Scott Allsop's Blog, page 62

21st September 1931: Britain abandons the gold standard after Parliament passes the Gold Standard (Amendment) Act

After consultations with the Bank of England, the Treasury issued a statement announcing its intention to suspend the gold standard on Sunday 20 September, and parliament approved the Bill the next ...

20th September 1973: Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ tennis match

Female tennis player Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs, a former World No. 1 men’s player, in the ‘Battle of the ...

19th September 1870: The Siege of Paris began during the Franco-Prussian War when the city was encircled by forces of the North German Confederation

The German forces reached the outskirts of the French capital on 15 September and General Helmuth von Moltke, the commander of the Prussian army, gave the order to begin surrounding the ...

18th September 1812: The Fire of Moscow burnt out five days after it began, leaving Napoleon in possession of the city

On September 18, five days after it began, the fire was finally brought under control thanks to calmer winds and a fortuitously timed rain shower that helped the troops working to extinguish the ...

17th September 1862: Explosion at the Allegheny Arsenal in Pennsylvania sees the largest single civilian loss of life during the American Civil War

More than 1,100 people worked at the Arsenal, 78 of whom died while many more were injured.More than 1,100 people worked at the Arsenal, 78 of whom died while many more were ...

16th September 1920: 38 people died in the Wall Street bombing in New York

38 people died and hundreds more were wounded in the Wall Street bombing in New ...

15th September 1831: The First National Negro Convention was held in Philadelphia

The Negro Convention Movement, sometimes referred to as the Colored Conventions Movement, developed during the antebellum period in the north American ...

14th September 1607: ‘Flight of the Earls’ sees Gaelic nobility, led by Hugh O’Neill and Rory O’Donnell, leave Ulster in Ireland for mainland Europe

In the wake of the flight of the Earls, the lands and titles left behind were confiscated by the English crown, which accelerated the process of English colonisation over the next ...

13th September 1899: Henry H. Bliss, the first person to be killed by an automobile in America

Henry Hale Bliss, a Manhattan real estate salesman, was helping a female companion name as Miss Lee disembark a southbound 8th Avenue trolley car at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York ...

12th September 1958: The world’s first integrated circuit demonstrated by Jack Kilby

American electrical engineer Jack Kilby demonstrated the world’s first integrated circuit while working at Texas ...