Scott Allsop's Blog, page 45

2nd February 1709: Alexander Selkirk rescued after spending more than four years as a castaway

Marooned alone on Más a Tierra Island in the uninhabited Juan Fernández archipelago, Selkirk survived for more than four years, foraging for food and hunting wild goats, while using the limited tools available to him to construct huts for ...

1st February 1861: Texas declares its secession from the United States after a convention votes overwhelmingly in favour

Elected representatives assembled in Austin on January 28, 1861, and four days later on 1 February the convention voted 166 to 8 in favour of secession. The decision was confirmed through a state-wide referendum on 23 ...

31st January 1865: Thirteenth Amendment passed by the US Congress to formally abolish slavery

It was sent to the states for ratification the next day, a process that was concluded on 6 December after the necessary three-quarters of states approved ...

30th January 1835: Andrew Jackson survives the first assassination attempt of a sitting US President

Would-be assassin Richard Lawrence was found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ and was committed to an ...

29th January 2002: The phrase ‘Axis of Evil’ used for the first time by President George W. Bush

The phrase 'axis of evil' soon became a hallmark of Bush’s foreign ...

28th January 1896: First speeding ticket for an automobile issued to British motorist Walter Arnold

Arnold faced three additional charges of using a locomotive without a horse, having fewer than three people in charge of the vehicle and for not having his name and address on the vehicle. The local magistrates found him guilty on all counts and placed a fine of £4 7s, of which one shilling plus costs, was for ...

27th January 1916: Conscription for WW1 introduced by the British Government in the Military Service Act

The Military Service Act made all single men and childless widowers between the ages of 18 and 41 liable to be called up. It received royal assent on 27 January but was met with a protest demonstration of approximately 200,000 people in London’s Trafalgar Square, while by July almost 30% of those called up to fight had failed to ...

26th January 1885: Siege of Khartoum ends when Sudanese Mahdist forces capture the city from Governor-General Charles George Gordon

General Gordon’s pleas for reinforcements for the besieged city fell on deaf ears in the British government, and the city’s plight became a symbol of imperial overreach and strategic ...

25th January 1924: First Winter Olympic Games begin in Chamonix, France

International Winter Sports Week was an incredible success, and the following year the IOC retroactively designated it as the first Winter ...

24th January 1935: The first canned beer goes on sale from the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company in Richmond, Virginia

Canned beer was an immediate success and the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company saw sales skyrocket. Other brewers soon began to adopt the new packaging, and by the end of the year over 200 million cans of beer had sold in the United ...