May 18, 1827
Maria Marten is murdered by her lover and the father of her most recent child in Polstead, Suffolk, England. This crime inspired several broadsides that became folk songs under the titles Marie Marten, The Ballad of Marie Marten, and The Red Barn Murder. As well as theories of wrongful execution, adultery, infanticide, and tales of prophetic dreams. Of course some of these are more far-fetched than others. Maria Marten's murderers body was dissected in a public dissection theatre, used in experiments involving elecrtrifying his muscles, stripped of flesh, put on public display, and mechanized to point at a collection box when visitors approached it.