Cremation in Greece, German poems, gallery of electric chairs used in executions

Today's Far-Flung Yet Truly Morbid Fact!

In ancient Greece, cremation replaced burial as early as 1000 B.C. Reduction to ashes greatly eased the logistical problems of transporting back to Greece soldiers who had died on far-flung battlefields. To the Greeks, fire symbolized purification and the release of the spirit from the confines of the body. Cremation was denied to suicides and those infants who had died before cutting their first set of teeth. Intriguingly, victims of lightning were always buried - perhaps the Greeks assumed that it was pointless for humans to cremate after the gods had incinerated.

Culled from: Death: A History Of Man's Obsessions And Fears

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The Comtesse Reviews...
1886 Professional Criminals of America by Thomas Byrnes

This sounded like an interesting book, but I found it to be a terrible bore. It's a compendium of professional criminals written in 1886 by New York City police inspector Thomas Byrnes in order to assist other police departments. Although there is some amusement to be found in the archaic terminology used by Inspector Byrnes in his description of the crimes, the biographies of the criminals just aren't very interesting. The problem (in my morbid mind, anyway) is that these are thieves / pickpockets / forgers / con artists, not murderers, so there aren't any good morbid tidbits to hold my interest. I expected there to be more stories involving murderers, but I don't know why I thought that. I should have realized that murderers wouldn't be "Professional Criminals"; after all, they would have been executed and could not have repeated their crimes. So instead, we get the boring old lowlife losers. Although Byrnes does summarize a few interesting murder cases at the back of the book, it's not enough to salvage this dull work. Definitely of historical value, but not entertaining in the least.

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Morbid Mirth Du Jour!

gsteinma sends a link to "some wonderful little old German poems (translated) about what happens to bad boys and girls, especially thumb-suckers and those who play with matches." Of course, this could only be Heinrich Hoffman's 1845 masterpiece Der Struwwelpeter! Enjoy!

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Morbid Link Du Jour!

Now, here's a nifty site! A gallery of electric chairs used in executions throughout the country! Fun, fun, fun!

Thanks to Daniel for the link.