Scott Allsop's Blog, page 228

21st January 1983: First DeLorean sports car produced (famous as the ‘Back to the Future’ car)

The DeLorean DMC-12 sports car was later used as the time machine in Back to the Future. The DeLorean Motor Company was founded by engineer and automobile executive John DeLorean in 1975. The prototype DeLorean Safety Vehicle was completed in October 1976 with initial investment from celebrities including Johnny Carson and Sammy Davies Jr. Meanwhile DeLorean secured significant financial incentives from the Northern Ireland Development Agency to build the manufacturing plant in Dunmurry, a su...

19th January 1917: 73 people killed in the Silvertown munitions factory explosion in London

The Brunner Mond chemical factory had been built in 1893 to manufacture caustic soda and soda crystals. However, declining demand for caustic soda meant that production ceased in 1912 and parts of the factory stood idle. Due to a crippling shell shortage following the onset of the First World War, the War Office chose to use the spare capacity at the Silvertown site to purify TNT for explosive shells. The chief scientist at the factory described the purification process as “manifestly very da...

17th January 1944: Allies launch the Battle of Monte Cassino during the Second World War

The Battle of Monte Cassino began when Allied forces launched the first of four attacks against the Gustav Line in Italy. The Gustav Line, which together with the Bernhardt and Hitler lines formed a series of defences known as the Winter Line, had been established by the Germans and Italians to defend Rome from a northern advance by the Allies. The Allied forces had secured a foothold in Italy in Operation Avalanche the previous September, having first captured Sicily. By early January 1944 t...

7th January 1785: First aerial crossing of the English Channel completed in a hydrogen balloon

The first aerial crossing of the English Channel was conducted by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries in a gas-filled balloon. Born to a peasant family in Normandy, Blanchard fled to Paris as a...

5th January 1066: Death of Edward the Confessor sparks a succession crisis

A succession crisis was sparked following the death of Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. Edward was crowned King of England in 1042 and earned a reputation as a pious and gentle...

3rd January 1870: Construction begins on the Brooklyn Bridge

Although numerous suspension bridges had been built prior to the Brooklyn Bridge, nothing came close to the almost 1,600 foot span across the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan. German immigrant John Augustus Roebling was...

1st January 1772: First traveller’s cheques, known as “circular notes”, put on sale

The first traveller’s cheques, in the form of a ‘circular note’ issued by a bank, went on sale in London. Devised by the Scottish banker Robert Herries, circular notes were an immediate hit with young...

30th December 1993: Israel and the Vatican City begin diplomatic relations

Relations between Catholicism and Judaism cover a long, complex and violent history in which Christians revered the Jewish scriptures yet held Jews collectively responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. However, the murderous anti-Semitism of the...

28th December 1895: Wilhelm Röntgen publishes his discovery of X-rays

Röntgen was experimenting with vacuum tubes at the University of Würzburg when he discovered the new ‘invisible light’ on 8 November 1895. Although his lab notes were burned after his death in 1923, Röntgen’s biographers...

27th December 537: Hagia Sophia basilica inaugurated

On the 27th December 537, Hagia Sophia was inaugurated by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I and Patriarch Menas of Constantinople. The current building is the third church of Holy Wisdom to be built on the site,...