Scott Allsop's Blog, page 52

30th December 1916: “Mad Monk” Grigori Rasputin murdered by Russian nobles

On the night of 29 December, 1916, Rasputin was invited to the home of Prince Felix Yusupov. The exact details of what transpired are shrouded in legend and mystery, but the most commonly-accepted version of events is based on Yusupov’s own ...

29th December 1937: Constitution of Ireland comes into effect as the longest continually operating republican constitution in the E.U.

The 1937 Constitution of Ireland was born out of a desire to fully assert Irish independence following the Statute of Westminster 1931, which granted parliamentary autonomy to the six British ...

28th December 1958: ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’ in the NFL Championship Playoff

The game of American football was the first to be decided in sudden-death ...

27th December 1845: Manifest Destiny introduced in a newspaper column by John L. O’Sullivan

Manifest Destiny was a belief that the United States had a divinely-inspired right to expand across North America, and that this expansion was ...

26th December 1825: The Decembrist Revolt takes place in Russia against autocratic Tsarist rule

The Decembrists were driven by ideals of constitutionalism, liberal reforms, and a desire for a more participatory government but were defeated when Nicholas I ordered a cavalry charge and subsequent artillery attack using ...

25th December 1776: George Washington crosses the Delaware with a column of the Continental Army

As night fell amidst a harsh winter storm, Washington and approximately 2,400 soldiers began the treacherous river crossing at McConkey’s ...

24th December 1818: ‘Stille Nacht’, known in English as Silent Night, performed for the first time

‘Silent Night’ is based on a six-stanza poem written by Joseph Mohr, a young priest who arrived at the Nikolauskirche in the small Austrian town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg the previous ...

23rd December 1688: James II of England flees to exile in France during the Glorious Revolution

Facing the inevitability of conflict amidst diminishing support following the invasion by William of Orange, James II made the decision to flee to France where he found refuge under the protection of his cousin, Louis ...

22nd December 1882: The first use of electric lights on a Christmas tree

80 red, white, and blue walnut-sized glass light bulbs were hand-wired and placed around a large Christmas tree in the home of Edward H. Johnson's New York home on Fifth ...

21st December 1825: The Fredonian Rebellion begins when American settlers in Mexican Texas declare their independence

Haden Edwards, believing that the Mexican government had unjustly annulled his an empresario contract to establish a colony in East Texas, led a group of settlers to declare the independent Republic of ...