Scott Allsop's Blog, page 47

13th January 1910: First public radio broadcast features a live performance from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York

The broadcast included performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci featuring acclaimed Italian tenor Enrico ...

12th January 1848: The first of the Revolutions of 1848 begins in Palermo on the island of Sicily

Beginning in Sicily, revolutions quickly spread across the continent and by the end of the year a series of uncoordinated uprisings had broken out in dozens of countries including France, Germany, and the Austrian ...

11th January 1964: US Surgeon General publishes groundbreaking report on the health effects of tobacco smoking

The report drew three main conclusions focused on the effect of smoking on the functioning of the respiratory ...

10th January 1776: Thomas Paine publishes the pamphlet Common Sense advocating American independence

The 47-page pamphlet is credited with having a dramatic impact on public opinion in the colonies, and helped to consolidate the idea of independent ...

9th January 1861: Star of the West fired upon by South Carolina batteries as it approached Fort Sumter

As Star of the West approached Fort Sumter on the morning of 9 January it was met with cannon shots from cadet George E. Haynsworth on nearby Morris ...

8th January 1828: Democratic Party established in the United States to become the oldest active voter-based political party in the world

The presidential election of 1828 served as the catalyst for the Democratic Party’s formation as Andrew Jackson secured a resounding victory at the forefront of a movement with a clear ...

7th January 1782: The Bank of North America, the nation’s first chartered bank, opens in Philadelphia

The bank played a pivotal role in stabilizing the nation’s finances in the early years of new republic, contributing to the establishment of credit that laid the groundwork for a more organized and sophisticated financial ...

6th January 1912: Continental Drift hypothesis first presented by German scientist Alfred Wegener

Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis laid the groundwork for the concept of plate tectonics, which became increasingly accepted by the ...

5th January 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman in the United States to be sworn in as governor of a state

Ross later achieved another ‘first’ in 1933 when she was appointed Director of the U.S. Mint by President Franklin D. ...

4th January 1903: Topsy the elephant electrocuted at Luna Park in Coney Island, New York

After being fed carrots laced with potassium cyanide, she was subjected to 6,600 volts of AC electricity that brought her to the ground. At this point, steam winches pulled nooses tight around her ...