Scott Allsop's Blog, page 260
February 21, 2017
22nd February 1943: Trial and execution of White Rose members
On the 22nd February 1943, the first three members of the White Rose resistance group were put on trial and executed by guillotine in Germany. Active from June 1942, the first arrests took place after...
February 20, 2017
21st February 1848: The Communist Manifesto first published
On the 21st February 1848, The Communist Manifesto was anonymously published in London although the text by Karl Marx, supported by Friedrich Engels, was in German. Officially called The Manifesto of the Communist Party, the...
February 19, 2017
20th February 1959: Jimi Hendrix plays his first gig (and gets fired)
On the 20th February 1959, Jimi Hendrix played his first ever live concert – and got fired from the band after the first set. This set a pattern for the legendary guitarist’s early years, as...
February 18, 2017
19th February 1985: BBC broadcasts first episode of EastEnders
On the 19th February 1985, the BBC’s flagship soap opera EastEnders was broadcast for the first time. Now airing four episodes a week, the series has been broadcast continuously ever since and remains one of...
February 17, 2017
18th February 1930: Elm Farm Ollie becomes the first cow to fly
On the 18th February 1930, Nellie Jay – better known as Elm Farm Ollie – became the first cow to fly in an aeroplane. Featured as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis,...
February 16, 2017
17th February 1966: The Beach Boys start recording Good Vibrations
On the 17th February 1966 Brian Wilson, the co-founder of the Beach Boys, began the first recording session for the song Good Vibrations at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. Part of the Rock and...
February 15, 2017
16th February 1923: Howard Carter unseals Tutankhamun’s burial chamber
On the 16th February 1923, Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. It took two and a half months for his team to catalogue and clear the contents of the antechamber and...
February 14, 2017
15th February 1971: The UK and Ireland decimalise their currency
On the 15th February 1971, the United Kingdom and Ireland abandoned their old currency of pounds, shillings and pence and introduced a decimalised system. Thanks to a long transitional period that had been established prior...
February 13, 2017
14th February 1929: Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre committed in Chicago
On the 14th February 1929, seven men with connections to Chicago’s North Side Gang were gunned down in the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Although nobody was ever brought to trial for the murders, it is...
February 12, 2017
13th February 1689: William and Mary become co-regents
On the 13th February 1689, William and Mary became co-regents of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland after agreeing to the Declaration of Right. On the 5th November the previous year William, the head...
