Scott Allsop's Blog, page 59

21st October 1921: U.S. President Warren G. Harding publicly condemns lynching in a speech in Alabama

In October 1921 Harding travelled to Alabama. Here he expressed his support for anti-lynching laws that would hold counties responsible for the illegal hangings, and lodge federal murder cases against the ...

20th October 1977: Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashes during an emergency landing, killing three members of the band

Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing singer Cassie Gaines were all killed in the ...

19th October 1953: Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 first published

Set in the distant future where books are outlawed, the story focuses on Guy Montag whose job as a fireman sees him burn houses that are found to contain ...

18th October 1867: The Alaska Purchase completed with the formal transfer from Russia to the United States

Although ridiculed shortly afterwards as ‘Seward’s Folly’, the Alaska Purchase has since been reinterpreted as one of President Andrew Johnson’s greatest ...

17th October 1860: Oldest golf tournament in the world begins with The Open at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland

The Open was initially restricted to professional golfers, with a prize of a red Moroccan leather belt with a silver buckle awaiting the ...

16th October 1939: First German air raid on Britain during WW2 took place when bombers attacked Rosyth naval base in Scotland

The light cruiser HMS Southampton and the destroyer Mohawk were damaged, while sixteen Royal Navy sailors died and 44 were ...

15th October 1966: The Black Panther Party founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale

In the wake of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, and the killing of unarmed black teen Matthew Johnson by police the following year, the two men established the Black Panther Party for ...

14th October 1947: Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to officially break the sound barrier in the experimental Bell X-1

Flying at 45,000 feet, Yeager reached Mach 1.06 or approximately 700 miles per hour over the Rogers Dry Lake of the Mojave Desert in ...

13th October 1908: Suffragette Margaret Travers Symons becomes the first woman to speak in the House of Commons when she burst into the main chamber

As she was accompanied through the Members’ Lobby, Travers Symons broke away from her escort and burst into the chamber where MPs were debating a bill regarding issues related to ...

12th October 1928: ‘Iron lung’ respirator used for the first time

An iron lung respirator was used for the first time at Boston Children’s ...