Jack the Ripper
The Jack the Ripper murders occurred in the East End of London
in 1888 and, although the Whitechapel Murderer was only a
threat to a very small section of the community in a relatively
small part of London, the murders had a huge impact on society
as a whole.
One of the things that puzzles many people about this particular long ago murder spree is quite why the crimes are still so famous, even though over a hundred and twenty five years have elapsed since they occurred.
The area in which the killings occurred was perceived as being a hotbed of vice and villainy, and a breeding ground for social unrest, squalor and disease. The Whitechapel Murderer, in the eyes of the wider Victorian society, came to be seen as the personification of all the evils with which the East End of London was associated.
There was, of course, the name by which the killer came to be known - Jack the Ripper. It was this name - which was probably the invention of a journalist - that had the effect of turning five sordid East End murders into an international phenomenon and of catapulting the unknown miscreant responsible into the realm of legend.
