On this day, Mary Ann Nichols, commonly known as Polly, became the first victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, who is believed to have murdered and mutilated at least five women in and around the notorious Whitechapel district of London from late August to early November 1888. Having separated from her husband, Nichols spent the majority of her remaining years in workhouses and boarding houses, living off charitable handouts and her meagre earnings as a prostitute, although she frequently spent her earnings on alcohol. She was last seen alive by Emily Holland, walking alone down Osborn Street at approximately 2:30 a.m. and seemingly quite drunk. Her mutilated body was found in Buck’s Row little more than an hour later by a carman named Charles Cross on his way to work.
