Scott Allsop's Blog, page 231

7th December 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbour

At 7:48 on the morning of the 7th December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack against the United States’ Hawaiian naval base at Pearl Harbor. Sixteen US Navy ships were sunk or...

6th December 1768: First edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica published

Officially titled Encyclopædia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, compiled upon a New Plan, the Britannica was published in three volumes over a three year period. A key part of the Scottish Enlightenment,...

5th December 1934: Wal-Wal Incident between Italy and Abyssinia

On the 5th December 1934, the Wal-Wal Incident took place which laid the foundations for the Abyssinia Crisis. A skirmish between a Somali garrison in the service of Italy, and Ethiopian troops who sought the...

4th December 1872: Deserted US merchant ship Mary Celeste found drifting in the Atlantic

Mary Celeste was launched in 1861 under the name Amazon and changed hands a number of times before being acquired by a New York consortium that carried out an extensive refit. She was then placed...

3rd December 1910: First neon light installed at the Paris Motor Show

On the 3rd December 1910, the first neon light went on show at the Paris Motor Show. Invented by Frenchman Georges Claude, the first neon lights were simply 35m long tubes. However, by 1912 he...

2nd December 1954: US Senator Joseph McCarthy censured by the Senate

United States Senator Joseph McCarthy was censured for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonour and disrepute.” Joseph McCarthy was elected to the Senate for the state of Wisconsin in 1946. He was...

1st December 1955: Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama

On the 1st December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama after the white section of the bus became full. Her refusal led to her being arrested...

30th November 1786: Tuscany becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty

Pietro Leopoldo, the ruler of Tuscany, came to power in 1765 after his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, died. Pietro Leopoldo later became Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, but in the years immediately...

29th November 1781: Over 132 slaves thrown from the ‘Zong’ ship

On the 29th November 1781, the crew of the slave ship Zong threw the first of at least 132 African slaves overboard in a massacre intended to allow them to cash in their insurance policy....

28th November 1893: New Zealand women vote for the first time in a national election

Every New Zealand woman over the age of 21 was able to vote in the world’s first general election in a self-governing colony. The issue of women’s suffrage in New Zealand began to gain momentum...