The body of Mary Ann Nichols is found mutilated in Buck’s Row, in the Whitechapel district of London in 1888, the first known victim of the serial killer Jack the Ripper. The unsolved murders of at least five women set forth a public fascination and legend that spawned multiple movies, TV shows, books, and various other works about the crimes, as well as the entire true crime genre.
This Day in Halloween: The body of Mary Ann Nichols is found in Whitechapel, London in 1888, the first known victim of Jack the Ripper. / Illustration by Fran Ci Ra