Guillotine’s last public execution was a debacle
A crowd gathered in front of Saint-Pierre prison in Versailles 80 years ago today to see the last public execution by guillotine
Today In History
Hitler’s winged bombs were war’s first drones
In the early hours of June 13, 1944, a strange sound broke the silence. It was the noise of the first V-1 “buzz bomb” landing in England
Father kept Anne’s voice alive by sharing diaries
When a young Jewish girl living in Amsterdam began keeping a diary on her 13th birthday she could never have suspected the impact it might have
Ace lived fast, died young and entered music legend
When Paul Simon sang a song about the violent death of singer Johnny Ace he added to the legend of the short-lived rocker
More Stories
Rocket man dreamt of postal service by rocket
THE eccentric young Austrian Friedrich Schmiedl failed in his attempt to launch a rocket from a balloon high over Graz ninety years ago, but he left his mark on the history of rocketry
Intrepid Canadian seafarer the first to sail world alone
WHEN a small sloop made its way into Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, in 1898 it had to negotiate mines and a warship, but skipper Joshua Slocum and his boat Spray passed through into legend, as they completed the first solo circumnavigation of the globe 120 years ago today.
Sky was no limit for Nazi aircraft designer
WHEN Will Messerschmitt was forced to stop making Nazi planes at the end of World War II he turned to making quirky little three-wheeled cars.
Italian ‘saint’ was first woman to earn a doctorate
WHEN an a mother superior stumbled across the neglected headstone of a 17th century woman she did some research and found that Elena Piscopia had been the first woman to earn a doctorate
Australians helped recover art treasures stolen by Nazis
WHEN Allied troops recovered Michelangelo’s priceless statue of the Madonna and Child from a Nazi cache in Austrian salt mines, an Australian art dealer was among those who first examined it
Tragedy of war seen through eyes of author
WHEN the novel Im Westen Nichts Neues was first published in serial form in a magazine, the World War I story was an unexpected success. However, it would also bring trouble for its author Erich Maria Remarque
Aussie golf legend one of the all-time greats
OBITUARY: The 23 year old Melbourne golfer had tried to crack the British Open, coming runner up twice, but Peter Thomson finally scored his victory in 1954
Ferris became a big wheel as an inventor
PEOPLE say that you shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but that didn’t stop American engineer George Ferris from doing just that.
Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/today-in-history/page/31