Tomb May Hold Key to Shakespeare

Two British adventurers may have climbed it first

(NEWSER) - A long-frozen roll of film may solve one of Mount Everest's most enduring mysteries. England has long been caught in the romance of two British adventurers who scaled the mountain with a team in 1924 and were last seen a few hundred yards from the peak. Did George Mallory and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine reach the summit, three decades before Everest was officially climbed? To the trepidation of some history lovers, an upcoming expedition may soon find out, the BBC reports. More»

Paper praises writer's 'lucid' analysis of his world

(NEWSER) - The Vatican long regarded Oscar Wilde as a “dissolute homosexual,” but things have changed, writes Richard Owen in the Times of London. A review in the Vatican newspaper of a study on the Irish writer celebrates him as “one of the personalities of the 19th century who most lucidly analyzed the modern world in its disturbing as well as its positive aspects.” More»

(NEWSER) - The rich and poor alike may have despised Robin Hood in his day, the BBC reports. A note written by a monk in a medieval manuscript describes the famous thief—and giver to the needy—as having “infested” the countryside “with his accomplices.” The find also pinpoints Robin Hood as living under the reign of Edward I in the 13th century, and makes specific reference to Sherwood Forest. More»

British woman guilty of helping boyfriend assault her girls

(NEWSER) - A sadistic mother in Britain will spend 10 years in prison after a court convicted her of encouraging her boyfriend to systematically rape her three young daughters. The 65-year-old woman instructed her daughters to wear provocative underwear, gave them alcohol, and then drove the girls, who were all under the age of 16, to her partner's home so he could rape them, according to court testimony. She pleaded guilty this week to 25 charges involving the aiding and abetting of child rape. More»

Security camera confusion leads to hilarious pursuit

(NEWSER) - For 20 minutes, an undercover British police officer intrepidly tracked a suspicious person in an area recently hit with a spate of burglaries. Unfortunately, the officer was chasing himself. How? An operator watching the street via security camera alerted the plain-clothes officer of a suspicious person in the area—not realizing it was, in fact, the cop, explains the Telegraph . The camera operator began relaying the whereabouts of the "suspect" so the officer could nab him. More»