In 1884, an incident occurred in the North Atlantic Ocean that was so gruesome that it would eventually forever be written into English law with the hope that something like it would never happen again.

This is that horrifying story and although the events in this video are fleeting and nondescriptive, they are still highly disturbing, so viewer discretion is strongly advised.

There's a name that's become so synonymous with maritime tragedy that anyone who has

is recommended to keep both feet firmly planted on dry land for life. That name is Richard Parker and it

has a unique place in the history of seafaring. It all began in 1797 when a man named Richard

Parker was a lead conspirator in a naval mutiny. When his plans were discovered though, he

was hanged from his own ship's yard arm. Then, exactly 40 years later, writer Edgar

Alan Poe published a novel called The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pymn, and in it, a character

named Richard Parker led a mutiny aboard a ship called DeGampus, which eventually wrecked.

Richard, along with the other survivors of the sinking, were left to drift in the vast

ocean in a dinghy with no supplies.

After days of torturous hunger and thirst, Richard suggests to the others that they invoke

something called the custom of the sea.

This is a tradition no one who has ever sailed wants to be involved in, but all of the circumstances

were just right for carrying it out.

Unfortunately, this suggestion backfired for Richard and resulted in

something horrific happening to him. But even that is not the final Richard. It's often said

that fact is stranger than fiction and in 1884, another Richard Parker would be entered into

maritime legend and law books as part of a legal precedent that is still taught to this day.

On May 19th of that year, a yacht known as the Minionette left port from Southampton, England,

with four men aboard, Captain Tom Dudley, crewman Ed Brooks and Edwin Stevens, and Richard Parker,

who is the cabin boy. The yacht had been bought by a wealthy Australian man, and the crew cruise job was going to be to deliver the boat to him.

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