Scott Allsop's Blog, page 54

5th November 1925: Sidney Reilly, the ‘Ace of Spies’, executed in the Soviet Union

The circumstances of Sidney Reilly's execution and the location of his remains have remained a mystery although it is known he was ensnared in an elaborate counter-espionage deception by the ...

4th November 1890: City and South London Railway, the world’s first deep-level underground ‘tube’ railway, officially opened

The construction of the railway presented numerous engineering challenges including the need to tunnel under the River Thames, but it was achieved using the ‘Greathead Shield’ which allowed workers to dig and line the tunnel ...

3rd November 1868: John Willis Menard became the first African-American to be elected to Congress

Running against Caleb S. Hunt, Menard secured approximately 64 percent of the vote, and on 3 November 1868 became the first African-American person to be elected to the United States ...

2nd November 1988: Release of the Morris Worm signalled the first major internet security attack

By the time the Morris Worm attack was brought under control over the next few days, between 2,000 and 6,000 major systems had been ...

1st November 1765: The Stamp Act went into force in the Thirteen Colonies

The Stamp Act levied a direct tax on American colonists without ...

31st October 1913: Formal dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the United States

The Lincoln Highway connected New York City on the East Coast to San Francisco on the West Coast, traversing 13 states along the ...

30th October 1942: German Enigma machine ciphers retrieved from submarine U-559 by British sailors

A British party of Lieutenant Francis Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier, and canteen assistant Tommy Brown, boarded the slowly-sinking submarine after it had been damaged by depth charges and retrieved the Enigma codebooks and all the current settings for the U-boat ...

29th October 1964: ‘Murf the Surf’ and two accomplices carry out the biggest jewel heist in New York’s history

‘Murf the Surf’ and two accomplices committed the biggest jewel heist in New York’s history when they stole priceless gems from the American Museum of Natural ...

28th October 1922: Benito Mussolini’s Blackshirts approach the Italian capital in the March on Rome

Mussolini and up to 30,000 supporters from across the country, the Blackshirts, embarked on a calculated and audacious march to Rome to seize ...

27th October 312: Constantine the Great receives his Vision of the Cross, marking the start of his conversion to Christianity

While preparing for the decisive Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine reportedly witnessed a Christian cross which may have been accompanied by a Latin inscription which roughly translates as ‘In this sign, you will ...