Scott Allsop's Blog, page 98

26th August 1789: Adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man in France

The National Constituent Assembly of France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the ...

25th August 1875: Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel

Captain Matthew Webb became the first person to successfully swim across the English ...

24th August 79: The eruption of Mount Vesuvius wipes out numerous Roman settlements including Pompeii and Herculaneum

Beginning at around 1pm on 24 August, Mount Vesuvius sent gas, volcanic ash, and pumice into the stratosphere for up to 20 hours. This was followed by a pyroclastic flow that carried gas and molten rock down from the volcano and which then buried the previously fallen ...

23rd August 1944: King Michael of Romania leads a coup d’etat against Ion Antonescu

King Michael I of Romania led a coup d'état that removed the Nazi-aligned government of Ion ...

22nd August 1485: King Richard III killed at the Battle of Bosworth as the forces of Henry Tudor bring the Plantagenet dynasty to an end

The Stanley family surrounded and killed Richard III after the king chose to break ranks and target Henry Tudor ...

21st August 1911: Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre in Paris

Vincenzo Peruggia served just six months in jail for the robbery, and was hailed by many Italians as a nationalist hero for returning the Mona Lisa to her real home although it was later returned to ...

20th August 1940: Leon Trotsky attacked with an ice axe in Mexico

Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded with an ice axe by Spanish communist Ramón ...

19th August 1989: The Pan-European Picnic opens the Cold War border between Hungary and Austria

The Cold War border between Austria and Hungary was opened for a short period of time for the Pan-European ...

18th August 1612: The trials of nine Lancashire women and two men known as the Pendle Witches begin

The trials of the Pendle Witches are not only some of the most famous but also some of the best recorded witch trials in British history, and represent two per cent of all British witches to face trial over three ...

17th August 1836: Parliament passes the 1836 Marriage Act, allowing non-Anglican ceremonies

Parliament passed the Marriage Act that legalised civil marriages and introduced their formal ...