Scottish surgeon Robert Knox died - On this day in Scottish history

Knox began his career in medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, which he followed by practical training at the Brussels Military Hospital. Having watched surgeons operate on the wounded of Waterloo, he decided to expand his medical knowledge by training as an anatomist.

From 1826, Knox ran an anatomy school in Edinburgh for fourteen years, where he became known for his practical lectures, during which he would often become covered in blood. Knox became notorious as one of the men to whom the body snatchers Burke and Hare delivered corpses for disection. After Burke was hanged for murder when Hare turned king's evidence, Knox's house was attacked by a mob angry that he hadn't been prosecuted for his own part in the affair.

QUICK LINK: The Appin murder of 1752: was the wrong man executed?