Scott Allsop's Blog, page 141

13th January 1910: First public radio broadcast features a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York

The broadcast included performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci featuring acclaimed Italian tenor Enrico ...

11th January 1964: US Surgeon General publishes groundbreaking report on the health effects of tobacco smoking

The report drew three main conclusions focused on the effect of smoking on the functioning of the respiratory ...

10th January 1776: Thomas Paine publishes the pamphlet Common Sense advocating American independence

The 47-page pamphlet is credited with having a dramatic impact on public opinion in the colonies, and helped to consolidate the idea of independent ...

9th January 1861: Star of the West fired upon by South Carolina batteries as it approached Fort Sumter

As Star of the West approached Fort Sumter on the morning of 9 January it was met with cannon shots from cadet George E. Haynsworth on nearby Morris ...

5th January 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman in the United States to be sworn in as governor of a state

Ross later achieved another ‘first’ in 1933 when she was appointed Director of the U.S. Mint by President Franklin D. ...

4th January 1642: Charles I attempts to arrest the Five Members

On the 4th January 1642, Charles I attempted and failed to arrest the Five Members of Parliament, prompting the English Civil War and his own eventual execution for ...

28th December 1958: ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ in the NFL Championship Playoff

The game was the first to be decided in sudden-death ...

27th December 1845: Manifest Destiny introduced in a newspaper column by John L. O’Sullivan

Manifest Destiny was a belief that the United States had a divinely-inspired right to expand across North America, and that this expansion was ...

22nd December 1882: The first use of electric lights on a Christmas tree

80 red, white, and blue walnut-sized glass light bulbs were hand-wired and placed around a large Christmas tree in the home of Edward H. Johnson's New York home on Fifth ...

20th December 1860: South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States of America

Other states soon followed South Carolina’s lead, setting the stage for the American Civil ...