This Week In History News, Oct. 22 – 28

Published October 27, 2017

New book identifies Black Dahlia killer, unusual ancient tradition may be spreading the plague in Madagascar, and the JFK assassination files contain surprising revelations.

New Book Claims To Have Solved The Black Dahlia Murder Case

Black Dahlia Murder

Wikimedia Commons Elizabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia.

The murder of Elizabeth Short, known as the “Black Dahlia,” is one of American history’s most brutal and mysterious killings.

On Jan. 15, 1947, Short was found dead, brutally mutilated, in a residential neighborhood outside of Los Angeles. The case made nationwide news, due to the horrific, graphic nature of the crime.

Short’s corpse was severed at the waist, and her intestines had been removed, folded up, and tucked under her lower torso. Pieces of her skin had been removed, there were ligature marks on her wrists and ankles, and her body had been entirely drained of blood. Her corpse had been wiped down with gasoline before being dumped.

Now, a new book claims to have solved the mystery of who exactly committed this ghastly crime.

Ancient Madagascan Tradition Of Dancing With Corpses May Be Spreading The Black Plague There Today

Famadihana Dance

RIJASOLO/AFP/Getty ImagesPeople carry a body wrapped in a sheet after taking it out from a crypt, as they take part in a funerary tradition called the Famadihana in the village of Ambohijafy, a few kilometres from Antananarivo, on September 23, 2017.

After an epidemic of the Black Plague reemerged in Madagascar, officials warn that the practice of dancing with dead bodies may heighten the risk of spreading the disease.

The ancient tradition of “Famadihana,” or dancing with the dead, may be helping to spread the Famadihana currently ravaging Madagascar, reports Newsweek. The Plague is not new to the island nation, and localized epidemics of the disease have been reported there for decades.

Learn more here.

Newspaper Received Anonymous Tip 25 Minutes Before JFK Assassination

Jfk

Wikimedia CommonsJFK in his convertible moments before he was shot

On Nov. 22, 1963, at 6:05 pm, the Cambridge News in England received a phone call.

“The caller said only that the Cambridge News reporter should call the American Embassy in London for some big news and then hung up,” a memo regarding the call said.

Twenty-five minutes later, President John F. Kennedy was shot.

Read more in this report.

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All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future.