August 1 - The Warsaw Uprising Begins

This Day in History: 1 August 2020

 

1 August 1944

 

76 years ago, today, the Warsaw Uprising began. Poles in the city of Warsaw were prompted by the nearing Soviet army to launch a major uprising against the Nazi occupation. The revolt was spearheaded by Polish General Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, the commander of the Home Army, an underground resistance group. The Home Army, while advancing Warsaw's liberation, hoped to gain at least partial control of Warsaw before the Soviets arrived, due to their anti-communist ideology. Three-fourths of the army were to die in the ordeal, along with 200,000 civilians and the destruction of the city's great treasures.

 

Despite the Poles' early gains, they were eventually overcome by the superior German weaponry. Many civilians were massacred, and the rebels were suppressed. The Soviet Red Army, meanwhile, had advanced greatly but refused to aid the Warsaw rebels. The city ran out of medical supplies, food, and water, leading to their surrender on October 2. Even after the revolt, however, the remaining buildings were demolished by the Nazis, and the surviving population was deported. After January 1945, the final Soviet offensive against Germany began, finally liberating the ruined city of Warsaw. With Warsaw destroyed, the Soviets faced little opposition in establishing a communist government in post-war Poland.

 

Want to find out more about the Warsaw Uprising? Click here for more information, or here for a video that explains the uprising.

July 31 - The Battle of Passchendaele

This Day in History: 31 July 2020

 

31 July 1917

 

103 years ago, today, the Third Battle of Ypres, also known as the Battle of Passchendaele, began. This was during World War One, when the Allies launched a renewed assault on the German lines in the Flanders region of Belgium. Unlike this battle, the first and second battles at Ypres were attacks by the Germans against the Allied-controlled area around Ypres, blocking any German advance into the English Channel. The third was spearheaded by the British commander-in-chief, Sir Douglas Haig, who was deluded by the belief that the German army was on the verge of collapse and would be broken by a major Allied victory.

 

Once the fighting had continued into its third month, the Allied attackers were reaching near-exhaustion and had few notable gains. The Germans, however, had reinforced their positions in the region, and Russia's army were sadly facing internal turmoil. Despite this, the final three attacks ordered on Passchendaele led to the capture of the village, and the end of the offensive, finally claiming victory. Nevertheless, the British had still failed to create a substantial breakthrough on the Western Front and had lost 310,000 lives. The Third Battle of Ypres remains one of the costliest offensives of the war, representing the wastefulness and futility of trench warfare.

 

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July 30 - President Johnson Signs Medicare Into Law

This Day in History: 30 July 2020

 

30 July 1965

 

55 years ago, today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Medicare into law. This was a health insurance programme for elderly Americans. At the bill-signing ceremony, which took place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, former President Harry Truman was enrolled as Medicare's first beneficiary and received the first Medicare card. His wife, the former First Lady, Bess Truman, was the second recipient of the program. President Johnson wanted to recognise Truman, who, in 1945, had become the first president to propose health insurance. This initiative was opposed at the time by Congress.

 

The Medicare program, providing hospital and medical insurance for Americans aged 65 or older, was signed into law as an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935. Around 19 million people enrolled into Medicare when it came into effect in the following year. Johnson also signed Medicaid into law on the same day as Medicare. This was a state and federally funded program offering health coverage for low-income people. In 1972, eligibility for Medicare was extended for Americans under 65 who had certain disabilities, as well as people of all ages with permanent kidney disease that required dialysis or transplant. More than three decades later, President George W. Bush added outpatient prescription drug benefits to Medicare with the Medicare Modernisation Act.

 

Want to find out more about the history of Medicare? Click here for more information, or here for more on the relevance of Medicare today with the COVID-19 pandemic.

July 29 - Marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana

This Day in History: 29 June 2020

 

29 June 1981

 

39 years ago, today, Prince Charles of Great Britain, heir to the throne, married Lady Diana Spencer. The couple were married in a grand ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral with 2,650 guests, while nearly one billion more watched from their televisions. However, the fairy-tale couple grew apart quickly, and the two announced a separation in 1992. Queen Elizabeth urged the couple to divorce in 1996, before they reached a final agreement. Diana agreed to surrender her title of 'Her Royal Highness' if she could retain the right to her apartments at Kensington Palace, and her title of 'princess'. She also gave up any future claims to the British throne.

 

In the year following the divorce, Diana was killed with her companion Dodi Fayed in a car accident in Paris. Tests conducted by French police showed that the driver, who had also died, was intoxicated and most likely caused the accident trying to escape paparazzi photographers. Almost a decade later, Prince Charles wed his long-time mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles. Although Camilla became the Princess of Wales with the marriage, she prefers the title 'Duchess of Cornwall', in respect for Diana. In response to public opinion polls showing resistance to the idea of a Queen Camilla, she announced her intention to use the title 'Princess Consort' if Charles should become king.

 

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July 28 - Death of Thomas Cromwell

This Day in History: 28 June 2020

 

28 June 1540

 

480 years ago, today, Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII's chief minister, was beheaded on the king's orders. Cromwell had been arrested at a Council meeting a month prior and accused of many charges. His enemies took every opportunity available to humiliate him, such as tearing off his Order of the Garter. They remarked that 'a traitor must not wear it', which Cromwell responded with by saying 'this then is my reward for faithful service!'. He was condemned to death without trial, lost all of his titles and property, and was publicly beheaded on Tower Hill, the same day as the king's marriage to Catherine Howard. Afterwards, his head was set on a spike on London Bridge. Henry came to regret Cromwell's death and later accused his ministers of bringing about Cromwell's downfall by false accusations.

 

Before his death, Cromwell was one of the strongest and most powerful proponents of the English Reformation, as he helped to engineer an annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This was in order for Henry to lawfully marry Anne Boleyn, who became Cromwell's enemy in his rise to power. In 1534, Henry failed to obtain the Pope's approval for the annulment, so Henry received the authority to annul the marriage himself when Parliament endorsed the king's claim to be Supreme Head of the Church of England. Although Cromwell always maintained a strong political outlook on general affairs, it is widely agreed that he was a Protestant with a Lutheran mindset.

 

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July 27 - President Nixon's Impeachment Begins

This Day in History: 27 July 2020

 

27 July 1974

 

46 years ago, today, the House Judiciary Committee recommended that President Richard M. Nixon be impeached and removed from office. The proceedings resulted from a series of political scandals that involved the Nixon administration, later collectively known as Watergate. This scandal first came to light following a break-in at the Democratic Party's national headquarters two years earlier, in the Watergate apartment-hotel complex in Washington, D.C. Nixon denied any involvement with the men linked to the crime, but several of his staff members were eventually implicated in an illegal cover-up. One of Nixon's former staff members also revealed the existence of secretly taped conversations between the president and his aides, which was reluctantly and partially released by the White House.

 

Formal impeachment hearings against Nixon began in May 1974, with the first article of impeachment being passed on this day. Two more articles, for abuse of power and contempt of Congress, were approved a few days later. New evidence released later clearly implicated him in the cover up of the Watergate break-in. On August 8, Nixon announced his resignation, marking him as the first president in US history to voluntarily leave office. Nixon was replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford, who, controversially, pardoned Nixon, making it impossible for him to be prosecuted for any crimes he may have committed while in office. Before Nixon, President Andrew Johnson was also impeached in 1868, as well as President Bill Clinton in 1998 and President Donald Trump in 2019. While Nixon was not impeached, the impeachment process against him is so far the only one to cause a president's departure from office.

 

Want to find out more about the impeachment of Richard Nixon? Click here for more information, or here for more about other presidential impeachments.

 

July 26 - President Truman Ends Discrimination in the US Military

This Day in History: 26 July 2020

 

26 July 1948

 

72 years ago, today, President Harry S. Truman signed the Executive Order 9981, ending discrimination in the military. This order ended a long-standing practise of segregating black soldiers and giving them more menial jobs. Since the Revolutionary War, African Americans had served in the United States military, but were deployed in their largest numbers during the Second World War. By the end of 1945, more than 2.5 million African Americans had registered for the military draft, and when the war ended, about 900,000 African Americans had served in the Army, Army Air Forces, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army Nurse Corps.

 

Black World War Two veterans were eligible for a free college education under the Servicemen Readjustment Act of 1944, but most faced discrimination when trying to access their benefits. This led many veterans to re-examine their poor treatment while serving. After witnessing racism in the service, Grant Reynolds resigned from his commission as a World War Two chaplain and joined the activist A. Philip Randolph to co-chair the Committee Against Jim Crow in the Military Service and Training. The pressure from groups like theirs pushed President Truman to establish a Commission on Civil Rights, whose pleas were initially rejected by Congress. Truman pushed for many of the proposals from the Commission on his own, like the Executive Order 9981.

 

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July 25 - Birth of the First 'Test Tube' Baby

This Day in History: 25 July 2020

 

25 July 1978

 

42 years ago, today, the world's first baby to be conceived by in vitro fertilisation was born in Manchester, England, to Lesley and Peter Brown. The healthy baby was delivered shortly before midnight by caesarean section and was named Louise Joy Brown. The couple had a second daughter several years later, named Natalie, with the same procedure. Natalie would later become the first IVF baby to give birth to her own child. This was done naturally, easing some concerns that female IVF babies would be unable to conceive naturally. Louise Brown also gave birth to a boy, Cameron John Mullinder, in December 2006, who was also conceived naturally.

 

Before giving birth to Louise, Lesley Brown had suffered years of infertility due to her blocked fallopian tubes. She underwent a then-experimental IVF procedure in November 1977, where a mature egg was removed from one of her ovaries and combined with her husband's sperm to form an embryo. This was implanted into her uterus a few days later. Once the media learned of the pregnancy, the Browns faced intense public scrutiny, and Louise's birth made headlines around the world, raising various legal and ethical questions. Despite this, today, IVF is considered a primary medical treatment for infertility. Around the world, hundreds of thousands of children have been conceived through the method.

 

Want to find out more about the first 'test tube' baby? Click here for more information, or click here for more about the history of IVF treatment.

July 24 - The Discovery of Machu Picchu

This Day in History: 24 July 2020

 

24 July 1911

 

109 years ago, today, the Machu Picchu ruins were discovered by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham. Machu Picchu was an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the world's top tourist destinations. It is believed to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilisation was wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16^th century. Its existence was a secret known only to the peasants living in the region. However, this changed in the summer of 1911, when Bingham arrived into the region with a small team of explorers to search for the famous 'lost' city of the Incas.

 

Bingham and his team travelled on foot and by mule from Cuzco into the Urubamba Valley. There, they met a local farmer who told them of some of the ruin locations. The farmer called the mountain where the ruins were sited 'Machu Picchu', which meant 'old peak'. The next day, after a tough climb, Bingham met a group of peasants who lead the rest of the way. Bingham spread the word about his discovery in a book, causing eager tourists to flock to Peru and up the Inca trail. Today, more than 300,000 people make their way to Machu Picchu every year, risking the possibility of landslides and large crowds to witness the sun set over the stone monuments of the city.

 

Want to find out more about Machu Picchu? Click here for more information on its discovery, or here for more about the Incas.

July 23 - The Detroit Riots Begin

This Day in History: 23 July 2020

 

23 July 1967

 

53 years ago, today, the Detroit riots began, which were among the bloodiest in American history. The violence occurred during a period of Detroit's history when the city was struggling economically, with race relations nationwide also being at an all-time low. The Detroit Police Department's vice squad often raided illegal drinking establishments in the poorer neighbourhoods of the city, and in the early morning on this day, they moved against a club that was hosting a party for returning Vietnam War veterans. The police activity in the early hours drew a crowd of onlookers, causing the situation to rapidly deteriorate.

 

Thousands of people had quickly spilled out onto the street from nearby buildings. They began to throw rocks and bottles at the police, who rapidly fled the scene. On 12^th Street, where the illegal club was located, looting and ransacking of shops and businesses began. The first fire broke out by dawn, setting much of the street ablaze. A few hours later, every policeman and fireman in Detroit was called, but officers still struggled to control the crowd on 12^th Street. Firemen were also attacked as they tried to fight the flames. This riot continued throughout the week, and even the US Army and National Guard were called in. Once the violence had ended, around 43 people had died, many more were seriously injured and nearly 1,400 buildings had been burned or ransacked.

 

Want to find out more about the 1967 Detroit riots? Click here for more information, or here for how the riots reshaped Detroit.

July 22 - The Srebrenica Massacre Ends

This Day in History: 22 July 2020

 

22 July 1995

 

25 years ago, today, the Srebrenica massacre ended, after more than 7,000 Bosniak boys and men had been killed. In addition to the killings, more than 20,000 civilians were expelled from the area, in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking the event as an ethnic cleansing. The massacre was the worst episode of mass murder within Europe since World War Two and helped persuade the West to press for a cease-fire that ended the three-year long Bosnian conflict. However, deep emotional scars were still left on survivors, and enduring obstacles were created in the road for political reconciliation among Bosnia's ethnic groups.

 

During the days following the massacre, American spy planes overflew the area of Srebrenica and took photographs that showed the ground in vast areas around the town being removed. This was concluded to be a sign of mass burials. The killings in the town were also judged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to amount to genocide, pinning principal responsibility on senior officers in the Bosnian Serb army. However, the United Nations and its Western supporters also accepted some partial blame for having failed to protect the Bosniak people. In 2010, the Serbian National Assembly also narrowly passed a resolution that apologised for not preventing the killings, even though Serbia was not legally involved in the massacre.

 

Want to find out more about the Srebrenica massacre? Click here for more information, or here for more on the commemoration of the 25^th anniversary. Click here to instead watch a video that briefly explains the event.

July 21 - President Eisenhower Reveals His 'Open Skies' Plan

This Day in History: 21 July 2020

 

21 July 1955

 

65 years ago, today, President Dwight D. Eisenhower presented his 'Open Skies' plan at the 1955 Geneva summit. This was a meeting between Premier Edgar Faure of France, Prime Minister Anthony Eden of Great Britain and Premier Nikolai Bulganin of the Soviet Union. The plan was never accepted but laid the foundation for President Ronald Reagan's policy of 'trust but verify' in relation to arms agreements with the USSR. The agenda for the summit had included discussions on the future of Germany and arms control, but it became clear that no clear consensus could be reached for both issues.

 

Eisenhower unveiled the 'Open Skies' proposal, calling for the United States and the Soviet Union to exchange maps that indicated the exact location of every military installation in both nations. Each country would then be allowed to conduct aerial surveillance of the installations to make sure each was complying with arms control agreements. The French and the British expressed interest in the idea but the Soviets rejected the plan, with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev calling it nothing more than an 'espionage plot'. It is likely that the Soviets simply did not want the United States to know that they were far behind in military capabilities, but the US found out anyway. A few months after the Soviet rejection, the U-2 spy planes were approved for spying on the Soviet Union.

 

Want to find out more about the 'Open Skies' plan? Click here for more information, or here for more about Cold War espionage.

July 20 - The Moon Landing

This Day in History: 20 July 2020

 

20 July 1969

 

51 years ago, today, Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon began in a famous appeal made by President John F. Kennedy. Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy's bold proposal as the United States was still trailing behind the Soviet Union in space developments. Despite some setbacks, NASA forged ahead, and in October 1968, the first manned Apollo mission orbited Earth and successfully tested many proposed systems needed for a moon journey. Apollo 8 later took three astronauts to the far side of the moon, and Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in preparation for the landing mission.

 

Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19, but it would be a day later when the lunar module, the Eagle, would descend to the lunar surface. When the craft touched down on the moon, Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston "the Eagle has landed". A few hours later, the progress of the landing was sent back to Earth from a television camera, where hundreds of millions watched in anticipation. Armstrong spoke his famous quote "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" into the microphone, and placed his foot onto the powdery surface of the moon. Although there would be five more successful lunar landing missions, the program was too expensive to continue after 1972, costing close to £100 billion in today's dollars. However, the expense was justified by Kennedy in order to beat the Soviets, and so ongoing missions lost their viability.

 

Want to find out more about the moon landing? Click here for more information, or here for some facts about the event. Alternatively, click here for more on moon-landing conspiracies.

July 19 - The Rosetta Stone is Discovered

This Day in History: 19 July 2020

 

19 July 1799

 

221 years ago, today, the Rosetta Stone was found by a French solider during Napoleon Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign. When Napoleon invaded the nation in 1798, he took along a group of scholars, instructing them to seize all important cultural artifacts for France. Pierre Bouchard, one of the French soldiers, was aware of this when he found the stone. However, when the British defeated Napoleon in 1801, they took the Rosetta Stone into their own possession. The black slab was discovered near the town of Rosetta, near Alexandria, and was almost four feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide.

 

It contained fragments of passages written in the three different scripts of Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic. The ancient Greek inscribed on the stone told the archaeologists that the Rosetta Stone was from priests honouring the king of Egypt, Ptolemy V, in the second century. It also announced that the three scripts were all of identical meaning, making the artifact key in solving the riddles of hieroglyphics. Several scholars made progress with the initial hieroglyphic analysis, but French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion was ultimately the person to decipher them. He used his self-taught knowledge of ancient languages as a guide. Once the inscriptions were translated, the language and culture of ancient Egypt was open to scientists as never before.

 

Want to find out more about the Rosetta Stone? Click here for more information, or here for more on the challenge of deciphering the inscriptions.

July 18 - Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' is Published

This Day in History: 18 July 2020

 

18 July 1925

 

95 years ago, today, Adolf Hitler's philosophical autobiography 'Mein Kampf' was published. It was essentially a blueprint of his agenda for a Third Reich and a clear description of what was to take place in Europe from 1939 to 1945. This volume was initially composed while Hitler spent his time in Landsberg prison, after being convicted for treason while attempting to stage a disastrous coup. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment but would only serve nine months. His time in the fortress at Landsberg was far from brutal as he was allowed guests and gifts.

 

The first part of the autobiography was subtitled 'A Reckoning' and is over 400 pages. It discusses the problems of Germany, such as the French who wished to dismember the nation, the lack of living space, the need to expand into Russia, and the negative influence of 'mongrel' races. Hitler constantly emphasised the need for racial purity in a revitalised Germany. Volume Two focused on national socialism and was published 2 years later. Throughout the decade, sales of the complete work remained mediocre; it was not until the first year of Hitler's tenure as the chancellor of Germany that sales soared to over 1 million. The book was so popular that a ritual was created to give a newly married couple a copy.

 

Want to find out more about 'Mein Kampf'? Click here for more information, or here for more about the danger of the book today.

July 17 - The Potsdam Conference

This Day in History: 17 July 2020

 

17 July 1945

 

75 years ago, today, the Potsdam Conference began between the United States, the Soviet Union and Great Britain, towards the end of World War Two. The decisions made at the meeting settled many of the issues between the Allies, including post-war Europe and the ongoing conflict with Japan, but it was also marked by growing suspicion and tension between the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. Soviet armies occupied most of Eastern Europe, but Soviet leader Joseph Stalin showed no inclination to remove his control. US President Harry S. Truman was determined to appear tough to Stalin and announced the news that American scientists had just successfully tested the atomic bomb.

 

The issue of post-war Germany dominated the meeting. The Soviets wanted a united but disarmed Germany. Truman and his advisors feared the spread of Soviet influence throughout Germany and further into western Europe and fought for an agreement where each Allied power would control a zone of occupation in Germany. The United States also limited the amount of reparations the Soviets could take from Germany. When the conference ended in early August, matters were more-or-less the same as before the meeting, but there would be no further wartime conferences. The Second World War ended less than a month later, just after the United States dropped two atomic bombs in Japan.

 

Want to find out more about the Potsdam Conference? Click here for more information, or here for more on the wartime conferences of World War Two.

July 16 - The First Atomic Bomb Explosion

This Day in History: 16 July 2020

 

16 July 1945

 

75 years ago, today, the first atomic bomb was successfully exploded in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Plans for the creation of a uranium bomb had been conducted by the Allies in 1939, when Italian physicist Enrico Fermi met with US Navy officials to discuss the use of fissionable materials for military purposes. The research, however, was only funded a year later, with a more active interest growing in 1942. The United States were now at war with the Axis powers, and fear was increasing of the possibility that Germany were working on their own uranium bomb, so limits on resources for the project were removed.

 

The Manhattan Project, engineered by Brigadier-General Leslie R. Groves, would move through different locations during the early periods, most importantly at the University of Chicago, where Enrico Fermi set off the first fission chain reaction. However, the desert of New Mexico is where the Project took its final form, where theory and practise came together to create a nuclear explosion. The first atomic bomb was detonated, causing the first mushroom cloud that stretched 40,000 feet into the air. The tower on which the bomb sat was vaporised. Even though Germany was the original target of the bomb, they had already surrendered. This left Japan as the only enemy power remaining and therefore the bomb's first target.

 

Want to find out more about the history of the atomic bomb? Click here for more information, or here for a video with more on the Manhattan Project.

July 15 - The Execution of John Christie

This Day in History: 15 July 2020

 

15 July 1953

 

67 years ago, today, John Christie, one of England's most notorious killers, was executed. Four months earlier, in March, the police and a tenant in West London, at 10 Rillington Place, made an unfathomable discovery. They found the bodies of four women in an empty apartment, three in a hidden cupboard and one more that was beneath the floorboards. Christie had used to live in the house, and was apprehended a week later, subsequently confessing to the murders of the women. One of the women found dead had been identified as Christie's wife, Ethel, so police immediately knew where to begin their search for the killer. The two had been married for four years, but Christie visited prostitutes during their time together.

 

The other three victims were young women, who had all been sexually assaulted before their deaths. Detectives then soon found additional bodies buried in the garden behind the house. Two of the women had actually not been murdered by Christie but had died from illegal abortions that were conducted by another man. Throughout his life, Christie had suffered with impotence, causing his rage that led to his murder spree. The gory discoveries at Christie's old house filled the London headlines and tabloids for weeks, fuelling the call for Christie's execution that occurred at Pentonville Prison.

 

Want to find out more about the life and execution of John Christie? Click here for more information, or watch the 2016 BBC crime drama 'Rillington Place', starring Jodie Comer and Tim Roth.

July 14 - The Storming of the Bastille

This Day in History: 14 June 2020

 

14 June 1789

 

231 years ago, today, revolutionaries and troops in Paris stormed the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had symbolised the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. France had been moving quickly toward revolution at the beginning of the 1789 summer. The Bastille was feared to be a target by Bernard-René Jordan de Launay, the military governor, and so requested reinforcements. Royal authorities subsequently transferred 250 barrels of gunpower to the Bastille, and Launay ordered his men into the fortress before raising the drawbridges. Two days afterwards, a great, revolutionary crowd, armed with swords and makeshift weapons, began to gather around the Bastille.

 

Launay's men were able to hold back the mob, but as more Parisians advanced forward, Launay surrendered over the fortress. He and his men were taken into custody, and the gunpowder and cannons were seized. Launay, instead of being tried by a revolutionary council, was murdered by a mob when he arrived at the Hotel de Ville. This dramatic event marked the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade-long period of political turmoil and terror. King Louis XVI was eventually overthrown and executed along with his wife, Marie-Antionette, when they were sent to the guillotine for treason in 1793. Tens of thousands of people were also executed. This event is now celebrated as Bastille Day, when the oldest and largest military parade in Europe is held on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

 

Want to find out more about the history of Bastille Day? Click here for more information, or here for more on the French Revolution.

July 13 - The Execution of Ruth Ellis

This Day in History: 13 July 2020

 

13 July 1955

 

65 years ago, today, Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged for murder in the United Kingdom, after she murdered her boyfriend. She was born in Wales in 1926, but left school as a young teenager, before having her own child and working a wide variety of jobs. Eventually, she would become a nightclub hostess, and marry dentist George Ellis, with whom she had a second child. However, the marriage was short-lived, and she returned to working in nightclubs. She later became involved in a volatile relationship with David Blakely, conceiving his child but miscarried after he hit her in the stomach. Her obsession with Blakely grew, and on April 10, she shot him to death in Hampstead, North London.

 

During Ellis' trial, she stated that she obviously intended to kill Blakely when she shot him. This key statement allowed the law to convict Ellis of intent to murder, so Ellis automatically received the death penalty. Despite this, thousands of people signed petitions that protested her punishment, but she was still hanged at Holloway Prison in Islington. Although she was the last woman executed for murder in Great Britain, Peter Anthony Allen and John Alan West were the last people executed in England in August 1964. The next year, the death penalty for murder was outlawed in England, Scotland and Wales, with Northern Ireland banning capital punishment in 1973. Nevertheless, several crimes, including treason, were still punishable by death until 1998.

 

Want to find out more about the life and execution of Ruth Ellis? Click here for more information, or here for more about the history of the British death penalty.

July 12 - Geraldine Ferraro Becomes the First Female Vice-Presidential Candidate

This Day in History: 12 July 2020

 

12 July 1984

 

36 years ago, today, Walter Mondale announced that he had chosen Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. She became the first female vice-presidential candidate to represent a major political party. Ferraro was the daughter of Italian immigrants and had previously gained recognition as a vocal advocate of women's rights in Congress. Shortly after she was named vice presidential candidate, Governor Mario Cuomo of New York, a Democrat like Mondale and Ferraro, opened the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco with criticism. He began a retort against Republican President Ronald Reagan's contention that the nation was a 'shining city on a hill'. Cuomo described Reagan as oblivious to the needs of his citizens.

 

Mondale still proved a lacklustre choice for the Democratic presidential nominee. On November 6, President Reagan and Vice President George Bush defeated the Mondale-Ferraro duo in the greatest Republican landslide in American history. Apart from Mondale's home state, Minnesota, the Republicans carried every state. In 1985, Ferraro left Congress, and in 1992 and 1998 made unsuccessful bids for a US Senate seat. During the administration of President Bill Clinton, she became a permanent member on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Her career as a journalist, author and businesswoman was also continued, and she even served in the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton. In March 2011, after suffering from multiple myeloma 12 years after being diagnosed, Ferraro sadly died.

 

Want to find out more about the life of Geraldine Ferraro? Click here for more information, or here for a timeline of women's history milestones.

July 11 - The Niagara Movement Members First Meet

This Day in History: 11 July 2020

 

11 July 1905

 

115 years ago, today, members of the Niagara Movement met for the first time. This all-African American group of scholars, lawyers and businessmen came together for a three-day period to create a powerful post-slavery Black rights organisation. Even though it only lasted five years, the movement was an influential precursor to the civil rights movements a few decades later. A founding member of the Niagara Movement was W.E.B. Du Bois, who was determined to have his new group oppose the reforms put forward by Booker T. Washington, the nation's foremost spokesperson on Black issues at the time.

 

The group's initial meeting comprised of 29 men, who went on to discuss establishing an organisation to fight racial segregation, while promoting the full incorporation of African Americans into the nation's society. In 1895, Washington had declared that black people should remain in the south and work alongside white citizens. The Niagara Movement opposed this idea, vowing to strive for black voting rights, better health care, education, employment opportunities and civil liberties. Membership of the movement only reached 170, despite annual meetings around the country. A large factor in its lack of support was their opposition towards Washington. By 1910, the Niagara Movement had disbanded, but its principles were continued in the formation of the NAACP.

 

Want to find out more about the Niagara Movement? Click here for more information, or here for a timeline on black history milestones.

July 10 - The Battle of Britain Begins

This Day in History: 10 July 2020

 

10 July 1940

 

80 years ago, today, the Battle of Britain began, initiated by a series of bombing raids from the Germans. The British officially recognise the battle's length as spanning over a three-month period, overlapping the Blitz. After the occupation of France had begun two months prior, Britain knew that it was only a matter of time before Germany and the other Axis powers shifted its focus across the Channel and onto the island. This suspicion was proved as German bombers and fighters began to bomb a British shipping convoy in the Channel. Meanwhile, 70 more bombers were attacking dockyard installations in South Wales.

 

Although the British had fewer fighters than the Germans, they still had some advantages, such as an effective radar system, hindering a possible German sneak attack. Britain's superior aircrafts, in the form of Spitfires, enabled them to be more effective pursuers. Additionally, the nation's unified focus aided them throughout, as the German infighting caused missteps in timing. Despite this, in the opening days of the battle, Britain was in dire need of a collective stiff upper lip and aluminium. The government made a plea for the country to turn in all available aluminium to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The ministry declared it would be turned into Spitfires and Hurricanes, which it was.

 

Want to find out more about the Battle of Britain? Click here for more information, or here for an animated video recalling the event. Alternatively, watch the 1969 film 'Battle of Britain' as it documents the events of the battle.

July 9 - Catherine the Great Assumes Power

This Day in History: 9 July 2020

 

9 July 1762

 

258 years ago, today, Catherine the Great assumed power after rallying the army regiments of St. Petersburg against her husband. She would stay on the throne for the next 34 years, longer than any other female ruler in Russian history. Peter III and Catherine's marriage had been unhappy from the beginning, and neither one was faithful. Catherine later hinted in her memoirs that her husband had not fathered any of her four children, but many historians believe that he did father her first son, Paul. Once Peter had ascended to the throne, his many enemies plotted to overthrow him and replace him with Paul, but instead Catherine seized the advantage for herself. Peter was assassinated eight days later by Catherine's supporters.

 

Catherine's reign would be remembered in Russia's history as a time of significant progress and great achievement for the nation, despite the unsteady beginning. Like the historic Peter the Great, she aimed to westernise the country, making it strong enough to stand its own ground against the great powers of Europe. Under Catherine, the borders of Russia expanded to the west and south, encompassing Crimea and much of Poland. On a personal level, Catherine was notorious for her many lovers. She also was in favour of her grandson, Alexander, becoming heir instead of her own son, Paul, but she died of a stroke in 1796 before she could act upon this. Paul inherited the Russian throne, but was assassinated five years later, allowing Alexander to become the next ruler in the Romanov dynasty.

 

Want to find out more about Catherine the Great? Click here for more information, or here for more about Catherine's variety of lovers.

July 8 - Commodore Perry Opens Japan to the Western World

This Day in History: 8 July 2020

 

8 July 1853

 

167 years ago, today, Commodore Matthew C. Perry, representing the US government, sailed into Tokyo Bay and opened Japan to Western influence and trade. For a while, Japanese officials refused to speak with Perry. However, under threat of attack by the superior American ships, they reluctantly accepted letters from US President Millard Fillmore. This marked the United States as the first Western nation to establish relations with the nation, since it declared itself closed to foreigners two centuries before. After 1639, only the Dutch and the Chinese had been permitted to continue to trade with the Japanese. This trade was still restricted and confided to the island of Dejima, however.

 

Perry returned to Tokyo with nine ships once again in March 1854, after allowing Japan time to consider the possibility of external relations. The Treaty of Kanagawa was signed on March 31 between Perry and Japan's government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to the Americans, as well as permitting the creation of a US consulate in Japan. Four years later, the first Japanese diplomats to visit a foreign power in over 200 years were welcomed into Washington, D.C. Treaties with other Western powers followed shortly afterwards, contributing to the collapse of Japan's shogunate, and ultimately, the modernisation of Japan.

 

Want to find out more about the opening of Japan to the Western world? Click here for more information, or here for more about the modernisation of Japan.

July 7 - The WAAC is Formally Established

This Day in History: 7 July 2020

 

7 July 1917

 

103 years ago, today, the British Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, the WAAC, was formally established, authorising female volunteers to serve alongside their male counterparts in France during World War One. Large numbers of women were already working in munitions factories, supplying for the Allied war effort. However, the conditions were harsh and long hours were spent working with toxic chemicals. In early 1917, a campaign began to allow women to directly support the war effort by enlisting in the army. They would perform labours, such as cookery and mechanical work, that would otherwise be completed by men.

 

The creation and establishment of the WAAC meant that for the first time, women were being sent in uniform to work as clerks, telephone operators, waitresses and other positions on the war front. Despite this, women were still paid less than their male counterparts. The War Office also set the restriction that for every woman volunteering through the WAAC, a man had to be released for frontline duties. None of the women could become officers, but those who rose in their own ranks became 'controllers' or 'administrators'. By the time the war had finished, around 80,000 women had served in the WAAC and the two other British female forces, the Women's Relief Defence Corps and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. Although they were non-combatants, they still served as invaluable contributors to the Allied war effort.

 

Want to find out more about the WAAC? Click here for more information, or here for more about the female role in the war.

July 6 - The Frank Family Go Into Hiding

This Day in History: 6 July 2020

 

6 July 1942

 

78 years ago, today, Anne Frank and her family took refuge inside a secret, sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse. Fearing deportation to a Nazi concentration camp, Anne's father, Otto Frank, approached his bookkeeper, Miep Gies. He asked if she would help to hide his family and asked his employees as well if they would help. They agreed, and risked their lives to smuggle food, supplies and news into the 'Secret Annex'. During the next two years, Anne would keep a diary describing her everyday experiences, her relationships and observations about the dangerous world around her.

 

In August 1944, the Frank's 'Secret Annex' was discovered by the Nazi Gestapo. The family was sent to Nazi concentration camps, with the two Christian employees that had helped them. They were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, but in early 1945, Anne and her sister, Margot, were moved to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany. Sadly, after suffering the lethal conditions, the two sisters caught typhus and died. After the war, Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam following his release from Auschwitz. He was given Anne's notebooks and loose papers containing her writings that Miep Gies had hidden in her desk. 'The Diary of Anne Frank' was published in Dutch in 1947, and in English in 1952, serving as a literary testament to the Jews who were silenced in the Holocaust.

 

Want to find out more about Anne Frank's life and experiences? Click here for more information, or here for more on who betrayed the Frank family.

July 5 - Dolly, the Cloned Sheep, is Born

This Day in History: 5 July 2020

 

5 July 1996

 

24 years ago, today, Dolly the sheep became the first mammal to be successfully cloned from an adult cell. As a cloned lamb, Dolly was given the code-name of '6LL3', but was renamed after singer Dolly Parton, reportedly suggested by one of the stockmen assisting with her birth that took place at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The mammary cell Dolly was born from had been taken from the udder of a six-year-old ewe and cultured in a lab using microscopic needles. A number of normal eggs were produced and implanted into surrogate ewes, one of them eventually giving birth to Dolly.

 

Her birth was announced publicly and was met with a frenzy of controversy. Some supported the new cloning technology for its possibilities in advancing medicine, helping to treat degenerative nerve disease with the collection of stem cells, and even preserving endangered species. On the other hand, some critics saw the new technique as potentially unethical and unsafe, especially when it was applied to the next logical step of human cloning. Dolly was mated later in her life to a male sheep named David, and they gave birth to four lambs. Sadly, in January 2002, she was found to have arthritis in her hind legs, which raised questions about genetic abnormalities in the cloning process. At the age of six, Dolly was put down after suffering from a progressive lung disease, raising even more questions about the safety of cloning. Dolly was stuffed and is now on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

 

Want to find out more about Dolly, the cloned sheep? Click here for more information about Dolly's life, or here for a video about the creation of Dolly.

July 4 - The American Declaration of Independence

This Day in History: 4 July 2020

 

4 July 1776

 

244 years ago, today, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king. Most colonists had been quietly accepting British rule until Parliament's enactment of the 1773 Tea Act, designed to save the faltering East India Company by lowering its tea tax and granting it a monopoly on the American tea trade. This was viewed by colonists as an example of taxation tyranny, inspiring the Boston Tea Party, where British tea was dumped into the Boston harbour, outraging the British Parliament.

 

Britain subsequently enacted the Coercive Acts, closing Boston off from merchant shipping and establishing formal British military rule in Massachusetts. A united American resistance was formed in response, creating a shadow revolutionary government and establishing militias to resist the increasing British presence. In April 1775, the first shots of the American Revolution were fired when the two sides met. Both the Americans and the British saw this emerging conflict as a civil war within the British Empire, but to King George III, it was a colonial rebellion. In July 1776, the Continental Congress voted to approve a Virginia motion that would call for separation from Britain. Two days later, on this day, the declaration was formally adopted by 12 colonies. However, the Revolutionary War would continue for five more years, before the final victory in 1781 and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, transforming the United States into a free and independent nation.

 

Want to find out more about the American Declaration of Independence? Click here for more information, or here for facts you might not know about the declaration. Alternatively, click here for more about the possibly controversial illegality of the document.

July 3 - The Mecca Tunnel Tragedy

This Day in History: 3 July 2020

 

3 July 1990

 

30 years ago, today, a stampede of religious pilgrims in a tunnel in Mecca left more than 1,400 people dead. To the followers of Islam, travelling to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is known as performing the Hajj, a pilgrimage that must be done at least once in a Muslim's lifetime. More than two million people make the journey every year, and typically, the feast of Al-Adha is celebrated, and holy sites are visited. However, some of these rituals have led to tragedy, especially in Mina, the birthplace of the prophet Mohammed, the founder of the Islamic faith.

 

In Mina, there is a giant pillar representing the devil, which pilgrims throw stones at. In 1994, 270 people died as too many rushed forward to participate in the stoning. A similar situation occurred in 1998, killing at least 110 people. A stampede in Mina also occurred in 2003, killing another 244 pilgrims. However, stampedes are not the only source of tragedy, as a fire in a tent in Mina also killed 340 people in 1997. Two plane crashes in 1991 carrying pilgrims back home also disastrously killed many. In the 1990 stampede, organisational failures by law enforcement and enormous crowd sizes resulted in the deaths of 1,426 who were crushed or suffocated to death. In the aftermath, safety measures were undertaken, but with little success, as in 2015, another deadly stampede occurred in Mina.

 

Want to find out more about the 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy? Click here for more information.