Scott Allsop's Blog, page 11

13th April 1953: Project MK-Ultra human experimentation program granted approval by Allen Dulles, Director of the CIA

MKUltra was established during the Cold War to explore ways to manipulate human behaviour using drugs, hypnosis, psychological conditioning, and other ...

11th April 1951: U.S. President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of his commands in Korean and Japan

On 11 April 1951, Truman announced that he had removed MacArthur from his command and replaced him with General Matthew Ridgway, emphasising that military leaders must follow policies set by civilian ...

9th April 1860: First known audio recording made by French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville on his phonautograph

Scott developed the phonautograph, which used a horn to collect sound waves and direct them onto a membrane, and made a recording of a fragment of the song “Au Clair de la Lune” on 9 April ...

7th April 1739: Legendary British highwayman Dick Turpin executed in York after being convicted of horse theft

Turpin committed numerous highway robberies and soon became one of the most notorious criminals of his time, though he was ultimately executed for horse ...

6th April 1917: The USA declares war on Germany in WW1

The United States entered the First World War after Congress declared war on the German ...

4th April 1841: US President William Henry Harrison dies 32 days after taking office, ending the shortest presidency in US history

Shortly after his inauguration, Harrison developed a cold that worsened into pneumonia from which he died. As well as becoming the first U.S. president to die in office this also marked the shortest presidency in US ...

2nd April 1877: Zazel performs the first recorded human cannonball act at the Royal Aquarium in London

The human cannonball act was developed by "The Great Farini" and performed by 17-year-old Rossa Matilda Richter, who was propelled over 6 metres at a show in the theatre of London’s Royal ...

1st April 1918: Royal Air Force formally established in the United Kingdom by merging the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service

At the time of its formation, the RAF had around 20,000 aircraft and more than 300,000 personnel with its primary mission being to provide air support to ground and naval operations, conduct strategic bombing, and defend Britain from aerial ...

31st March 1889: The Eiffel Tower officially completed and inaugurated in Paris for the Exposition Universelle

The tower’s construction began on 28 January 1887 and took just over two years to complete, after which Gustave Eiffel led a group of government officials and members of the press to the top where he raised the French tricolour ...

28th March 1979: British Prime Minister James Callaghan loses a vote of no confidence by a single vote

By early 1979 Callaghan’s government had lost its majority in the House of Commons and, with the government weakened, the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, tabled a motion of no ...