Scott Allsop's Blog, page 100

8th August 1969: The Beatles pose for an album cover on the Abbey Road zebra crossing

Traffic was stopped on the B507 road in London so The Beatles could pose for their iconic Abbey Road album ...

7th August 1964: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by the United States Congress

The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution granted powers to President Johnson to use American military force to assist countries in Southeast Asia that were facing so-called ...

6th August 1945: The United States drop an atomic bomb nicknamed ‘Little Boy’ on the Japanese city of Hiroshima from the B-29 aircraft Enola Gay

The bomb exploded 1,900 feet above Hiroshima as planned, with the equivalent to 16 kilotons of TNT. Virtually all buildings within a mile of the blast were ...

5th August 1305: William Wallace captured by English troops at Robroyston

Scottish independence leader Sir William Wallace was captured by English forces at Robroyston near ...

4th August 1693: French Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon allegedly invents champagne

Sparkling wine was a problem for Dom Pérignon and his contemporaries because the build-up of carbon dioxide from a secondary fermentation inside the bottle could cause it to explode without ...

3rd August 1492: Christopher Columbus sets sail from the Spanish port of Palos de la Frontera on the voyage that takes him to the Americas

Palos de la Frontera holds the official title as the starting point of Columbus’ transatlantic ...

2nd August 216 BCE: Hannibal defeats the Roman army at the Battle of Cannae

Hannibal’s army inflicted a devastating defeat on the numerically superior Roman army at the Battle of ...

1st August 1714: George, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I of Great Britain

George, Elector of Hanover, became King George I of Great ...

31th July 1970: Black Tot Day sees the British Royal Navy issue the last daily rum ration to sailors

In December 1969 the Admiralty Board, which meets in order to administer the Royal Navy, published a written statement that said issuing rum was ‘no longer compatible with the high standards of efficiency required’ and the daily ration was stopped the following ...

30th July 1792: La Marseillaise, the future French national anthem, first sung in Paris by a group of volunteer soldiers from the city of Marseille

La Marseillaise was composed by a French army officer and was originally called the ‘War Song for the Army of the Rhine’ with the aim of rallying soldiers fighting in Strasbourg during the French Revolutionary ...