Scott Allsop's Blog, page 251

23rd May 1618: Officials thrown from a window in the Second Defenestration of Prague

Two Catholic imperial officials and their secretary were thrown out of the window of the Bohemian Chancellery in the Second Defenestration of Prague. Prague had witnessed its first defenestration (literally ‘the act of throwing someone...

22nd May 1455: Wars of the Roses begin at the Battle of St Albans

The 22nd May 1455 marked the start of the Wars of the Roses, when the First Battle of St Albans was fought between Richard, Duke of York, and King Henry VI. The Wars of the...

21st May 1972: Laszlo Toth attacks and seriously damages Michelangelo’s Pietà statue

Hungarian-born geologist Laszlo Toth attacked and seriously damaged Michelangelo’s Pietà statue with a hammer. The Pietà is a marble sculpture that was created by Michelangelo between 1498 and 1499. It depicts the body of Jesus...

20th May 1873: Levi Strauss & Co. patent riveted blue jeans

On the 20th May 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis secured the patent for riveted blue jeans.  The rivets strengthened the jeans, reducing the likelihood of tearing and making them perfect for manual labour. Strauss...

19th May 1919: Mustafa Kemal arrives in Samsun and begins the Turkish War of Independence

The Turkish War of Independence began when General Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Inspector of the Ottoman 9th Army and later known as Atatürk, arrived at the town of Samsun on the Black Sea Coast. The...

18th May 1291: Siege of Acre signals end of Crusader influence

On the 18th May 1291, the Crusader-controlled city of Acre was seized by the Muslim forces of the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil.  The Siege of Acre, sometimes known as the Fall of Acre, marked the...

17th May 1943: Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron carries out the ‘Dambusters’ raids

Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron attacked German dams in Operation Chastise, otherwise known as the Dambuster Raids. 617 Squadron was formed specifically to attack three major dams that provided hydro-electric power and water to...

16th May 1966: Start of the Cultural Revolution in China

The ‘May 16th Notification’ of 1966 effectively started the Cultural Revolution in China.  The notification suggested that the Communist Party had been infiltrated by enemies of Communism, and that only Mao Zedong’s leadership could remove...

15th May 1940: The first McDonald’s restaurant opened in San Bernadino, California

Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in San Bernardino, California. The McDonald brothers had successfully run the ‘Airdrome’ hotdog stand in Arcadia, California, for three years before they began their first McDonald’s...

14th May 1796: Edward Jenner vaccinates against smallpox

On the 14th May 1796, English physician and scientist Edward Jenner purposefully infected 8-year James Phipps with cowpox.  Rather than committing an act of gross medical negligence, Jenner was actually scientifically testing – and proving...