Inside The Bloody Story Of Defenestration, One Of History’s Wildest Execution Methods

Inside The Bloody Story Of Defenestration, One Of History’s Wildest Execution Methods

The definition of defenestration comes from the Latin word de, meaning “out of” or “from,” and fenestra, meaning “window.” But its origin comes from an incident in Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia (part of today’s Czech Republic) in 1419. Humans have invented countless ways to execute criminals, political rivals, and enemy combatants throughout history. But one of the most bizarre execution methods is also one of the most simple: throwing people out a window. Also known as "defenestration," this practice dates at least as far back as the 9th century B.C.E. — when the Israelite Queen Jezebel was thrown out of her palace window as punishment for banishing all the prophets of Yahweh from the kingdom. But it wasn't until the Middle Ages in Europe that the practice really took off, particularly in Bohemia, where some 20 leaders were defenestrated over 200 years. Go inside the strange history of defenestration: A group of anti-Catholic rebels called the Hussites marched upon the New Town Hall in Charles Square, demanding the release of some fellow Hussites who were prisoners. When the city’s Catholic officials refused the request and someone hurled a stone at the Hussite leader, Jan Želivský, the Hussites angrily stormed the hall, dead set on throwing someone out a window. They settled for seven city council members, a judge, and the chief magistrate. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the furious mob gathered below the windows held up spears for the defenestrated men to fall upon. Those who weren’t killed by the fall were hastily dispatched with the spears. Almost exactly 200 years later, it happened all over again. Known to history simply as the Defenestration of Prague — although it was, of course, the second defenestration to plague the city — the 1618 act was fuelled by the religious altercation between the protestant Bohemian aristocracy and the ruling Catholic Hapsburgs. On May 23, Protestants stormed Prague Castle and decided to defenestrate three Hapsburg regents out of the windows of Wenceslaus Hall, eventually triggering the Thirty Years War. Amazingly, the regents survived the 70-foot drop. Their Catholic supporters instantly claimed divine intervention, insisting the men had been miraculously caught by the invisible hands of the Virgin Mary. The generally accepted explanation is far less holy — namely that the men survived because they landed on a large pile of dung, serendipitously situated beneath the window. So, where did the inspiration to start throwing people out of windows come from? According to Ota Konrad, a Czech historian at Charles University in Prague, “The inspiration for defenestration comes from the Bible, in the story about Jezebel, who was thrown from the window by her people. Defenestration was a very symbolic execution: It is about falling from high to low, symbolising a fall from grace.” Although executing someone by throwing them out a window may seem like a bizarre concept, it was once popular enough to acquire its own word: defenestration. When people use the word “defenestration” today, they usually mean it metaphorically, referring to removing someone from a position of power, especially public leaders. In 2017, for example, when The Atlantic published an article titled “The Strange, Slow-Motion Defenestration of Jeff Sessions” about the fall from grace of the then-U.S. attorney general, they didn’t mean it literally. The most famous instance of throwing people out of windows is the Defenestration of Prague in 1618 that sparked the famous Thirty Years War, shown here in a 19th-century painting painting by Václav Brožík. Because while the word may be a useful — if grandiloquent — way to describe a swift dismissal from power, to defenestrate someone also means to literally throw them out of a window. In fact, defenestration has a long and bloody history as a way to get rid of unwanted rulers or political enemies, execute criminals, and add some cinematic drama. We’ve witnessed it in countless movies — the thrilling opening fight scene in Watchmen, Edward Longshanks hurling his son’s lover through an open window in Braveheart, even the triumphant moment in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when Friar Tuck pushes the money-laden bishop through the stained glass window of his chapel. The definition of defenestration comes from the Latin word de, meaning “out of” or “from,” and fenestra, meaning “window.” But its origin comes from an incident in Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia (part of today’s Czech Republic) in 1419. That July, a group of anti-Catholic rebels called the Hussites marched upon the New Town Hall in Charles Square, demanding the release of some fellow Hussites who were prisoners. When the city’s Catholic officials refused the request and someone hurled a stone at the Hussite leader, Jan Želivský, the Hussites angrily stormed the hall, dead set on throwing someone out a window. They settled for seven city council members, a judge, and the chief magistrate. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the furious mob gathered below the windows held up spears for the defenestrated men to fall upon. Those who weren’t killed by the fall were hastily dispatched with the spears. Almost exactly 200 years later, it happened all over again. Known to history simply as the Defenestration of Prague — although it was, of course, the second defenestration to plague the city — the 1618 act was fuelled by the religious altercation between the protestant Bohemian aristocracy and the ruling Catholic Hapsburgs. On May 23, Protestants stormed Prague Castle and decided to defenestrate three Hapsburg regents out of the windows of Wenceslaus Hall, eventually triggering the Thirty Years War. Amazingly, the regents survived the 70-foot drop. Their Catholic supporters instantly claimed divine intervention, insisting the men had been miraculously caught by the invisible hands of the Virgin Mary. The generally accepted explanation is far less holy — namely that the men survived because they landed on a large pile of dung, serendipitously situated beneath the window. So, where did the inspiration to start throwing people out of windows come from? According to Ota Konrad, a Czech historian at Charles University in Prague, “The inspiration for defenestration comes from the Bible, in the story about Jezebel, who was thrown from the window by her people. Defenestration was a very symbolic execution: It is about falling from high to low, symbolising a fall from grace.” In Scotland in 1452, the Eighth Earl of Douglas was ruthlessly defenestrated by King James II. Incensed at the earl’s refusal to pull out of a pact that he’d made with other noblemen, the king reacted by stabbing him 26 times before throwing him out of the window of Stirling Castle, according to Scotland’s Daily Record. Just over a century later, there was an incident in the Mughal Empire. In May 1562, seven months after Mughal Emporer Akbar appointed a favored courtier named Ataga Khan to be his first minister, a disgruntled general named Adham Khan murdered him at the royal palace. Enraged, the emperor ordered an executioner to defenestrate Adham Khan. According to History of Yesterday, on May 16th, 1562, Adham Khan was defenestrated from the ramparts of Agra Fort. When the 40-foot fall only shattered his legs without killing him, the emperor ordered his men to march him back up to the top and defenestrate him a second time. On being told, Adham Khan’s mother, Maham Anga, nurse to Emperor Akbar, graciously uttered, “You have done well.” Very loyal words indeed from the mother, but not entirely heartfelt. Anga is said to have died of acute depression 40 days later. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the tradition is that it didn’t die out in the Middle Ages. In fact, it has continued to surface into the 20th century. Throwing People Out Of Windows In The 20th Century Nigeria saw a horrific display of defenestration in 1977 when soldiers threw the mother of musician and human rights activist Fela Kuti out of the window after taking umbrage with her son’s new Afrobeat album, Zombie, which criticized the military. And as if her death wasn’t brutal enough, the commanding officer also defecated on Kuti’s mother’s head and then burned his entire compound to the ground. There is also ample historical evidence to suggest that global Communist parties have been prone to use the occasional window shove to deal with opposition. Although executing someone by throwing them out a window may seem like a bizarre concept, it was once popular enough to acquire its own word: defenestration. When people use the word “defenestration” today, they usually mean it metaphorically, referring to removing someone from a position of power, especially public leaders. In 2017, for example, when The Atlantic published an article titled “The Strange, Slow-Motion Defenestration of Jeff Sessions” about the fall from grace of the then-U.S. attorney general, they didn’t mean it literally. The most famous instance of throwing people out of windows is the Defenestration of Prague in 1618 that sparked the famous Thirty Years War, shown here in a 19th-century painting painting by Václav Brožík. Because while the word may be a useful — if grandiloquent — way to describe a swift dismissal from power, to defenestrate someone also means to literally throw them out of a window. In fact, defenestration has a long and bloody history as a way to get rid of unwanted rulers or political enemies, execute criminals, and add some cinematic drama. We’ve witnessed it in countless movies — the thrilling opening fight scene in Watchmen, Edward Longshanks hurling his son’s lover through an open window in Braveheart, even the triumphant moment in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when Friar Tuck pushes the money-laden bishop through the stained glass window of his chapel. What Was The Original Definition Of Defenestration? The definition of defenestration comes from the Latin word de, meaning “out of” or “from,” and fenestra, meaning “window.” But its origin comes from an incident in Prague in the Kingdom of Bohemia (part of today’s Czech Republic) in 1419. That July, a group of anti-Catholic rebels called the Hussites marched upon the New Town Hall in Charles Square, demanding the release of some fellow Hussites who were prisoners. When the city’s Catholic officials refused the request and someone hurled a stone at the Hussite leader, Jan Želivský, the Hussites angrily stormed the hall, dead set on throwing someone out a window. They settled for seven city council members, a judge, and the chief magistrate. First Defenestration Of Prague Public Domain “The overthrow of the aldermen from the New Town Hall” showing the First Defenestration of Prague on July 30, 1419, by Adolf Liebscher (1857-1919). As if that wasn’t bad enough, the furious mob gathered below the windows held up spears for the defenestrated men to fall upon. Those who weren’t killed by the fall were hastily dispatched with the spears. Almost exactly 200 years later, it happened all over again. Known to history simply as the Defenestration of Prague — although it was, of course, the second defenestration to plague the city — the 1618 act was fuelled by the religious altercation between the protestant Bohemian aristocracy and the ruling Catholic Hapsburgs. On May 23, Protestants stormed Prague Castle and decided to defenestrate three Hapsburg regents out of the windows of Wenceslaus Hall, eventually triggering the Thirty Years War. Amazingly, the regents survived the 70-foot drop. Their Catholic supporters instantly claimed divine intervention, insisting the men had been miraculously caught by the invisible hands of the Virgin Mary. The generally accepted explanation is far less holy — namely that the men survived because they landed on a large pile of dung, serendipitously situated beneath the window. So, where did the inspiration to start throwing people out of windows come from? According to Ota Konrad, a Czech historian at Charles University in Prague, “The inspiration for defenestration comes from the Bible, in the story about Jezebel, who was thrown from the window by her people. Defenestration was a very symbolic execution: It is about falling from high to low, symbolising a fall from grace.” How Defenestration Has Been Used Around The World It wasn’t just Prague that practiced the strange art, as there were defenestrations in many other medieval cities. In Scotland in 1452, the Eighth Earl of Douglas was ruthlessly defenestrated by King James II. Incensed at the earl’s refusal to pull out of a pact that he’d made with other noblemen, the king reacted by stabbing him 26 times before throwing him out of the window of Stirling Castle, according to Scotland’s Daily Record. Just over a century later, there was an incident in the Mughal Empire. In May 1562, seven months after Mughal Emporer Akbar appointed a favored courtier named Ataga Khan to be his first minister, a disgruntled general named Adham Khan murdered him at the royal palace. Enraged, the emperor ordered an executioner to defenestrate Adham Khan. According to History of Yesterday, on May 16th, 1562, Adham Khan was defenestrated from the ramparts of Agra Fort. When the 40-foot fall only shattered his legs without killing him, the emperor ordered his men to march him back up to the top and defenestrate him a second time. On being told, Adham Khan’s mother, Maham Anga, nurse to Emperor Akbar, graciously uttered, “You have done well.” Very loyal words indeed from the mother, but not entirely heartfelt. Anga is said to have died of acute depression 40 days later. Perhaps the most alarming aspect of the tradition is that it didn’t die out in the Middle Ages. In fact, it has continued to surface into the 20th century. Throwing People Out Of Windows In The 20th Century Nigeria saw a horrific display of defenestration in 1977 when soldiers threw the mother of musician and human rights activist Fela Kuti out of the window after taking umbrage with her son’s new Afrobeat album, Zombie, which criticized the military. And as if her death wasn’t brutal enough, the commanding officer also defecated on Kuti’s mother’s head and then burned his entire compound to the ground. There is also ample historical evidence to suggest that global Communist parties have been prone to use the occasional window shove to deal with opposition. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution of 1968, Deng Pufang, the son of former communist leader Deng Xiaoping, was tortured and forced to admit to capitalist sympathies. As a result, Chairman Mao Zedong’s guards imprisoned him and threw him out of a fourth-story window at Peking University, according to The Los Angeles Times. The fall didn’t kill him, but he was refused admittance when he was taken to the hospital. The fall broke Pufang’s back, and he remains paralyzed in a wheelchair to this day. Earlier, in 1948, there was a controversial episode in what was then Czechoslovakia that introduced a novel form of the ancient execution method. After the communists seized power in the post-war elections, the foreign minister, Jan Masaryk, was found dead in his pajamas beneath his bathroom window at the Černín Palace. The official verdict was suicide, or, since he fell through a window, “self-defenestration.” But 56 years later, an investigation by Czech police concluded that it was, in fact, a murder carried out by the Communist government in what has since become known as the Third Defenestration of Prague, according to Radio Prague International. This argument is based on three distinct pieces of evidence, according to the historian Ota Konrad. First, it would have been quite difficult for Masaryk to navigate the window ledge and throw himself out of that particular window. One Czech investigator reportedly quipped that “Jan Masaryk was a very tidy man — so tidy that, when he jumped, he shut the window after himself.” Second, there was evidence of scratched nail marks on the window frame. And third, the pajamas taken from the crime scene showed that Masaryk had “soiled himself.” And as yet another example of windows being used to bring about horrific death in Prague, Masaryk’s murder acts as a startling warning to us all: If you ever find yourself on a visit to the Czech capital, consider declining an offer to tour the top floors of any tall buildings.

The Gruesome Crimes Of Martha Place, The First Woman To Die In The Electric Chair

The Gruesome Crimes Of Martha Place, The First Woman To Die In The Electric Chair

Martha Place brutally murdered her 17-year-old stepdaughter Ida with acid in 1898 and was executed by electric chair the following ye On February 7, 1898, Martha Place and her husband, William, got into a heated argument inside their Brooklyn home. William eventually stormed out and an enraged Martha went to speak to his teenage daughter, Ida, who had taken her father's side during the fight. When Ida slammed the door in Martha's face, she grabbed a bottle of acid from William's desk and threw it in the 17-year-old's face. Then Martha smothered Ida to death with her bedding, grabbed an ax, and waited for her husband to come home. “The last woman condemned to die in this State went to the gallows shrieking and fighting,” the San Francisco Call noted in the coverage of Martha’s execution, “but Mrs. Place hardly uttered a sound.” Martha may have been the first woman to die by the electric chair, but she wouldn’t be the last. As time went on, it proved to be a popular method of execution in the United States. Of nearly 8,800 executions that took place between 1890 and 2010, 4,374 took place in the electric chair, according to a 2014 study, dwarfing other methods. When William walked up the steps to their brownstone that evening, Martha immediately attacked him. William managed to escape and call for help, then police soon discovered the gruesome scene inside where Ida lay dead, her eyes disfigured and blood pouring from her mouth. Martha Place was promptly arrested and put on trial, where her crime was deemed so heinous that she was executed by the electric chair — even though this new method of execution had never been used on a woman before. Go inside the story of Martha Place, the first woman to ever die by electric chair On March 20, 1899, an unusual execution took place at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Eleven men had been executed by the electric chair in the state, but on that day it was a woman who entered the execution chamber — a convicted murderer named Martha Place. The first woman to ever die by electric chair, Place had been found guilty of brutally murdering her 17-year-old stepdaughter, Ida. Following an argument, Place had splashed acid in Ida’s face and smothered her to death. But though many were satisfied that Place’s sentence matched her crime, it posed some problems for her executioners. Used to dealing with men, they weren’t sure how to work around Place’s long, thick hair, or how to protect her modesty while attaching electrodes to her ankles. This is the story of Martha Place, the “Brooklyn Murderess” who became the first woman in history to be executed by the electric chair. The Many Misfortunes Of Martha Place Born on Sept. 18, 1849, as Martha (Mattie) Garrettson, Martha grew up in Millstone, New Jersey. Her life took a dark turn at the age of 23, however, when the Trentonian reports that a moving sleigh struck her in the head. Her brother later remarked that she never fully recovered from her injuries. Indeed, Martha’s misfortunes soon seemed to pile up. Though she married and had a son, her husband abandoned the family and later died. Martha was subsequently forced to give her only child up for adoption. She eventually found work as a housekeeper in Brooklyn, where Martha worked for a widower named William Place. The two eventually married, making Martha the stepmother of William’s young daughter, Ida. But marital bliss did not follow. Instead, Martha grew deeply jealous of her stepdaughter. “She felt that her husband loved his daughter more than he did her, and her jealousy rapidly changed into hatred for the little girl,” The New York Times reported during Martha Place’s July 1898 murder trial. “As the child grew into a pretty young woman and became more and more of a contrast to her, her hatred began to take active form.” Before long, Martha Place’s resentment of Ida would devolve into violence. The Gruesome Murder Of Ida Place On the morning of February 7, 1898, an argument broke out at the Place home in Brooklyn. According to Amazing True Stories Of Female Executions by Geoffrey Abbot, William and Martha fought, and Ida took her father’s side. When William left for work, Martha turned on her stepdaughter. “His daughter sided with him as she usually did and slammed in my face the door of her room when I went to speak with her,” Martha Place told police, according to The New York Times. “That made me feel mad, so I got some acid from my husband’s desk and threw it into her face.” According to Place, she then left Ida’s room. But an autopsy later suggested that Place had continued the attack. While Ida writhed in pain, doctors suspected that Place had “heaped” bedding upon Ida and smothered her. Then, Martha Place picked up an axe she found in the cellar and waited for her husband to come home. “I was afraid he was going to attack me,” she later told the police. “I took [the axe] upstairs with me. My husband came in afterward and I struck him with it.” As William stumbled onto the street, bloodied and crying for help, Martha fled to the kitchen and tried to kill herself by turning on the gas. Instead, the police arrived and arrested her. Soon afterward, the sensational trial of Martha Place began. How The ‘Brooklyn Murdress’ Was Sentenced To Die By Electric Chair That July, journalists swarmed Martha Place’s sensational murder trial and reported on every deal. “Her face is not pleasant,” noted The World. “She looks like a woman who has spent most of life fretting and worrying.” The New York Times additionally described Martha as being stoic and having the kind of face that “reminds one of a rat.” Their report noted that her face didn’t change during the murder trial, except when William testified. Then, “her thin lips parted in a sardonic grin, and she fixed her eyes upon him. At the end of her trial, Martha Place was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Her counsel soon reached out to the new governor of New York, Theodore Roosevelt, in hopes of having her sentence commuted. But Roosevelt refused. “My sympathies in criminal cases are for the wronged and not the wrongdoer,” he said according to the Trentonian. Martha’s trial had been sensational enough, but her sentence was even more so. After all, the electric chair was still a relatively new method of execution. Until her sentencing, it had never been used on a woman before. The Execution Of Martha Place By 1899, the electric chair had been used for 11 executions in New York State. All of the condemned had been men, starting with convicted murderer William Kemmler. His execution on Aug. 6, 1890 hadn’t gone well — his executioner had to electrocute him twice before he died. Since the electric chair had never been used on a woman, Martha Place allegedly believed that she would be spared at the last minute. She was shocked when Roosevelt refused to commute her sentence, but arose on the morning of her execution “reasonably composed,” per the Trentonian. On March 20, 1899, she donned a black dress she’d made herself, and made her way to the execution room. There, Place’s gender created some obstacles for her executioners. Her thick, graying hair had to be clipped so that electrodes could be placed on her forehead, and her long skirt was slit so that electrodes could be placed on her ankles without exposing them. Strapped into place, Martha uttered her last words: “God help me.” Then, her executioner sent 1760 volts of electricity through her body. Seconds later, Martha Place was dead at the age of 49. “The last woman condemned to die in this State went to the gallows shrieking and fighting,” the San Francisco Call noted in the coverage of Martha’s execution, “but Mrs. Place hardly uttered a sound.” Martha may have been the first woman to die by the electric chair, but she wouldn’t be the last. As time went on, it proved to be a popular method of execution in the United States. Of nearly 8,800 executions that took place between 1890 and 2010, 4,374 took place in the electric chair, according to a 2014 study, dwarfing other methods. As such, Martha Place is more than just the “Brooklyn Murderess,” the woman found guilty of killing her teenage stepdaughter in a fit of rage and jealousy. As the first woman to die by the electric chair, she also makes up an important part of the history of capital punishment in the United States.

Being pressed to death was one of the slowest and most agonizing methods of execution in human history

Being pressed to death was one of the slowest and most agonizing methods of execution in human history.

Although the specifics varied from culture to culture, the accused was generally tied down with a board laid atop them, followed by weight after weight — and sometimes it would take the victim up to three days to die as their bodies were crushed. Their bones would break, the person would suffocate, and sometimes their cracked ribs and shards of bone would even burst through their skin — all while stunned onlookers watched. In one case of pressing in 1676, the sight was reported to be so horrific that some of the onlookers took pity on the accused as he suffered under 400 pounds of stones — and jumped on top of him to end his suffering. Go inside the horrific history of pressing to death: Now The story For thousands of years, accused criminals were subjected to being pressed or crushed to death, most famously during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. If you were sentenced to death by crushing, or getting pressed to death, you were in for an excruciating end. While strapped down, you would have intense weight placed upon you, bit by bit, until the weight literally crushed you to death. One of the earliest examples of the execution method was found over 4,000 years ago in Southeast Asia, where a well-trained elephant would crush a disobedient prisoner. If you were lucky, the elephant would squash you like a bug. If you weren’t, the execution was slow and painful. But whether the weight was applied by a human or a pachyderm, the result was still the same. Giles Corey Is Pressed To Death was a successful farmer in the town of Danvers, Massachusetts, about 30 minutes north of Boston. Unfortunately for Mr. Corey, he was swept up in the flurry of accusations made by local women of various bewitchings and specter visitations. Accusations were often made against folks who weren’t well-liked in the community, and Corey — being a convicted criminal after having beaten an apple thief to death — fell into that category. All in all, about 200 people were accused of witchcraft, including Corey himself. A special court was convened to handle the influx of accusations, and Corey went on trial. At that point, he had two options: He could either enter a plea, standing a strong chance of being convicted in the kangaroo court, or not enter a plea at all and refuse to stand trial. Corey also knew that if he chose the latter, the court would order him to be pressed in hope that he would enter a plea. It didn’t matter to Corey — he chose the latter, and decided to stand strong and die with his dignity intact, while also allowing his living relatives to keep his land. Giles was asked to strip naked and lay down, face-up, on the ground. A wooden board was then placed on top of him, and on top of the board, one by one, Sheriff George Corwin placed large rocks. After two days of this torture, through which Giles had remained silent, never crying out, he was asked to plead. Giles did not want his property to be taken, so he never plead either way. On the third day 19 September 1692 he died from being pressed to death. His last words were, “more weight.” Corey’s death by pressing ultimately helped change the way the Salem Witch Trials were viewed by locals.

Alabama Executes Jeremiah Reeves After Police Torture Him Into False Confession

Alabama Executes Jeremiah Reeves After Police Torture Him Into False Confession

Mar 28, 1958: Alabama executed Jeremiah Reeves for allegedly raping a white woman, who claimed rape after being discovered in her home having sex w/Jeremiah. It was suspected that the sex was consensual. He was 16yrs old, 22 at execution. On March 28, 1958, a 22-year-old Black man named Jeremiah Reeves was executed by the state of Alabama after police tortured him until he gave a false confession as a 16-year-old child. In July 1951, Jeremiah, who was a 16-year-old high school student at the time, and Mabel Ann Crowder, a white woman, were discovered having sex in her home. Ms. Crowder claimed she had been raped by Jeremiah, and he was immediately arrested and taken to Kilby Prison for “questioning.” Police strapped the frightened boy into the electric chair and told him that he would be electrocuted unless he admitted to having committed all of the rapes white women had reported that summer. Under this terrifying pressure, he falsely confessed to the charges in fear. Though he soon recanted and insisted he was innocent, Jeremiah was convicted and sentenced to death after a two-day trial during which the all-white jury deliberated for less than 30 minutes. The local Black community believed—and in some cases, knew—that Jeremiah Reeves and Mabel Crowder had been involved in an ongoing, consensual affair. Concerned about the injustice of the young man's conviction, the Montgomery NAACP became involved and helped attract the attention of national lawyer Thurgood Marshall. These advocates were able to win reversal of Jeremiah’s conviction on December 6, 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the trial judge had been wrong to prevent the jury from hearing evidence of the torture police used to get his confession. Jeremiah’s case also became a flashpoint for Montgomery’s nascent civil rights movement. Claudette Colvin, who was arrested at 15 for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a Birmingham bus in March 1955, was inspired to take that protest action as a show of support for Jeremiah, her friend and schoolmate. Ms. Colvin later became one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the case that led the Supreme Court to order buses desegregated in 1956. Rosa Parks exchanged letters with Jeremiah while he was jailed and helped him to get his poetry published in the Birmingham World; she went on to repeat Ms. Colvin’s protest in December 1955, facing arrest for resisting bus segregation and sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. At a second trial in June 1955, Jeremiah was again convicted and sentenced to death. This time, all appeals were denied. Jeremiah had spent much of his time in prison writing poetry, and he willed his final poem to his mother. He remained on death row until 1958, when he reached what was considered the minimum age for execution. On April 6, 1958, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at an Easter rally in Montgomery, Alabama. Standing on the marked spot on the Capitol steps where Jefferson Davis had been sworn in as president of the Confederacy in 1861, Dr. King decried Jeremiah Reeves’s wrongful conviction and execution, which had been carried out a little over a week before. As mourners and activists gathered at the Capitol for the rally, they were confronted by Ku Klux Klansmen determined to disrupt the peaceful demonstration. Undeterred, Dr. King forcefully denounced the unequal treatment of white and Black defendants and victims in the courts. “Truth may be crucified and justice buried," he declared, "but one day they will rise again. We must live and face death if necessary with that hope.” Afterward, a group of 39 local white ministers released a statement decrying the activists’ “exaggerated emphasis on wrongs and grievances.

Jealous people and people with no knowledge said he "bleached" his skin

Jealous people and people with no knowledge said he "bleached" his skin. But real fans knew the burden MJ carried throughout his music career.

A great man who never allowed vitiligo to destroy his talents! (He only made this known to the public in an interview with Oprah magazine in 1993) Vitiligo causes your skin to lose color or pigmentation. Smooth white or light areas called macules or patches appear on your skin. It generally starts on your hands, forearms, feet and face. Globally, about 1% of the population has vitiligo. Treatment isn’t necessary, but it’s available if you don’t like the changes to your skin tone. What is vitiligo? Vitiligo (pronounced “vit-il-EYE-go”) is a skin condition that causes your skin to lose its color or pigment. This causes your skin to appear lighter than your natural skin tone or turn white. Areas of your skin that lose their pigment are called macules if they’re less than 1 centimeter wide, or patches if they’re larger than 1 centimeter. If you have vitiligo on a part of your body that has hair, your hair may turn white or silver. The condition occurs when your body’s immune system destroys melanocytes. Melanocytes are skin cells that produce melanin, the chemical that gives skin its color, or pigmentation. Vitiligo affects all races and sexes equally. It’s more visible in people with darker skin tones. Although vitiligo can develop in anyone at any age, macules or patches usually become apparent before age 30. You might be at a higher risk of developing vitiligo if you have certain autoimmune conditions like

Wilt Chamberlain at 17. 1954

Wilt Chamberlain at 17. 1954.

Wilton Norman Chamberlain (/ˈtʃeɪmbərlɪn/; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. Standing at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history. Several players and publications have argued that Chamberlain is the greatest of all time. He holds numerous NBA regular season records in scoring, rebounding, and durability categories; and blocks were not counted during his career. He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, and elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams. After his professional basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association (IVA). He was also once league president, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions. Renowned for his strength, he appeared as the antagonist in the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Conan the Destroyer. Chamberlain was also a lifelong bachelor and became notorious for his statement of having had sexual relations with as many as 20,000 women.

On this day 1982 the Empire strikes back

On this day 1982 the Empire strikes back. Having lost control of the Falkands Islands to an Argentine invasion the task force to retake the islands sails south

Nuclear attack submarine HMS Conqueror spots light cruiser General Belgrano the former USS Phoenix on the 30th April sailing south west of the British imposed exclusion zone. British task force commander Sandy Woodward feared a pincer attack on his fleet with an Argentine aircraft carrier approaching from the North. After much debate eventually permission to strike Belgrano was given. On the 2nd May 1982 HMS Conqueror became the first nuclear powered submarine to fire in anger. Launching 3 mk8 torpedos 2 of which hit. She began sinking rapidly suffering a total electrical failure unable to call for a mayday 323 brave Argentinian sailors would loose their lives. The sinking has been controversial in some circles did the ship pose a threat?and it was outside the exclusion zone. In my opinion the sinking is absolutely justified the Belgrano if lucky enough to get amongst the task force through some good fortune she could have caused havoc with her gun battery. The Falkland Islands would be re captured and the conflict ended in 14 June 1982 with a total British Victory dispite significant losses to personel and equipment. The population overwhelmingly support being a overseas territory of the United Kingdom, in a 2013 referendum 99.8% voted to rema

French woman pouring tea for a British soldier fighting in Normandy, 1944

French woman pouring tea for a British soldier fighting in Normandy, 1944.

This woman is prudent, she locked her door. See the key on her left hand! True history that offers the future a brighter light amidst the darkness of war. Only a simple act of support; however, a very powerful message of gratitude for the sacrifices of fighting heroes. The faithful lady risked her life, armed only with a brave heart and a key to her safety. She faced "fire" to help an ally, despite the dangerous state. Keep the Faith. That soldier came all the way from Britain from some other nation to liberate France from the Nazi occupation. He is engaged in actual encounter . The French people were duty bound to stand by the liberators in every possible way, atleast as a token of solidarity . The lady in the photo is courageous and responsive . This is no occasion to mention of humanitarianness . Brave and patriotic lady . She is a brave woman of France, she is honouring a soldier fighting to liberate France in a very practical way. I am sure that soldier appreciated her gesture of goodwill. She isn't actually pouring tea. Experts have determined that it was actually a traditional French fermented beverage known locally as "Le Funky Cold Medina".

Another well preserved human body, much older this time, the Grauballe Man

Another well preserved human body, much older this time, the Grauballe Man.

The Grauballe Man lived during the late 3rd century BC on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. His body was discovered in 1952 in a peat bog near to the village of Grauballe. He was around 30 years old, 5 ft 9 in tall, and entirely naked when he died. He had dark hair, altered by the bog to a reddish colour, and stubble on his chin. His hands were smooth and did not show evidence of hard labour such as farming. His teeth and jaws indicated that he had suffered periods of starvation, or poor health during his early childhood. He also suffered arthritis in his spine. His last meal, eaten right before his death, consisted of a porridge or gruel made from corn, seeds from over 60 different herbs, and grasses, with traces of the poisonous fungi, ergot. The ergot in his system would have induced painful symptoms, such as convulsions and a burning sensation in the mouth, hands, and feet; it may also have induce hallucinations or even a coma. He was killed by having his neck cut open, ear to ear, severing his trachea and oesophagus, in either a public execution, or as a human sacrifice connected to Iron Age Germanic paganism.

This Camera Was Used for Aerial Photos During WWII

This Camera Was Used for Aerial Photos During WWII

The Kodak camera used to capture aerial photography during World War II. Check out this absolute unit of a camera that was used to do aerial photography during World War II. Mounted on the front of the camera is a massive 2-foot long 610mm f/6 lens. This viral photo has made the rounds on the Web in recent years, and the camera has widely been misidentified as a Kodak K-24. It’s actually a Fairchild K-17, which was designed by Fairchild Camera and Instrument and manufactured under license for the US Air Force by Folmer Graflex in Rochester, New York (Kodak’s hometown), in the early 1940s. The Fairchild K-17 shot 9×9-inch (22.86×22.86cm) photos on 9 1/2-inch wide roll film. 6-inch, 12-inch, and 24-inch lenses were available for the camera, with apertures of f/6.3, f/5, and f/6, respectively. Shooting this camera handheld was not an easy task: While these cameras were normally clamped into mounts, a pair of handles and a viewfinder could be fitted to K-17s and K-18s for hand-held operation. What “hand-held” meant is subject to interpretation, as these cameras were not lightweights. With a 200 foot roll of film, the A-5 film magazine used with the K-17 weighed 30 pounds. A complete K-17 with 12″ lens cone and a full magazine weighed about 55 pounds. With a 24″ lens instead of the 12″, the weight climbed to near 75 pounds. So that camera you see being held by the airman above weighs a whopping 75 pounds — no wonder he looks like he’s straining to pose with the “handheld” camera. Thankfully, cameras these days (especially aerial photography ones) are generally much smaller and lighter.

How an act of kindness saved this little girl's life, 1987

How an act of kindness saved this little girl's life, 1987

Beth Usher was a child suffering from a rare brain condition called Rasmussen's Encephalitis. Rasmussen's Encephalitis is a sporadic, chronic inflammatory neurological disease that usually affects only one hemisphere (half) of the brain. It most often occurs in children under 10 but can also affect adolescents and adults. Usher would suffer 100 seizures a day due to this condition. However, for 30 minutes a day, the seizures would stop when she watched the children's educational TV show, Mr. Roger's Neighbourhood. To try to help Beth, she would undergo surgery. She was told there was a possibility she would die. Beth's mother, Kathy, reached out to the Mr. Rogers show to ease her daughters' anxieties. Kathy requested an autograph, but what she got would save her daughter's life. Fred Rogers, the show's presenter, gave Beth a phone call. This is what Beth had to say about the call: “I was over the moon. I told him things I would never tell my mom or my dad. I told him about the surgery and how I might die. And how I didn’t want to die because I didn’t want to leave my brother. It was like talking to an old friend". Rogers also had other cast members play in character during the call. They comforted Beth and told her to stay strong and that she would be ok. Beth then had her surgery, which lasted for 12 hours. She was then put into a coma for 2 months. Rogers would call the hospital every day to check on her. When she was not improving, Roger went to the hospital to put on her puppet show, which you see above. Beth fully recovered, met Rogers again afterward, and credited him with giving her strength during her tough times. Rogers was adamant about the media not covering his visit, as he did not want his acts of kindness to be glorified. This is one of the only pictures of his visit. Rogers, who was a devout Christian, used his show to make iconic statements against homophobia and racism, as well as to help children to feel happy and empowered. Rogers passed away in 2003.

American Horror Story: Freak Show Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree

American Horror Story: Freak Show Angela Bassett as Desiree Dupree

I didn't find much info on the real woman that inspired Angela Bassett's character Desiree Dupree. I just know that she did exist and traveled with the side show for quite a long time. It was sometime early 20th century. Too see more on these fascinating characters from American Horror Story. Keep checking back here on Vintage Horrors! I've already posted many of their stories. Desiree Dupree is a woman with three breasts who is a performer in the Freak Show. She is a character in Freak Show portrayed by Angela Bassett. She is Dell Toledo's ex-wife and Jimmy Darling's ex-stepmother. Born as Derek Dupree in Philadelphia, Desiree was named after her maternal grandfather, a baseball player. Due to ambiguous genitalia, she was mistaken for a boy at birth and spent the formative years of her life as a brother to five older sisters, until puberty at age 12 when she grew not two breasts but three. Personality and Appearance Desiree is a prideful woman who, despite her unconventional body, her three breasts, and abnormally large clitoris, enjoys an undaunted and shameless confidence. Not one to mince words if crossed, she is quick to use her sharp tongue as a weapon and, when pushed even further, she has no qualms about getting physical or even murderous. She often drapes herself in sensual and fitting dresses that accentuate her curves and highlight her breasts. Similar to Dandy himself, she is physically beautiful, but unlike Dandy, she has a conscience Desiree Dupree is a woman with three breasts who is a performer in the Freak Show. She is a character in Freak Show portrayed by Angela Bassett. She is Dell Toledo's ex-wife and Jimmy Darling's ex-stepmother. Born as Derek Dupree in Philadelphia, Desiree was named after her maternal grandfather, a baseball player. Due to ambiguous genitalia, she was mistaken for a boy at birth and spent the formative years of her life as a brother to five older sisters, until puberty at age 12 when she grew not two breasts but three. Personality and Appearance Desiree is a prideful woman who, despite her unconventional body, her three breasts, and abnormally large clitoris, enjoys an undaunted and shameless confidence. Not one to mince words if crossed, she is quick to use her sharp tongue as a weapon and, when pushed even further, she has no qualms about getting physical or even murderous. She often drapes herself in sensual and fitting dresses that accentuate her curves and highlight her breasts. Ethel Darling observes Dell arriving at the freak show, a trailer bearing Desiree in tow. Desiree is unimpressed with the place. She and Dell have been with a Chicago troupe for the last six years but left after Dell killed a young homosexual man who hoped to "change his stripes" by having sex with the hermaphrodite. Desiree reveals that in addition to her three breasts, she has full female genitalia and a penis. Dell asks that they be able to join the act and they do so. Halloween comes, and in the trailer, Dell pumps iron while Desiree inspires him with her costume. Despite her vigorous rubbing of his crotch, he fails to attain an erection. Desiree is tired of excuses for his frequent impotence. He rages against her but she warns him off before leaving. Late for her performance, Jimmy finds Desiree drinking in her trailer, angered by her absent husband. When the boy's comfort turns to lust, his manual stimulation seems to result in vaginal bleeding. Ethel takes her to the doctor where it is explained that she has had a miscarriage and that what she believed to be a penis was, in fact, an enlarged clitoris which could be altered with cosmetic surgery. That night she tells Dell of this and of her discovery that he is Jimmy's father. Not wanting to bear his children and with no more reason to weather his impotence and abuse, she leaves him to room with Ethel. Dell visits the same doctor who examined Desiree. Dell threatens to harm his family and breaks his hands if he interferes with Desiree again. Desiree ushers an ailing Ethel to an appointment with Dr. Bonham but discovers that his office has been closed for business. They enter anyway and find a woman packing away the doctor's belongings. The woman claims to be his daughter from Boston. She explains accusingly that her father blew his brains out after crashing his own fingers with a hammer and demands that they leave. Following Ethel's death, the freaks are burying her and Desiree talks to Amazon Eve, Penny, and Suzi about her unexpected friendship with Ethel. Desiree is inspired by Ethel's survivor nature and strength. Penny commiserates, reminded of her father's mutilation of her. In Ethel's name, Desiree calls for retribution against Penny's father and the ladies volunteer. The next night, they break into Penny's father's house with the help of Suzi. He patrols with a shotgun, but they knock him out and kidnap him. The raiding party has him disrobed and tied to a chair. Desiree and Eve are about to tar and feather him, cut off his penis, and toss him into the river. Penny insists she should do it herself. She and Eve pour the hot tar on him and the feathers fly. Moments before the severance is to take place, Maggie runs in and says that this is not the way to obtain justice. Desiree says the young woman is out of her depth and her element, not one of them, and that she should stay out of this. Maggie warns that this action will send them all to jail. Penny declares that he will live only because she says so unless he comes near any of them again. Desiree calls for him to be dragged to the edge of camp where he'll wander home on his own. While Desiree and Maggie are looking for the then-missing twins, a dark, handsome stranger, Angus T. Jefferson, comes calling for Desiree. She reveals to Maggie that he is her secret beau. Later, consumed by guilt over his murder of Ma Petite and his hidden homosexuality, Dell hangs himself from a rope in his trailer. Just before he blacks out, he is cut down and saved by Desiree. Following Salty's death, Maggie Esmerelda takes Desiree to the American Morbidity Museum, to show her what became of Ma Petite. To Desiree's horror, Salty's severed head and Ma Petite's corpse are both on display. Associating Maggie with Ma Petite's demise, Desiree takes a certain disliking to Maggie. After Dell kills the cops who were taking Jimmy back to jail, Desiree confronts Dell in their caravan, waiting with a gun. She wants to know who killed the cops and who helped him. Dell admits to having killed him to save Jimmy. She thinks Dell has gone too far, while Maggie leads Elsa to discover Ma Petite's fate. He tearfully admits to having smothered her. Once he admits that, Elsa shoots him in the head from behind. Desiree kills Lillian Hemmings, the manager of the museum. At a dinner party in the big top where the freaks plan to take revenge on Stanley, Lillian's partner, Desiree presents the manager's pickled head to him as a "gift" she worked hard on. They mutilate him afterwards. After Maggie is brutally killed in a magic trick gone wrong, Desiree comments "she had it coming," and suggests the freaks bury Maggie's body. Desiree narrowly escapes being murdered by Dandy Mott, by hiding in her trailer. She participates in the killing of Dandy, accompanied by Jimmy and the Tattler twins. Between 1952 and 1960, she marries Angus T. Jefferson and they have two kids.

A father looking for his two missing sons during the Kosovo War, 1999

A father looking for his two missing sons during the Kosovo War, 1999

Mustafa Xaja, an Albanian man, holds up a picture that shows his two sons, who were lost during the war in Kosovo. All his family members were safe, including his two sons, and they all reunited after the war. The Kosovo conflict saw the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro, who controlled Kosovo before the war) and the Kosovo Albanian rebel group called the Kosovo Liberation Army. The KLP fought against the FRY as it sought to fight against the Serbian persecution of Kosovo Albanians. The war, which occurred between 1998 and 1999, came to an end when the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) intervened by using airstrikes, which resulted in the Yugoslav forces withdrawing from Kosovo. Both sides committed war crimes and terrible acts of violence. The conflict was heavily fuelled by ethnic tensions, identity and independence issues, making the war infamous for it's confusing and often misunderstood timeline. The war saw 13,500 people lose their lives and tore families apart forever. The pain in his eyes tells so much. Photographer: unknown Source: BBC

Earle Nelson: American serial killer (1897 - 1928)

Earle Nelson: American serial killer (1897 - 1928)

Earle Nelson was a real piece of work. Nelson was known as "the Gorilla Man," and he was a devout Pentecostal with deeply ingrained sexual problems. His favorite way to kill was to pretend like he was going to rent an apartment, and then after he gained his prospective landlord's trust, he would strangle them to death, have sex with their corpse, and usually hide the body under a bed. Nelson never fully admitted to being a murderer or a necrophiliac, and most of the quotes from his trial are just about how only God could judge him. His last words before his execution were: "I am innocent. I stand innocent before God and man. I forgive those who have wronged me and ask forgiveness of those I have injured. God have mercy! Now The story is full The Venn diagram of necrophiles and serial killers has surprisingly little crossover, but the serial killers who did enjoy having sex with corpses were (and are) some of the most brutal slayers known to man. A serial killer's habits rarely change - at least, until the person in question goes into their wild final spree, when all rational thought goes out the window and they begin to get sloppy. Most serial killers who were necrophiliacs followed their modus operandi to a T, sometimes for years. And they all had intercourse with corpses for different reasons. Some couldn’t get a date; others were afraid to be abandoned or alone. And the most frightening necrophiliac killers simply had no regard for human life and wanted to instill as much fear in the general public as possible. While many serial killers take a sick pride in their work, necrophiliacs rarely promote the fact that part of their sickness is the desire to make love to human remains. In fact, most of the criminals on here didn’t admit to having sex with a dead body until they were pressed on the facts by the police. The guys who did brag about their corpse love had either resigned themselves to the fact that they weren’t going to be seeing the outside of a cell ever again, or they might have been making it up to seem spooky.