First machine-gun patented, 1718
The son of a merchant of the same name, James Puckle was born sometime in or before 1667 in London. He inherited his father’s estate in 1690 to add to…
Collapse of Ronan Point, 1968
At around 5:45 in the morning of Thursday 16th May 1968, in flat 90 of the newly completed Ronan Point high-rise housing block in Newham, East London, a 56 year…
The Catonsville Nine, 1968
In May 1968, while students clashed with police outside, representatives of the United States and North Vietnam began peace talks in Paris to try bring about an end to the…
Frankfurt Parliament convened, 1848
1848 was a year of revolutions: the Sicilian Revolution of Independence from the Bourbon monarchy; elsewhere in Italy – the Roman and Venetian republics; the Hungarian Revolution against Hapsburg rule;…
England declared a republic, 1649
From the beginning of his reign, King Charles I’s relations with the Parliament of England were strained. In 1625, he married a Catholic, Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of…
Blue jeans patented, 1873
On 20th May 1873 two immigrants were granted the patent for that quintessential American garment: the blue jeans. Levi Strauss was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria in 1829 from where he…
Charles Lindbergh arrived in Paris, 1927
At 10:22pm on 21st May 1927, Charles Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Aerodrome, Paris completing the first ever non-stop solo transatlantic flight. Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field, New York…
First session of Finnish Parliament, 1907
In 1809, following occupation by Russian forces during their war against Sweden, the four estates of Finland (clergy, aristocracy, burghers and peasants) pledged loyalty to the Russian Tsar Alexander I,…
Nuclear submarine sank, 1968
On 29th July 1960, the United States Navy commissioned their latest nuclear-powered submarine, the 3500-ton Skipjack class USS Scorpion (SSN-589). Scorpion (the sixth US Navy ship to carry that name)…
U.S. consulate in Quebec City bombed, 1968
In 1963 a radical group of French-speaking Canadians broke away from Rassemblement pour l’Indépendance Nationale, an organisation that sought independence for the Canadian province of Quebec by democratic means. These…