Ricin secret police: Georgi Markov had defected from Bulgaria some years previously and had subsequently written books and made radio broadcasts that were highly critical of the Bulgarian communist regime. However, it was believed at the time that Bulgaria would not have been able to produce the pellet, and it was also believed that the KGB had supplied it. The KGB denied any involvement, although high-profile KGB defectors Oleg Kalugin and Oleg Gordievsky have since confirmed the KGB's involvement. Earlier, Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn also suffered (but survived) ricin-like symptoms after an encounter in 1971 with KGB agents. Ten days before
1884 attack on London Bridge 1884 attack on London Bridge On 13 December 1884, three American-Irish Republicans carried out a dynamite attack on London Bridge as part of the Fenian dynamite campaign. The bomb went off prematurely while the three men were in a boat attaching it to a bridge pier at 5.45 pm during the evening rush hour. There was little damage to the bridge, and no casualties other than the bombers. The men's boat was so completely destroyed the police initially thought the bombers had fled. "The Illustrated London News" on 20 December 1884 featured a cover illustration depicting the flash of the