Scott Allsop's Blog, page 18

12th February 1963: Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Gateway Arch was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen to honour the role of St. Louis in the westward expansion of the United States. It was officially opened to the public on June 10, 1967, coon becoming one of the most recognizable landmarks in the United States, attracting millions of visitors each ...

10th February 1940: First Tom and Jerry cartoon, Puss Gets the Boot, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Puss Gets the Boot was created by animators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1941. This led to the studio deciding to continue producing cartoons with the characters, which were soon renamed Tom and ...

9th February 1895: Volleyball invented by William G. Morgan

Volleyball was invented by William G. Morgan, the Director of Physical Education at the YMCA in Holyoke, ...

8th February 1950: The Stasi formally established in East Germany as the Ministry for State Security

The Stasi used blackmail, intimidation, and imprisonment, as well as psychological manipulation, to target perceived dissidents. By the time the organisation’s activities ended following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Stasi was regarded as one of the most effective intelligence agencies of the Cold War ...

6th February 1819: Modern Singapore established with the signing of the Treaty of Singapore

Sir Stamford Raffles, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen in modern Indonesia, had identified Singapore as an ideal location for the British East India company due to its natural harbour and strategic position along the Straits of ...

4th February 1703: Forty six of the Forty-Seven Rōnin commit seppuku after avenging the death of their master

47 of Asano Naganori's former samurai plotted to avenge their lord’s death from seppuku after he attacked Kira ...

31st January 1918: Battle of May Island damages and sinks Royal Navy vessels during accidental collisions in thick fog

The Battle of May Island was not an actual battle but rather a peacetime disaster caused by miscommunication and navigational errors near the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth in Scotland during World War ...

30th January 1661: Oliver Cromwell posthumously executed, two and a half years after his death

On the twelfth anniversary of Charles I’s execution, Cromwell’s remains were subjected to a ceremonial trial and then hanged in chains at Tyburn. The body was subsequently decapitated, and the head displayed above Westminster Hall at the Palace of ...

29th January 1886: Karl Benz patents his Motorwagen, widely regarded as the world’s first automobile

The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was powered by a single-cylinder four-stroke engine that produced approximately 0.75 horsepower, enabling the vehicle to reach speeds of around 16 kilometers per ...

28th January 1393: Charles VI of France and the Bal des Ardents

Charles VI of France danced in the Bal des Ardents in which four people died after their costumes caught ...