October 25th

On this day – October 25th 1760 – George III became king of Great Britain and Ireland

George III was king of UK and Ireland from 1760 until his death in 1820 (However, due to mental illness was a regency established with his oldest son in charge in 1810). His reign was longer than any UK monarch before him and only Victoria and Elisabeth II has ruled longer than him . George was then the king both during the Napoleon war and the American war of independence. George III struggled in his later years with dementia and rheumatics and by 1810 he was virtually blind. The Prince of Wales was the Regent from 1811 until George III death in 1820.  George III was succeeded by George IV, his oldest son, who only ruled for the next 10 years. George III has been know as the "scapegoat for the failure of imperialism".

September 7th

On this day - September 7th 1978 - Bulgarian dissident, Markov, was killed with an Umbrella

Georgi Markov was a writer from Bulgaria who escaped and moved to London during the communist regime in his home country. After he left Bulgaria in 1969 worked he as a reporter for BBC, and the assassination might have been a plot between KGB (Soviet secret police) and Bulgarian government to keep him quiet. Markov was waiting for the bus on the Waterloo bridge in London when he felt a sting in his thigh. A man with an umbrella had left the area in a taxy shortly after. Markov was left with what looked like a pimple, but he died four days later from ricin poisoning (also known from breaking bad). A small pellet with ricin had probably been shot from the tip of the umbrella, and the assassination have later been nicknamed the “umbrella killing”. The prime suspect, Gullino, is still alive, and no one has been charged for the murder.