Scott Allsop's Blog, page 235
October 28, 2017
29th October 1618: Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded for treason against James I in the Main Plot
Raleigh had been a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted him permission to lead three expeditions to the Americas. Although he had inspired the Queen’s fury after secretly marrying one of her ladies-in-waiting, Raleigh...
October 27, 2017
28th October 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis ends with USSR’s agreement to remove missiles
At 9:00 am on the 28th October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended when Soviet Premier Khrushchev agreed to remove Russian nuclear missiles from the island of Cuba. Although the missiles were identified by American...
October 26, 2017
27th October 1988: Ronald Reagan halts construction of the new US embassy in Moscow
Negotiations over the building of new embassies for the two superpowers were completed in 1969. Bugs had been discovered in the old US building in Moscow just three years earlier but, amidst the improving relations...
October 25, 2017
26th October 1860: Garibaldi hands southern Italy to Victor Emmanuel II
On the 26th October 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi met with Victor Emanuel II, the King of Sardinia, at Teano and handed him control of southern Italy. Hailing him as King of Italy, Garibaldi’s surrender of the...
October 24, 2017
25th October 1940: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. becomes first black general in the US military
Davis was born in Washington D.C. and, although his army records and gravestone claim that he was born in 1877, his biographer has found a census document that suggests he was actually born three years...
October 23, 2017
24th October 1929: Wall Street Crash begins on ‘Black Thursday’
Thursday the 24th October 1929, known as Black Thursday, is generally accepted as the first day of the Wall Street Crash. The day saw panic selling of shares on the New York Stock Exchange on...
October 22, 2017
23rd October 1911: Italian Carlo Piazza pilots the first aircraft to be used in war
The Italian government of Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti launched its invasion of Libya in order to formalise its influence in the provinces of Tripolitana and Cyrenaica amidst the declining power of the Ottoman Empire. Having...
October 21, 2017
22nd October 1895: Granville-Paris express train crashes through a wall in Paris
On the 22nd October 1895, the Granville–Paris Express train ran across the station platform, crashed through a 60cm wall, and fell 10 metres to the street below after it overran the buffer stop at the...
October 20, 2017
21st October 1966: 144 people killed in the Aberfan disaster
At 9.15am on the 21st October 1966, 116 children and 28 adults were killed when a colliery spoil tip above the Welsh village of Aberfan collapsed. Approximately 150,000 cubic meters of mining debris from waste...
October 19, 2017
20th October 1935: Mao Zedong’s Red Army finishes the Long March
On the 20th October 1935, the 6,000 mile Long March by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China ended when the columns of troops led by Mao Zedong arrived in Shaanxi. Although the...
