Scott Allsop's Blog, page 257
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...
April 22, 2017
23rd April 1516: The Reinheitsgebot beer purity law first introduced in Bavaria
Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria signed the Reinheitsgebot, a law to ensure the purity of beer that specific a limited number of ingredients. The early 1500s experienced economic and agricultural tensions which saw brewers and...
April 21, 2017
22nd April 1915: Chlorine gas marks start of 2nd Battle of Ypres
On the 22nd April 1915, the Second Battle of Ypres began in Belgium. The battle has become most remembered for seeing the first use of gas in the First World War, but Second Ypres really...
April 20, 2017
21st April 1918: Manfred von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron, shot down and killed
The German fighter pilot Baron Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron, was shot down and killed. Richthofen was born into the German aristocracy in 1892. He began military training when...
