Scott Allsop's Blog, page 33

14th June 1900: Anglo-German naval arms race triggered by the Second German Naval Law to double the size of the fleet

The enactment of the Second Naval Law represented an ambitious plan to double the size of the German fleet, but with the British Royal Navy having long been the world’s dominant maritime force Germany’s naval expansion was perceived as a direct challenge to British ...

12th June 1817: Karl Drais makes the first recorded journey on the forerunner of the bicycle, known as the Laufmaschine or ‘dandy horse’

Drais’ Laufmaschine, which translates as ‘running machine’ featured two wheels mounted on a wooden frame and a steering mechanism controlled by ...

11th June 1962: Three inmates escape from the maximum-security Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary and are never seen again

Once outside the prison walls, the three men inflated a homemade raft with a modified accordion and launched it into San Francisco ...

10th June 1935: Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by Bill Wilson and Robert Smith

Alcoholics Anonymous, which operates through local groups that follow a 12-step rehabilitation program to help people overcome alcoholism, is now estimated have around two million members ...

9th June 747: Abbasid Revolution begins, which overthrows the Umayyad Caliphate

The Abbasid Revolution gained momentum thanks to the leadership of Abu Muslim al-Khurasani, a Persian revolutionary who rallied support for the Abbasid cause in the eastern provinces of the ...

8th June 1959: The world’s only delivery of ‘Missile Mail’ took place when the United States Post Office Department sent 3,000 letters using a cruise missile

The missile was fired from the deck of the submarine USS Barbero towards the Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Mayport, Florida, and completed its 700-mile flight in just 22 ...

7th June 1982: Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, was opened to the public

Elvis Presley purchased Graceland for $102,500 in 1957 when he was 22 years ...

6th June 1933: Worlds first drive-in theatre opens in Camden County, New Jersey

Richard M. Hollingshead Jr.'s ‘Automobile Movie Theatre’ opened on a 400-acre plot of land on Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Pennsauken Township, and could accommodate 400 cars parked on ramps facing a 40 foot by 50 foot ...

5th June 1947: U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall delivers a speech at Harvard University outlining his financial plan for post-war Europe

The Marshall Plan provided aid to 16 Western European nations, distributing more than $13 billion of aid over a four year ...

4th June 1855: United States Camel Corps initiated when USS Supply departed New York City for the Mediterranean to obtain camels

The camels proved themselves to be both fast and strong, easily outperforming the horses and mules that the Army had used up until that ...