AUG 31, 1888: In the Whitechapel district of East London, Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols becomes the first reported murder victim of the unidentified killer dubbed Jack the Ripper. By Nov, 4 more women (with the common misconception that all were alcoholic prostitutes) had been viciously fatally mutilated: Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride & Catherine Eddowes both killed on the same night, and the last victim Mary Jane Kelly who was the only one killed indoors & the most horrifically torn apart. The killer had written taunting letters to the police & press (now widely seen as a hoax), and the investigation & extensive press coverage had particularly caused a morbid sensation that saw the circulation of tabloid journalism soar. As the victims came to be known as the 'canonical five' for being confirmed deaths at the hands of the Ripper, for over a century the long debate among historians & crime experts has suggested that atleast 11 women were killed, with even more researchers saying that earlier unsolved killings up until 1891 may have been a body count as high as 22. The ever-enduring Ripper mystery created a bustling cottage industry of conspiracy theories alleging that the police knew who the real culprit was, and that a broad cross-section of candidates for suspects (well over 100) have included Polish Jews Aaron Kosminski, David Cohen & John Pizer; German-born painter Walter Sickert; German seaman Carl Feigenbaum; van driver Charles Lechmere; Russian criminal Michael Ostrog; cotton merchant James Maybrick (whose diary of confession has been debunked); prominent royal physicians Sir William Gull & Sir John Williams; abortionist Thomas Cream; barrister Montague Druitt, Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll; Queen Victoria's grandson Prince Albert Victor; Queen Victoria's wigmaker Willy Clarkson; asylum escapee James Kelly; ex-Union soldier Boston Corbett (who fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth); possible controversial Americans Francis Tumblety & H.H. Holmes, and lastly proponents claiming that Jack the Ripper might even have been a woman such as a midwife, convicted murderess or a mentally ill immigrant.
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