Scott Allsop's Blog, page 55

30th November 1803: Balmis Expedition sets sail to vaccinate inhabitants of Spanish colonies against smallpox

The expedition systematically infected orphaned boys with cowpox throughout the duration of the voyage so that the live vaccine survived all the way to the ...

29th November 1929: Richard E. Byrd completes the first flight over the South Pole

The four-man crew boarded a Ford Trimotor airplane, and at 1am on 29 November reached the South Pole where they flew beyond and to the left and right in case of any navigational ...

28th November 1925: The Grand Ole Opry, the longest-running radio show in the USA, broadcast for the first time

The Grand Ole Opry moved to its current home at the 4,000-seater Grand Ole Opry House in ...

27th November 1978: San Francisco politicians George Moscone and Harvey Milk shot dead by former Supervisor Dan White

White was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter after pleading a state of mental diminished capacity, and the lenient sentence sparked the White Night riots of 21 May ...

26th November 1789: The first formal National Day of Thanksgiving in the United States

Public celebrations were held throughout the country, while President George Washington gave thanks in New York ...

25th November 1783: The British Army departed New York City, nearly three months after the end of the American Revolutionary War

Cannons fired as the British departed, acting as a signal for General George Washington to ride into the city with Governor George ...

24th November 1835: Texas Rangers formally instituted by Texan lawmakers

The General Council passed an ordinance that created three companies of 56 Rangers, each commanded by a captain, first and second lieutenants, and with a major in ...

23rd November 1876: William “Boss” Tweed delivered to authorities in New York City after being captured in Spain following his escape from prison for corruption

Tweed's corrupt practices were exposed by investigative journalists such as those at The New York Times and he was regularly attacked by Thomas Nast, the political cartoonist for Harper's Weekly whose cartoons helped to identify Tweed in ...

22nd November 1943: Cairo Conference begins when leaders of Britain, the USA and China meet to discuss the Allied position regarding Japan

Alongside senior military leaders, the meeting brought together President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Chairman of the Chinese National Government Chiang Kai-shek of ...

21st November 1953: Piltdown Man fossils exposed as a forgery, undermining studies of human evolution

The use of fluorine dating revealed that the skull and jawbone, which were once believed to be a crucial 'missing piece' in the study of human evolution, did not belong to the same individual and were far younger than previously ...