Scott Allsop's Blog, page 245
August 25, 2017
26th August 1346: The longbow helps Edward III win the Battle of Crécy
On the 26th August 1346, one of the most decisive battles in the Hundred Years War was won by the army of the English king Edward III. The Battle of Crécy was fought against the...
August 24, 2017
25th August 1944: Paris liberated from Nazi control
On the 25th August 1944, the Nazi German garrison in Paris surrendered the city to the Allies. Having been rules by the Nazis for over four years, the liberation of the capital was not a...
August 23, 2017
24th August AD 79: Mount Vesuvius destroys Pompeii & Herculaneum
The 24th August AD 79 is traditionally believed to have been the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that wiped out numerous Roman settlements including Pompeii and Herculaneum. Eyewitness accounts of the eruption have survived in the...
August 22, 2017
23rd August 1939: Nazi-Soviet Pact signed by Molotov and Ribbentrop
On 23rd August 1939, Vyacheslav Molotov and Joachim von Ribbentrop – the Soviet foreign minister and the German foreign minister – signed the Treaty of Non-aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,...
August 21, 2017
22nd August 1485: Richard III killed at the Battle of Bosworth
On the 22nd August 1485, King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth and the forces of Henry Tudor brought the Plantagenet dynasty to an end. Henry secured his reign soon afterwards by...
August 20, 2017
21st August 1911: The Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre on the 21st August 1911. Described by some as the greatest art theft of the 20th century, the museum itself didn’t even realise that the...
August 19, 2017
20th August 1968: Warsaw Pact troops invade to end the Prague Spring
At around 11pm on the 20th August 1968, troops from the USSR, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary entered Czechoslovakia in an invasion that brought the Prague Spring to an end. The invasion, known as Operation Danube,...
August 18, 2017
19th August 1991: August Coup places Gorbachev under house arrest
On the 19th August 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev, the President of the Soviet Union, was placed under house arrest in what is known as the August Coup. Opposed to Gorbachev’s reforms, the leaders of the coup...
August 17, 2017
18th August 1612: Trial of the Pendle Witches begins
On the 18th August 1612, the trials of nine Lancashire women and two men known as the Pendle Witches began. Accused of various murders, twelve people were charged of whom was found not guilty and...
August 16, 2017
17th August 1982: First commercial CD produced in Germany
On the 17th August 1982, the very first commercial compact disc was produced in the German town of Langenhagen. Although it was a number of months before the disc was actually available to purchase, the...
