The French claimed the first ever professional striptease act took place on this day in the Davan Fourneau Music Hall in Paris in 1894. Alas the Hebrews beat them to it by nearly 2000 years because Salome was constantly taking her clothes off at the time of Christ. To be fair, though, if we accept the definition of professional as getting paid for it, Salome was the stepdaughter of a king and didn't need the money. Instead, she settled for payment in kind - 'Bring me the head of the Davan Fourneau Music Hall in Paris,' she cried.
In other news ...
Russian revolutionaries blew off the legs of Tsar Alexander II today in 1881. The first bomb missed his carriage as he travelled the streets of St Petersburg but the second was thrown as he stopped to ask after the injured. As a result, his son postponed implementing any of Russia's much-needed reforms indefinitely, even though Alexander had already freed the serfs and was promising to implement democracy.
So, who caused the Russian Revolution of 1917? The Narodnya extremists back in 1881.
