Scott Allsop's Blog, page 82

31st January 1983: It became compulsory for drivers in the UK to wear a seat belt

The modern 3-point seat belt was created by Swedish inventor Nils Bohlin, who was a safety engineer for car manufacturer ...

30th January 1649: Execution of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland outside the Banqueting House in London

Charles was executed on 30 January, having requested to wear two shirts as protection from the cold so that the crowd wouldn’t think he was shaking from fear. Six days later, Parliament abolished the ...

29th January 1942: Desert Island Discs, the longest-running radio show in the UK, first broadcast

Desert Island Discs is Britain’s longest-running radio ...

28th January 1986: NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger breaks apart 73 seconds after launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida

At 11.39am Challenger lifted off, and seventy-three seconds later the Shuttle began to disintegrate following a huge fireball. All seven members of crew were killed, and the disaster led to NASA suspending all Space Shuttle missions for over two and a half ...

27th January 1945: Soviet soldiers liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp

The advancing Soviet troops met some resistance from remaining Nazi troops in the Polish city of Oświęcim, but by 3pm on 27 January 1945 they had captured the Main Camp and Auschwitz ...

26th January 1564: Pope Pius IV confirms the decrees of the Council of Trent

Pope Pius IV issued a Papal bull confirming the decrees of the Council of Trent that defined Catholic doctrine in the face of the Protestant ...

25th January 1890: American journalist Nellie Bly arrives in New Jersey after completing a 72-day solo journey around the world

With £200 in English gold and banknotes, and a single bag that was smaller than modern carry-on luggage, Bly departed from Hoboken Pier in New Jersey on board the Augusta Victoria steamship on 14 November ...

24th January 1908: Robert Baden-Powell publishes Scouting for Boys

The first instalment of Robert Baden-Powell’s Scouting for Boys triggered the Boy Scout ...

23rd January 1900: British troops launch a nighttime attack on Spion Kop in the Second Boer War

The Second Boer War saw the British Empire fight against the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of the South African Republic and the Orange Free ...

22nd January 1905: Bloody Sunday massacre takes place in the Russian capital St. Petersburg

Why the soldiers began firing on the peaceful march is unclear. Even the number of marchers killed or injured is uncertain with estimates ranging from the government’s official figure of 96 dead to revolutionary claims of more than ...