Scott Allsop's Blog, page 46

4th March 1865: Andrew Johnson, Vice President of the United States, delivers his inaugural address while drunk

Johnson’s drunkenness during his inaugural address was widely reported in the press and was a source of embarrassment for Lincoln, who was seated ...

3rd March 1857: The largest ever sale of enslaved people in the United States, known as the Weeping Time

When the two-day sale ended on 3 March, 429 slaves had been ...

2nd March 537: First Siege of Rome begins as the Ostrogoth army encircle the Byzantine forces of the general Belisarius

Despite being driven north towards Ravenna by Emperor Justinian's forces, the Ostrogoths were determined to reclaim Rome and reassert their dominance over ...

1st March 1562: Massacre of Vassy marks the beginning of the French Wars of Religion

The massacre at Vassy exacerbated religious tensions that had been simmering for years, serving as a rallying cry for both Catholics and Protestants, each side seeing the incident as justification for their cause. Within just a few weeks of the massacre, violence erupted across the ...

29th February 1796: Jay Treaty marks the start of ten years of peaceful trade between the United States and Britain

The Jay Treaty, named after John Jay, the chief negotiator on behalf of the United States, sought to resolve several key disputes in the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War and the subsequent Treaty of Paris in ...

28th February 1849: First ‘49ers arrive in San Francisco to begin the California Gold Rush

On February 28, 1849, SS California steamed into San Francisco carrying around 400 passengers seeking their fortune. The city's population, which had been around a thousand in 1848, skyrocketed to tens of thousands within a ...

27th February 1973: Oglala Lakota and members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee

Approximately 200 Oglala Lakota and members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee, South Dakota, for 71 ...

26th February 1917: The Original Dixieland ‘Jass’ Band makes the first commercially released jazz recording

The resulting record was released in May, and went on to sell hundreds of thousands of ...

25th February 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels becomes the first African-American U.S. Senator

After intense debate Senators voted 48 to 8 to seat Revels as the first African-American in the United States ...

24th February 1920: Adolf Hitler announces the 25 Point Programme and the establishment of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP)

Hitler announced that the DAP had officially become the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), known colloquially as the Nazi Party. Alongside the name change, he also introduced the 25 Point Programme, a set of ideological principles outlining the party’s ...