldier stole his uniform and fled into the forest across Farmland on his journey he came across a farmhouse and decided to try to fool its occupants using the uniform complete With an eye patch he had found in one of its Pockets he knocked frantically on the door and eventually an old man answered what do you want he asked gruffly he told

the man that he had become separated from his regiment when they were attacked by Russians stating that he was now injured and in need of food during the conversation the man's wife came to the door to see what was going on the pair began to quarrel before the husband opened the door and Announced come in soldier of course we will help you once inside Harry was able to bathe and clean himself up afterwards the lady brought him a tray filled with Foods he thought he would never taste again he did his best not to Wolf

down the Delights laid out in front of him then despite wanting to stay awake and Vigilant he fell into a deep sleep seduced by the comfort of the first soft bed he had had in years the following day haft was awoken by the old man Knocking on the bedroom door he opened it and invited Harry down for breakfast as the pair ate the man began to ask Harry a string of questions that he struggled to answer he was asked about the eye patch hadry stated that it covered a shrapnel injury it was then that the

man revealed that when he had entered the bedroom he had seen that Harry wasn't wearing the patch and there was no injury fearing that his ruse had been revealed and that his hosts would Turn him in haft took his pistol and shot the old couple dead it's likely the farmers were just two of several half was forced to kill to protect his true identity when the war in Europe finally ended in May of 1945 he found refuge in a displaced person's Camp operated by the US Army and occupied Germany but half's life was still not

his own he had no way to return home no skills and no education He was illiterate and dependent entirely on the mercy of another military once again with little other choice he allowed himself to be used again for the entertainment value his boxing provided soldiers in January of 1947 he won an amateur Jewish Heavyweight Championship organized by the US Army in Munich and was awarded a trophy by General Lucius clay an uncle now living in New Jersey arranged for ha to make his way to the US on a ship Named The Marine Marin once there

he immediately returned to boxing hoping the publicity he may receive as a result result of his triumphs would make its way back to his surviving relatives he had been unable to locate and to a girlfriend who had disappeared Without a Trace during the war he made his living as a light heavyweight prize fighter and showed promise of becoming a serious athlete winning his first 12 fights this winning streak ended when he Was defeated by Irish born boxer P Conor in January of 1949 but two more wins against bigger more experienced boxers boy his progress again

the highlight of his American boxing career was a match against future heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano on July the 18th 1949 in Rhode Island the match started on a promising note for half who landed a blow to Marciano's stomach in the first round then met him blow for blow In the first minute of the second round but he was knocked out by Marciano in the first half of the Third third round falling to a flurry of punches following his defeat half retired with a record of 13 wins and eight losses he would later claim in his

autobiography that several men believed to be Mobsters had threatened him in the locker room before his fight with Marciano promising to kill him if he did not fall after his retirement from boxing haft Married An American named Miriam and opened a fruit and vegetable stall in Brooklyn he had three children with his new wife and by all outside appearances seemed to be settling into a quiet everyday family life but half was never able to defeat the enemy of his past and spent the remainder of his life tormented by his memories of the war concentration camps

and dealing fatal blows to his fellow Jews he remained an angry hostile man who was violent with his family and Suffered from nightmares and psychotic episodes in the final years of his life ha tried to make amends with his past and explain his tortured Behavior by sharing his story for the first time ever with his oldest son Allan over the course of two days half sat with Alan and told him everything allowing his memories to be recorded and eventually used for a book Harry haft Survivor of alitz Challenger of Rocky Marciano which was published by

Allan just before Harry Died of cancer in 2007 Harry ha's story of impossible choices in the face of unimaginable circumstances has been adapted into an award-winning graphic novel and a biographical film just before his death haft was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall Fame when asked by a journalist if he had any regrets haft looked down at his age spotted Twisted fists and said my regrets are the lives that passed through these Hands in 1710 a German man visiting London took in a spectacle that was fairly new to the city on the temps bare

knuckled boxing as the man settled into to watch the chaotic fight that was closer to an allout brawl than what we now call boxing he struck up a conversation with a woman nearby it may have been considered shocking that a woman would take in such a brittly event at the time boxing had no formal rules with throws headbutts and even eye Gouging being allowed however what would have shocked him more would be when this lady explained that she and another woman had recently partaken in a match at the venue themselves the diary entry the German

recorded of that conversation became one of the earliest written mentions of female boxing in the western world despite the mention in 1710 it wouldn't be until 1722 before the first widely Advertised female prize fight was recorded a challenge issued to Hannah Highfield of Newgate Market in a London newspaper from Elizabeth Wilkinson sometimes referred to as Elizabeth Stokes of clarenell during the fight the women grasped half a crown in each hand to prevent gouging and scratching Highfield was just the first of Wilkinson's many opponents whom she fought bare fisted this was still before modern boxing's earliest

set of rules The Bron rules which ended a match if an opponent was downed for longer than 30 seconds and barred hitting a flawed pugilist fights would also be continuous with no round breaks clashes continuing until an opponent threw in the towel or could not physically continue Wilkinson was also skilled with weapons and it's thought she would also take part in fights utilizing daggers short swords and quarter staffs unlike the female Sideshow boxers fighting Purely for entertainment and often Builders topless Wilkinson and her opponents were serious athletes they sparred and cloth jackets short petticoats stockings

and pumps Wilkinson was a notorious trash talker known for publishing her shocking comments in newspapers in one instance she wrote of a challenge from annefield the blows which I shall present her with will be more difficult for her to digest than any she ever gave her asses ouch Wilkinson also fought alongside her husband against other mixed gender couples and instructed aspiring Fighters though no official records were kept it's thought that Stokes remained undefeated for most of her career she was buil as the Invincible City Champion until she disappeared from the historical record following her final

match in 1733 Elizabeth Wilkinson was considered the greatest female boxer for nearly 150 Years other amateur boxers appeared over the following decades but most were novelty acts largely ignored by the Press during the Regency women's boxing was considered abor by polite society and sadly the women pugilists who were undoubtedly continuing to practice the sports during those years have been lost to history as male boxing grew in popularity and was given a platform to excel by organizations like the amateur boxing Association women were barred From the sport by strict legislation enter the Victorian Fitness craze Donald

Walker's British manly exercises Donald Walker's British manly exercises published in 1837 yes that's a thing set the tone for the obsession with strength that was to come outlining detailed guidance on everything from rowing to wrestling the British military adopted many of Walker's exercises and it wasn't long Before civilians began lunging vaulting and stretching physical fitness became a COR Cornerstone of Victorian values inspired by cultural trends like muscular Christianity no I've got this I've got it I've got it I've got it two one physical fitness became a Cornerstone of Victorian values inspired by cultural trends like

muscular Christianity which EMP empz the Importance of training the body to reflect the Devotion to God God physical fitness became a Cornerstone of Victorian values inspired by cultural trends like muscular Christianity which emphasize the importance of training the body to reflect Devotion to God and Society by 1865 exercise had become such an integral part of most people's lives that edinburgh's Royal patent gymnasium a massive outdoor gym featuring a 600 seat circular rowing machine attracted Thousands of visitors daily by the late 19th century atome Fitness regimens and Equipment allowed the middle classes to perform daily exercises

morning and night even women were expected and encouraged to partake in daily physical activity opening the door for more females to train in the field of boxing of course most women were doing Simple neck rolls and arm waving in their bed bedrooms and those who chose to take to the ring punching and jabbing were still Very much criticized female boxers were depicted in print as deformed masculine deviant and peppered with adjectives such as barbaric Savage and loathsome in Buffalo New York a group of men including heavyweight champ Billy Baker decided to Buck tradition and arrange

a Women's Championship the champion they had in mind was Hatty Leslie a theatrical performer who sparred with her husband in a Vaudeville Act Leslie challenged Alice ly of Bradford Pennsylvania to fight for the title and a $250 cash prize the illegal fight took place on Navy Island an isolated spot on the Niagara River on September 16th 1888 the women wore thin flannel lined gloves with their fingers removed as they faced each other aty had a broken nose by the fourth round but Alice threw in the towel in the seventh to end the bout the fight

received national Attention and most papers were highly Critical with the New York Times calling it a disgraceful prize fight and saying both women presented a disgusting picture Hatty Leslie was arrested and later released but some of the men involved served time in a workhouse for aiding and a betting a prize fight including hatty's husband and Bill Billy Baker still hatti publicly defended her title with a standing offer to pay $50 to any woman who could last four rounds With her it was another Hatty Hatty Stewart who would ultimately take the title from her in an

unexpected way Stuart whose portrait graced a full page of the November 11th 1887 edition of the police Gazette had been trained in wrestling fencing and Club swinging by the Turner Society in Philadelphia there she met her husband and the pair moved to Virginia to work in a neighborhood gymnasium where they learned to box the couple took their Boxing act on the road and hatti was challenged to exhibitions by other female boxers and had a string of off- the record fights with men too it wasn't long before she had defeated most available competitors and was ready

to challenge the reigning champion and claim her throne once and for all Leslie and Stuart exchanged challenges and negotiated terms through the newspapers but disagreed on a suitable place and expenses in September of 1892 Leslie was Putting together a troop of female athletes for a tour of Europe while she awaited Stuart's response when she caught typhoid fever she died in Milwaukee within a week her husband and sparring partner at her side she was only 23 hatti Stewart thus became the new reigning Champion not by knockout but by default Stewart and Lesley were among the first

women to be acknowledged for their achievement by the bare knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame in Belfast New York female boxers like Stuart and Leslie were admired and respected within their sport still they faced extreme controversy in their decision to pursue an unconventional career in a time when few middle and upper class women worked at all gender roles were firmly defined and those who took up the sport had to decide if they would lean hard into their femininity to achieve a sort of Balance or assure it entirely in a quest to dismantle the hegemonic gender structure

it's easy to see the difference in photos now some women boxed in fulllength skirts and elaborate hairstyles While others dawned kn KN length shorts and practical flat shoes female boxing was more than a sport it was the radical Awakening of the philosophy that there was more than one way to be a woman women's boxing first appeared in The Olympic Games in 1904 but these St Louis matches were only demonstrations and not included in the competitions most female boxers in the US continued to perform their sport as an act in theater circuits and circus s shows

the Carlson sisters known as the wrestling fat girls put on matches throughout the 1920s for paying customers the Bennett sisters sparred and wrestled as a voeville act in the UK A 1926 London exhibition fight between Annie Newton and MJ Baker aimed to be the first of its kind but was shut down by the Sha Dutch Council the match was disparaged by the Home Secretary and made international news boxing for women wouldn't be widely accepted for several decades and the first female boxing licenses in the US weren't awarded until 1975 in 1999 the amateur boxing Association

of England lifted its ban on women and it wasn't until 2012 that Women were allowed to competitively box in the Olympics with Nicola Adams of Great Britain winning the world's first Olympic women's B in gold medal over 100 years after the likes of Hatty Leslie entered the ring for their chance to compete in the sport they loved female boxing still appears to be in its infancy but the groundbreaking work they did in redefining gender roles asserting their right to inhabit all spaces and Embracing an act of radical feminism still endures 5 years before the suffragette

movement had even been conceived Hatty Stewart said quote boxing is even more beneficial exercise to a woman than tennis golf or bicycle riding it exercises a certain amount of self-reliance in the woman of today the woman is becoming less dependent and more of a wage earner every day lastly we have a controversial story from the past Elizabeth B is known as The Countess and is said to have killed over 600 people but is it all As It Seems born elsabet B on August the 7th 1560 the woman who would eventually become known as one of

history's most prolific serial killers was part of an influential family in Central Europe they were incredibly wealthy ruling the town of near Bor in the Royal Kingdom of Hungary Elizabeth spent her childhood in itched castle where she was given an education that only a few girls at the Time had the privilege of receiving she did particularly well in languages and was said to have been fluent in Slovak greek latin and German along with her native Hungarian however Elizabeth was plagued with severe health problems including epilepsy which made her prone to violent and frequent seizures cont

contemporary historians claim that these issues were rooted in the fact that her parents George and Anna were first cousins though this has not been proven Besides her excellent education and epileptic episodes Elizabeth's early years were also characterized by acts of horrific violence which she reportedly enjoyed watching for instance she was said to have laughed while a local man was sown into the body of a horse as punishment for stealing it was also alleged that she went out of her way to witness servant being beaten during which she would display an interest that was Unbecoming for

a young girl at the Age of 10 Elizabeth was betrothed to a 15-year-old Hungarian count named fans it's claimed that a few years later she found herself pregnant the father a Local Peasant boy this is said to have enraged fans who reportedly had the boy castrated and Torn to Pieces by dogs while the baby was given to a local woman who was paid to take it to Romania despite this episode faans and Elizabeth were married in 1575 when Elizabeth was around 14 given their status the wedding was an extravagant affair with nearly 5,000 people in

attendance and and a party that went on for 3 days during this time Fen presented his new wife with a castle of her own which they named Castle chakti this was located in the little carpathians in present day Slovakia Elizabeth outranked her husband which meant that she was allowed to keep her last name this was also the reason why she was given control over several Estates which she managed while Fen was away fighting against the ottoman Turks who were doing their best to conquer Europe Fen was a formidable soldier with his prowess on the battlefield

earning him the nickname Black Knight of Hungary he was feared by both his enemies and his allies but unfortunately this wasn't enough to keep the ottoman Turks at Bay the kingdom of Hungary was invaded in 1591 which marked the beginning of a war that would last until 1606 this had a huge impact on their economy but unlike her constituents Elizabeth never had to suffer from poverty rather fend kept her and their Castle well supplied with spoils from the war which enabled them to grow their wealth by so much that the Hungarian hapsburg Empire was forced

to borrow from them in order to keep their territories afloat during the long War Elizabeth was said to have housed peasants feeding them and giving Refuge To those whose homes had been burnt down by the invading forces however this was allegedly the extent of her altruism given the intimidating presence of the Ottoman Turks faen and Elizabeth weren't able to spend much time together as a married couple and in fact their first child was born in 1585 a decade after their wedding though they did go on to have five children together two would die as infants

but two daughters and a son survived faen And Elizabeth may not have married out of love but it didn't take long for them to figure out that they shared a sadistic obsession with torture and violence it's claimed they often beat the Young servant girls working in Castle jatia taking pleasure in their agonized screams and the bruises that dotted their bodies historians further claim that Fen taught his teenage wife several creative torture methods such as placing rolled up pieces of oiled paper In between the toes of a servant before proceeding to set them on fire he

also allegedly gifted her a clawed glove which she used to disfigure the faces of servants who were disobedient or whom she simply disliked perhaps one of the most significant gifts that fairends gave Elizabeth though was a large torture chamber that he had built to her exact specifications this would eventually Become the sight of her most infamous atrocities while faan played a critical role in the sadism that Elizabeth exist I ited he wasn't the only figure to have spurred her into this dark path it said that she had also been introduced by one of her uncles

to Satanism while an aunt schooled her in all forms of sedom masochism there were also Whispers of a witch named Anna darolia who purportedly joined the family in 1601 according to biographics quote what seems undeniable is that Elizabeth's personality underwent a dramatic change from the time that darolia entered the household whereas her husband taught her to torture Anna taught her to kill end quote in 16004 faen died of a mysterious medical condition that left his legs completely paralyzed rather than losing herself in grief over the end of her almost three de decades long marriage a

43-year-old widowed Elizabeth instead Ramped up her horrific activities which has led many contemporary historians to speculate that her husband had drained in some of her more sadistic Tendencies despite his own por for torture her methods varied from driving needles into the lips and fingernails of her servants to forcing her victims to stand naked in the snow where she would douse them with cold water before leaving them to freeze to death in one incident she allegedly had a servant girl beaten for 4 hours Straight as a punishment for stealing a pear the victim was then stabbed

to death with a pair of sharp scissors while Elizabeth left to change her clothes which had become soaked with blood during the ordeal according to history today quote Witnesses told of her stabbing victims or biting their breasts hands faces and arms cutting them with scissors sticking needles into their lips or burning them with Red Hot Irons coins or Keys some were beaten to Death and some were starved end quote it was said that Elizabeth only performed such atrocities on young women although they certainly weren't limited to just her employees there were more than 400 servant

girls on her estate but she soon expanded to torturing the daughters of peasants as well as those sent to her by the local Gentry to become educated this led to locals growing suspicious especially after pastors were Called numerous times to perform funeral rights at Castle Shakti they were told that there had been an outbreak of chera among the servant girls but the bruises on the mangled corpses told them otherwise after performing one too many questionable funerals a Lutheran Minister finally approached the Hungarian authorities in 1610 which kickstarted an investigation into Countess Elizabeth B nadasi it

Proceeded swiftly and in December of that year she was arrested along with four of her alleged complies Elizabeth's trial was shocking to say the least a mountain of charges had been filed against her including accusations that she chained her servants every night keeping them locked up so tightly that their hands turned blue and their wrists bled additionally Elizabeth was charged with using needles knives candles and even her own teeth to cut open the Genitals of her victims as well as with smearing them with honey and leaving them outside the castle walls to be endless ly

bitten by ants wasps bees and flies her four alleged accomplice had confessed ironically enough only after being tortured some having their fingers torn off with redh hot pincers despite now being key to the trial all but one were executed Elizabeth wouldn't get to stand at the trial due to her family's social status and influence it was Initially planned that she would simply be sent to a nunery but as word of her alleged Deeds began to spread this plan became untenable instead she was held in solitary confinement in Castle Shakti some claim that she was kept

in a room without Windows though it seems more likely she was confined to the castle grounds either way it would be here that she would die in 1614 Age 5 four throughout her life and even after her death Elizabeth was Hounded by rumors that were spread by locals who lived in the vicinity of Castle chakti perhaps one of the most notorious ones involved her bathing in the blood of young virgins in a bed to recapture her former Youth and remain looking beautiful forever Elizabeth is often depicted with this myth in mind and in fact it's

the reason why she's often mentioned in the same breath as Dracula or Vlad the Impaler however no witness accounts Actually mentioned her doing this and the accusations brought against her made no mention of this horrific practice historians have further pointed out that the first Whispers of her and these bloody bels only came a hundred years after her death which makes it likely that they were nothing more than fix Elizabeth's vampiric tendences haven't been the only point of contention among historians though many have also disputed the crimes that she allegedly Committed which had landed her in

forced isolation According to some Elizabeth's immense power and her widowed status meant that she had more wealth and influence than the actual rules of the Kingdom unsurprisingly this turned her into a target with your guro the Palatine or feudal Lord of Hungary particularly feeling threatened by her his sentiments led to a plot which involved turning the local populace against Elizabeth and the rest of the Bories by spreading false stories about what went on Behind the Walls of Castle Shakti ultimately this ended in her arrest this theory is corroborated by the fact fact that Elizabeth never

stood trial for her alleged crimes which meant that she wasn't allowed to defend herself against her accusers instead she was subjected to a swift process that turned her from the most powerful woman in the Kingdom into a prisoner inside her own Home so was Countess Elizabeth B nadasi one of history's most prolific torturers and serial killers or was she merely a tragic figure whose immense power and influence threatened the men around her mainly because women at the time were not expected to hold such things for themselves independent of their father's brothers or husbands it's safe

to say that we'll likely never know which one she really was thank you for watching and thank you To our members and patrons right then take care and I'll see you next time with another story to make you say well I never