Yesterday one of the trending topics was about Ned Kelly's headless skeleton being identified. I thought that was all well and good. But, I did not know who the hell Ned Kelly was until I started reading about him on the web. He has had at least two major films made about him, one in 1970 and another in 2003. Somehow I missed those films. He was an outlaw by choice and a hero to the masses in Australia for fighting the British colonial authorities. He killed three policemen. Regardless of his rationale for killing, he is to be condemned for doing that. The police were simply doing their duty. Anyway, after 130 years, his remains have been positively identified despite most of his skull missing.

Ned Kelly led a gang of robbers who robbed banks and killed people from 1878 to 1880. He had been buried at an unmarked mass grave. Hard to believe it was so important that they had to go through most or all the bodies to identify this outlaw. Australians are proud of Ned Kelly in the same way a lot of Americans are proud of outlaws such as Jesse James and Billy the Kid. Personally, I never could understand the romantic nostalgia for a cold blooded killer. But, that's just me. Everyone is different. Regardless, I learned something new yesterday. I had never heard of Ned Kelly until I saw him trending on Yahoo and Google. I wager Ned never thought he would be this famous 130 years after his death even if it was for just one day.

 Subscribe in a reader