1970 - "The Love You Save" by the Jackson 5 enters the Billboard US Hot 100 singles chart at #45. In late June, will peak at #1 & stay there for 2 weeks
1971 - The Jackson 5 play at the Fairgrounds Arena (now Jim Norick Arena) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on their 2nd national tour
1977 - The Jacksons perform “Keep On Dancing” on Numéro Un Joe Dassin taped at the Buttes-Chaumont Studios in Paris, France while on their European tour. It would air on July 2nd
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1979 - On their Destiny Tour, The Jacksons play the Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1987 - The Los Angeles Times reports that Michael has submitted an official bid, for an undisclosed sum, for the remains of the late John Merrick, known as the Elephant Man, from the London Hospital Medical College which has kept them since Merrick’s death in 1890.
Michael's manager, Frank DiLeo, commented “Jackson has no exploitative intentions whatsoever and cares about and is concerned with the Elephant Man as a dedicated and devoted collector of art and antiques"
Also adding that Michael "has a high degree of respect for the memory of Merrick"
1992 - "In The Closet" peaked at #6 during it's 5th week on the Billboard chart. It would stay in the Top 40 for 11 weeks
1997 - HIStory tour rehearsals in Bremen, Germany
2000 - Dangerous (album) is certified 7X platinum by the RIAA.
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2000 - Michael announces that he has become a key partner & investor in HollywoodTicket.com, a promotional and marketing site that gives netizens the chance to win backstage passes to concerts & visits to film/tv show shoots. The amount he invested was not disclosed but it's understood to be in the millions
2003 - Michael attends a party at Robert Evan's house to celebrate Brett Ratner's Hillhaven Lodge: The Photo Book Pictures book launch. Brett Ratner is the director of Rush Hour. Later that same night, Michael shows up at a MTV Movie Awards post party at Ron Burkle's Beverly Hills Mansion where he meets Puff Daddy and Paris Hilton among others.
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2005 - No court today due to the Memorial Day holiday
2006 - Michael Jackson takes his kids and his nanny Grace to Tokyo Disneyland.
2007 - A collection of almost 2000 Jackson family items dating from the mid-1960's to the early '90's goes to auction in the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas.
These are items from a storage warehouse that Henry Vaccaro came in to possession of after a failed business venture ended up in bankruptcy court. Items include Michael's gold record for Thriller, handwritten "ABC" lyrics & a signed Victory tour program
2013 - Jackson v AEG Trial Day 20
Katherine and Rebbie Jackson are in court.
The court also heard an update on efforts to get emails and any other records from a computer used by Michael's former manager, Frank Dileo. Apparently an LA attorney has a copy of Dileo's computer hard drive. Attorneys are working to get a copy of the HD to both sides. The copy was revealed during a deposition of Dileo's widow earlier this week in Pennsylvania, plaintiff's attorney Brian Panish said
Paul Gongaware Testimony
Jackson direct
Gongaware said he met with his attorneys again yesterday to refresh his recollection
Panish asked if AEG was concerned about Mr. Jackson's health. "When he was sick we obviously had a concern," Gongaware responded. Gongaware said he understood Michael was sick from reading the chain of emails shown yesterday. But Gongaware told the jury he didn't have any particular concern about Michael Jackson other than on June 19th, no one told Gongaware about being concerned with his health. Gongaware testified that he disagreed with Houghdahl's opinion, saying he had no "particular concern" about Jackson's health and ability to perform
Talking about the email Hougdahl sent saying Michael was deteriorating quickly, Gongaware explained: "I didn't see it the way he saw."
Hougdahl, in response to concerns expressed by Travis Payne about Jackson's weight Email 6/15/09 from Hougdahl to Gongaware :

He needs some cheeseburgers with a bunch of Wisconsin cheesehead bowlers and a couple of brats and beers

"Was he joking around about this situation?" Panish asked Gongaware, referring to Hougdahl. "I think he was," Gongaware replied. "Did you think that was funny?" Panish asked. "I did," Gongaware admitted
Panish asked about indemnity in Gongaware's contract. The exec said indemnity means that someone else is taking on the responsibility. "I haven't read my contract in 12/13 years, I don't know what it says," Gongaware said. Gongaware said he does not know how many pages his employment agreement is. Panish asked if he AEG would cover for Gongaware should they be found guilty. Gongaware said it was his understanding that he wouldn't be personally responsible financially if the jury sided with Jackson family.

Panish: "That means if you did something wrong..."
Gongaware: "They would be responsible. I've been assuming that,"

Adding that depending upon the size of the judgment, AEG could go after him. Panish asked how much AEG would be able to afford, and Gongaware said he didn't know. Panish emphasized there are various ways for AEG to pay a judgment, and Gongaware mentioned they had some sort of cancellation insurance.
Panish went back to discuss the email from Randy Phillips where he wrote 'Dr. Murray didn't need the gig and was unbiased and ethical'

Panish: "Is Mr. Phillips unbiased and ethical, sir?"
Gongaware: "I think he is"

Panish asked if it was ethical for Phillips to represent to Ortega that the doctor is 'extremely successful' and 'we checked everyone out'. Gongaware responded that he didn't know what Phillips knew at the time.

Panish: "Is number one priority 'the show must go on'?"
Gongaware: "I don't know if that's number one"
Panish: "What's number one?"
Gongaware: "Getting it right"

Panish showed the email from John Branca, saying he had the right therapist for Michael and asked if substance abuse was involved. "This is referring to the meeting that was going to happen and I was waiting to see the results of it," Gongaware said. "I didn't believe there was a substance abuse issue," Gongaware testified. "In the entire time I was dealing with him in this tour, I saw it once when he came back from his doctor," Gongaware testified. Gongaware said that was the only time he saw Michael with slurred speech and under the influence of something. Gongaware said he didn't know what Dr. Klein was giving Michael Jackson. When Panish asked Gongaware if he checked Dr. Klein out, he replied: "No, he was Michael's doctor and it was none of my business."
Gongaware said he once observed Michael looking "slow" and possibly intoxicated after a visit to his dermatologist but he didn't believe he had any "serious health problems" even after Jackson appeared weak and disoriented at a June 19 rehearsal. "My observation of Michael Jackson was that he was healthy," Gongaware said. "They had a meeting to discuss (the June 19 incident), and he took a couple days off and he came back strong"
As to insurance issues, Gongaware said he was involved only peripherally. On June 25, Gongaware sent an email saying that if they didn't get sickness coverage in the insurance, they would be dropping the policy. Gongaware said he didn't know why he was pressing for sickness insurance on the day Michael died. Bob Taylor, the insurance broker, wrote back that it was always down to the medical issued from the word go. Regarding Randy Phillips asking for life insurance the day Michael died, Gongaware said he didn't pay much attention to insurance, didn't recall.
The day Michael died, Gongaware said Phillips called him and told him to get over to the house right away, there seems to be a problem. Randy followed the ambulance to UCLA. "The second call was that he informed me that he had died," Gongaware remembered. On June 25, Gongaware said he went to the rehearsal at the Staples Center and talked to Kenny Ortega.

Panish: "Were you sad Mr. Jackson died?"
Gongaware: "Very much so"

"He was a business associate", Gongaware said about Michael. They did not didn't hang out as friends
Panish asked about Phillips' email directing Gongaware to remove thin, skeletal footage of Michael in the red jacket from This Is It documentary. Gongaware testified that he remembered receiving the email. In his deposition played in court, Gongaware said he didn't recall the email.

Panish: "Did you change your testimony?"
Gongaware: "No. I saw the email as part of my preparation"

AEG Live president and co-chief executive Randy Phillips wrote in Aug. 9 email:

Make sure we take out the shots of Michael in that red leather jacket at the sound stage where the mini-movies were being filmed. He looks way too think (sic) and skeletal

Gongaware replied to Phillips, his boss:

ok will have a look when it comes on screen

Gongaware said he didn't try to control any of the messages about Michael after his death to reflect he was fully engaged in rehearsals. Panish asked about an email from Gongaware okay'ing the band, singers and dancer to give interviews but asked them to keep it positive
In another email July 9, 2009, email to music coordinator JoAnn Tominaga, Gongaware wrote:

We are ok with the band, singers and dancers doing interviews now. The only thing we ask is that they keep it positive and stress that Michael was active, engaged and not the emaciated person some want to paint him as being.

Answering questions from Jackson family attorney Brian Panish, Gongaware said he was not trying to control the film's message.

Panish: "You're telling them what not to say, aren't you sir?"
Gongaware. "I'm asking them to keep it positive and not say he was emaciated"
Panish: "So you were controlling the message as a producer of that documentary"
Gongaware: "I don't think so"

Gongaware's testimony again emphasized the contrast between the answers he gave during his deposition under oath in December 2012 and his responses in the courtroom. In testimony, he agreed that Phillips meant "thin" in his email, instead of the word he typed, 'think'. Asked during the deposition what Phillips meant, he replied, "I don't know what he meant"
Gongaware said nothing was taken out of the documentary, which included rehearsals for the scheduled 50 concerts in London. Gongaware promised in a follow-up email to Phillips that he'd "have a look," but he testified that he never dumped any footage. "We didn't keep anything out based on what Randy wrote," Gogaware told jurors. Gongaware testified that he did not know why Phillips would ask that.
Gongaware said there were 15,000 tickets per show, $1.5 million in tickets per show, $47 million for all 31 shows. Tickets were selling at lightening fast, Gongaware said. "As fast as the system can sell.". The tickets were sold in March, Gongaware said. It was held by the arena, AEG had control of the money. Gongaware said merchandising was another way of making money. The building, which is owned by AEG, would keep the revenue of beverage sold. Gongaware said the beverage money would offset the arena rent, which Michael would not have to pay.

Gongaware: "His (MJ) potential was great"
Panish: "Unlimited ceilings?"
Gongaware: "If he was willing to work that hard, he would've done well"

Before lunch, Panish asked Gongaware whether This Is It was intended to be a multi-city tour. Gongaware said no, it was just going to be the 50 shows at London's O2 arena. "The only thing we knew was 50 shows in London. Michael had not agreed to anything else," Gongaware explained
Panish asked Gongaware by the time the show was sold out, how many people were in the queue to buy tickets. "250,000 people were still in the queue, which would be enough to sell another 50 shows," Gongaware answered. During Murray's trial, Gongaware testified that 250k people still wanted tickets. He told that jury This Is It would be a multi-city tour.

Panish: "Did you tell the truth when you testified in this case, sir?"
Gongaware: "Yes"

Panish then concluded his questioning of Gongaware.
AEG cross
AEG's attorney, Marvin Putnam, did the questioning of Gongaware on behalf of the defendants.
​

Putnam: "Have you ever been sued personally for the wrongful death of anyone?"
Gongaware: "No"
Putnam: "How are you feeling?"
Gongaware: "It's difficult, it's very stressful"
Putnam: "Are you nervous?"
Gongaware: "Yes"

Putnam asked about Gongaware's memory and he said it's okay
Putnam asked Gongaware about some of the emails shown to jurors yesterday. Putnam was trying to show that not all the contents of the emails had been shown to jury. Some email addresses had been redacted. Attorney Brian Panish objected to the redactions, and got testy with the judge. It prompted another lengthy sidebar. When attorneys returned from the judge's chambers, Putnam resumed questioning Gongaware about emails sent to his private account
Putnam said Gongaware handed over more than 13,000 emails in discovery from the This Is It period
Putnam inquired about Gongaware's Kazoodi personal email account. On 6/20/09, the chain of emails with "Trouble at the Front" was sent there. Gongaware said he didn't remember receiving this email. Gongaware said he had more than one "Kazoodi" email account. He said he was not using the account the email was sent to on 6/20. "The account was closed at the time." Putnam presented Gongaware a document that indicated the private email account had been closed at the time. Gongaware said he never denied it was sent. Gongaware claimed yesterday was the first time he saw this chain of emails. Putnam used the closed email account to try to show Gongaware's testimony was truthful

Putnam: "Why could you not recall e-mails?"
Gongaware: "I had not reviewed them and had not seen them in years,"

Some of the e-mails were new to him because he was so busy putting Jackson's tour together that he never read them, he said. Gongaware said he was receiving hundreds of email a day at the height of 2008/09 tour preparation. "Mostly, it was just a time factor if it was something that didn't have to do with me"
Gongaware said he doesn't have an office at AEG, and that he works on his own projects. He has an office at his house. Gongaware is the Co-CEO of AEG Live Concerts West with John Meglen. He said he was the co-founder of the company. Phillips is AEG Live CEO
Gongaware explained be has been testifying about what he could recall. If he didn't remember, he said he told the jury he couldn't recall. Gongaware testified he looked at the emails after his deposition because he wanted to put everything together and see the bigger picture. Putnam: "Did you try to give your best testimony?" Gongaware: "Yes, I did"
Regarding the phone call between Gongaware and Dr. Murray where the doctor asked about $5 million, Gongaware said he remembers that call. The next call between the two, it was the $150,000 call, where Gongaware offered the doctor $150k. Gongaware said those were the only two calls he had with Dr. Murray
Gongaware said the 1st time he met Dr. Murray was a meeting at Michael's Carolwood house. He said MJ, Kenny, Randy, Frank & Dr Murray were present. Gongaware recalled the other meeting with Dr. Murray was an encounter with him at The Forum. He remembers saying hello to him. Gongaware said he's sure he didn't meet with Dr. Murray other than on those two occasions
Gongaware said he promoted couple of shows/dances in college. He graduated in '69 from Waynesboro College in Pennsylvania in Accounting. He worked for Arthur Andersen in NYC after college as auditor. He said one needed two years of experience in order to get CPA license.The company ended up shutting down after being involved in the Enron scandal, Gongaware explained. He said there's a continuing education requirement in order to maintain his CPA license, but he hasn't kept current. "I didn't like that work," Gongaware said about leaving the practice. "I wanted to do things and not just be an accountant." Gongaware said he ski bummed for a winter and would do bookkeeping to pay for his lodge.
His first big show was in Colorado -- he got The Grateful Dead to perform at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. He said he didn't know the band or any of its managers, but asked them to come to Colorado. They did, and the show was a hit. "The concert was sold out", Gongaware said, and he became an independent promoter. Around 1975, he met Terry Bassett who worked at Concerts West and Gongaware went to work for them in their Seattle office. He worked for them for about 10 years. Gongaware said he went to work for the company because the money was steady. At Concerts West, Gongaware worked with Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, Beach Boys, Chicago, Eric Clapton, among others. This Concerts West is not the same; he is the currently the co-CEO. Gongaware left Seattle and came to LA to work at Concerts West. He then went to Warner Miller Films. The company did primarily ski movies. Jerry Weintraub was Elvis' promoter and Concerts West assigned him to work with Colonel Parker, Elvis' manager.
Gongaware was in his 20s when he worked with Elvis. He said when they'd announce an Elvis concert, there would be lines at the box office for 4 days. Gongaware said Colonel would buy ads on every radio station and promote the show. When tickets went on sale, Gongaware was to report to Colonel every hour regarding the ticket sales.
Elvis Presley's death became a controversy at this trial as the man (Gongaware) who promoted both artists' last tours testified. He testified yesterday that Presley died of a drug overdose, but when his own lawyer questioned him today he changed his testimony to say Elvis died of a heart ailment. Presley collapsed in the bathroom of his Memphis, Tennessee, mansion, Graceland, on August 16, 1977, at the age of 42. While his death was ruled the result of an irregular heartbeat, the autopsy report was sealed amid accusations that abuse of prescription drugs caused the problem.How Presley died is relevant because Jackson lawyers argue Gongaware's experience as Elvis's promoter should have made him more aware of drug abuse by artists, including Michael Jackson.
Although he worked advance promotion on Elvis Presley's last tours -- under the direction of Presley manager Colonel Tom Parker -- Gongaware testified he never met Presley.

Putnam:"Did you understand he had a problem with drugs?"
Gongaware: "I understood that later. There was a period of time when we didn't work. I didn't understand at the time, but I learned that it was a drug problem and the Colonel said he couldn't work."

Around 1992, Gongaware went to work on the Dangerous tour with Michael. This was his first time working with Michael Jackson. He worked with the Jacksons in 2000 but he remembered working on a tour with the Jacksons prior to 92 and said Michael was part of the group. "I was the tour manager, handled the logistics and travel for the B party," Gongaware said, adding he worked for Michael but not for A party.

• A party - artist
• B party - band and administration
• C party - crew
• D party - documentary people.
  Gongaware said there were several legs on the Dangerous tour. It was a worldwide tour. He never met Michael on that tour, saw him on stage a few times
  

The first time Gongaware met Michael was in Las Vegas when he was visiting Colonel Parker. Steve Wynn's brother called and said Michael wanted to meet Colonel. Gongaware stayed and met him
​

Putnam: "Were there any doctors in that tour?"
Gongaware: "Yes, two"

Gongaware said Dr. Forecast was Michael's personal doctor. He didn't think Dr. Forecast treated anyone else, so they had Dr. Finkelstein also. Dr. Finkelstein, a general practitioner, was in the B party. They went to places where they didn't know the quality of local healthcare. Gongaware explained Dr. Finkelstein treated B, C and D parties. Gongaware said he did not see any doctor treat Michael. Dr. Finkelstein told Gongaware he treated Michael twice. Dr. Forecast wasn't in Bangkok yet, so Dr. Finkelstein treated him when he needed.

"The King of Thailand said Michael would have to do the second show because his friends were attending", Gongaware recalled.

Gongaware said the King put armed guards outside their doors to make sure they didn't leave
​

Putnam: "During the Dangerous tour, had you come to have an understating that Michael had a problem with drugs or painkillers?"
Gongaware: "No, he Dangerous tour in 93 was cut short in Mexico City"

Gongaware said. He learned it had to do with drug addiction because Michael announced it. Putnam played the audio with Michael's statement:

"My friends and doctors advised me to seek professional guidance immediately in order to eliminate what has become an addition. It is time for me to acknowledge my need for treatment"

On Jun 25, 2009 Gabriel Sutter (a tech guy) wrote Gongaware a condolences email. "It was such an incredible shock to go through that experience," Gongaware explained. Gongaware's response on July 5, 2009:

I was working on the Elvis tour when he died so I kind of knew what to expect

"You have all these people out of work," Gongaware explained. "With Elvis some were without jobs permanently." Under questioning from Putnam, Gongaware said he didn't mean that he expected Jackson to die like Elvis. He was referring to the trauma of people losing their jobs because a tour is canceled and the estate taking over the legacy, he said.

Putnam: "When you wrote the email, did you expect Michael to die?"
Gongaware: "No, not all"
Putnam: "Did you ever consider the idea Michael would die?"
Gongaware: "No"

Here's what Gongaware had to say about the role of the estate after Elvis died (and what he expected after Jackson's death.):

"Then the estate takes over, and everything's different. You have nothing to say about anything"

When one of his friends asked about his plans after Michael's death, Gongaware replied he was "trying to recover our losses from the show"
"Michael died of overdose of Propofol. He didn't die of being sick or malnutrition", Gongaware said. He said that he had no idea of what Propofol was. "I had no idea" Jackson was using propofol in the weeks before his death, Gongaware testified
Gongaware said he worked on Michael's memorial service. He was in charge of the tickets and worked closely with the family. He said he didn't charge for his work.

Putnam: "Why did you work at the memorial service?"
Gongaware: "It was the right thing to do"

Court Transcript
2017 - Michael Jackson: Searching For Neverland, starring Navi as Michael, premieres on the Lifetime channel in the US

Spring-heeled Jack is an entity in English folklore of the Victorian era. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837.[1] Later sightings were reported all over the United Kingdom and were especially prevalent in suburban London, the Midlands) and Scotland.[2]
There are many theories about the nature and identity of Spring-heeled Jack. This urban legend was very popular in its time, due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and ability to make extraordinary leaps, to the point that he became the topic of several works of fiction.
Spring-heeled Jack was described by people who claimed to have seen him as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an oilskin. Many stories also mention a "Devil-like" aspect. Others said he was tall and thin, with the appearance of a gentleman. Several reports mention that he could breathe out blue and white flames and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two people claimed that he was able to speak comprehensible English.

History

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Precedents

In the early 19th century, there were reports of ghosts that stalked the streets of London. These human-like figures were described as pale; it was believed that they stalked and preyed on lone pedestrians. The stories told of these figures formed part of a distinct ghost tradition in London which, some writers have argued, formed the foundation of the later legend of Spring-heeled Jack.[3]
The most important of these early entities was the Hammersmith Ghost, which in 1803 and 1804 was reported in Hammersmith on the western fringes of London; it would later reappear in 1824. Another apparition, the Southampton ghost, was also reported as assaulting individuals in the night. This particular spirit bore many of the characteristics of Spring-heeled Jack, and was reported as jumping over houses and being over 10 ft (3.0 m) tall.[3]

Early reports

📷Illustration of Spring-heeled Jack, from the serial Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London
The first alleged sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were made in London in 1837 and the last reported sighting is said in most of the secondary literature to have been made in Liverpool in 1904.[4][5]
According to much later accounts, in October 1837 a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to Lavender Hill, where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in Battersea. On her way through Clapham Common, a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, "cold and clammy as those of a corpse". In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents who immediately launched a search for the aggressor, but he could not be found.[6]
The next day, the leaping character is said to have chosen a very different victim near Mary Stevens' home, inaugurating a method that would reappear in later reports: he jumped in the way of a passing carriage, causing the coachman to lose control, crash, and severely injure himself. Several witnesses claimed that he escaped by jumping over a 9 ft (2.7 m) high wall while cackling with a high-pitched, ringing laughter.[6]
Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the press and the public gave him the name "Spring-heeled Jack".[7]

Official recognition

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📷A public session at the Mansion House, London (c. 1840).
A few months after these first sightings, on 9 January 1838, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Cowan), revealed at a public session held in the Mansion House an anonymous complaint that he had received several days earlier, which he had withheld in the hope of obtaining further information. The correspondent, who signed the letter "a resident of Peckham", wrote:

It appears that some individuals (of, as the writer believes, the highest ranks of life) have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion, that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises—a ghost, a bear, and a devil; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman's gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house. The wager has, however, been accepted, and the unmanly villain has succeeded in depriving seven ladies of their senses, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families. At one house the man rang the bell, and on the servant coming to open door, this worse than brute stood in no less dreadful figure than a spectre clad most perfectly. The consequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her senses. The affair has now been going on for some time, and, strange to say, the papers are still silent on the subject. The writer has reason to believe that they have the whole history at their finger-ends but, through interested motives, are induced to remain silent.[8]

Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly sceptical, a member of the audience confirmed that "servant girls about Kensington, Hammersmith and Ealing, tell dreadful stories of this ghost or devil". The matter was reported in The Times on 9 January, other national papers on 10 January and, on the day after that, the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar "wicked pranks". The quantity of letters that poured into the Mansion House suggests that the stories were widespread in suburban London. One writer said several young women in Hammersmith had been frightened into "dangerous fits" and some "severely wounded by a sort of claws the miscreant wore on his hands". Another correspondent claimed that in Stockwell, Brixton, Camberwell and Vauxhall several people had died of fright and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in Lewisham and Blackheath.[citation needed]
The Lord Mayor himself was in two minds about the affair: he thought "the greatest exaggerations" had been made, and that it was quite impossible "that the ghost performs the feats of a devil upon earth", but on the other hand someone he trusted had told him of a servant girl at Forest Hill who had been scared into fits by a figure in a bear's skin; he was confident the person or persons involved in this "pantomime display" would be caught and punished.[9] The police were instructed to search for the individual responsible, and rewards were offered.[citation needed]
A peculiar report from The Brighton Gazette, which appeared in the 14 April 1838 edition of The Times, related how a gardener in Rosehill, Sussex, had been terrified by a creature of unknown nature. The Times wrote that "Spring-heeled Jack has, it seems, found his way to the Sussex coast", even though the report bore little resemblance to other accounts of Jack. The incident occurred on 13 April, when it appeared to a gardener "in the shape of a bear or some other four-footed animal". Having attracted the gardener's attention by a growl, it then climbed the garden wall and ran along it on all fours, before jumping down and chasing the gardener for some time. After terrifying the gardener, the apparition scaled the wall and made its exit.[10]
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Scales and Alsop reports

📷Illustration of Spring-heeled Jack, from the 1867 serial Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London
Perhaps the best known of the alleged incidents involving Spring-heeled Jack were the attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, including a piece in The Times,[11] while fewer reports appeared in relation to the attack on Scales. The press coverage of these two attacks helped to raise the profile of Spring-heeled Jack.[citation needed]

Alsop case

Jane Alsop reported that on the night of 19 February 1838, she answered the door of her father's house to a man claiming to be a police officer, who told her to bring a light, claiming "we have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane". She brought the person a candle, and noticed that he wore a large cloak. The moment she had handed him the candle, however, he threw off the cloak and "presented a most hideous and frightful appearance", vomiting blue and white flame from his mouth while his eyes resembled "red balls of fire". Miss Alsop reported that he wore a large helmet and that his clothing, which appeared to be very tight-fitting, resembled white oilskin. Without saying a word he caught hold of her and began tearing her gown with his claws which she was certain were "of some metallic substance". She screamed for help, and managed to get away from him and ran towards the house. He caught her on the steps and tore her neck and arms with his claws. She was rescued by one of her sisters, after which her assailant fled.[4][12]

Scales case

On 28 February 1838,[13] nine days after the attack on Miss Alsop, 18-year-old Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher who lived in a respectable part of Limehouse. Miss Scales stated in her deposition to the police that as she and her sister were passing along Green Dragon Alley, they observed a person standing in an angle of the passage. She was walking in front of her sister at the time, and just as she came up to the person, who was wearing a large cloak, he spurted "a quantity of blue flame" in her face, which deprived her of her sight, and so alarmed her, that she instantly dropped to the ground, and was seized with violent fits which continued for several hours.[14]
Her brother added that on the evening in question, he had heard the loud screams of one of his sisters moments after they had left his house and on running up Green Dragon Alley he found his sister Lucy on the ground in a fit, with her sister attempting to hold and support her. She was taken home, and he then learned from his other sister what had happened. She described Lucy's assailant as being of tall, thin, and gentlemanly appearance, covered in a large cloak, and carrying a small lamp or bull's eye lantern similar to those used by the police. The individual did not speak nor did he try to lay hands on them, but instead walked quickly away. Every effort was made by the police to discover the author of these and similar outrages, and several persons were questioned, but were set free.[14]
https://preview.redd.it/h1oqafgj0x2b1.png?width=220&format=png&auto=webp&s=4fd9152b2fb9ed1a2a54a49ecd7d96c8d7525b3b

Popularisation

​
The Times reported the alleged attack on Jane Alsop on 2 March 1838 under the heading "The Late Outrage at Old Ford".[11] This was followed with an account of the trial of one Thomas Millbank, who, immediately after the reported attack on Jane Alsop, had boasted in the Morgan's Arms that he was Spring-heeled Jack. He was arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer was James Lea, who had earlier arrested William Corder, the Red Barn Murderer. Millbank had been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat, which he dropped outside the house, and the candle he dropped was also found. He escaped conviction only because Jane Alsop insisted her attacker had breathed fire, and Millbank admitted he could do no such thing. Most of the other accounts were written long after the date; contemporary newspapers do not mention them.[citation needed]
📷Ad for Spring Heeled Jack, a penny dreadful (1886)
After these incidents, Spring-heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the period. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became the subject of several penny dreadfuls and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. The devil was even renamed "Spring-heeled Jack" in some Punch and Judy shows, as recounted by Henry Mayhew in his London Labour and the London Poor:

This here is Satan,-we might say the devil, but that ain't right, and gennelfolks don't like such words. He is now commonly called 'Spring-heeled Jack;' or the 'Rossian Bear,' – that's since the war. — Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, p. 52[15]

But, even as his fame was growing, reports of Spring-heeled Jack's appearances became less frequent if more widespread. In 1843, however, a wave of sightings swept the country again. A report from Northamptonshire described him as "the very image of the Devil himself, with horns and eyes of flame", and in East Anglia reports of attacks on drivers of mail coaches became common. In July 1847 "a Spring-heeled Jack investigation" in Teignmouth, Devon led to a Captain Finch being convicted of two charges of assault against women during which he is said to have been "disguised in a skin coat, which had the appearance of bullock's hide, skullcap, horns and mask".[16] The legend was linked with the phenomenon of the "Devil's Footprints" which appeared in Devon in February 1855.[citation needed]

Last reports

In the beginning of the 1870s, Spring-heeled Jack was reported again in several places distant from each other. In November 1872, the News of the World reported that Peckham was "in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the "Peckham Ghost", a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance". The editorial pointed out that it was none other than "Spring-heeled Jack, who terrified a past generation".[17] Similar stories were published in The Illustrated Police News. In April and May 1873, it reported there were numerous sightings in Sheffield of the "Park Ghost", which locals also came to identify as Spring-heeled Jack.[18]

Aldershot

📷North Camp in Aldershot as it looked in 1866.
This news was followed by more reported sightings, until in August 1877 one of the most notable reports about Spring-heeled Jack came from a group of soldiers in Aldershot Garrison. This story went as follows: a sentry on duty at the North Camp peered into the darkness, his attention attracted by a peculiar figure "advancing towards him." The soldier issued a challenge, which went unheeded, and the figure came up beside him and delivered several slaps to his face. A guard shot at him, with no visible effect; some sources claim that the soldier may have fired blanks) at him, others that he missed or fired warning shots. The strange figure then disappeared into the surrounding darkness "with astonishing bounds."[19][20][21]
Lord Ernest Hamilton's 1922 memoir Forty Years On mentions the Aldershot appearances of Spring-heeled Jack; however, he (apparently erroneously) says that they occurred in the winter of 1879 after his regiment, the 60th Rifles, had moved to Aldershot, and that similar appearances had occurred when the regiment was barracked at Colchester in the winter of 1878. He adds that the panic became so great at Aldershot that sentries were issued ammunition and ordered to shoot "the night terror" on sight, following which the appearances ceased. Hamilton thought that the appearances were actually pranks, carried out by one of his fellow officers, a Lieutenant Alfrey.[22][23] However, there is no record of Alfrey ever being court-martialled for the offence.[24]

Lincolnshire

In the autumn of 1877, Spring-heeled Jack was reportedly seen at Newport Arch, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, wearing a sheep skin. An angry mob supposedly chased him and cornered him, and just as in Aldershot a while before, residents fired at him to no effect. As usual, he was said to have made use of his leaping abilities to lose the crowd and disappear once again.[25]

Liverpool

By the end of the 19th century the reported sightings of Spring-heeled Jack were moving towards the north west of England. Around 1888, in Everton, north Liverpool, he allegedly appeared on the rooftop of Saint Francis Xavier's Church in Salisbury Street. In 1904 there were reports of appearances in nearby William Henry Street.[26]

Aftermath and impact upon Victorian popular culture

The vast urban legend built around Spring-heeled Jack influenced many aspects of Victorian life, especially in contemporary popular culture. For decades, especially in London, his name was equated with the bogeyman, as a means of scaring children into behaving by telling them if they were not good, Spring-heeled Jack would leap up and peer in at them through their bedroom windows, by night.
However, it was in fictional entertainment where the legend of Spring-heeled Jack exerted the most extensive influence, owing to his allegedly extraordinary nature. Three pamphlet publications, purportedly based on the real events, appeared almost immediately, during January and February, 1838. They were not advertised as fiction, though they likely were at least partly so. The only known copies were reported to have perished when the British Library was hit during The Blitz, but their catalog still lists the first one.
The character was written into a number of penny dreadful stories during the latter half of the 19th century, initially as a villain and then in increasingly heroic roles. By the early 1900s he was being represented as a costumed, altruistic avenger of wrongs and protector of the innocent, effectively becoming a precursor to pulp fiction and then comic book superheroes.

Theories

No one was ever caught and identified as Spring-heeled Jack; combined with the extraordinary abilities attributed to him and the very long period during which he was reportedly at large, this has led to numerous and varied theories of his nature and identity.[citation needed] While several researchers seek a normal explanation for the events, other authors explore the more fantastic details of the story to propose different kinds of paranormal speculation.[citation needed]

Sceptical positions

Sceptical investigators have dismissed the stories of Spring-heeled Jack as mass hysteria which developed around various stories of a bogeyman or devil which have been around for centuries, or from exaggerated urban myths about a man who clambered over rooftops claiming that the Devil was chasing him.[27]
📷Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford (1840)
Other researchers believe that some individual(s) may have been behind its origins, being followed by imitators later on.[28] Spring-heeled Jack was widely considered not to be a supernatural creature, but rather one or more persons with a macabre sense of humour.[4] This idea matches the contents of the letter to the Lord Mayor, which accused a group of young aristocrats as the culprits, after an irresponsible wager.[4] A popular rumour circulating as early as 1840 pointed to an Irish nobleman, the Marquess of Waterford, as the main suspect.[4] Haining) suggested this may have been due to him having previously had bad experiences with women and police officers.[29]
The Marquess was frequently in the news in the late 1830s for drunken brawling, brutal jokes and vandalism, and was said to do anything for a bet; his irregular behaviour and his contempt for women earned him the title "the Mad Marquis", and it is also known that he was in the London area by the time the first incidents took place. In 1880 he was named as the perpetrator by E. Cobham Brewer, who said that the Marquess "used to amuse himself by springing on travellers unawares, to frighten them, and from time to time others have followed his silly example."[30][31] In 1842, the Marquess married and settled in Curraghmore House, County Waterford, and reportedly led an exemplary life until he died in a riding accident in 1859.[citation needed]
Sceptical investigators have asserted that the story of Spring-heeled Jack was exaggerated and altered through mass hysteria, a process in which many sociological issues may have contributed. These include unsupported rumours, superstition, oral tradition, sensationalist publications, and a folklore rich in tales of fairies and strange roguish creatures. Gossip of alleged leaping and fire-spitting powers, his alleged extraordinary features and his reputed skill in evading apprehension captured the mind of the superstitious public—increasingly so with the passing of time, which gave the impression that Spring-heeled Jack had suffered no effects from ageing. As a result, a whole urban legend was built around the character, being reflected by contemporary publications, which in turn fuelled this popular perception.[32]

Paranormal conjectures

📷Spring-heeled Jack illustrated on the cover of the 1904 serial Spring-heeled Jack
A variety of wildly speculative paranormal explanations have been proposed to explain the origin of Spring-heeled Jack, including that he was an extraterrestrial entity with a non-human appearance and features (e.g., retro-reflective red eyes, or phosphorus breath) and a superhuman agility deriving from life on a high-gravity world, with his jumping ability and strange behaviour,[33] and that he was a demon, accidentally or purposefully summoned into this world by practitioners of the occult, or who made himself manifest simply to create spiritual turmoil.[34]
Fortean authors, particularly Loren Coleman[35] and Jerome Clark,[36] list "Spring-heeled Jack" in a category named "phantom attackers", with another well-known example being the "Mad Gasser of Mattoon". Typical "phantom attackers" appear to be human, and may be perceived as prosaic criminals, but may display extraordinary abilities (as in Spring-heeled Jack's jumps, which, it is widely noted, would break the ankles of a human who replicated them) and/or cannot be caught by authorities. Victims commonly experience the "attack" in their bedrooms, homes or other seemingly secure enclosures. They may report being pinned or paralysed, or on the other hand describe a "siege" in which they fought off a persistent intruder or intruders. Many reports can readily be explained psychologically, most notably as the "Old Hag" phenomenon, recorded in folklore and recognised by psychologists as a form of hallucination. In the most problematic cases, an "attack" is witnessed by several people and substantiated by some physical evidence, but the attacker cannot be verified to exist.[citation needed]

Counterpart in Prague

A similar figure known as Pérák, the Spring Man of Prague was reported to have been seen in Czechoslovakia around 1939–1945. As writers such as Mike Dash have shown, the elusiveness and supernatural leaping abilities attributed to Pérák bear a close resemblance to those exhibited by Spring-heeled Jack, and distinct parallels can be drawn between the two entities.[28] The stories of Pérák provide a useful example of how the traits of Spring-heeled Jack have a broad cultural resonance in urban folklore. Pérák, like Spring-heeled Jack, went on to become a folklore hero, even starring in several animated superhero cartoons, fighting the SS, the earliest of which is Jiří Trnka's 1946 film Pérák a SS or Springman and the SS.[37]

In contemporary popular culture

The character of Spring-heeled Jack has been revived or referenced in a variety of 20th and 21st century media, including:
Spring-Heeled Jack (1989) – a combination prose and graphic novel by Philip Pullman in which Spring-heeled Jack saves a group of plucky orphans from the malevolent Mack the Knife.[38]
The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack (2010) – an alternate history novel by author Mark Hodder, portraying Spring-Heeled Jack as a time traveler.[39]
The Springheel Saga (2011) – a three-series audio drama produced by the Wireless Theatre Company.[40]

See also

• Jack the Ripper
• Jersey Devil
• Jiangshi
• Krampus
• London Monster
• Mothman
• Owlman
• Batman
• The Shadow

External links