Scott Allsop's Blog, page 62

17th August 1982: First commercial compact disc produced in the German town of Langenhagen

Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau’s recording of Chopin waltzes was pressed at Philips’ Polydor Pressing Operations plant, with the pianist himself starting the ...

16th August 1858: Queen Victoria sends the first transatlantic telegram

Queen Victoria sent the first telegram using the newly-installed transatlantic telegraph cable to US President James ...

15th August 1914: The Panama Canal officially opened with the transit of SS Ancon

The Panama Canal was officially opened to traffic with the transit of SS ...

14th August 1941: Roosevelt and Churchill issue the Atlantic Charter

The Atlantic Charter was issued by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston ...

13th August 1961: East German police and army begin to construct the Berlin Wall separating them from West Berlin

Over the following years the barbed wire and mesh barrier that was constructed overnight was gradually replaced with a virtually impregnable ring of reinforced concrete that ran 155km around West ...

12th August 1865: Joseph Lister conducts the world’s first antiseptic surgery using phenol, also known as carbolic acid

On 12 August Lister used a piece of lint doused in carbolic acid to cover the compound fracture wound of a seven-year-old boy. Over a period of six weeks the wound healed without developing ...

11th August 3114 BCE: Start of the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar

The Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar, most famously used by the Maya civilisation, ...

10th August 1792: French revolutionaries storm the Tuileries Palace in “the Second Revolution”

Approximately 800 people on the king’s side were killed and Paris was put in the hands of the ...

9th August 1173: Construction begins on the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Construction began on the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa, now better known as the Leaning Tower of ...

8th August 1963: The Great Train Robbery takes place when a gang of 15 men attack a Royal Mail train heading from Glasgow to London

The robbers succeeded in stealing over £2.6 million in cash. Worth £50million today, the vast majority of the money was never ...