John Riley - wife murderer. 36 year old Riley had been married to his wife, Alice, for around 12 years.

John Riley - wife murderer.36 year old Riley had been married to his wife, Alice, for around 12 years.  They had two or three children and the family lived in Grimsby.

Riley was rarely in work and frequently maltreated Alice, causing her to leave him and move across the Humber river and live in Hull.

Riley visited her there from time to time and they got back together and rented a room in a lodging house at Mariner’s Yard in Blackfriars’s Gate in Hull.

It seems that he forced Alice into prostitution and on one occasion was convicted of an assault on her which earned him a one month prison sentence.

Riley left Hull to look for work, returning a week or so later with a little money which was soon spent on alcohol.

On the afternoon of Sunday the 3rd of July 1859 Alice had gone to bed having had a lot to drink.Riley sent his eight year old son out to play and locked the front door.

He then cut Alice’s throat as she lay sleeping and attempted to hang himself.The little boy returned home two hours later and finding the door locked raised the alarm.

A constable was able to force the door and discovered Alice’s body and Riley suspended by a cord around his neck.  He was cut down and made a recovery and a statement acknowledging his guilt.

He was therefore charged with Alice’s murder.

He came to trial on the 18th of July at York, before Mr. Justice Hill. Given his statement to the police he was quickly found guilty.

Riley was hanged by Thomas Askern at noon at York Castle on Saturday the 6th of August before a crowd estimated at 7,000 people, including a lot of young women.

He was reportedly very penitent and spent some time in prayer with the Rev. T. Myers.  The chaplain, the Rev. J. C. Thompson, administered the Sacrament.

A few minutes before noon, the Under Sheriff, Mr. W. Gray, demanded his body and Riley was pinioned by Askern.

The procession to York’s portable gallows formed up, consisting of Mr. Gray, the governor and under governor, the two clergymen, several turnkeys, Riley and Askern.  Shortly after midday Riley was launched into eternity, becoming still after two minutes.

As was usual he was left on the rope for an hour before being taken down and buried in the Castle cemetery.

French soldiers goofing around before heading for the front, August 1914.

French soldiers goofing around before heading for the front, August 1914.

The French soldier on the left died under 72 hours later on his first day of battle near Mulhouse, Alsace, aged 24. Colourised by u/tittyswan on Reddit.

On August 7, 1914, the Battle of the Frontiers began, one of the earliest yet bloodiest campaigns of the Western Front.

Following the German declaration of war on France on August 3, both nations prepared to go on the offensive, with the French deploying their Plan XVII and the Germans their Schlieffen Plan.

On August 7, 1914, the French invaded Alsace and Lorraine, the regions they had lost in 1871.

The French achieved early success and advanced, but suffered thousands of casualties, and a German push on August 20 at Sarrebourg set them back to their starting points.

On August 21, the French attacked again further north in the Battles of the Ardennes, Charleroi and on August 22 at Rossignol.

The French suffered extreme casualties due to advancing en masse across open terrain in broad daylight with minimal artillery support, wearing extremely visible dark blue and red uniforms into German machine-guns and artillery, using outdated 19th century tactics.

The French commanders believed enough "offensive spirit" could overcome any defense.

Their attacks were uncoordinated and inflexible, and the French also badly underestimated the strength of the German force in France.

The Germans suffered heavy casualties in their attacks too, also advancing in broad daylight in open fields.

Though the Germans did have better tactics and more artillery and machine-guns than the French, which enabled them to succeed and advance.

On August 23, the British engaged the Germans for the first time in the Battle of Mons in Belgium and halted the Germans for some time before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Honour British Nurse Edith Cavell, executed by the Germans on 12th October 1915.

Honour British Nurse Edith Cavell, executed by the Germans on 12th October 1915.

Born on 4th December 1865.  Edith is remembered for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides, also helping around 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during the course of the First World War.

She was subsequently arrested and accused of treason, found guilty by a court-martial and sentenced to death.

The verdict caused international outrage, however, the verdict was upheld and Edith was shot by a German firing squad.

The Imperial German Government believed it had acted fairly towards Edith.

German Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Dr Alfred Zimmermann issued a statement to the press on behalf of the German government as follows:

“It was a pity that Miss Cavell had to be executed, but it was necessary.  She was judged justly ... It is undoubtedly a terrible thing that the woman has been executed, but consider what would happen to a State, particularly in war, if it left crimes aimed at the safety of its armies to go unpunished because they were committed by women.

The execution was widely condemned and received extensive press coverage globally.

As a result in January 1916, the Kaiser issued a decree stating from then on capital punishment would not be carried out on women without his express permission.

Edith Cavill’s body was returned to Great Britain in 1919.A state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on the 19th May 1919.

The Spine-Chilling Tour Revisiting the Michael Ross Murders.

The Spine-Chilling Tour Revisiting the Michael Ross Murders.

Known as the Roadside Strangler, Michael Ross is a good example of the classic organized offender.

Between 1981 and 1984, Ross murdered eight girls and women aged between 14 and 25 in Connecticut and New York, raping seven out of his eight murder victims.

At the time of his arrest, the Roadside Strangler was working as an insurance salesman and traveled his route in a blue Toyota.

He was extremely effective in avoiding apprehension and the authorities didn’t even realize a serial killer was responsible for the deaths.

In fact, there was hardly any physical evidence in these cases except for the recovered bodies.

Ross confessed to each of the eight murders and was convicted for the last four of them.

He was sentenced to death on July 6, 1987 and spent the next 18 years on death row.

In 2005, Ross was executed by the state of Connecticut, making it the first execution in Connecticut (and the whole of New England) since 1960, and the last execution in Connecticut before the state repealed capital punishment in 2012