Descendants of cannibals and victim reconcile, and more
The family of a 19th-century English missionary who was eaten by cannibals has received a formal apology from their descendants.
Descendants of cannibals and victim reconcile
The family of a 19th-century English missionary who was eaten by cannibals has received a formal apology from their descendants. The Rev. John Williams was clubbed and shot with arrows shortly after stepping ashore on the Pacific island of Erromango in 1839. This month, 18 of Williams’ descendants traveled to the island to participate in a reconciliation ceremony. “I thought it would be dispassionate after 170 years,” said Williams’ great-great-grandson Charles Milner-Williams, “but the raw emotion, the genuine contrition, the heart-rending sorrow has been hugely moving.”
Library book, 99 years overdue, is returned
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A book that was overdue for 99 years was returned this week to the New Bedford Public Library in Massachusetts. Stanley Dudek found the 1894 volume, Facts I Ought to Know About the Government of My Country, while cleaning out the home of his mother, a Polish immigrant, after she died, in 1998. He didn’t realize it was a library book until he opened it last year; after reading a newspaper story about another library book that had been overdue for 60 years, he decided to return it. New Bedford’s librarians waived the $360 fine. “My blood pressure will probably go down now,” Dudek said.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published