Category: This day in History

In 1823, a worker repairing the roof of Rome’s Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls accidentally started a fire that resulted in its almost total destruction. The church, built under Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, had retained its original character for nearly 1,500 years. Reconstruction work began almost immediately with the aim of recreating the original structure. The viceroy of Egypt contributed alabaster pillars to the rebuilding effort, while the Russian emperor sent what? Discuss

In 1695, the Scottish Parliament passed an act chartering a trading company to open trade with Africa and the Indies in the hope that this would make Scotland a world trading nation. Backed by about a quarter of the country’s liquid assets, the Darién Company tried to establish a colony on the Isthmus of Panama to compete with the Dutch and Spanish, but both of its expeditions failed, nearly bankrupting Scotland in the process. The failures led to what acts of Parliament? Discuss

The New York Draft Riots, in which more than 100 civilians were killed, were the largest civil insurrection in US history after the Civil War. The rioters were mainly working-class men who were angry because, for a $300 fee, the wealthy could buy their way out of the Civil War draft. The rioters burned draft headquarters and other buildings. Mobs also attacked African Americans, whom they blamed for the war. The riots are portrayed in an alternate-history novel co-written by what politician? Discuss

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy was an act passed during the French Revolution that subordinated the Roman Catholic Church to the state. Under the act, citizens would elect clergymen and the state would pay their wages. When the National Assembly ordered the clergy to take an oath supporting the Civil Constitution, many refused. The resulting schism within the French church caused many Catholics to turn against the Revolution. What effect did the constitution have on monastic orders? Discuss

The Los Alfaques disaster was an explosion that took place near a campsite in Tarragona, Spain, when a leaking tanker truck loaded with 23 tons of highly flammable liquid propylene ignited. This resulted in a massive explosion and fireball that reached over 1000° F (538° C) and destroyed everything within a 1000-ft (300-m) radius. It killed 217 people, including the truck’s driver, and severely burned more than 200. What regulations were later instituted to prevent future disasters of this sort? Discuss

EADS is one of the world’s largest aerospace companies. It was formed in 2000 from the merger of Aerospatiale Matra of France, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas S.A. of Spain. Responsible for the final assembly of Airbus aircraft, it is one of the top makers of commercial and military aircraft. It is also one of the major arms manufacturers in Europe, and its divisions also produce communications systems, space rockets, and satellites. Where is it based? Discuss

One of the most influential artists of the late 20th century, Warhol began painting in the late 1950s and received sudden notoriety in 1962, when he exhibited 32 silkscreened paintings of Campbell’s soup cans in a California art gallery. The blatantly mundane content of the exhibition ran contrary to the abstract expressionist aesthetic of the time and generated much controversy, establishing Warhol as the leading exponent of the pop art movement. How did the soup cans differ from one another? Discuss

In 1497, da Gama began his epochal voyage to India, becoming the first European to journey there directly by sea. With four vessels, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope, passed the easternmost point reached by Bartolomeu Dias in 1488, continued up the coast of Africa to Malindi, and sailed across the Indian Ocean to Calicut. His voyage opened up a way for Europe to reach the Indies and marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire. For what brutal methods was da Gama known during his travels? Discuss

When Surratt was hanged for conspiring to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, she became the first woman executed by the US federal government. Today, her execution is generally considered to have been a gross miscarriage of justice. During her trial, prosecutors failed to establish that she knew of John Wilkes Booth’s unsuccessful plot to abduct Lincoln, and it is now widely believed that she was not a party to the assassination plans either. What happened to her son, who also stood accused? Discuss

Piper Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum that sank into the sea after a series of explosions and a massive fire, killing 167 men. Only 59 of the workers survived. The initial blast is believed to have resulted from the activation of a pump that was missing a safety valve. A poorly planned evacuation process exacerbated the disaster. Why did nearby platforms continue to pump gas and oil to Piper Alpha after it was engulfed in flames? Discuss