On November 1st Litvenko became sick with an unknown illness that caused his hair to fall out and his throat to swell up. 23 days later he died of heart failure. On his deathbed Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of poisoning him. Now British officials have found the radioactive element polonium-210 in his urine.
If you are like me, and grew up on the cold war themed works of men like Ian Fleming, Tom Clancy, John Milius and Robert Ludlum then you will find this incredibly fascinating. The whole idea of poisoning someone with a radioactive isotope is straight out of a spy novel. If these accusations are true (which we will probably never know for sure) it just proves the old adage that truth IS stranger than fiction.