Weekend Link Dump

This week's Link Dump brings us Tea and Scandal!

Who the hell killed Lizzie Borden's parents?  (Yes, there are some people who are not sure about the answer to that.)

Watch out for those phantom snowballs!

A tale of a devil-fish and slow-acting poisons.

Because your weekend just wouldn't be complete without a Viking toilet.

18th century book clubs were a lot more entertaining than most 18th century books.

How the Boston Massacre made legal history.

Some possibly life-saving ancient manuscripts from Timbuktu.

The world's weirdest Facebook page?  (No, no, it's not mine.  Now cut that out.)

The world of Haitian voodoo.

What you could buy for a shilling and a pot of beer in Georgian times.

An ancient Ethiopian city has been discovered.

Kings and scrofula.

How ancient Egyptians helped cats conquer the world.

Early 19th century menageries.

The unlucky number three?

An unusual book binding.

A skull cult at Gobekli Tepe?  (Complete with those inevitable words, "surprisingly complex.")

Ghost dogs in African-American folklore.

The long walk of David Ingram.

If you've booked a vacation for 2030, I have some bad news.

It's not looking good for Bigfoot, either.

Proof that the universe really is warped.

Irish UFO reports.

A delightful-sounding cat museum in Montenegro.

Proof that it's impossible to satirize modern poetry.

A modern American sailing disaster.

Pirates of the North Sea.

The "Fejee Mermaid."

Let's talk bog butter.

Let's talk satanic armchairs.

Let's talk fortean brides.

Let's talk Serbian shoe-loving vampires.

Let's talk drumming cockatoos.

Let's talk Rousseau's sex life.  

Invasion of the Sunshine Body Snatchers.

Canada in 1817.

A 19th century marriage that, surprisingly, ended well.

A Welsh botanical excursion.

"Decolonizing" Iraqi archaeology.

Salvador Dali's corpse is about to testify in a paternity suit brought by a professional Tarot card reader.  Because the 21st century is just like that.

The adventures of being a ghostwriter.  I've done a couple of ghosting jobs in the past, and it's a fine path to the madhouse.

A gamekeeper's murder.

The beautiful Fulham Palace.

How to be a proper Georgian footman.

Urine and the philosopher's stone.

Let's just say the Enlightenment era spawned some weird fads.

In a related story, the Victorians had a thing for auburn hair.

Back in the day, "First time on television" was a big deal.

Puritan UFOs.

A dog who served in WWI.

Rayon and insanity.

The fad for liquid stockings.

The worldly Jane Austen.

A 19th century female detective.

A Texan "hidden valley."

A life-saving dream.

A painter who was a victim of the French Revolution.

More proof that crows are smarter than most humans.

The 19th century murder of a Lancashire policeman.

A conspiracy against Napoleon.

A seance and the horror of Luton bus station.

This Week in Russian Weird looks at the strange legend of Czar Alexander I.

Not to mention the Soviet circus clown and the psychic dogs.

And we're done for this week!  See you on Monday, when we'll look at a 17th century woman's mysterious death.  And, of course, on Tuesday, enjoy Strange Company's annual Fourth of July celebration/star-spangled Body Count.

In the meantime, here's some Linda Ronstadt.  This is from one of her later albums, so it didn't get much attention, but this is one of my favorite songs of hers.  (She did her best work late in her career, IMO.)