Scott Allsop's Blog, page 233

22nd December 1894: Alfred Dreyfus found guilty of treason in France

The origin for the scandal lay in the discovery of a ripped-up letter in a waste basket at the German Embassy in Paris. Having been handed by the cleaner who found it to French counter-espionage,...

21st December 1913: First modern crossword puzzle printed

On the 21st December 1913, the first modern crossword puzzle was printed in the New York World newspaper. Created by British-born journalist Arthur Wynne, his diamond-shaped puzzle was originally called a ‘word-cross puzzle’, but due...

20th December 1924: Adolf Hitler released from Landsberg Prison

In November 1923 Hitler had led an attempted coup against the Weimar Government by trying to seize power in the Bavarian city of Munich. The putsch failed and Hitler was found guilty of treason in...

19th December 1843: A Christmas Carol first published

On the 19th December 1843, Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol was published in London by Chapman & Hall. Since first being published it has never been out of print and, despite the first run...

18th December 1898: The world’s first officially recognised land speed record is set

French aristocrat Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the world’s first officially recognised land speed record. Chasseloup-Laubat’s older brother, the 5th Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat, was one of the first members of the Automobile Club de France...

17th December 1903: Wright brothers make first aircraft flight

On the 17th December 1903, American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully made the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight. Their aircraft, known as the Wright Flyer but later referred to as Flyer...

16th December 1773: The Boston Tea Party throws a shipment of tea into Boston Harbor

The British government had passed the Tea Act seven months earlier on 10 May, partly in an attempt to support the struggling East India Company. The act allowed the company to import tea directly to...

15th December 1933: 21st Amendment ends prohibition in the USA

On the 15th December 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution came into effect, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment which had made the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol illegal. Having been proposed on...

14th December 1287: St Lucia’s Flood kills over 50,000 people around the North Sea

In the medieval period the Netherlands, whose name literally means ‘lower countries’, consisted of large areas of boggy land around the winding estuaries of three of the largest rivers in Europe. Although prone to flooding,...

13th December 1937: The Nanking Massacre begins

On the 13th December 1937, the Nanking Massacre began at the end of the Battle of Nanking – part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Troops from the Imperial Japanese Army captured the city, which at...