The removal of a body's flesh by either natural or human means, leaving only the bones
Defleshing
Fact of the Day
In 1956 John Wayne starred as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. It was filmed in Utah, downwind of the US government's nuclear tests in Nevada, and about half the cast and crew developed cancer as a result.
Quote of the Day
"He who is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death.
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~ Thomas Paine
On This Day
1092 Lincoln Cathedral, for 249 years supposedly the tallest building in the world, was consecrated. The diocese was the largest in England, stretching from the Thames to the Humber.
1215 King John, in an attempt to win Londoners to his side during his dispute with the barons, granted Londoners the right to elect their own mayor. It didn't do him any good: they opened the gates to the barons shortly afterwards.
1386 The Treaty of Windsor between England and Portugal was signed, ratifying the oldest European alliance still in force.
1662 The first recorded Punch and Judy show was performed in Covent Garden, London.
1671 Anglo-Irish officer and 'noted bravo and desperado', Thomas Blood, attempted to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. He was caught but was pardoned by Charles I and given land in Ireland worth £500 a year.
1926 Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett announced they'd flown over North Pole, and became national heroes. However, this has since been called into question, thanks to testimony of friends and the discovery of Byrd's diary.
1941 British captured the German sub U-101 and thus the enigma machine with current codes. US film U-571 claimed it as a US victory.
1945 The Channel Islands were liberated after five years of Nazi occupation.
1955 West Germany joined NATO.
1994 Nelson Mandela was chosen by the African National Congress party to become South Africa's first black president after the end of apartheid.