Scott Allsop's Blog, page 162

13th December 1937: The Nanking Massacre begins

On the 13th December 1937, the Nanking Massacre began at the end of the Battle of Nanking – part of the Second Sino-Japanese ...

12th December 1963: Kenya gains independence from the United Kingdom

Kenya had been under British rule since the 19th Century, and since becoming a colony in 1920 African demands for a greater role in politics had ...

11th December 1936: Abdication of King Edward VIII

On the 11th December 1936, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom announced his abdication in a worldwide radio ...

10th December 1799: France adopts the metric system for weights and measures

It is estimated that up to a quarter of a million different units of measurement were in use throughout France at eve of the Revolution in 1789, and that these differed not only from trade to trade but also from town to ...

9th December 1965: Charlie Brown Christmas first broadcast

On the 9th December 1965, American television network CBS first broadcast the animated cartoon A Charlie Brown ...

8th December 1660: The first woman appears on a professional stage in England in Othello

Theatre in England had been banned by the Puritan Long Parliament in 1642 but, following the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, the ban was ...

7th December 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor

At 7:48 on the morning of the 7th December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack against the United States’ Hawaiian naval base at Pearl ...

6th December 1969: Meredith Hunter killed at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival

Meredith Hunter was killed at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival during a performance by the Rolling ...

5th December 1934: Wal-Wal Incident between Italy and Abyssinia

On the 5th December 1934, the Wal-Wal Incident took place which laid the foundations for the Abyssinia ...

4th December 1872: Deserted US merchant ship Mary Celeste found drifting in the Atlantic

Mary Celeste had departed New York on 7 ...