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During World War I, Wilfred Owen's younger
brother Harold was an officer on the British cruiser HMS Astraea.
While anchored off West Africa shortly after the armistice, he claims
he had "an extraordinary and inexplicable experience":
"I had gone down to my cabin thinking to
write some letters. I drew aside the door curtain and stepped inside
and to my amazement I saw Wilfred sitting in my chair. I felt shock
run through me with appalling force and with it I could feel the
blood draining away from my face. I did not rush towards him but
walked jerkily into the cabin–all my limbs stiff and slow to
respond. I did not sit down but looking at him I spoke quietly:
'Wilfred, how did you get here?' He did not rise and I saw that he
was involuntarily immobile, but his eyes which had never left mine
were alive with the familiar look of trying to make me understand;
when I spoke his whole face broke into his sweetest and most
endearing dark smile. I felt not fear–I had none when I first drew
my door curtain and saw him there–only exquisite mental pleasure at
thus beholding him. He was in uniform and I remember thinking how
out of place the khaki looked amongst the cabin furnishings. With
this thought I must have turned my eyes away from him; when I looked
back my cabin chair was empty … I wondered if I had been dreaming
but looking down I saw that I was still standing. Suddenly I felt
terribly tired and moving to my bunk I lay down; instantly I went
into a deep oblivious sleep. When I woke up I knew with absolute
certainty that Wilfred was dead. "
He later learned that his brother had been
killed the preceding week.
See also
A Sign and
"That Apparition, Sole of Men".
Sarah Bernhardt slept in a coffin. "I found it
quite natural to sleep every night in this little bed of white satin
which was to be my last couch," she said — until her sister's death led
to a "tragic-comic incident":
When the undertaker's men came to the room to
take away the body they found themselves confronted with two coffins,
and losing his wits, the master of ceremonies sent in haste for a
second hearse. I was at that moment with my mother, who had lost
consciousness, and I got back just in time to prevent the
black-clothed men taking away my coffin.
"The second hearse was sent back, but the
papers got hold of this incident," she adds wearily. "I was blamed,
criticised, etc."
The
Tower of London
has nothing on Hollywood's Knickerbocker Hotel — it's said to be haunted
by six different ghosts:
- Frances Farmer
- William Frawley
- D.W. Griffith
- Harry Houdini
- Marilyn Monroe
- Rudolph Valentino
Houdini, perhaps,
doesn't count.
--------------------------------------------------------------
In 1897, testimony from a ghost helped to convict
a murderer. Zona Heaster Shue's death was presumed to be natural until
her mother claimed that her ghost had visited her on four successive
nights and described how she had been murdered by her husband, Edward.
When Zona's body was exhumed, her neck was found broken, and a jury
convicted Edward of murder.That may be
the last U.S. case of "spectral evidence," but it's not the first.
During the Salem witch trials, if a witness testified that "Goody
Proctor bit, pinched, and almost choked me" in a vision or dream, this
would be accepted as evidence even if Proctor was known to have been
elsewhere at the time.
"Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in
a courtroom," wrote Clarence Darrow. "Justice is what comes out of a
courtroom."
In China you can send money to your dead
relatives. "Hell banknotes" are burned in a traditional ceremony, after
which dead ancestors can use them to bribe the king of hell for a
shorter stay.
They're starting to use credit cards.
When he wasn't escaping straitjackets, Harry
Houdini spent a lot of time debunking spiritualists.
Shortly before his death, he made a pact with his
wife, Bess: If possible, he would contact her from the other side and
deliver a prearranged coded message.
When he died, Bess lit a candle beside his
photograph and kept it burning for 10 years, holding séances every
Halloween to test the pact. Harry never spoke.
In 1936, after a final attempt on the roof of
the Knickerbocker Hotel, Bess put out the candle.
"Ten years is long enough to wait for any man,"
she said.
The Tower of London is pretty crowded even when
it's empty. Reportedly it's haunted by the ghosts of the following
people:
- Thomas Becket
- King Edward V
- Richard, Duke of York
- Anne Boleyn (headless)
- Lady Jane Grey
- Sir Walter Raleigh
There's also a troupe of ghosts who re-enact
the execution of Margaret Pole, the Eighth Countess of Salisbury, as
well as phantom troops and a lady in mourning who has no face. Sounds
like a lively time.
The INFORMATION BELOW IS INTENDED FOR
PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND INTEREST ONLY. PISD IN NO WAY SUGGESTS NOR ENDORSES
THE
ACQUISITION, EXPERIMENTATION OR USAGE OF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SUBSTANCES IN ANY
MANNER OR FORM. ~thank you~
“Popular”
Poisons
It used to be that poisoning was the murder method of choice for those
cunning villains who wanted to “get away with it.” However, following advances in
forensic science, poisoning no longer allows murderers any anonymity.
Nowadays, the use of poison is so easily detectable it is comparable to the
murderer writing a confession
Castor Bean
-
Castor Bean Plant
When you consider that castor oil is used as a food
additive in candy and chocolate, it’s disconcerting to discover that the fruit
of that plant, the castor bean contains a supertoxic level of the poison
ricin. As little as one bean, well chewed, could prove fatal.
However, according to figures from the American Association of Poison Control
Centres (AAPC) only two Castor Bean fatalities were recorded in the period from
1999 to 2004.
Belladonna (Deadly Nightshade)
With a name that means beautiful woman, an extract from the belladonna plant
was used in Renaissance times as a beauty product. Applied to the eyes it
dilated the pupils and gave women a wide-eyed appearance. This senseless
and dangerous application of the poison often makes contemporary thinkers marvel
at the stupidity of our ancestors. Contemporary poisoning from belladonna
usually occurs because some dimwit has discovered that the leaves purportedly
have hallucinogenic qualities. This almost makes the use of belladonna for
pupil-dilation seem sensible.
Heroin
A poison that works on the respiratory system, Heroin depresses the central
nervous system creating a feeling of euphoria. Even if you don’t factor in
the risk of HIV from shared needles, or the danger of contaminants being
included in unregulated substances, the excess mortality rate amongst Heroin
users (up to 20% higher than in comparable groups of none users) makes the
appeal of this drug hard to understand. Symptoms include cramps, disturbed
vision, low blood pressure, coma and death from respiratory failure
Hemlock
Hemlock was supposedly the poison that was used to dispatch Socrates.
Whilst Descartes may have said, “I think, therefore I am,” Socrates is meant to
have lifted his mug of Hemlock and said, “I drink, therefore I’m not.” In
Water Hemlock the highest concentrations of the poison cicutoxin can be found in
the root and one bite of this can cause death in adults. Water Hemlock
causes convulsions and death. Poison Hemlock causes muscle failure and
death.
Arsenic
Historically arsenic was the murderer’s favourite choice and it has always
been one of the favourite devices used in murder mystery stories. In the
UK it was available as a poison that could be freely bought in chemists to help
with rat infestations. Traces of arsenic are present in all human tissues
and it is the twentieth most commonly encountered element. When used as a
poison, symptoms include severe gastric discomfort, vomiting and diarrhoea with
blood.
Strychnine
One of the more popular forms of poisoning at the start of the twentieth
century, strychnine attacks the central nervous system and causes exaggerated
reflex reactions. With the correct dose a victim could be dead within ten
to twenty minutes – having suffered an agony of contortions and death
throes. Strychnine was the murder weapon in Agatha Christie’s first
murder-mystery The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Whist this is a fast
acting poison, effective treatments are now possible and it can only be seen as
an efficient murder weapon in fiction and on very old-fashioned murder mystery
shows.
Cyanide
Suicide Cyanide Pill
Cyanide kills by preventing red blood cells from absorbing oxygen. This
results in a process known as “internal asphyxia.” Cyanide capsules were
supposedly used by World War II spies as an easy escape option to avoid the
painful part of a torture and death threat. Lizzie Borden, although more famous
for axe crimes, was found to have traces of cyanide in the sugar bowl at her
family home – suggesting she had a back up plan in case the forty whacks
failed. Rasputin consumed a dose of cyanide that should have been
lethal. When it produced no adverse effects his enemies decided it was
time to shoot and drown him.
Edgar
Allen Poe
Poe was more than the
Cask of Amontillado, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven, but undoubtedly he
is best known for his chilling tales. But I thought we’d delve a little
deeper into Mr. Poe to celebrate his upcoming deathday. I somehow think he
would prefer that people celebrated that instead of his birthday anyway.
Tamerlane and Other Poems
If you’re looking for an almost one-of-a-kind Poe collectible, keep an eye
out for Tamerlane and Other Poems. Poe was a mere 18 when it was released
in 1827; only 50 copies were published, credited to “a Bostonian”. The
40-page collection was paid for by Poe himself and definitely showed his
age - most of the poems were about youth and the trials of it.
At this point in time, it’s thought that only 12 copies of Tamerlane still
exist. You can find one at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Va., and most of
the others in private collections. It has fetched as much as $125,000 at
an auction.
Virginia Clemm
In 1835, Poe married his first cousin. Here’s how that happened: after Poe
was discharged from the Army in 1829, he went to live with his aunt and
her family. For a while Edgar was pretty taken with the girl next door, a
Miss Mary Devereaux. Virginia played Cupid for a while and carried
messages back and forth between the two of them. It didn’t pan out,
though, and eventually Poe moved to Richmond to take a position at the
Southern Literary Messenger. He hadn’t forgotten about Virginia, though,
and started to make plans to marry her. Another cousin heard about this
and was not happy about the prospect and pleaded with Virginia’s mom to
consider the girl’s education instead of letting her marry Edgar. Edgar
was devastated and wrote a letter to his aunt, begging her to let Virginia
decide her future for herself… she was only 13 at the time, but maybe
13-year-olds were more mature then. The clincher was probably when he
offered to financially support not only Virginia, but also her mom and
brother. The family was living in almost total poverty, so no doubt that
was pretty appealing to the Clemms. They ended up getting married either
in 1836… or it may have been 1835. They filed for the license in 1835 and
it’s believed that they may have quietly been married at the same time,
but they didn’t actually have a public ceremony until 1836.
It definitely wasn’t a normal relationship - Poe referred to his
wife/cousin as “Sis” and “Sissy”. Some biographers think their
relationship was more of a companionship sort of a thing, and that their
marriage was never actually consummated. Regardless, they seemed very
supportive and devoted to one another (despite some infidelity rumors), so
when she died of tuberculosis at the young age of 24, Edgar was
devastated. It’s assumed by a lot of Poe followers that his famous poem
Annabel Lee is based on her. As she was dying, she asked her mother to
“take care of my poor Eddy - you will never never leave him?” And her
mother made good on the agreement - she did stay with Edgar until he died
in 1849. And how did that happen??
Death
On October 3, 1849, Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore, an
absolute mess and completely delirious.
It would appear that he was wildly drunk, and he was definitely wearing
someone else’s clothes. He was taken to the hospital, but never came to
enough to explain what had happened, and his death certificate is missing
so we don’t even know what the official cause is, but newspapers reported
“congestion of the brain” and “cerebral inflammation”. So what really
happened? I Think the most interesting theory is this one: he was caught
in cooping scam. In today’s day and age, cooping doesn’t happen. Gangs
would kidnap drunks, homeless people and other innocent bystanders and
hold them in a room (a “coop”) during elections. They would force these
people to vote for their man over and over again, beating them if they
wouldn’t comply and making them change clothes to vote over and over again
in the same place. Was Poe a victim of this? We don’t know for sure, but
it’s possible. The flaw in this theory, though, is that Poe was well-known
in Baltimore at the time and would surely have been recognized if he tried
to vote over and over again. But if he was dirty and beaten to a pulp,
maybe not.
Image from krichter
The Poe Toaster
This isn’t an obscure fact about Poe, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
Since 1949, a mysterious person nicknamed “The Poe Toaster” has appeared
at his grave in Baltimore to toast him with cognac. He also leaves three
roses. The Edgar Allan Poe Society in town has helped hide the secret of
the Poe Toaster’s identity for years, although a man did confess to being
behind the annual tribute. However, his story apparently has a lot of
inconsistencies and holes in it, so it’s believed that his “confession”
may not be entirely true.
courtesy of 'Neatorama' Only Blog
Mysteries of the Universe
The Universe… The
incredible difference in scale between the tiny world we live in every day
and the vastness of all time and space begs the question of whether we
will ever be able to grasp the fullness of the cosmos. But that doesn’t
stop us from trying. In fact, contemplating the great unknowns must be one
of the oldest hobbies in human experience. The pursuit has given rise
first to religion, then to philosophy, then to people who make fun of
religion and philosophy.Mysteries of the Universe
Extraterrestrial Intelligence
This is really a simple mystery. Is there other intelligent life out there
in the universe? Carl Sagan reminds us that if we exist, then, no matter
how rare intelligence is in the universe, given how huge the universe is,
we must have many neighbors out there somewhere. Frank Drake, an
astrophysicist, created an equation that helps figure out how much
intelligent life there is in the universe, and estimated that if only one
in a billion planets has intelligent life, then there must still be over 6
billion planets with intelligence on them. Enrico Fermi, however, pointed
out that if life is that common, then it is virtually impossible that we
haven’t yet detected any signs of other intelligent life in the universe.
The Tunguska Explosion
On the 30th of June, 1908 (or the 17th, at the time; the calendar has been
revamped since then), at 7:17 am (local time), something exploded over a
region of forest in the Tunguska River Valley in Siberia, Russia. Locals
many miles away saw something bright blue streak toward the area and
explode with incredible force, sufficient to register on instruments in
England. Later examination of the site showed that trees had been knocked
down in a radial pattern from a central point, indicating an air burst of
some kind. To this day, scientists aren’t sure what it was, and generally
figure that it was a meteor or a fragment of a comet. Why did it explode
in the air? Why haven’t we found any pieces? The mystery has kept UFO
aficionados up at nights since then.
Rare Antimatter
Matter and antimatter are, in theory, created at the same time by the same
event. When a normal baryonic particle is created, an antiparticle of the
same mass and opposite charge is also created. However, while we have
created antimatter in laboratories on Earth, we don’t see it in the
universe around us. No one seems to know what happened to all the
antimatter that should be there…
Consciousness
What is the mind? Behaviorists say that it is just conditioned responses.
But it’s hard to deny that our ability to reflect on our own thoughts is
something distinct and interesting. Is it a mere side-effect of the way
our brains work? If so, how long will it be before a computer becomes
self-aware and asks for equal rights? How can you tell true consciousness
from something designed to simulate it? Can consciousness survive the
death of the brain that carries it? There are a lot of questions, but
until we can have an equal conversation with either a robot or a ghost,
there really won’t be any answers.
Dark Matter / Dark Energy
Current models of the universe, and observations made by high-tech
instruments, point to there being an enormous amount of matter in the
universe beyond what we can actually see. In fact, we can only seem to
perceive about 4% of the stuff in the universe directly. The rest is
invisible, or “dark matter,” a term that just means that we have no idea
what it is. Accompanying this dark matter is some type of energy that,
like dark matter, we can’t perceive directly. We call this, in a moment of
inspiration, “dark energy.” Apparently, there’s even more of this than
there is dark matter. Different theories abound, but perhaps, as mentioned
in #10 above, most of the universe is just avoiding us.
Time
You think you know what time is? Okay, try defining it without using any
terms that rely on time. Time is… well, it’s time. It’s what keeps every
event from happening simultaneously, and it’s what distinguishes something
that happened in the past from something that will happen in the future.
Is it a dimension, like space? Is it a quality of matter? Is it merely an
illusion, possibly created to boost sales of digital watches? The smartest
guys in the world get headaches from this one.
The Beginning of the Universe
How did the universe begin? Did the universe ever begin? If the universe
includes everything that we know, including time, could there possibly
even be a “before” before the beginning of the universe. Current theories
generally talk about a “Big Bang,” which is a massive expansion of all
matter and energy from a single point, which is still continuing through
the present day. What started the bang? Where did all the energy and
matter come from? Are these questions even meaningful? What about
creationism, if that is for you? If God created the universe and all the
physical laws in it, what is he doing now that it is running itself?
End of the Universe
Following the question of the end of the universe is the question of the
end of the universe. Opinions vary on whether we can expect the universe
to ever expire. There are several possibilities. One is that the universe
will continue to expand, and eventually become so spread out that all
matter and energy is just a homogeneous cloud of thin, lukewarm dust.
Another is that gravity will eventually catch up with all the matter, and
the universe will slow down and fall back into a single point, which may
spark another big bang. Yet another theory notes that baryons and protons,
the building blocks of matter, don’t seem to be being created naturally
anymore, and if they decay (as some other particles do), the universe will
simply fade out as all the particles just cease to be. In general, nothing
untoward is expected to happen to the universe for many billion years,
which will probably be a relief to those with long-range investments.
Multiple Universes
Current quantum physics raises the possibility that there are many
universes besides our own, existing in the same space and time, but only
interacting in certain limited ways. These universes may have their own
separate histories and futures, and even their own laws of physics.
Grand Unification Theory
For decades, physicists have been trying to make sense of the difference
between Isaac Newton’s classical physics (you know, what you use to play
pool) Einstein’s relativistic physics, that involve very large or massive
things at enormous velocities, and Heisenberg’s (and others’) quantum
physics, which concerns things so small that you can’t even measure them
without changing the result. These three sets of physical laws seem to
play by their own rules, largely ignoring each other, and yet they all
relate to the same universe. And so physicists have hunted for the Grand
Unification Theory, which would substitute for all of these incomplete
sets of laws and make sense of it all. Perhaps it doesn’t exist. Or
perhaps it’s just too complex for human minds to grasp. One way or the
other, it’s going to keep scientists arguing for some time to come.
Cartoon property of Berkeley Breathed.
Written by Glen Taylor
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