Scott Allsop's Blog, page 67

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 ...

28th July 1858: First modern use of fingerprints for identification by William Herschel in West Bengal, India

Having paid in advance for an expensive contract in which local businessman Rajyadhar Konai agreed to build a new road, Herschel chose to take the full hand print of the contractor as his commitment to honour the ...

27th July 1940: Bugs Bunny makes his cartoon debut in A Wild Hare

Bugs Bunny made his first appearance in the Merrie Melodies cartoon A Wild ...

26th July 1936: Hitler informs General Francisco Franco that Germany will support his Nationalist rebellion in Spain

Both Hitler and Mussolini were concerned about the risk of the Spanish Civil War escalating into a European-wide conflict, so at first their support for the Nationalists was small-scale and consisted mainly of transporting existing Spanish troops from Morocco to the mainland. As the war progressed their involvement ...

25th July 1909: Louis Blériot makes the first powered cross-Channel flight

French aviator Louis Charles Joseph Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air ...

24th July 1927: Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing unveiled in the Belgian city of Ypres

The Menin Gate is one of four memorials to missing British and Commonwealth soldiers from the First World War in the area around the Ypres Salient, and features more than 54,000 ...