24 December

Gregor MacGregor is born in Scotland.

Gregor MacGregor and Poyais Acquitted

Gregor MacGregor sold bonds, land and passage to Poyais, a Central American country that did not exist. Most of the settlers who sailed there died.

The landlord of the Pear Tree identifies the maul as a lodger's tool kept at the house.

Ratcliff Highway murders Disputed verdict

Seven people killed in two East London households twelve days apart in 1811. The suspect hanged himself before trial, and doubts have outlived him.

Burke and McDougal go on trial at the High Court of Justiciary in Parliament House.

Burke and Hare Executed

Two Irish labourers killed sixteen people in Edinburgh in 1828 and sold the bodies to an anatomy lecturer. Only one of them hanged.

An attempted payroll robbery fails in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Sacco and Vanzetti Disputed verdict

Two Italian anarchists executed in 1927 for a Braintree payroll robbery and double murder. Their guilt is still argued; their unfair trial is not.