Skip to main content

The Court Jester Whose Wit Saved His Life

How a court jester slapped the king's butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him Triboulet served as court jester under King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547 . Triboulet's quick humor rescued him from Francis I's deadly wrath, not once, but twice. Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station. Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind. That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earne...
Post a Comment

The Wembley Point mystery

The Wembley Point mystery: who was the woman who jumped to her death?



An artist’s impression of the woman who jumped


One October morning in 2004, a woman took the lift to the 21st floor of an office block in north-west London, bought a coffee in the cafe there – then opened a window and jumped out. No one knew who she was. Do they now?

Just before 9.00am, on October 29th 2004, a woman entered the building. She was alone when she entered, and she was described as being petite, approximately 5′1, and of African descent. She was then seen getting into an elevator going up to the 21st floor. She made her way to the cafeteria were she sat at a table by herself, next to a window. She bought a coffee and spent the next few minutes smoking a cigarette and reading a news paper.

Suddenly out of nowhere the woman climbed on to the table, opening the window and jumping out. Her body was found near the river beside the building, and when police tried to identify her nobody had any clue who she was.

Wembley Point, the building from which the woman jumped. Photograph: Amit Lennon/The Guardian


The woman in question didn’t leave any sort of ID behind. All she did leave behind were some pieces of Jewellery and a watch the she was wearing, she was also seen wearing a maroon Leather Jacket, as well as a blanks pants, black turtle neck, and black boots. 




She also had a bag that said CP-NY, which people believe means “Central Park, New York.“ Police also found some money and an all-day bus pass, but the most mysterious thing they found was this painting laid out on the table she jumped from.

the painting she left behind. Photographs: Locate International/PA


The building itself wasn’t a tourist building and the only people that eat in the cafeteria were the people that worked in the building, so it was strange no one recognised her. From the outside there is no way to tell if the building had cafeteria, which again seemed strange to police. Witnesses that saw her before she jumped said she was acting distressed before she jumped.

It was just last year police realised a photo based on her autopsy and to this day they’re still looking for answers to whom this woman is. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Court Jester Whose Wit Saved His Life

How a court jester slapped the king's butt, then brilliantly convinced him not to kill him Triboulet served as court jester under King Francis I, who ruled France from 1515 to 1547 . Triboulet's quick humor rescued him from Francis I's deadly wrath, not once, but twice. Court jesters hold a unique place in history. Playing the fool for kings and queens meant they were always in close proximity to royalty, but so very far from their rank and station. Comedians often like to push boundaries, but that can be a dangerous business when your job is to entertain the peope who have executioners at their beck and call. Especially when you forget your place—or purposely ignore it, as the case may be—and playfully smack the reigning monarch square on the behind. That little whoopsie was the claim to fame of Triboulet, a court jester who served King Francis I in 16th-century France. But it was how he got away with slapping the king on the butt and living to tell about it that earne...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arne Cheyenne Johnson

Arne Cheyenne Johnson: The Devil Made Me Do It Arne Cheyenne Johnson claimed that possession by the Devil had led him to murder Born on February 26, 1952, Arne Cheyenne Johnson holds a somewhat strange claim to fame. He was the first person in the United States to claim demonic possession as a defense in a criminal trial. After being arrested for the murder of his landlord, Alan Bono, in 1981 Johnson claimed, “the Devil made him do it”. Unsurprisingly, his trial became a media sensation at the time and Johnson became a household name. Amazingly, two famous paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, came to his defense, arguing at trial that Johnson truly was possessed. For decades this has left some wondering if Johnson was guilty or if the devil really made him do it. The Murder To an outsider, it would seem everything was going okay for Arne Johnson in early 1981. He was happily engaged to Debbie Glatzel, had just moved into a new home, and was working as a tree surgeon at...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sending kids in the mail

When People Used the Postal Service to ‘Mail’ Their Children A U.S. POSTMAN CARRYING A BABY BOY ALONG WITH HIS LETTERS In the early days of U.S. parcel service, there weren’t clear guidelines about what you could and couldn’t mail. In January 1913, one Ohio couple took advantage of the U.S. Postal Service’s new parcel service to make a very special delivery: their infant son. The Beagues paid 15 cents for his stamps and an unknown amount to insure him for $50, then handed him over to the mailman, who dropped the boy off at his grandmother’s house about a mile away. Regulations about what you could and couldn’t send through the mail were vague when post offices began accepting parcels over four pounds on January 1, 1913. People immediately started testing its limits by mailing eggs, bricks, snakes and other unusual “packages.” So were people allowed to mail their children? Technically, there was no postal regulation against it. “The first few years of parcel post service—it was a bi...
Post a Comment
Read more