fraud

In 1703, at the dawn of the eighteenth century, a traveler came to London Town. A native of a far-off land, kidnapped by Catholic missionaries but rescued by a Protestant minister, he was practically tailor-made for the fervently Protestant…

The idea that someone you know is capable of murder is a shocking thought. And in the London literary scene of the 1820s everyone knew Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. He threw the best parties, he wore the best clothes, and his distinctive…

Horatio Bottomley was born in the East End of London in 1860. He had only one sibling - an elder sister named Florence. When he was three years old his father, an ex-tailor named William, died in Bethlehem Hospital (better known as Bedlam).…

Ferdinand Waldo Demara, commonly known as “Fred”, was born in Lawrence Massachusetts in the December of 1921. The family were fairly well off when he was born, but his father lost a lot of money in the Great Depression and the family had to…

It seems to be hardwired into our brains to want to believe in miracles. It’s the only explanation why people will continue to believe in them even after they’ve been shown to be nothing of the sort. Nowhere is this more apparent than…