Thieves Steal Artifacts Worth $1.4 Million From English Castle
The treasures, including rosary beads carried by Mary, Queen of Scots, at her execution in 1587, were stolen from a display cabinet at Arundel Castle.
More than $1.4 million in artifacts have been stolen from Arundel Castle, southwest of London. Credit.Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
May 24, 2021Updated 1:02 p.m. ET
LONDON The thieves broke into an imposing castle in the English countryside and took a rare bounty: rosary beads that once belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots, along with other gold and silver artifacts that the authorities said were worth over $1.4 million.
New Technique Reveals Centuries of Secrets in Locked Letters
M.I.T. researchers have devised a virtual-reality technique that lets them read old letters that were mailed not in envelopes but in the writing paper itself after being folded into elaborate enclosures.
The computer-generated unfolding sequence of a sealed letter.Credit.Unlocking History Research Group
Published March 2, 2021Updated March 4, 2021
In 1587, hours before her beheading, Mary, Queen of Scots, sent a letter to her brother-in-law Henry III, King of France. But she didn’t just sign it and send it off. She folded the paper repeatedly, cut out a piece of the page and left it dangling. She used that strand of paper to sew the letter tight with locking stitches.