In 1847, Charles Dickens recounted an anecdote about a recent visit of opera singer Jenny Lind to Germany. It seems that after she left her hotel, besotted student admirers sought out her room in order to grab mementos of her visit, and in doing so badly scared a harmless old English gentleman staying at the same establishment.

The antics of Jenny’s fans had disturbed the old English gentleman more than one might have expected; but as it turned out, the students who had (as they thought) stripped Jenny’s room in the search for mementos had actually stripped his, and until he learnt the truth the poor man feared he had been targeted by political activists.

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