Futility Closet

In 1896, Adolf Beck found himself caught up in a senseless legal nightmare: Twelve women from around London insisted that he'd deceived them and stolen their cash and jewelry. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow Beck's incredible ordeal, which ignited a scandal and inspired historic reforms in the English justice system. We'll also covet some noble socks and puzzle over a numerical sacking. Intro: A 1631 edition of the Bible omitted not in "Thou shalt not commit adultery." When the first hydrogen balloon landed in 1783, frightened villagers attacked it with pitchforks. Sources for our feature on Adolph Beck: Tim Coates, The Strange Story of Adolph Beck, 1999. Jim Morris, The Who's Who of British Crime, 2015. "An English Dreyfus," Goodwin's Weekly, Sept. 22, 1904, 6. "Police Effort Was Tragedy," [Grand Forks, N.D.] Evening Times, Dec. 24, 1909, 1. "Errors of English Court," Holt County [Mo.] Sentinel, Dec. 2, 1904, 2. "England's Dreyfus Case Is at an End," [Scotland, S.D.] C