Scott Allsop's Blog, page 111

20th April 1965: Houston Astrodome’s skylight windows painted to reduce glare from the sun

Painting the windows of the Astrodome significantly improved the situation for the players, but in turn led to the grass inside dying from a lack of light. It was replaced with an artificial alternative, which became known as ...

19th April 1839: The Treaty of London establishes an independent Belgium

The Treaty of London was signed, which recognised and guaranteed the independence and neutrality of ...

18th April 1775: Paul Revere rode from Charleston to Lexington with his message that “the Regulars are coming out!”

Whether Revere referred to the approaching army as ‘regulars’ or ‘Redcoats’ is unclear, but his cry had the intended consequence of signalling the march of troops towards the Massachusetts village of ...

17th April 1492: Christopher Columbus given funding by Spain to explore across the Atlantic

On the 17th April 1492, the Catholic Monarchs of Spain – Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand – signed an agreement to support Christopher Columbus’ voyage in which he crossed the Atlantic and discovered the ...

16th April 1922: Former WW1 enemies Germany and Russia sign the Treaty of Rapallo

The Treaty of Rapallo meant the two countries ended all territorial and financial arguments stemming from the previous Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and agreed to ‘co-operate in a spirit of mutual goodwill in meeting the economic needs of both ...

15th April 1755: Dr Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary published

On 15th April 1755, Samuel Johnson published "A Dictionary of the English Language" in ...

14th April 70 CE: Titus begins the Siege of Jerusalem

The future Roman Emperor Titus began the Siege of Jerusalem, during which the Second Temple was burned and ...

13th April 1970: Apollo 13 spacecraft rocked by an explosion from one of its oxygen tanks

The resulting emergency led to the calm announcement by the crew of, ‘Houston we’ve had a ...

12th April 1917: The Canadian Corps successfully capture Vimy Ridge

The Canadian Corps successfully captured Vimy Ridge in the First World ...

11th April 1961: The trial of Nazi SS Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann begins in Israel

Eichmann was known as the architect of the Final Solution, the man who coordinated the transportation of Jews from across Europe to Death Camps in the ...