Scott Allsop's Blog, page 71

20th May 1873: Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis secure the patent for riveted blue jeans

Davis came up with the idea of reinforcing the stress points of garments with rivets after the wife of a woodcutter asked if he could make a pair of durable trousers for her husband, and approached Strauss with a business proposal whereby Strauss would finance the paperwork and the two men would share the ...

19th May 1919: Mustafa Kemal arrives in Samsun and begins the Turkish War of Independence

The Turkish War of Independence began when General Mustafa Kemal Pasha, the Inspector of the Ottoman 9th Army and later known as Atatürk, arrived at the town of Samsun on the Black Sea ...

18th May 1830: The world’s first lawnmower licensed for manufacture by Edwin Budding

British inventor Edwin Budding went into partnership with foundry owner John Ferrabee to manufacture the world’s first lawn ...

17th May 1902: The Antikythera mechanism, an ancient analogue computer, was first identified by Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais

What is known as the world’s oldest computer had  been in plain view for two years before anyone realised what it ...

16th May 1916: The Sykes-Picot Agreement ratified by Britain and France

The secret Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France, formally known as the Asia Minor Agreement, was ...

15th May 1928: Mickey and Minnie Mouse appear in their first cartoon to be shown to a cinema audience

Mickey Mouse's first animated appearance was in a silent short called Plane Crazy, but the cartoon failed to secure a distributor until a soundtrack was added a year ...

14th May 1955: The establishment of the Warsaw Pact

The USSR and seven other European countries signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance better known as the Warsaw ...

13th May 1787: The First Fleet departs for Australia from Portsmouth in England

On the 13th May 1787, the eleven ships of the “First Fleet” set sail under Captain Arthur Phillip from Portsmouth, England, to establish a penal colony in ...

12th May 1949: The Soviet Union ends its blockade of West Berlin

Instigated on 24 June the previous year, the Soviet blockade prevented all rail, road, and water transport between Berlin and the West of the ...

11th May 868: The world’s earliest dated printed book created in China

The world’s earliest dated printed book, a copy of the Diamond Sutra, was created in ...