London

Horses throw toads to win quirky British pub championship 

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LONDON: With the final brass “toad” nestled at the bottom of the hole, team members from the Black Horse club jumped in the air to chest bump after becoming world champions at one of Britain’s more obscure pub games.Toad, which is said to have originated in France hundreds of years ago, involves throwing four large brass coins, or “toads”, at a small hole on a lead square nearly eight feet (2.44 meters) away.Two points are awarded for throwing a toad in the hole, with one point awarded for landing it on the lead table.”Is toad skilful? Absolutely. You’ll see players with varying techniques and skills that they’ve honed over a period of time,” competitor Bryan Vaananen told Reuters.

“You can’t just rock up and chuck it in the hole.”The Black Horse came out victorious at Wednesday’s championship at a hall in the team’s home town of Lewes in southern England. More than 50 teams vied for the title, an increase on last year’s entrants.The game is hugely popular in the East Sussex town, having waned elsewhere in English pubs amid competition from darts and pool.

Source: Horses throw toads to win quirky British pub championship – Channel NewsAsia

Identity of Jack The Ripper Revealed? Researchers Say Disputed Diary Is Authentic

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For several months spanning from August to November of 1888, a serial killer known only as Jack the Ripper tormented the Whitechapel area of London. During that time, the Ripper murdered five prostitutes, savagely mutilating all but one, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Stride. Now, nearly 130 years later, the identity of Jack the Ripper is still unknown, and the mystery surrounding the killer who became a legend has become among the most contemplated and enduring ever, both in Britain and around the world.

As TheTelegraph reports, a long list of possible Jack the Ripper suspects has been compiled and pored over in the dozen or so decades since the unidentified serial killer stalked and brutalized his victims. However, researchers now say that they may be one crucial step closer to unmasking the identity of the notorious Ripper once and for all.Roughly 25 years ago, researchers investigating the Jack the Ripper case discovered a diary that turned the mystery of Jack the Ripper on its head. Penned by Liverpool cotton merchant, James Maybrick, the 9,000-word Victorian tome claimed to have been written by Jack the Ripper himself. However, at the time of the discovery of the diary in 1992, it was widely discounted as a hoax by many prominent scholars and researchers, reports The Telegraph [ . .  ]More : Identity of Jack The Ripper Revealed? Researchers Say Disputed Diary Is Authentic