Editorial · An animated calendar · Three investigations
Three Dates,
Three Stories
Three Dates,
Three Stories
A calendar usually tells you what is coming. This one looks back. Each month gets a single date, and each date hides a story that history books mostly skip: a novelist who vanished, a woman who nearly killed a dictator, a wrong resistor that kept a heart beating.
How to read the case files
7 April 1926 — a pistol, a nose.
7 April 1926 — a pistol, a nose.
7 May 1958 — a dog, a heartbeat.
7 May 1958 — a dog, a heartbeat.
3 December 1926 — a car, eleven days.
3 December 1926 — a car, eleven days.
Chapter 01 — April
7 April
1926
7 April
1926
The Woman Who Shot Mussolini
Rome, the Capitoline Hill. Calendar page: illustration, archival collage, 3D, sound.
Fact Documented: records, newspapers, dates.
Reported Widely reported; details vary between sources.
Reported Widely reported; details vary between sources.
Anecdote A good story, less firmly documented.
Anecdote A good story, less firmly documented.
7 April 1926, Rome.
7 April 1926, Rome.
Violet Gibson fires at Benito Mussolini from point-blank range — and hits only his nose.
Violet Gibson fires at Benito Mussolini from point-blank range — and hits only his nose.
She is fifty, Irish, the daughter of Lord Ashbourne, a former Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Mussolini has just addressed an international congress of surgeons. At the moment she fires, he turns his head: the bullet grazes the bridge of his nose. Her second shot fails.
She is fifty, Irish, the daughter of Lord Ashbourne, a former Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Mussolini has just addressed an international congress of surgeons. At the moment she fires, he turns his head: the bullet grazes the bridge of his nose. Her second shot fails.
The crowd nearly lynches her before the police take her away. Within hours Mussolini is back in public, a plaster across his nose.
The crowd nearly lynches her before the police take her away. Within hours Mussolini is back in public, a plaster across his nose.
Gibson is declared insane, deported to England and committed to St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton. She lives there for almost thirty years, until her death in 1956.
Gibson is declared insane, deported to England and committed to St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton. She lives there for almost thirty years, until her death in 1956.
Violet Gibson’s Italian police identification record, 1926. Ministero dell’Interno.
Violet Gibson’s Italian police identification record, 1926. Ministero dell’Interno.
Violet Gibson, before Rome. Photograph.
Violet Gibson, before Rome. Photograph.
Mussolini, plaster on his nose, on board ship, April 1926. Press photograph.
Mussolini, plaster on his nose, on board ship, April 1926. Press photograph.
The plaster. Press photograph, April 1926.
The plaster. Press photograph, April 1926.
April, the drawing.
April, the drawing.
Fact
She was never put on trial in Italy. In 1927 she was deported to Britain.
Fact
She was never put on trial in Italy. In 1927 she was deported to Britain.
Fact
She spent the rest of her life in St Andrew’s Hospital, Northampton, and died there on 2 May 1956.
Fact
She spent the rest of her life in St Andrew’s Hospital, Northampton, and died there on 2 May 1956.
Reported
Of the attempts on Mussolini’s life, hers is often said to have come closest.
Reported
Of the attempts on Mussolini’s life, hers is often said to have come closest.
Reported
From the hospital she wrote letters asking to be released — including, it is said, to Winston Churchill and Princess Elizabeth.
Reported
From the hospital she wrote letters asking to be released — including, it is said, to Winston Churchill and Princess Elizabeth.
Violet Gibson in later life. Photograph.
Violet Gibson in later life. Photograph.
Chapter 02 — May
7 May
1958
7 May
1958
The Wrong Resistor
Buffalo, New York. Calendar page: illustration, archival collage, 3D, sound.
Wilson Greatbatch with an implantable pacemaker. Portrait photograph.
Wilson Greatbatch with an implantable pacemaker. Portrait photograph.
7 May 1958, Buffalo, New York.
7 May 1958, Buffalo, New York.
Engineer Wilson Greatbatch brings a small device to the Veterans Administration hospital. Surgeons William Chardack and Andrew Gage place its two wires on a dog’s heart. The heart takes up the device’s rhythm.
Engineer Wilson Greatbatch brings a small device to the Veterans Administration hospital. Surgeons William Chardack and Andrew Gage place its two wires on a dog’s heart. The heart takes up the device’s rhythm.
Two years earlier, building an instrument to record heart sounds, Greatbatch had reached for the wrong resistor. Instead of recording, the circuit began to pulse: 1.8 milliseconds on, a second off. Like a heartbeat.
Two years earlier, building an instrument to record heart sounds, Greatbatch had reached for the wrong resistor. Instead of recording, the circuit began to pulse: 1.8 milliseconds on, a second off. Like a heartbeat.
The first prototype, sealed with electrical tape, lasted four hours before body fluids shorted it. He recast it in epoxy.
The first prototype, sealed with electrical tape, lasted four hours before body fluids shorted it. He recast it in epoxy.
Then he left his job, put in $2,000 of his own money and built fifty pacemakers in his barn workshop.
Then he left his job, put in $2,000 of his own money and built fifty pacemakers in his barn workshop.
Case file — Which “first”?
Case file — Which “first”?
The prototype, the animal experiment and the first human implants are often merged into one date. They are not the same event. Green: Greatbatch’s own device.
The prototype, the animal experiment and the first human implants are often merged into one date. They are not the same event. Green: Greatbatch’s own device.
1956
The wrong resistor: a circuit that pulses like a heart. Fact
Resistor values vary between retellings.
1956
The wrong resistor: a circuit that pulses like a heart. Fact
Resistor values vary between retellings.
7 May 1958
The dog experiment in Buffalo. The taped prototype fails after four hours. Fact
7 May 1958
The dog experiment in Buffalo. The taped prototype fails after four hours. Fact
8 Oct 1958
The first human implant of any pacemaker — in Stockholm: patient Arne Larsson, surgeon Åke Senning, engineer Rune Elmqvist. Fact
8 Oct 1958
The first human implant of any pacemaker — in Stockholm: patient Arne Larsson, surgeon Åke Senning, engineer Rune Elmqvist. Fact
1960
The first Greatbatch–Chardack pacemaker implanted in a human patient, a 77-year-old man in Buffalo. Fact
Sources give April or June.
1960
The first Greatbatch–Chardack pacemaker implanted in a human patient, a 77-year-old man in Buffalo. Fact
Sources give April or June.
Today
Some 600,000 pacemakers are implanted every year. Reported
A commonly cited figure.
Today
Some 600,000 pacemakers are implanted every year. Reported
A commonly cited figure.
A dog standing in salt water, wired to an electrometer. Engraving. Wellcome Collection.
A dog standing in salt water, wired to an electrometer. Engraving. Wellcome Collection.
Fact
Fact
Before the pacemaker came the recording. In 1909 the physiologist Augustus Waller demonstrated the electrocardiogram on his bulldog, Jimmie, who stood patiently with his paws in jars of salt water.
Before the pacemaker came the recording. In 1909 the physiologist Augustus Waller demonstrated the electrocardiogram on his bulldog, Jimmie, who stood patiently with his paws in jars of salt water.
Recording a heartbeat took off quickly. Making one with electricity took another half-century — and a dog again.
Recording a heartbeat took off quickly. Making one with electricity took another half-century — and a dog again.
An early implantable pacemaker, cased in epoxy. Photograph.
An early implantable pacemaker, cased in epoxy. Photograph.
May, the drawing.
May, the drawing.
Chapter 03 — December
3 December
1926
3 December
1926
Eleven Days
Sunningdale, Surrey, Harrogate. Calendar page: illustration, archival collage, 3D, sound.
3 December 1926, Sunningdale, Berkshire.
3 December 1926, Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Late in the evening, Agatha Christie drives away from her home and disappears.
Late in the evening, Agatha Christie drives away from her home and disappears.
Next morning her Morris Cowley is found at Newlands Corner in Surrey, run off the road into the bushes, a fur coat and her driving licence still inside. More than a thousand police and an estimated 15,000 volunteers comb the countryside; aeroplanes join the search.
Next morning her Morris Cowley is found at Newlands Corner in Surrey, run off the road into the bushes, a fur coat and her driving licence still inside. More than a thousand police and an estimated 15,000 volunteers comb the countryside; aeroplanes join the search.
Eleven days later she is found at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, registered as Mrs Teresa Neele from Cape Town. Neele was the surname of her husband’s lover.
Eleven days later she is found at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, registered as Mrs Teresa Neele from Cape Town. Neele was the surname of her husband’s lover.
She never explained what happened. Her autobiography leaves the eleven days out.
She never explained what happened. Her autobiography leaves the eleven days out.
The abandoned Morris Cowley at Newlands Corner, December 1926. Press photograph.
The abandoned Morris Cowley at Newlands Corner, December 1926. Press photograph.
Bloodhounds join the search, December 1926. Press photograph.
Bloodhounds join the search, December 1926. Press photograph.
“Mrs. Christie disguised”: how she might look in a disguise. The Daily News, 11 December 1926.
“Mrs. Christie disguised”: how she might look in a disguise. The Daily News, 11 December 1926.
“Mrs. Christie found at Harrogate.” Newspaper front page, December 1926.
“Mrs. Christie found at Harrogate.” Newspaper front page, December 1926.
Fact
Her husband Archie had asked for a divorce. He was in love with Nancy Neele.
Fact
Her husband Archie had asked for a divorce. He was in love with Nancy Neele.
Fact
Arthur Conan Doyle gave one of her gloves to a medium. Dorothy L. Sayers visited the scene.
Fact
Arthur Conan Doyle gave one of her gloves to a medium. Dorothy L. Sayers visited the scene.
Anecdote
At the hotel, some accounts say, she danced the charleston in the ballroom.
Anecdote
At the hotel, some accounts say, she danced the charleston in the ballroom.
Theories
Amnesia, a fugue state, revenge, a publicity stunt. None has been proven.
Theories
Amnesia, a fugue state, revenge, a publicity stunt. None has been proven.
Agatha Christie. Portrait photograph, 1920s.
Agatha Christie. Portrait photograph, 1920s.
The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, formerly the Swan Hydropathic. Recent photograph.
The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, formerly the Swan Hydropathic. Recent photograph.
December, the drawing.
December, the drawing.
So far
Three dates found. Nine months still to look for.
The calendar grows one story at a time. Each date has to earn its month.
Sources
The National Archives (UK), police report on the disappearance of Agatha Christie, and “Investigating the strange disappearance of Mrs Agatha Christie”.
Countryfile, “Agatha Christie’s disappearance”; Ripon Gazette, “Agatha Christie’s legendary disappearance in Harrogate explained”.
Countryfile, “Agatha Christie’s disappearance”; Ripon Gazette, “Agatha Christie’s legendary disappearance in Harrogate explained”.
Berkshire Record Office, missing-person poster, 9 December 1926.
History Ireland, “Violet Gibson shoots Benito Mussolini”; Wanted in Rome, “The Irish woman who shot Benito Mussolini”.
University at Buffalo / Research Foundation SUNY, histories of the implantable pacemaker.
Agatha Christie · Violet Gibson · Wilson Greatbatch
Research, illustration and animation: Liza Benesh
Related project / Illustration & motion
Three Dates →
Three Dates →
© Liza Benesh
Editorial · An animated calendar · Three investigations
Three Dates,
Three Stories
A calendar usually tells you what is coming. This one looks back. Each month gets a single date, and each date hides a story that history books mostly skip: a novelist who vanished, a woman who nearly killed a dictator, a wrong resistor that kept a heart beating.
How to read the case files
FACT Documented: records, newspapers, dates.
REPORTED Widely reported; details vary between sources.
ANECDOTE A good story, less firmly documented.
Chapter 01 — April
7 April
1926
The Woman Who Shot Mussolini
Rome, the Capitoline Hill. Calendar page: illustration, archival collage, 3D, sound.
7 April 1926, Rome.
Violet Gibson fires at Benito Mussolini from point-blank range — and hits only his nose.
She is fifty, Irish, the daughter of Lord Ashbourne, a former Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Mussolini has just addressed an international congress of surgeons. At the moment she fires, he turns his head: the bullet grazes the bridge of his nose. Her second shot fails.
The crowd nearly lynches her before the police take her away. Within hours Mussolini is back in public, a plaster across his nose.
Gibson is declared insane, deported to England and committed to St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton. She lives there for almost thirty years, until her death in 1956.
Violet Gibson’s Italian police identification record, 1926. Ministero dell’Interno.
Evidence · 4 photographs
Swipe →
Violet Gibson, before Rome. Photograph.
The plaster. Press photograph, April 1926.
Mussolini, plaster on his nose, on board ship, April 1926. Press photograph.
April, the drawing.
FACT
She was never put on trial in Italy. In 1927 she was deported to Britain.
FACT
She spent the rest of her life in St Andrew’s Hospital, Northampton, and died there on 2 May 1956.
REPORTED
Of the attempts on Mussolini’s life, hers is often said to have come closest.
REPORTED
From the hospital she wrote letters asking to be released — including, it is said, to Winston Churchill and Princess Elizabeth.
Violet Gibson in later life. Photograph.
Chapter 02 — May
7 May
1958
The Wrong Resistor
Buffalo, New York. Calendar page: illustration, archival collage, 3D, sound.
Wilson Greatbatch with an implantable pacemaker. Portrait photograph.
7 May 1958, Buffalo, New York.
Engineer Wilson Greatbatch brings a small device to the Veterans Administration hospital. Surgeons William Chardack and Andrew Gage place its two wires on a dog’s heart. The heart takes up the device’s rhythm.
Two years earlier, building an instrument to record heart sounds, Greatbatch had reached for the wrong resistor. Instead of recording, the circuit began to pulse: 1.8 milliseconds on, a second off. Like a heartbeat.
The first prototype, sealed with electrical tape, lasted four hours before body fluids shorted it. He recast it in epoxy.
Then he left his job, put in $2,000 of his own money and built fifty pacemakers in his barn workshop.
Case file — Which “first”?
The prototype, the animal experiment and the first human implants are often merged into one date. They are not the same event. Green: Greatbatch’s own device.
1956
The wrong resistor: a circuit that pulses like a heart.
FACT · Resistor values vary between retellings.
7 May 1958
The dog experiment in Buffalo. The taped prototype fails after four hours.
FACT
8 Oct 1958
The first human implant of any pacemaker — in Stockholm: patient Arne Larsson, surgeon Åke Senning, engineer Rune Elmqvist.
FACT
1960
The first Greatbatch–Chardack pacemaker implanted in a human patient, a 77-year-old man in Buffalo.
FACT · Sources give April or June.
Today
Some 600,000 pacemakers are implanted every year.
REPORTED · A commonly cited figure.
A dog standing in salt water, wired to an electrometer. Engraving. Wellcome Collection.
Fact
Before the pacemaker came the recording. In 1909 the physiologist Augustus Waller demonstrated the electrocardiogram on his bulldog, Jimmie, who stood patiently with his paws in jars of salt water.
Recording a heartbeat took off quickly. Making one with electricity took another half-century — and a dog again.
An early implantable pacemaker, cased in epoxy. Photograph.
May, the drawing.
Chapter 03 — December
3 December
1926
Eleven Days
Sunningdale, Surrey, Harrogate. Calendar page: illustration, archival collage, 3D, sound.
3 December 1926, Sunningdale, Berkshire.
Late in the evening, Agatha Christie drives away from her home and disappears.
Next morning her Morris Cowley is found at Newlands Corner in Surrey, run off the road into the bushes, a fur coat and her driving licence still inside. More than a thousand police and an estimated 15,000 volunteers comb the countryside; aeroplanes join the search.
Eleven days later she is found at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, registered as Mrs Teresa Neele from Cape Town. Neele was the surname of her husband’s lover.
She never explained what happened. Her autobiography leaves the eleven days out.
Missing-person poster, Berkshire Constabulary, Wokingham Division, 9 December 1926.
The abandoned Morris Cowley at Newlands Corner, December 1926. Press photograph.
Evidence · 3 photographs
Swipe →
Bloodhounds join the search, December 1926. Press photograph.
“Mrs. Christie disguised”: how she might look in a disguise. The Daily News, 11 December 1926.
“Mrs. Christie found at Harrogate.” Newspaper front page, December 1926.
FACT
Her husband Archie had asked for a divorce. He was in love with Nancy Neele.
FACT
Arthur Conan Doyle gave one of her gloves to a medium. Dorothy L. Sayers visited the scene.
ANECDOTE
At the hotel, some accounts say, she danced the charleston in the ballroom.
THEORIES
Amnesia, a fugue state, revenge, a publicity stunt. None has been proven.
Agatha Christie. Portrait photograph, 1920s.
The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, formerly the Swan Hydropathic. Recent photograph.
December, the drawing.
So far
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Three dates found. Nine months still to look for.
The calendar grows one story at a time. Each date has to earn its month.
Sources
The National Archives (UK), police report on the disappearance of Agatha Christie, and “Investigating the strange disappearance of Mrs Agatha Christie”.
Countryfile, “Agatha Christie’s disappearance”; Ripon Gazette, “Agatha Christie’s legendary disappearance in Harrogate explained”.
Berkshire Record Office, missing-person poster, 9 December 1926.
History Ireland, “Violet Gibson shoots Benito Mussolini”; Wanted in Rome, “The Irish woman who shot Benito Mussolini”.
University at Buffalo / Research Foundation SUNY, histories of the implantable pacemaker.
Subjects
Agatha Christie · Violet Gibson · Wilson Greatbatch
Credits
Research, illustration and animation: Liza Benesh
Related project / Illustration & motion
Three Dates →
← Previous editorial
The Chair, the Pianist and Bach
© Liza Benesh