This Week’s Question:
The man known as ‘the father of English local history and bibliography’ died on this day in 1552. What was his name?
Last Week’s Question:
What piece of Coronation paraphernalia was stolen (and subsequently returned) in 1950?
Answer: The Stone of Scone was taken from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Eve or Day 1950 by four Scottish students: Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson, and Alan Stuart. Despite the fact that they were such bunglers they managed to break the stone in half, they managed to smuggle it past road blocks and into Scotland. Along the way, they were helped by an Englishman who was studying at the University of Glasgow and other sympathetic students, who hid the stone during overnight breaks in the journey. The abducted stone was left on the altar of Arbroath Abbey on 11 April 1951. The Abbey contacted authorities and the stone was returned to Westminster, though, of course, there’s no way to tell if the stone is actually the real one.
