Scott Allsop's Blog, page 218
July 5, 2018
6th July 1957: Lennon and McCartney meet for the first time
On the 6th July 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles met for the first time at the St. Peter's Church garden fête in Woolton, Liverpool. Lennon was playing guitar with his skiffle band, The Quarrymen, who were performing on a bill beneath the Liverpool police dogs display team and the Band of the Cheshire Yeomanry. McCartney arrived at the fair in the late afternoon, where the band had already begun playing. According to McCartney’s own recollection of the day they were halfway...
July 4, 2018
5th July 1946: The bikini swimsuit introduced four days after a Bikini Atoll atomic test
The bikini swimsuit was introduced for the first time, four days after an atomic test at the Bikini Atoll. Although there is evidence of bikini-like clothing being worn by ancient civilisations, the modern 2-piece swimsuit only appeared in the aftermath of the Second World War. While swimming costumes for women had gradually become less conservative through the first half of the twentieth century, wartime fabric rationing had forced designers to remove excess material which resulted in more f...
July 3, 2018
4th July 1950: Radio Free Europe broadcasts for the first time
On the 4th July 1950, Radio Free Europe – founded the previous year to transmit uncensored information to audiences behind the Iron Curtain – completed its first broadcast. Although the station was uncensored in the sense that it shared information that was suppressed within the Communist Bloc, it’s important to remember that it was still a propaganda tool founded and principally funded by the United States government. The task facing the journalists who worked for RFE was daunting. Since the...
July 2, 2018
3rd July 1940: British navy attacks the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir
British naval ships attacked the French Navy at Mers-el-Kébir in Algeria during the Second World War. On 22 June 1940 France and Nazi Germany signed the Second Armistice at Compiègne. This signalled the end of the Battle of France, and Britain was concerned that the significant naval force of the Marine Nationale would now pass to the pro-Nazi Vichy government. If these ships were used by the Axis powers, they would secure a significant advantage in the Battle of the Atlantic. Winston Churchi...
July 1, 2018
2nd July 1964: Civil Rights Act signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson
On the 2nd July 1964, American President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law at the White House. The Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin and is consequently viewed as a landmark piece of civil rights legislation. The 1964 Civil Rights Act originated in the Presidency of John F. Kennedy, who had shared the statistics of racial inequality with the American people, such as the fact that life expectancy for an African-American was...
June 30, 2018
1st July 1911: Start of the Second Moroccan Crisis as gunboat SMS Panther is sent to Agadir
The German gunboat SMS Panther was sent to the Moroccan port of Agadir, sparking the Second Moroccan Crisis. France had emerged from the First Moroccan Crisis of 1906 in a much stronger position than neighbouring Germany, whose Kaiser Wilhelm II sought to develop economic and commercial interests in the country. The two countries formalised their positions in an agreement two years later but, by 1911, the domestic situation in Morocco had declined. In early 1911 the Sultan, Abdelhafid, faced...
June 29, 2018
30th June 1934: Nazi party purged on Night of the Long Knives
The 30th June 1934 saw the Nazis carry out a purge of their own party, when Hitler ordered the SS to murder leading figures of the SA or Brownshirts along with critics of the Nazi regime such as former chancellor von Schleicher. The purges actually went on throughout the weekend of the 30th June – 2nd July, even though the popular name suggests they only lasted for one night. By the middle of 1934 Hitler was consolidating his rule over Germany but the relative autonomy of the SA within the Na...
June 28, 2018
29th June 1613: The Globe Theatre in London burns to the ground
The Globe Theatre in London burned to the ground during a performance of Henry VIII. The Globe Theatre was situated on the southern side of the River Thames near today’s Southwark Bridge. It was owned by shareholders who were actors in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men whose lease had expired on their previous venue. On 28th December 1598, while the landowner was celebrating Christmas, they dismantled the old building and transported its timbers across the river to construct the Globe. Completed in...
June 27, 2018
28th June 1914 & 1919: Trigger and end of the First World War
The 28th June saw both the trigger and the definitive end of the First World War. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 had a direct effect on the outbreak of war, while the Treaty of Versailles was signed on exactly the same date five years later in 1919. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand offers one of the most popular counter-factual debates in history: What if the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne had not been shot dead by the Serbian nationalist terrorist gro...
June 26, 2018
27th June 1950: President Truman sends US navy and air force to Korea
US President Harry S. Truman ordered air and naval forces to assist South Korea against an invasion by North Korea. Towards the end of the Second World War in 1945 the ‘big three’ powers of the USA, the USSR and Great Britain met at the Yalta Conference. As part of a wide-ranging series of agreements, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel with a Soviet occupied zone in the north and Americans in the south. In May 1948 the north, led by Kim Il-sung, declared itself the communist Korean Dem...
