Scott Allsop's Blog, page 185

29th May 1953: Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reach summit of Mount Everest

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount ...

28th May 1987: West German amateur pilot lands a plane near Red Square

On the 28th May 1987, an eighteen year-old amateur pilot from Hamburg in West Germany illegally landed a private aircraft near Moscow’s Red ...

27th May 1703: The foundation of St Petersburg by Tsar Peter the Great

In 1703 Peter’s forces captured Swedish possessions at the mouth of the Neva river, and it was here that he laid the foundation stone for the Peter and Paul Fortress on Zayachy ...

26th May 1897: Bram Stoker’s gothic horror novel Dracula published

On the 26th May 1897, Bram Stoker’s Gothic horror novel Dracula was first ...

25th May 1977: The first Star Wars film is released in cinemas

The first instalment of the Star Wars film series was released in cinemas in the United States of ...

24th May 1956: 1st Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Switzerland

On the 24th May 1956, the first Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, ...

23rd May 1618: Officials thrown from a window in the Second Defenestration of Prague

Two Catholic imperial officials and their secretary were thrown out of the window of the Bohemian Chancellery in the Second Defenestration of ...

22nd May 1455: Wars of the Roses begin at the Battle of St Albans

The 22nd May 1455 marked the start of the Wars of the Roses, when the First Battle of St Albans was fought between Richard, Duke of York, and King Henry ...

21st May 1972: Laszlo Toth attacks and seriously damages Michelangelo’s Pietà statue

Hungarian-born geologist Laszlo Toth attacked and seriously damaged Michelangelo’s Pietà statue with a ...

20th May 1873: Levi Strauss & Co. patent riveted blue jeans

On the 20th May 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis secured the patent for riveted blue ...