Scott Allsop's Blog, page 63

7th August 1909: Alice Ramsey makes the first female transcontinental car journey

Alice Huyler Ramsey became the first woman to drive an automobile across a continent when she completed a 59-day road trip from New York to San ...

6th August 1890: William Kemmler becomes the first person to be executed by electric chair

William Kemmler became the first person to be executed using an electric ...

5th August 1861: Abraham Lincoln signs US income tax into law to help pay for the American Civil War

The Revenue Act of 1861 was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln, imposing U.S. federal income tax for the first ...

4th August 1944: First Allied jet pilot to achieve a combat victory by ‘tipping’ a V-1 doodlebug

RAF Flight Officer T. D. Dean became the first Allied jet pilot to achieve a combat victory when he 'tipped' a Nazi German V-1 ‘doodlebug’ flying bomb with his Gloster Meteor jet ...

3rd August 1936: Jesse Owens wins his first gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

American athlete Jesse Owens won the first of four gold medals at the Berlin ...

2nd August 1934: Hitler declares himself Führer of Germany after Reichspräsident Hindenburg dies of lung cancer

The move by Hitler effectively merged the offices of both the President and Chancellor into one role, and therefore completed what the Nazis referred to as Gleichschaltung (or ‘Co-ordination’) by establishing Hitler as both Germany's head of state and head of ...

1st August 1834: Slavery Abolition Act comes into force in the United Kingdom

The Act outlawed slavery throughout the British Empire although the impact took a long time to be felt. There were also some exceptions such as in areas controlled by the East India ...

31st July 1970: Black Tot Day ends the Royal Navy’s daily rum ration

On the 31st July 1970, the British Royal Navy issued the last daily rum ration, or “tot”, to ...

30th July 1619: The General Assembly of Virginia, the oldest continuous elected assembly in the New World, convenes for the first time

The oldest continuous elected legislative assembly in the New World, the House of Burgesses in Virginia, convened for the first ...

29th July 1914: Successful voice test of the first transcontinental telephone line between New York and San Francisco

The world’s first transcontinental telephone line was successfully voice tested between New York and San ...