Emily Davison, Least Intelligent Protestor Ever?

Does suffragette Emily Davison qualify for the title I've given her? The incident is shown in the video starting a bit before the six-minute mark.

She is best known for stepping in front of King George V's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby on 4 June 1913, sustaining injuries that resulted in her death four days later....

Modern historians agree that Davison was trying to disturb the Derby in order to draw attention to her cause, rather than to commit suicide,[3][4] and 2013 analysis of newsreel has supported the idea that Davison was reaching up to attach a scarf to the bridle of the King's horse. Analysis of newsreel also indicated that her position before she stepped out onto the track would have given her a clear view of the oncoming race, further countering the belief that she ran out in a haphazard way to kill herself.

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Paul - Sun May 25, 2014
Category: Animals | Contests, Races and Other Competitions | Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers | Curmudgeons and Contrarianism | 1910s

Comments

Maybe se just had bigger balls than you do.

Posted by F.U.D. on 05/25/14 at 07:56 AM

I never thought of it as an accident. I always assumed she meant to get run down and killed as a way to bring the women's suffrage movement to the sorts of newspapers that gentlemen would read in their clubs.

Posted by TheCannyScot in Atlanta, GA on 05/25/14 at 09:17 AM

Of course, the thing the English have a problem with is not so much that she was a suicidal (and potentially homicidal) dumbass, but that she scared the horses!

Posted by Richard Bos on 05/25/14 at 09:48 AM

Least intelligent...NO NO NO! But smart people do dum things.

Posted by BMN on 05/25/14 at 11:41 AM

If it wasn't an attempt at martyrdom then it may well be the 1st recorded recipiant of the Darwin Award.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/25/14 at 12:41 PM

You'll notice the King did not stop - first recorded equine hit-and-run?

Posted by Flamingo on 05/26/14 at 12:29 PM

I never realized that Greg Kihn song was about a real person.

Posted by Dave Plechaty on 05/29/14 at 02:46 AM

Erm... Flamingo... you do realise that it isn't actually the king riding the horse, do you? He owned Anmer. It was ridden by Herbert Jones. I don't know who trained it, but I really don't think that was the king, either.

Posted by Richard Bos on 05/29/14 at 10:27 AM

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