Scott Allsop's Blog, page 218

31st May 1669: Samuel Pepys writes the last entry in his diary

On the 31st May 1669, Samuel Pepys wrote the final entry of his famous diary. He stopped writing due to fear that he was losing his eyesight, but went on to live for another 34 years without developing any eye problems. Pepys began writing his diary in January 1660, and since it was first published it has become an important source for historians studying the period of the Restoration.  It is also invaluable for its detailed eyewitness accounts of key events in London’s history such as the Gr...

30th May 1381: Outbreak of the Peasants’ Revolt in England

The Peasants’ Revolt was triggered when John Bampton arrived in Essex to investigate non-payment of the poll tax. Although sparked by the introduction of a new poll tax, the roots of the Peasants’ Revolt lay in the dramatic social and economic upheaval that had emerged after the devastation of the Black Death. The plague had reached England in 1348 and soon wiped out up to half of the entire population. In the aftermath the surviving peasantry had demanded better wages and conditions, so grew...

29th May 1453: The Fall of Constantinople

On the 29th May 1453 the troops of the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Mehmed II successfully took control of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.  The capture of the city effectively brought the last vestiges of the Roman Empire to an end and, for many historians, also marks the end of the medieval period. The Ottomans began their siege of the city on the 6th April, but their enormous cannon was unable to break the walls and their ships were unable to cross the defensive chain th...

28th May 585 BCE: Eclipse of Thales ends the Battle of Halys between Media and Lydia

A solar eclipse during the Battle of Halys led to a truce between the kingdoms of Media and Lydia, making it the earliest historical event that can be precisely dated. The Eclipse of Thales was recorded in The Histories of the Greek historian Herodotus. He claims that the philosopher Thales of Miletus accurately predicted the eclipse in advance, marking what science writer Isaac Asimov later described as ‘the birth of science’. Herodotus writes that the Lydians under King Alyattes II and the...

27th May 1199: Coronation of King John in Westminster Abbey

On the 27th May 1199 King John was crowned at Westminster Abbey.  The previous king, his brother Richard, had died after being shot in the shoulder by a crossbow.  John ruled for seventeen years before contracting dysentery while in Kings Lynn, an illness from which he later died.  John’s reign saw him lose control of the Angevin Empire, lose the crown jewels in the mud of East Anglia, and lose significant monarchical power under the terms of the Magna Carta. John’s claim to the throne wasn’t...

26th May 1940: Start of the Dunkirk evacuation

Operation Dynamo, better known as the evacuation of Dunkirk, began. Applauded by the British press as a heroic and miraculous rescue, Operation Dynamo saw an armada under the command of the Royal Navy successfully evacuate over 338,000 Allied troops from the beaches around the French port of Dunkirk. The German army had invaded France on 10 May, and within just two weeks had cut off and surrounded a combined force of British, French and Belgian troops. Referred to by the recently-appointed Br...

25th May 1961: Kennedy announces plan for manned moon landing

On the 25th May 1961, American President John F. Kennedy made the announcement to a joint session of Congress that he had set his sights on a manned moon landing before the end of the decade. To many people, including some personnel at NASA, Kennedy's address seemed ridiculous. The USA had only sent its first man into space 20 days earlier and, although Alan Shepard's spaceflight aboard Freedom 7 was a huge success, the USSR's Yuri Gagarin had already become the first man in space three weeks...

24th May 1943: Josef Mengele, the Nazi Angel of Death, transferred to Auschwitz

Josef Mengele, the Nazi ‘Angel Of Death’, was transferred to begin work at Auschwitz concentration camp. Menegele had been a member of a right-wing paramilitary group that was absorbed into the Nazi SA in 1934. In 1937 he formally joined the Nazi Party and, the following year, began serving in the SS. By the start of 1943 Mengele had proved himself as both an effective medical officer in the field and a dedicated member of the Race and Resettlement Office. Having developed an interest in the...

23rd May 1915: Italy enters WW1 on the side of the Triple Entente

On the 23rd May 1915, Italy entered the First World War on the side of the Triple Entente and declared war on Austria-Hungary.  Italy was actually Austria-Hungary’s ally under the terms of the Triple Alliance, but the Italian government had initially opted for neutrality before being persuaded to join with its theoretical opposition.  Under the terms of the Triple Alliance, Italy was well within its rights not to provide military assistance to Germany and Austria-Hungary since the treaty was...

22nd May 1849: Abraham Lincoln becomes the first and only President to be awarded a patent

Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for his invention to lift boats over shoals and other obstructions in a river. As a teenager the future President had taken a flatboat along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. After moving to Illinois he was employed by Denton Offutt a merchant and owner of a general store, to ferry goods along the Mississippi and its tributaries. During these river trips Lincoln’s boats had run aground on more than one occasion, leading to the exhausting process of freeing t...