Scott Allsop's Blog, page 27

18th August 1933: Nazis reveal the Volksempfänger, a low-cost radio receiver, to the public

The Volksempfänger was simple and utilitarian, but made radio technology accessible to the general population and enabled it to be used as a means of disseminating Nazi ...

17th August 1807: The North River Steamboat was launched between New York and Albany

The world’s first commercially successful steamship was launched on the Hudson River between New York and ...

16th August 1793: National Convention of France agrees to the levée en masse, a policy of conscription during the Revolutionary Wars

The levée en masse affected the entire population and represented an unprecedented move by a government, as it extended the responsibility of national defence beyond professional soldiers to the general ...

14th August 1947: Partition of India begins with creation of the independent Dominion of Pakistan

The announcement of the partition led to mass migrations, marred by violence, as Hindus and Sikhs moved to India while Muslims migrated to ...

13th August 1918: Opha May Johnson becomes the first woman to enlist in the US Marine Corps

Johnson was 40 years old when she enlisted, and her extensive clerical and stenographical experience made her a perfect fit for the ...

12th August 1990: Sue, the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever unearthed, discovered by Susan Hendrickson

The most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever unearthed was discovered by palaeontologist Susan ...

11th August 106: Roman Emperor Trajan declares Dacia (modern Romania) a Roman province

The conquest of Dacia was a strategic and economic victory for Rome, providing raw materials and a strong north-eastern ...

10th August 1846: President James K. Polk signs legislation to establish the Smithsonian Institution

It had taken Congress eight years to agree on how to fulfil James Smithson’s desire to establish and institution ‘for the increase and diffusion of ...

9th August 1942: Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7, known as the “Leningrad” Symphony, received its premiere in the city under siege

The concert took place at the Philharmonic Hall, and was preceded by a Soviet artillery bombardment designed to silence the German lines during the ...

8th August 1925: More than 50,000 members of the Ku Klux Klan stage a march in Washington D.C.

Tens of thousands of Ku Klux Klan members took part in an organised march through Washington ...