Scott Allsop's Blog, page 244

6th September 1972: Olympic athletes killed in the Munich massacre

Shortly after midnight on the morning of the 6th September 1972, nine Israeli Olympic athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists from the Black September group in the Munich massacre. The terrorists were seeking the release...

5th September 1793: The Reign of Terror begins in France

The Reign of Terror began in France when Bertrand Barère, a member of the Committee of Public Safety, made a speech in favour of it that ended with the exclamation, “Let’s make terror the order...

4th September 1957: Black students denied entry to Little Rock High School

On the 4th September 1957 a group of nine black schoolchildren were prevented from entering the previously segregated Little Rock Central High School by the Arkansas National Guard acting on the orders of Governor Orval...

3rd September 1783: Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War

The Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, was signed by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America. The American Revolutionary War, also known...

2nd September 1666: Great Fire of London starts in Pudding Lane

The Great Fire of London began on the 2nd September 1666. Having famously started at a bakery in Pudding Lane, the catastrophic fire blazed for more than three days and destroyed over 13,000 houses, churches...

1st September 1604: The Sikh Adi Granth first installed at the Golden Temple

The Adi Granth, the original holy scripture of Sikhism now known as Guru Granth Sahib, was first installed at the Harmandir Sahib Golden Temple. Beginning with Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, the gurus had...

31st August 1888: Discovery of the first victim of Jack the Ripper in London

On the 31st August 1888, Mary Ann Nichols – commonly known as Polly – became the first confirmed victim of Jack the Ripper in the Whitechapel area of London. Not only had her throat been...

30th August 1918: Lenin shot in a failed assassination attempt

On the 30th August 1918, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov – better known as Lenin – was the victim of a failed assassination plot. Fanya Kaplan, a member of the anti-Bolshevik faction of the Socialist...

29th August 1949: USSR conducts its first atomic bomb test

On the 29th August 1949, the Soviet Union successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon codenamed RDS-1 and nicknamed First Lightning. The explosion had the power of 22 kilotons of TNT, and was 50% more destructive...

28th August 1963: Martin Luther King Jr declares ‘I Have a Dream’

On the 28th August 1963, American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. The sixteenth of...