The 25th of May has often been cited as the darkest day of the year. Throughout history, some of the most vile acts have taken place on this day. On 25th May 240 BC Halley's coment was first tracked and some see this as a portent of the evil that was to follow. The 25th May saw the edict of Worms by the Catholic church that saw Martin Luther declared an outlaw. This day has also seen the beginning of various violent uprisings in Sierra Leone, Canada, Ireland and South America. Oscar Wilde was convicted in 1895. The bombing of Alicante in the Spanish civil war occurred on this date. Etan Patz was abducted and murdered. HMS Coventry ws sunk in the Falklands. There have been natural and man made disasters aplenty. However, the most heinous event occurred in 1945 - the birth of Dave Lee Travis.