May 3, 2016

Last night, May 2, London soccer clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea FC (football club) battled to a 2-2 tie—a common result in the Barclays Premier League. The result of that tie, however, was extraordinarily uncommon. Tottenham’s failure to overcome Chelsea crowned an unlikely Premier League champion: Leicester City FC, commonly known as the Foxes. How unlikely was Leicester’s championship? For starters, the Foxes had never won a top-flight league title. Not once in their 132-year history had Leicester (pronounced Lester) tasted sweet superior victory. There was that time in ’29—but no, that was a second-place finish. And that was as good as it got. Until last night. In honor of recently passed K-Tel founder Philip Kives: But wait, there’s more!

Leicester City players celebrate their Premier League title during a practice at the Leicester City Training Ground on May 3, 2016. Credit: Plumb Images/Getty Images

The Premier League has 20 teams. Each year, the worst three teams are relegated (sent down) to the Football League Championship, the Triple-A-baseball league equivalent of English soccer. In return, the top three Championship teams are promoted. In 2015, a late-season spurt clawed Leicester City from 20^th to a 14^th-place finish, just a few points above the teams doomed to demotion. The Foxes saved their Premier League status, but the future looked dim, so they set to work. They fired their head coach in favor of the unassuming 64-year-old Claudio Ranieri, who last coached in the Premier League in 2004. Leicester raised their payroll to £57 million ($82 million), which sounds like a lot, but top teams Arsenal, Chelsea, and the Manchesters (United and City) all hover around £200 million ($292 million) with individual players earning as much as the Foxes take home altogether. These efforts made Leicester 5000-1 favorites (if one can say such a thing) to win the 2015-2016 Premier League. Yes, that means if you put down £1 on the Foxes to win the league, you took home £5000 Monday night. Reports of such lucky winners have yet to reach the news wires.

Leicester City came through, however, and built momentum after the season began in August. Midfielder Riyad Mahrez and striker Jamie Vardy quickly showed the form that would earn them each player of the year awards (as chosen by the footballers’ union and football writers respectively). The East Midlands club consistently beat their “big-city betters,” culminating in a dominating 3-1 win over Manchester City FC in February. The team’s now unbeatable point total of 77 (22 wins, 11 draws, and just 3 losses) means their final two matches will be sweet icing on the Barclays cake. Leicester’s King Power Stadium will be rocking on Saturday as the club receives the impressive Premier League trophy at their next-to-last match against Everton FC. Generations of Foxes’ fans will no doubt shed a tear and mumble something like, I never thought I’d see the day.

For sports fans beyond England, the scope of Leicester City FC’s achievement may not be clear. To put it in perspective, it’s like the Cubs winning baseball’s World Series—the Iowa Cubs of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Superlatives being thrown around include shocking, amazing, immortal, impossible, biggest thing ever, and greatest sport story of all time. No matter what you call it, Jamie Vardy is definitely having a party.

August 1, 2013

A mysterious stone casket has been unearthed from the same parking lot where the remains of England’s infamous King Richard III (1452-1485) were found in 2012.  Archaeologists from the University of Leicester reported that they had found the 600-year-old casket as they were excavating the nearby grave of Richard III. Recently, the archaeologists returned to the parking lot, the site of the old Greyfriars Priory, to investigate the stone casket and, if possible, find out who was buried inside.

Eight strong workers were need to lift the heavy stone lid off the casket which was over 6 feet (2 meters) in length. Inside, archaeologists were surprised to discover a second coffin. This coffin is composed of a single sheet of lead, about 1/5 inch (5 millimeters) thick that was wrapped around the body and sealed shut around the edges. The imprint of a cross can be seen on the lead coffin. Damage at one end of the coffin exposed the feet of the body inside. The archaeologists plan to transport the lead coffin to a laboratory where they can conduct further tests. A careful examination of the coffin will be conducted before they cut it open to examine the remain inside.

The archaeologists do not know the identity of the grave’s occupant. They know it must belong to a high-status individual, because the stone casket and interior lead coffin would have been too expensive for most people of that time. Records of burials at the old Greyfriars Priory were lost when the church was destroyed in the 1530′s. But archaeologists suspect the coffin contains one of three high-born people known to have been buried at the Priory. Archaeologists think the grave may belong to Sir William Morton, a Leicester knight who died in 1362. But experts also point out that the grave could belong to Peter Swynsfeld, who died in 1272, or William of Nottingham, who died in 1330. Both men headed the Greyfriar order and would have been buried there. Over the next few months, archaeologists will conduct a detailed examination of the skeleton. The scientists also hope to extract genetic material from the skeleton, which was well-preserved in the lead coffin, to make a positive identification of the individual who commanded such a fine burial.

Richard III, in a portrait created after his death. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

Richard III was the last English king to die in battle. Scientists found that DNA from the skeleton matches the DNA of two living descendants of Richard’s sister. The skeleton also includes a severely curved spine and a skull clearly cleaved by a blow to the head by a some weapon. Richard, who according to legend was a hunchback, was killed at the age of 32 in the 1485 Battle of Bosworth by the forces of Henry Tudor. Tudor, the future Henry VII, was the father of Henry VIII and grandfather of Elizabeth I. Richard is often portrayed as one of the great villains of history. According to legend, he was responsible for the murder of his nephews Edward V and Richard, Duke of York. But no proof of such a crime exists.

Additional World Book articles:

• Lancaster
• Richard III (by William Shakespeare)
• Tudor, House of
• War of the Roses
• York
• Analyzing Forensic Evidence (a special report)