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Historical Events for 8th January 2026
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Historical Events for 8th January 2026

1610 - German astronomer Simon Marius independently discovers Jupiter’s four largest moons one day after Galileo Galilei 1790 - First US President George Washington delivers the first State of the Union address 1833 - Boston Academy of Music, first US music school, is established 1857 - Dion Boucicauly's "Poor of NY" premieres in NYC 1979 - Argentina and Chile sign Beagle Canal accord 1993 - Elvis Presley Commemorative Postage Stamp goes on sale 1993 - NBC offers "The Tonight Show" to David Letterman 1994 - Rintje Ritsma skates world record 1500m (1:51.60) More Historical Events »

How Did John Candy Die? Inside The Beloved Comedian’s Tragic Death
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How Did John Candy Die? Inside The Beloved Comedian’s Tragic Death

John Candy’s death stunned the world, but the comedian himself had anticipated his demise for decades. Ever since the death of his own father by heart attack 38 years earlier, the beloved comedian believed that he would meet a similar fate — and he did. Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty ImagesJohn Candy’s cause of death would probably have come as no surprise to the comedian himself, who predicted he’d die much like his father. Fans were likely shocked when John Candy died because they believed that the comedic icon was just as jovial and upbeat in real life as he was on the silver screen. Indeed, Candy was a selfless animal lover and generously contributed to numerous charities. But his warmth and generosity were matched by a pack-a-day smoking habit, toxic dietary habits, and a cocaine addiction. According to his children, however, Candy did his best to take care of himself despite his vices. Perhaps he was still deeply affected by his formative years, during which his father died at age 35 and an injury prevented him from becoming the college football player he aspired to be. But Candy found solace in comedy. He joined up with the improvisational group Second City in his native Toronto and later in Chicago. His writing work was widely recognized and awarded, and he was cast in some of the most iconic comedies of the 1980s. Just like that, Candy became a household name. As his fame skyrocketed, however, so did his vices. Then, in 1994, John Candy died suddenly while filming a movie in Mexico. He left behind two children, colleagues who remember him fondly, and movies that are Thanksgiving and Christmas staples. His life was rich and exciting, and John Candy’s death came as a blow to anyone who was touched by it. John Candy Finds Stardom — And Toxic Crutches TwitterJohn Candy started smoking a pack of cigarettes per day when he was 18. John Franklin Candy was born on Halloween in 1950 in Ontario, Canada. His parents were working-class and his father died suddenly of a heart attack when he was just five years old. His father’s heart condition and his own obesity would continue to be perilous themes in his life. Throughout school, Candy was a formidable football player and hoped to go on to play in college, but a knee injury made that impossible. So he transitioned to comedy and later enrolled in Centennial College to study journalism. But his big break came in 1972 when he was accepted as a member of the Second City comedy improvisational troupe in Toronto. He became a regular performer and writer for SCTV, the group’s television show, in 1977. And shortly after that, he was sent to Chicago to officially train with the troupe’s heavyweights. Then, John Candy’s career exploded. He went on to appear in treasured hits like The Blues Brothers (1980), Stripes (1981), and genuine blockbusters Planes, Trains And Automobiles (1987), Home Alone (1990), and JFK (1991). Getty ImagesJohn Candy (left) with SCTV costars Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy. But behind Candy’s reputation as a funny man was his predilection for drugs and overeating. Though he often tried to diet and exercise, Candy would turn back to bad habits. It didn’t help that Candy’s career was also largely built on playing the big funny guy. According to Carl Reiner, who directed Candy in Summer Rental in 1985, the comedian was overcome with a sense of fatalism. “He felt he had inherited in his genes a Damoclean sword,” he said, referencing the early death of Candy’s father. “So it didn’t matter what he did.” His son, Chris, added how “he grew up with heart disease… His father had a heart attack, his brother had a heart attack. It was in the family. He had trainers and would work at whatever the new diet was. I know he did his best.” But, as his brother-in-law, Frank Hober added, “It was always in the back of everyone’s mind. No one talked about it, but it was in the back of John’s mind too.” A scene from John Candy’s final film, Wagons East. Candy later admitted that his drug habit began in earnest when he moved to Chicago to perform at Second City. There, he joined the likes of Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, and John Belushi, all of who were heavy drug users. “The next thing I knew, I was in Chicago, where I learned how to drink, stay up real late, and spell ‘d-r-u-g-s,'” said John Candy. John Belushi’s fatal drug overdose made Candy quit drugs for a time. But he continued to smoke cigarettes and used food to quell his anxiety. When that didn’t work, panic and anxiety set in. Inner turmoil followed him to the set of his final film in Durango, Mexico — and hastened his demise. John Candy Dies Of Heart Failure While Filming The night before he died, John Candy reached out to several people. He called his co-stars and his children, who had no idea it would be the last time they would ever hear their father’s voice. “I was nine. It was a Friday,” his son Chris recalled. “I remember talking to him the night before he passed away and he said, ‘I love you and goodnight.’ And I will always remember that.” But his daughter Jen has a more tragic final memory of her father. “I remember my dad the night before. I was studying for a vocabulary test. I was 14. He had just come home for my 14th birthday, which is February 3, so I was talking to him on the phone, and, I hate this, but I was slightly distant because I was studying.” The Candy FamilyChris Candy with his father. The next day, on March 4, 1994, 43-year-old John Candy returned to his hotel room after a day on the set of the Western parody Wagons East. It had been a particularly good day of shooting, during which Candy reportedly believed he had just delivered one of the best performances of his career, and he celebrated by cooking his assistants a late-night dinner. Yet Candy’s son Chris recalled how everyone on set could see how his bad habits had caught up with him. “Richard Lewis, who worked with him on that movie, told me he was so much fun and so funny, but when he looked at my dad, he looked so tired.” TwitterJennifer Candy regrets being curt during their last chat before John Candy died. After dinner, Candy said goodnight to the cast and crew and retreated to his room to go to sleep. But he never woke up. John Candy died in his sleep, and his cause of death was heart failure — just like his father. His children were pulled out of Friday mass at their school, St. Martin of Tours, and told the tragic news. “I cried hysterically for five minutes, and then I stopped,” said Jennifer. “And then I was done crying in public for a while. It was a whirlwind after that point. That’s when we really knew about paparazzi because you had all the cameras.” KOMO News 4 reports on the death of John Candy. But his children also took solace in the positive outpouring at their father’s funeral. “I remember when we were ready to take him to [Holy Cross Cemetery], they blocked off [Interstate] 405 from Sunset [Boulevard] all the way to Slauson [Avenue],” said Chris. “LAPD stopped traffic and escorted us all. I still can’t believe that. Whenever I feel like I lose the importance of him to people, I just remember that happened. They do that for the president.” The Comedy World Fondly Recalls Candy Mary Margaret O’Hara sings ‘Dark, Dear Hart’ at John Candy’s funeral. Before John Candy died, his comedic skills, openness, and humility made him beloved by all audiences. “I think that’s what draws people into a lot of those characters, you felt for them,” explained his son Chris. “And that is something he came into the world with, that vulnerability.” Hollywood icons like Steve Martin and John Hughes also struggled to comprehend the reality of Candy’s death. “He was a very sweet guy, very sweet, and complicated,” Martin said. “He was always friendly, always outgoing, funny, nice, and polite. But I could tell he had kind of a little broken heart inside him. He was a brilliant actor, especially in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I think it was his best work.” Wikimedia CommonsAfter John Candy died, he was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. But Candy’s legacy was built on far more than mere movie stardom and acting talent. The comedian was a selfless contributor to charities like Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. He rescued animals and felt a kinship to those who couldn’t change their conditions. “He liked to make people laugh and feel good,” said his daughter Jen. “And with certain kinds of charity work, especially with kids, he could do that, and that made him feel good.” In October 2020, Toronto Mayor John Tory declared the actor’s birthday “John Candy Day.” “As much as he is gone,” said Jen, “he is not gone. He is always there.” After learning about how John Candy died, read about a similarly devastating demise, the death of James Dean. Then, learn about funnyman Phil Hartman’s death by murder-suicide. The post How Did John Candy Die? Inside The Beloved Comedian’s Tragic Death appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Inside The Brutal Murder Of Polly Klaas, The 12-Year-Old Kidnapped From A Slumber Party
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Inside The Brutal Murder Of Polly Klaas, The 12-Year-Old Kidnapped From A Slumber Party

The Polly Klaas FoundationPolly Klaas was killed by a career criminal named Richard Allen Davis. Polly Klaas was just 12 years old when she was kidnapped during a slumber party at her Petaluma, California home on Oct. 1, 1993. Polly’s disappearance quickly captured national attention, but her family went about two months with no answers as to where the young girl was. Finally, answers came on Dec. 4, 1993, when Polly Klaas’ kidnapper Richard Allen Davis admitted to abducting and strangling Polly. He also led the police to Polly’s remains in a shallow grave near Cloverdale. Though Davis was later convicted of murder and sentenced to death, no punishment could ever bring Polly back. Her horrific murder triggered outrage from the public, especially since Davis had been released on parole before killing Polly — despite the fact that he had a history of kidnapping. This helped fuel a number of new “tough on crime” laws across America, including California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law, aimed at preventing another terrible tragedy like Polly Klaas’ murder. But many people — including Polly’s own sisters — have expressed concern that some of these laws have strayed from the original good intentions behind them. The Horrific Kidnapping Of Polly Klaas At The Hands Of Richard Allen Davis Polly Klaas was born on Jan. 3, 1981 in Fairfax, California. Her parents, Marc Klaas and Eve Nichol, eventually divorced, and Polly was staying at her mother’s home in Petaluma, California at the time of her abduction. On Oct. 1, 1993, Polly had a sleepover at her mom’s home with two friends. As Polly and her friends enjoyed their slumber party, Polly’s mother and sister fell asleep in the adjacent room. Then, a man broke into the home. Around 10:30 p.m., Richard Allen Davis, an ex-convict on parole, climbed through a window in the home and entered Polly’s bedroom. Armed with a knife, Davis soon threatened to kill the three girls. The Polly Klaas FoundationShortly before Polly Klaas was abducted by Richard Allen Davis, she reportedly pleaded with her kidnapper: “My mom and sister are in the next room. Please don’t hurt them.” Ultimately, Davis bound and gagged Polly’s friends before abducting Polly at knifepoint. Polly’s friends were later able to untie themselves, after which they alerted Polly’s mother to what happened. And just like that, Polly Klaas had been kidnapped. But it wasn’t the first time Davis had committed such a crime. In fact, he was a career criminal who had a long history of theft, burglary, assault — and kidnapping. Back in 1976, he had abducted a young woman at knifepoint near Oakland, and in 1984, he kidnapped yet another woman from Redwood City before forcing her to take out $6,000 from her bank account. Not only was he caught and convicted, but he was also sentenced to 16 years in prison. However, Davis was eventually released early on parole — shortly before he abducted and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas. An Abduction And Murder That Captured The Nation’s Attention People MagazineA People magazine cover from 1993, discussing Polly Klaas’ kidnapping and murder. Soon after Polly Klaas’ mother called the police to report Polly’s abduction, a nationwide search began for the young girl and her kidnapper. Throughout October and November of 1993, Polly’s loved ones banded together to help the authorities find her. The case also caught the attention of actress Winona Ryder, who was raised in Petaluma. Ryder offered a $200,000 reward for anyone who could safely return Polly. Though thousands of volunteers joined forces with investigators to track down Polly, the young girl was sadly already dead. It was later revealed that Polly had been murdered by her abductor just hours after he’d taken her. Shockingly, Polly’s kidnapper and killer, Richard Allen Davis, had also encountered the police soon after the abduction. A woman named Dana Jaffe reported a “disheveled” and “panic-stricken” man whose car was stuck in a ditch near her home in Santa Rosa. The police let him go without checking his criminal history — as that wasn’t the standard practice at that time — and about two months later, Jaffe found girls’ clothing while hiking on her property. YouTubeRichard Allen Davis showed no remorse for his crime and even flipped off Polly’s family during his murder trial. Dana Jaffe quickly called the police again, reminding them about the suspicious stranger she had seen back in October, and authorities soon realized that he had a lengthy criminal history, including kidnapping. Forensic evidence collected from Polly’s home and Jaffe’s property pointed to Davis being Polly’s abductor, including a palm print found at the crime scene that was a match for Davis. On Dec. 4, 1993, Davis himself admitted to kidnapping her and strangling her in his car before hiding her body in a field. Soon after his confession, he led the authorities to Polly’s remains, which were hidden in a shallow grave near Highway 101 by Cloverdale. By 1996, Davis had been found guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death, and he remains on death row to this day (he eventually tried to apply for resentencing, but this was denied in 2024). The Aftermath Of Polly Klaas’ Murder Polly Klaas’ murder sparked the creation of the Polly Klaas Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting vulnerable youths, recovering missing children, and keeping kids safe in their communities. Polly’s father Marc Klaas founded the KlaasKids Foundation in 1994 amidst his grief, helping to raise awareness of other cases of missing children and working to stop crimes against other kids. That foundation ran for 30 years. Marc Klaas has also made a name for himself as an advocate for the death penalty. Shortly after his daughter’s killer was sentenced, Marc Klaas said, “The last thing Polly saw before she died was Richard Allen Davis’ eyes. The last thing Richard Allen Davis will see is my eyes, I hope.” Meanwhile, public outrage surrounding Polly Klaas’ murder also inspired a number of “tough on crime” laws across America. One notable law was California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out,” which was approved in 1994. This law was meant to establish life sentences for all felonies if the defendant in question had two prior convictions for serious or violent crimes. The Polly Klaas FoundationPolly Klaas’ sisters have spoken out against some of the laws that emerged after their sibling’s murder. However, that law eventually became mired in controversy. According to The Guardian, “Three Strikes” not only led to a major increase in California’s prison population, but over 7,500 people were sentenced to life in prison within the first decade after the law passed — and nearly half of those people were sentenced for relatively minor and nonviolent offenses. Polly Klaas’ own sisters, Jess and Annie Nichol, were later horrified to learn that “Three Strikes” was often disproportionately applied to defendants with disabilities and mental illness and that some defendants had received life sentences after committing crimes as minor as stealing baby shoes. In recent years, “Three Strikes” has undergone modifications in the hopes of protecting people from being unfairly targeted or harshly punished for nonviolent crimes. Meanwhile, Jess and Annie Nichol have focused on emphasizing the prevention of violent crimes from happening in the first place. They also hope to improve treatment for survivors. “There’s the trauma of losing Polly and then there’s the trauma of how her death was used to punish other people,” Jess Nichol told The Guardian in 2022. “We don’t want our pain to be used to punish anyone else.” The sisters also launched a podcast called A New Legacy, meant to discuss alternatives to mass incarceration, issues with the criminal justice system, and the hopes for a new legacy connected to Polly Klaas’ tragically short life. “There’s an underlying assumption that the thing that victims want is the harshest sentencing for the people who caused harm. And that’s really the only option,” Jess Nichol said. “It’s this revengeful ‘eye for an eye’ culture. I’ve come to realize we don’t really have a ‘department of corrections and rehabilitation.’ It’s a ‘department of punishment and revenge.'” After reading about the kidnapping and murder of Polly Klaas, learn about the horrific death of Cherish Perrywinkle at the hands of a convicted pedophile. Then, read about Gary Plauché, the Louisiana dad who took deadly revenge on his son’s rapist on live television. The post Inside The Brutal Murder Of Polly Klaas, The 12-Year-Old Kidnapped From A Slumber Party appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Charlie Brandt Killed His Mom At 13 — Then Walked Free To Butcher His Wife As An Adult
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Charlie Brandt Killed His Mom At 13 — Then Walked Free To Butcher His Wife As An Adult

Wikimedia CommonsCharlie Brandt Charlie Brandt always seemed like a normal guy — until one bloody night in September 2004. At the time, Hurricane Ivan was barreling toward the Florida Keys, where the 47-year-old Brandt lived with his wife, Teri. They evacuated their home on Big Pine Key on September 2 to stay with their niece, 37-year-old Michelle Jones, in Orlando. Michelle was close to Teri, her maternal aunt, and was excited to welcome her and her husband as houseguests. Michelle was likewise close with her mother, Mary Lou, with whom she spoke on the phone almost every day. When Michelle stopped answering her phone after the night of September 13, Mary Lou grew concerned and asked Michelle’s friend, Debbie Knight, to go to the house and check on things. When Knight arrived, the front door was locked and there was no answer, so she made her way to the garage. “There was a garage door with almost all glass. So you could see in,” Knight recalled. “I was in shock.” There inside the garage, Charlie Brandt was hanging from the rafters. But Charlie Brandt’s death was just one of the horrible deaths that had happened inside that house. The Disturbing Crime Scene When authorities arrived at the house, they found a scene that looked like something out of a slasher movie. Charlie Brandt had hung himself with a bedsheet. Teri’s lifeless body was on the couch inside, stabbed seven times in the chest. Michelle’s body was in her bedroom. She had been decapitated, her head placed next to her body, and someone had removed her heart. “It was just a nice home,” lead investigator Rob Hemmert recalled. “All of those nice decorations and the aroma of her home was masked by death. The smell of death.” Yet, with all this bloodshed, there were no signs of a struggle or forced entry and the house was locked from the inside. Thus, with two people killed and one having killed himself, authorities quickly determined that Charlie Brandt had killed his wife and niece before committing suicide. But no one seemed to expect anything like this from Charlie Brandt. Mary Lou said of her brother-in-law whom she’d known for 17 years, “When they described what had happened to Michelle, it was even beyond description.” Likewise, Lisa Emmons, one of Michelle’s best friends, couldn’t believe it. “He was just very quiet and reserved,” she said of Charlie. “He would just sit back and observe. Michelle and I used to call him eccentric.” Not only did everyone find Charlie Brandt nice and agreeable, they all felt like he and Teri had the perfect marriage. The inseparable pair did everything together, fishing and boating near their home, traveling, and enjoying life in Florida. Charlie Brandt’s Dark Secret No one had any explanation for Charlie Brandt’s behavior. Then, his older sister came forward. Angela Brandt was two years older than Charlie and she harbored a dark secret from their Indiana childhood that no one knew about until she told her story. In an interrogation with Rob Hemmert, Angela cried before steeling her nerves and telling her story: “It was January 3, 1971… [at] 9 or 10 p.m,” Angela said. “We had just gotten a color TV. We were all sitting around watching The F.B.I. with Efrem Zimbalist Jr. After [the TV show] was over, I went and got in bed to read my book like I always did before I went to sleep.” Meanwhile, Angela and Charlie’s pregnant mom, Ilse, was drawing a bath and their dad, Herbert, was shaving. Then, Angela heard loud noises, so loud that she thought they were firecrackers. “Then I heard my father yell, ‘Charlie don’t.’ or ‘Charlie stop.’ And my mom was just screaming. The last thing I heard my mom say was, ‘Angela call the police.'” Charlie, 13 at the time, then came into Angela’s room holding a gun. He aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger, but all they heard was a click. The gun was out of bullets. Charlie and Angela then began to fight and he started to strangle his sister, which was when she noticed the glazed look in his eyes. That terrifying look disappeared after a moment, and Charlie, as if emerging from a trance, asked, “What am I doing?” What he had just done was walk into parents’ bathroom, shoot his father once in the back and then shoot his mother several times, leaving him wounded and killing her. At the hospital in Fort Wayne just after the incident, Herbert said he had no idea why his son would do this. The Aftermath At the time he shot his parents, Charlie Brandt seemed like a normal kid. He did well in school and showed no signs of underlying psychological stress. The courts — which couldn’t charge him with any criminal offense, given his age — ordered that he undergo many psychiatric evaluations and even spend more than a year in a psychiatric hospital (before his father secured his release). But none of the psychiatrists found any mental illness or any explanation at all as to why he’d shot his family. The records were sealed because of Charlie’s young age and Herbert told his other children to keep things quiet and moved the family to Florida. They buried the incident and put it behind them. Anyone who knew the secret never told and Charlie seemed fine afterward. But it seems he had been harboring dark urges all along. After he killed his wife and niece in 2004, authorities investigated Charlie’s house on Big Pine Key. Inside, they found a medical poster displaying the female anatomy. There were also medical books and anatomy books, as well as a newspaper clipping that showed a human heart — all of which recalled some of the ways in which Charlie had mutilated Michelle’s body. Searches of his internet history revealed websites focused on necrophilia and violence against women. They also found lots of Victoria’s Secret catalogues, which proved especially troubling after they learned that “Victoria’s Secret” is the nickname Charlie had given to Michelle. “Knowing what he did to Michelle and then finding those things,” Hemmert said. “It all started to make sense.” Investigators believe that Charlie had become infatuated with Michelle and that his desires had taken a murderous turn. Hemmert, for one, believes that Charlie Brandt had always had these kinds of deadly desires and that he was probably a serial killer — it’s just that his other crimes never came to light. For example, authorities believe that he may have been responsible for at least two other murders, including one in 1989 and 1995. Both murders involved mutilations of women in a similar method to Michelle’s murder. After this look at Charlie Brandt, read up on serial killer Ed Kemper. Then, discover some of the most haunting serial killer quotes of all time. Finally, read up on Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s plot to kill her own mother. The post Charlie Brandt Killed His Mom At 13 — Then Walked Free To Butcher His Wife As An Adult appeared first on All That's Interesting.

‘We Were A Little Bit Unnerved’: Hundreds Of Victorian-Era Shoes Have Mysteriously Washed Up On A Beach In Wales
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‘We Were A Little Bit Unnerved’: Hundreds Of Victorian-Era Shoes Have Mysteriously Washed Up On A Beach In Wales

Beach AcademyIn total, 437 boots have been found along the shore at Ogmore-by-Sea. Residents of a seaside village in southern Wales have recently been left baffled after hundreds of Victorian-era black leather boots mysteriously washed up on the beach. The boots indeed seem to date back to the 19th century, but why they are washing ashore now remains shrouded in mystery. The leading theory, however, is that they came from the wreckage of an Italian ship that crashed into Tusker Rock just off shore, though that has yet to be confirmed. The Discovery Of More Than 400 Victorian Boots On The Beach At Ogmore-by-Sea In a single week in December 2025 alone, volunteers with Beach Academy, which is working to restore rockpool habitats along the Vale of Glamorgan’s coastline, picked up nearly 300 boots in just one small area of the beach at Ogmore-by-Sea. To date, more than 400 boots in total have been found since September 2025. “Some of the boots are in pretty good condition and with some you can very clearly see they are a men’s boot,” Beach Academy founder Emma Lamport told the BBC. Beach AcademyBeach Academy’s Emma Lamport hauling boots from the shore. While the sheer abundance of the boots found along the beach is certainly abnormal, it is not the first time that local residents have found washed-up footwear. Social media posts from years past show that people have found the occasional odd boot from time to time, but nothing like the phenomenon that is now being seen. “We found one patch which was just strewn with shoes. To find so many in such a small area – I mean, we didn’t even do the entire beach – was a real surprise,” Lamport told The Telegraph. “We were a little bit unnerved because we didn’t know where they’d come from in such large numbers. With something so old and historic, the story is a real mystery.” Naturally, people began to wonder where all these boots were coming from. Possible Links To The 19th-Century Wreck Of The Frolic Beach AcademySome of the black leather boots, still in fairly good condition, given their age. One theory, Lamport explained to Bristol Live, is that the boots were originally being transported on a ship carrying cargo from Italy during the Victorian period. “The strongest theory is that the shoes come from a shipwreck called the Frolic, that hit Tusker Rock about 150 years ago,” she said. “It was carrying shoes and cargo from Italy. They were washed up the Ogmore River and every now and then they appear, especially when there has been erosion of the river bank.” Historical records show that the Frolic indeed wrecked on Tusker Rock on March 17, 1831, on its way to Bristol, leaving approximately 80 dead and no survivors. For months afterward, the bodies of its crewmembers washed ashore. Still, why would the boots it was carrying – if indeed it was carrying boots – just be washing ashore now? Dr. Michael Roberts of the Bangor University School of Ocean Sciences, who studies shipwrecks around the Welsh coast, told the BBC that he was unfamiliar with the Frolic, but it was possible that Victorian-era shipwrecks could now be starting to degrade, thus dispensing their cargos into the open sea. Tusker Rock, known as a “ship graveyard,” is just two miles southeast of Ogmore-by-Sea, so it could very well be the boots’ origin point. This is still just a theory, however. Beach AcademyExperts have stated that the boots are “clearly Victorian” in design. While this particular mystery has garnered worldwide attention for its strangeness, it also highlights a much larger issue plaguing beaches in the Vale of Glamorgan. To date, Beach Academy has removed more than 12,000 items of litter from the beaches. And according to Lamport, the company hasn’t “even started to scratch the surface” of their cleanup efforts. “We wish to restore rockpool habitats back to their original natural state by removing marine litter that has been there for some time, either embedded in sediment or trapped in the rocks,” Lamport said. If nothing else, the abundance of boots in Ogmore-by-Sea is indicative of just how much work lies ahead for the volunteers of Beach Academy. After reading about the mystery of the boots that washed up in Wales, discover the eerie reason why ships of dead bodies keep washing ashore in Japan. Then, learn about the dozens of shoes – with feet still in them – that washed ashore in Vancouver and Seattle. The post ‘We Were A Little Bit Unnerved’: Hundreds Of Victorian-Era Shoes Have Mysteriously Washed Up On A Beach In Wales appeared first on All That's Interesting.