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Yahoo
03-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pocket watch from Great Lakes' deadliest shipwreck returned to family
The Great Lakes have claimed thousands of lives and ships. The exact total will never be known, but historians estimate that 25–30,000 people have drowned on around 6,000 vessels since the 17th century. Despite this uncertainty, experts do know the single deadliest documented shipwreck: the Lady Elgin. On September 8, 1860, the sidewheel steamer crashed into another boat while sailing north of Chicago on Lake Michigan. Over 300 people died as a result, etching the tragedy into cultural memory and even inspiring at least one folk song. But while the Lady Elgin's deteriorating wreckage remains interred across a mile of Lake Michigan lakebed, one remarkably preserved artifact has made it back to the surface. After nearly 165 years, a solid gold pocket watch has been returned to the family of one of the steamer's victims—a man famous for his own reasons. Herbert Ingram was born on May 27, 1811, to a butcher's family in Lincolnshire, England. After starting his career as a printer's apprentice and journeyman, Ingram began noticing newspapers often sold more copies when they included illustrations. Before he could do anything about that, however, he needed money. As luck would have it, Ingram started to amass a small fortune in 1842 thanks to his newly patented 'Parr's Life Pills.' Ingram claimed his supplements were based on a recipe created by the legendary Thomas Parr, a man who supposedly lived to the age of 152. Parr's Life Pills offered no actual medical benefits, but the proceeds did help finance an endeavor with real results. Less than a year after his foray into pharmaceuticals, Ingram launched The Illustrated London News. Unlike its competitors, the London News featured prominent illustrations and images in every weekly issue. Its success paved the way for imitators, and Ingram is now regarded as the father of pictorial journalism. By 1860, Ingram wasn't just a prominent businessman, but a member of the British Parliament. Unfortunately, none of that exactly matters to the Great Lakes. While traveling the US to obtain new material for The Illustrated London News, Ingram and one of his sons were among the hundreds of Lady Elgin passengers to drown in the shipwreck. It would take another 129 years before maritime archeologists rediscovered the wreck of the Lady Elgin. Experts traveled to the location to document the ship's remains, including Holland-based historian Valerie Van Heest in 1992. But unbeknownst to her, another group of divers had also recently visited the Lady Elgin—and they returned to land with a keepsake. 'The location had leaked, and a trio of divers… came upon a pocket watch. A gold pocket watch, an extraordinary discovery,' Van Heest told the local Michigan news outlet Fox 17. For over 30 years, the artifact remained hidden away in storage. After working to restore it, the watch's finders reached out to Van Heest to help identify its owner. Luckily, the timepiece offered a solid lead—the initials 'H.I.' engraved on its watch fob. Additional research indicated Herbert Ingram's descendents still lived in England. After reaching out to them and confirming the watch's provenance, Van Heest learned his hometown's museum was coincidentally in the process of building an exhibit dedicated to him. 'They didn't have any physical artifacts, and here I was offering not only an artifact, but Herbert Ingram's personal watch,' Van Heest explained to Fox 17. 'It was an extraordinary, serendipitous occurrence.' With the watch in the care of museum curators in Ingram's hometown of Boston, Lincolnshire, England, both his family and the public can now visit a tangible relic representing both historical triumphs and tragedies. 'Returning this watch is the right thing to do,' said Van Heest. 'This is reminding people that shipwrecks affected people, affected families, and this shows that 165 years later, we care. People care about the individuals lost.'
Scottish Sun
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Romanian, 26, who ‘dreamt of being world's top model' appears in court over ‘firebomb' attacks on Keir Starmer's home
'ARSON ATTACK' Romanian, 26, who 'dreamt of being world's top model' appears in court over 'firebomb' attacks on Keir Starmer's home Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A ROMANIAN who dreamt of being the "world's top model" has appeared in court over alleged firebomb attacks on Keir Starmer's home. Stanislav Carpiuc, 26, is accused of conspiracy to commit arson with intent after he was arrested at Luton Airport by counter terrorism officers. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Stanislav Carpiuc appeared in court today 7 The front of Sir Keir Starmer's former home was damaged Credit: London News Pictures 7 A 4x4 was also allegedly set alight in the same street Credit: PA 7 Sir Keir condemned the alleged attacks Credit: AFP The Romanian national, who was born in Ukraine, is the second man to be charged over the alleged attacks earlier this month. Carpiuc posted on a modelling website how he started his career "quite recently" and wants to be the top "male model in the world". He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court where spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He is accused of with conspiring together with Roman Lavrynovych to damage by property by fire, intending to damage the property, and intending to endanger life following the fires on May 8, 11 and 12. Carpiuc was denied bail and will next appear at the Old Bailey on June 6. Ukrainian national Lavrynovych is also set to appear on the same date charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life. A 34-year-old was also arrested on May 19 in the Chelsea area on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. He remains in police custody. London Fire Brigade were scrambled to Starmer's former Kentish Town home at around 1.11am last Monday. They confirmed there was was "damage" to the front of the townhouse, which the Starmer family lived in before he was Prime Minister, but no one was hurt. The alleged arson attack was linked to a 4x4 that was parked on the same street and sold to neighbours by Starmer. Fire Crews were also called to the Islington home on May 11 where one person was taken to safety via an internal staircase. Officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command led the investigation because of the connections to the PM. Sir Keir has slammed the alleged arson attacks, saying: "This is an attack on all of us, democracy and the values that we stand for." 7 Carpiuc has been remanded into custody 7 He dreamt of being the top model in the world
The South African
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The South African
Hollywoodbets Durban July: 61 entries received
Sixty-one entries from 28 stables were received at the initial nomination stage for this year's R5 million Hollywoodbets Durban July over 2 200m on Saturday, 5 July. In pursuit of his sixth 'July' victory, Champion trainer Justin Snaith leads the way with 10 entries, including the multiple Grade 1-winning 3-year-old Eight On Eighteen and the very progressive Okavango. Eight On Eighteen is likely to follow the traditional WSB Guineas (Grade 2)/Daily News (Grade 1) pathway into the Hollywoodbets Durban July, while Okavango could be seen next in the World Sports Betting 1900 on 10 May. Alec Laird has gone empty-handed since winning the 100th 'July' with London News in 1996, but he has nominated the exciting Fire Attack, a 3-year-old son of Fire Away who landed his first Grade 1 success when taking out the Champions Challenge over 2 000m at Turffontein last month. Laird has also entered this season's Betway Summer Cup (Grade 1) winner Atticus Finch and Gauteng Guineas (Grade 2) winner Parisian Walkway. With 'July' success very much a Laird legacy – Alec's father Syd won the race seven times between 1961 and 1978, while cousin Charles saddled the 2007 victor Hunting Tower – Alec will be keen to land the honours in the 129th renewal of Africa's greatest horse racing and social event. Brett and James Crawford are on a hat-trick, having won in 2023 with Winchester Mansion and last year with Oriental Charm, and the latter has been nominated to defend his crown. By the time race day comes around, James will be flying solo as father Brett will have left to take up his new challenge in Hong Kong. Mike de Kock, now training in partnership with son Matthew, is also seeking his sixth 'July' winner and the team holds five entries at this early stage, with the promising Immediate Edge possibly their leading contender. It's been more than a decade since Sean Tarry won back-to-back 'July's' with Pomodoro and Heavy Metal. He has entered the SA Derby (Grade 1) winner Legend Of Arthur alongside last year's runner-up Cousin Casey, who has been out of action for 10 months. Let's Go Now, Litigation and Hotarubi complete Tarry's five entries and he will be hoping to make a serious bid for top honours come 5 July. Tony Peter has entered The Equator (Ireland), an imported son of Galileo who was formerly trained by the legendary Aiden O'Brien. The Equator won his maiden over 2 000m and was runner-up in his last two starts before being exported to South Africa. First Declarations: Monday, 12 May First Supplementary Entries: Tuesday, 13 May Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
