Scott Allsop's Blog, page 253
May 2, 2017
3rd May 1915: John McCrae composes the war poem ‘In Flanders Fields’
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, wrote the war poem ‘In Flanders Fields’, which inspired the symbol of the poppy to commemorate members of the military killed in war. McCrae had published his first poems...
May 1, 2017
2nd May 1952: World’s first passenger jet plane takes off from London
On 2nd May 1952, the world’s first passenger jet aircraft took off to carry 36 passengers from London to Johannesburg. The de Havilland DH 106 Comet operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation reduced the...
April 30, 2017
1st May 1776: The forerunner of the Bavarian Illuminati founded
The Covenant of Perfectibility, the forerunner of the original Bavarian Illuminati, was founded by Adam Weishaupt in Ingolstadt. Weishaupt had become a professor of Canon Law at the University of Ingolstadt in 1773, having graduated...
April 29, 2017
30th April 1803: America doubles in size having concluded the Louisiana Purchase
On 30th April 1803, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was concluded. France agreed to sell 828,000 square miles of territory that stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and which doubled the size of...
April 28, 2017
29th April 1587: Singeing the King of Spain’s Beard
Sir Francis Drake entered the Bay of Cádiz and attacked the Spanish naval fleet in an event known as ‘Singeing the King of Spain’s Beard’. Tensions between Protestant England and Catholic Spain had steadily increased...
April 27, 2017
28th April 1923: Wembley Stadium opens with West Ham v Bolton Wanderers
On 28th April 1923, the original Wembley Stadium in London opened with the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. Official figures placed attendance at 126,000 people – 1,000 more than the...
April 26, 2017
27th April 1906: The Russian Empire’s State Duma meets for the first time
The Russian Empire’s State Duma met for the first time at the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. The Duma was to form the lower house of a new legislative assembly. It was proposed by Sergei...
April 25, 2017
26th April 1937: Guernica is bombed by the Nazi Condor Legion
On the afternoon of 26th April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica experienced what is seen by many as the first large-scale modern air raid against a civilian population. By the Spring of 1937, Guernica...
April 24, 2017
25th April 404 BCE: Sparta defeats Athens in the Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta, defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War. The conflict formerly began in 431 BCE following the collapse of the previous Thirty Years’ peace between Athens and Sparta. As the two...
April 23, 2017
24th April 1916: Ernest Shackleton sets sail in the James Caird
On the 24th April 1916, Sir Ernest Shackleton and five companions set off in the James Caird, a recovered lifeboat, to sail from Elephant Island to South Georgia in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Their mission...
