Pray for Bourdin Blown to Pieces: The Greenwich Outrage of February 15, 1894 History's First Act of International Terrorism
February 15, 1894 was a brisk winter’s day in late-Victorian Era London. At around 5 o'clock in the afternoon a cold hazy setting sun still hung in the sky and glowed--a dull orange orb suspended in air--like the light of a flickering candle about to be extinguished over Greenwich Park just outside the city center and home to the Royal Greenwich Observatory. The Royal Observatory was located on a prominent hill southeast of downtown London in the affluent suburb of Greenwich and overlooked the bustling River Thames--the lifeline of the late 19th century British Empire. The Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) founded by King Charles II in 1675 literally split the known world in half. It is the Prime Meridian; the spot on the planet earth from which longitude and the passing of time are measured and which to this very day gives us Greenwich Mean Time and the dates on our calendars. Today, the RGO is a tourist attraction located in an urban parklike setting that attrac...