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Marie Sophie Hingst (1987–2019) was a German historian and blogger who falsely claimed to be descended fromHolocaust survivors. Born into aProtestant family, she fabricated a Jewish background and sent documentation for 22 misrepresented or non-existent relatives, who she claimed wereHolocaust victims, to the official Holocaust memorialYad Vashem. She maintained a blog about her supposed Jewish background, identity and experiences as a Germanexpatriate in Ireland, where she moved in 2013. The blog received hundreds of thousands of views. Throughout her life, Hingst falsified much of her background, connections, and achievements. She used her fraudulent credentials to gain awards and recognition, and held positions of prestige in Jewish communities across Europe. A journalist exposed her claims as false in 2019. She was castigated in the German media, destroying her reputation. Hingst committed suicide at the age of 31. Her fraud and death attracted attention across Europe. (Full article...)

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On this day

May 14:Feast day ofSaint Matthias (Catholicism)

Monument to the Battle of Lewes

1264 –Second Barons' War: KingHenry III was defeated at theBattle of Lewes(monument pictured) and forced to sign theMise of Lewes, makingSimon de Montfort thede facto ruler of England.
1857 –Mindon Min wascrowned as King of Burma.
1863 –American Civil War:Union troopscaptured Jackson, the capital ofMississippi.
1931 – Five people were killed inÅdalen, Sweden, assoldiers opened fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.
1948 –David Ben-Gurion publicly read theIsraeli Declaration of Independence atIndependence Hall inTel Aviv.

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Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 — May 14, 1887) was an Americanabolitionist, entrepreneur, lawyer, essayist,natural rights legal theorist,pamphleteer,political philosopher, and writer often associated with theBoston anarchist tradition. He is known for establishing theAmerican Letter Mail Company, which competed with theUnited States Postal Service. This undated photograph of Spooner was taken byAmory Nelson Hardy.

Photograph credit:Amory Nelson Hardy; restored byAdam Cuerden

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