Scott Allsop's Blog, page 51

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 ...

3rd January 1911: The Siege of Sidney Street gunfight takes place in London’s East End

The police officers in charge sought permission from the Home Secretary, Winston Churchill, to bring in Scots Guards from the nearby Tower of London to ...

2nd January 1959: USSR launches Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon

Luna 1, also known as Mechta (Russian for "Dream"), was planned to crash into the Moon before which its range of instruments and communication were intended to study cosmic rays, solar wind, magnetic fields, and ionizing ...

1st January 1739: Discovery of Bouvet Island, the world’s most remote island

The fact that Bouvet island, with a total area of just 19 square miles, lies almost 1,000 miles from the nearest uninhabited land makes the chance discovery even more ...

31st December 1600: The East India Company officially established with a charter from Elizabeth I

Formally titled "The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies," the East India Company was established to capitalise on the lucrative spice ...