Thanks John - hope your Chrissy Day was a good one, and that 2017 is going to be fantastic
rockylizard said
08:07 AM Dec 30, 2016
Gday... 1903 - The Iroquois theater fire in Chicago, USA, claims 602 lives.
The Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, was a grand building advertised as "Absolutely Fireproof" on its playbills. Constructed hastily in preparation for the holiday crowds, the theatre opened on 23 November 1903. On 30 December 1903, approximately 2000 people - almost 300 more than the theatre's actual seating capacity - had turned out to watch a Wednesday matinee performance. Many of them were children on their holiday break.
At around 3:15pm, an arc light shorted, igniting a curtain, the fire then spreading to the backdrops consisting of huge painted canvas scenery flats. The protective asbestos fire curtain between the stage and the audience could not be immediately lowered because the operator was in hospital and his substitute was unfamiliar with its operation. There were 6 firefighting canisters which were almost useless on the huge blaze. When the actors realised there was a fire, they quickly exited through a back door, and the resultant inrush of cold air fuelled the fire further.
Most of the fire exits were locked, and the patrons were unable to unlock them. Lobby doors were locked and the fire escapes outside were unfinished. Many people jumped to their deaths, yet ironically their bodies cushioned others who leapt out the windows to try to escape. 575 people died on the day, and another 30 died later from their injuries or burns. The fire lasted only twenty minutes, yet claimed a total of 602 lives.
The Iroquois Theater Fire remains the deadliest single-building fire in US history.
1922 - The Soviet Union, or USSR, is established.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a former country of eastern Europe and northern Asia. It included Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation, which in 1936 was divided into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics. The USSR became the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism. Its formation was the culmination of the Russian Revolution of 1917, in which the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized the government of Russia and overthrew Tsar Nicholas II. The Soviet Union was officially established on 30 December 1922.
Over the next few decades, the Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two super-powers, along with the United States of America. It was not until decades after World War II that the increasing push for independence among the states, together with the gradual crumbling of communism in the 1980s, led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
1936 - Mary Tyler Moore is born.
Although she began her career as a dancer, Moore's success came from her TV roles, first as the secretary on Richard Diamond, Private Detective and then as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She is best known, however, as the star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the most popular sitcom of the 1970s and the first show to centre on a happily unmarried career woman. Over the years, she has won multiple Emmys and Golden Globes
1982 - A blue moon occurs simultaneously with a lunar eclipse.
A "blue moon" does not refer to the colour of the moon at a particular stage in its cycle: it means the second in a pair of full moons that occur in the same calendar month. A blue moon happens every 2.7 years and is due to a disparity between the Gregorian calendar and the lunar cycle. The lunar cycle, the time it takes for the moon to revolve around the earth, does not take 28 days, but takes 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes. During the twentieth century, there were a total of 44 blue moons.
On 30 December 1982, a blue moon occurred in conjunction with a total lunar eclipse. This was the only time this happened in the twentieth century, although a blue moon did occur in conjunction with a partial lunar eclipse on three other occasions. It was also a perigee lunation, which occurs when the Moon is at or near its closest approach to Earth.
1998 - One of a set of stegosaurus prints stolen from a sacred Aboriginal site near Broome is recovered.
On 16 October 1996, it was reported that a set of fossilised dinosaur footprints had been stolen from a sacred Aboriginal site in outback Australia. The footprints came from the best preserved trackway of a stegosaur in the world, and were the world's only known set of fossilised stegosaurus prints. They were also the only evidence that stegosaurs had once populated the Australian continent. The footprints were regarded by Aborigines near Broome, northwestern Australia, to belong to a mythical creature from their "Dream Time". The theft shocked and outraged Aborigines, as it violated an Aboriginal sacred site on the isolated coastline near Broome.
On 30 December 1998, one of the missing footprints was recovered. Police investigations found that the thieves had attempted to sell the prints on the Asian market, but had been unsuccessful, possibly because of the size and weight of the fossils. Each of the three toes of the large print measured 15cm. The 30kg block of rock in which the print was embedded measured 60cm by 40cm and was 13cm deep. Police did not elaborate on how they had recovered the missing fossil.
2006 - Iraqi Dictator, Saddam Hussein, is executed by hanging following his trial.
Saddam Hussein, born 28 April 1937 in Tikrit, Iraq, was dictator of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. He led Iraq through a decade-long war with Iran. He was also responsible for the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 which led to the Gulf War the following year. Following the terrorist attacks on New York's Twin Towers in 2001, Hussein, though not directly responsible for the attacks, came under renewed pressure from the United States, which sought to remove the dictator from power.
Early in April 2003, US tanks rolled into Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, in preparation for the battle which would topple Hussein's regime. Hussein disappeared, but he was captured by US forces on 13 December 2003. He was located hiding in a small underground pit at a farmhouse in ad-Dawr near his home town Tikrit, in what was called Operation Red Dawn. His trial occurred over many months during 2006, and on 5 November 2006, Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam Hussein was executed on 30 December 2006 at approximately 06:10 local time, at Camp Justice, an Iraqi army base in northeast Baghdad.
Cheers - John
jules47 said
10:07 AM Dec 30, 2016
And in 1918 my mother was born at Kongwak in East Gippsland, Victoria - would have been 99 today.
rockylizard said
08:56 AM Dec 31, 2016
Gday...
1600 - Queen Elizabeth I grants a Royal Charter to the Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies, later the East India Company.
The East India Company was an early English company formed for the purpose of developing trade with the East Indies. Not to be confused with the Dutch East India Company, the EIC was established as Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies after being granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600. The charter gave the company a monopoly on trade with the East Indies, specifically, all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. This was to safeguard the profits of the 125 initial shareholders and the Governor, Sir Thomas Smythe.
The first four ships of the East India Company departed England less than two months later, under the command of James Lancaster, and returned in 1603, having successfully traded for pepper. During the ensuing years, Lancaster established a factory in the city of Bantam on the island of Java. At first, the English company faced considerable opposition from the Dutch-based United East India Company, which prevented the East India Company from obtaining other spices such as cloves, nutmeg and mace from the Bandas and Moluccas Islands in eastern Indonesia. However, after the British moved into India, establishing a profitable factory in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, the East India Company found itself in a position of greater power, which eventually consolidated its success in the Pacific arena.
1696 - King William III introduces the window tax, causing many people to brick over their windows.
Travelling through parts of the United Kingdom today, numerous buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries with bricked-up window-spaces may be observed. This was a direct result of the window tax, introduced by King William III on 31 December 1696.
The window tax was a glass tax designed to impact on the wealthy who resided in larger houses with many windows. The people of England opposed income tax on the basis that it was an intrusion into one's privacy. The window tax was intended to circumvent this invasion of privacy. Initially, the tax involved a flat-rate house tax of 2 shillings per house and a variable tax for the number of windows above ten windows. Properties with ten to twenty windows paid a total of four shillings, and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings.
The tax was unpopular as residents saw it as a tax on light and air. In order to avoid paying, many bricked over their windows, whilst the extremely wealthy ostentatiously included even more windows on their properties, as a public display of their wealth. The window tax was repealed in 1851 and replaced by House Duty.
1790 - Enough barley is harvested in the penal colony of New South Wales to alleviate impending starvation.
The First Fleet, containing the officers and convicts who would first settle Australia, arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. The colony's Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip, immediately determined that there was insufficient fresh water, an absence of usable timber, poor quality soil and no safe harbour at Botany Bay. Thus the fleet was moved to Port Jackson, arriving on 26 January 1788.
The penal colony of New South Wales struggled, but managed to survive largely through the efforts of Governor Phillip. He was a practical man who had suggested that convicts with experience in farming, building and crafts be included in the First Fleet, but his proposal was rejected. Phillip faced many obstacles in his attempts to establish the new colony. The convicts were not skilled in farming, and unwilling to work hard in the intense heat and humidity of Australia. British farming methods, seeds and implements were unsuitable for use in the different climate and soil, and the colony faced near-starvation in its first two years. On 31 December 1790, twenty-five bushels of barley were successfully harvested. This went a long way towards alleviating food shortages. The colony finally succeeded in developing a solid foundation, agriculturally and economically, thanks to the perseverance of Captain Arthur Phillip.
1914 - The second convoy of AIF troops departs Albany, Western Australia, to fight in World War I.
Australias involvement in World War I began in earnest in early August 1914 when Australian Prime Minister Joseph Cook pledged support, offering Britain 20 000 troops, and stating that "...when the Empire is at war, so also is Australia." Cook's offer was accepted by the British government, which requested that the troops be sent "as soon as possible". At this time, Australia had a population of approximately 4 million, meaning that the defence forces could draw from a pool of around 820 000 men of fighting age, i.e. 19-38. By the end of 1914, 50 000 eligible men who met the minimum height requirement of 5 feet 6 inches, or 168cm, had joined up, while thousands more were turned away on medical grounds. The first convoy of ANZACs, or Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, departed from King George Sound, Albany in Western Australia on the first day of November 1914.
The second contingent of troops departed Albany on 31 December 1914. Following training in Egypt and the Middle East, many of these troops were among those who landed in Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
1918 - The performance of Beethoven's Ninth by German POWs spawns a Japanese tradition of playing the symphony for New Year's celebrations.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a brilliant and passionate composer of the Classical-Romantic era. His talent was recognised when he was very young, but only began to develop fully after he moved to Vienna in 1792 and studied under Joseph Haydn. This marked his "Early" composing career, when he tended to write music in the style of his predecessors, Haydn and Mozart.
Beethoven's "Middle" period of composing began shortly after he was beset with deafness. His music of this period tended towards large-scale works expressing heroism and struggle, and included six symphonies, commencing with the "Eroica", and including the rich and penetrating Fifth Symphony.
The "Late" period of Beethoven's career encompassed the final eleven years of his life, and his compositions reflected his personal expression in their depth and intensity. Among the works of this period are the Ninth Symphony.
During World War I, the Japanese were treated for the first time to a performance of Beethoven's Ninth. In the Spring of 1918, German prisoners-of-war in the Bando POW camp in Tokushima prefecture performed the symphony using an improvised orchestra playing instruments they had partly made themselves. Following their rendition, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony became very popular in Japan. Since that time, the performance of the Ninth has gradually developed into an annual New Year's tradition. Indeed, the world standard of 72 minutes of playing time for CDs was set in Japan in 1970, to ensure the entire symphony could be recorded on a single CD.
1964 - Donald Campbell breaks the world water speed record.
Donald Malcolm Campbell was born on 23 March 1921 in Horley, Surrey, England. He became the only person to ever break both the world land speed and water speed records in the same year. He broke the land speed record in July 1964 on a Lake Eyre salt flat in northern South Australia, with a speed of 648.72 km per hour.
Campbell set seven world water-speed records between 1955 and 1964. The first was at Lake Ullswater on 23 July 1955, where he set a record of 325 km per hour. He continued to break records until the culmination of his attempts, on 31 December 1964 at Dumbleyung Lake, Western Australia, when he reached 444.71 km per hour in his jet-powered boat, Bluebird. Prior to this, he had attempted to break the record at several other locations around Australia, including Lake Bonney, South Australia, where the weather had proved too unpredictable. Campbell's initial attempt at Lake Dumbleyung was thwarted by wild ducks which could not fly away because they were moulting. Winds then whipped up 61cm waves on the lake, preventing any attempt from being made. Campbell was about to move to another lake south of Perth when the weather suddenly calmed, allowing the attempt to be made at Dumbleyung.
Campbell was killed three years later while attempting to break his record yet again, this time on Lake Coniston, Cumbria. Just before his Bluebird K7 broke the record, travelling at more than 483 km per hour, the boat's nose lifted and it was catapulted 15m into the air. Campbell was killed instantly as the boat hit the water and disintegrated. His body was not recovered from the wreckage at the bottom of the lake for another 34 years.
1995 - The final new Calvin and Hobbs comic strip is drawn.
Calvin and Hobbes is a cartoon strip by cartoonist Bill Watterson. It features a six-year-old boy, Calvin, whose mischievous nature is the bane of everyone around him, and his stuffed tiger Hobbes, which only Calvin sees as real and alive. The characters are named after 16th-century French Reformation theologian John Calvin, and Thomas Hobbes, an English political philosopher from the 17th century.
Watterson began drawing cartoons as a sideline while working in advertising. After experiencing numerous rejections for his work, Watterson was encouraged by some interest shown in one of his minor characters who was the younger brother of the main subject: this character became Calvin. The strip was picked up by Universal Press Syndicate, and first published on 18 November 1985.
Calvin and Hobbes enjoyed an immensely successful run, earning Watterson the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society, in the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year category, in both 1986 and 1988. He was also awarded the Humor Comic Strip Award for 1988. Despite his success, Watterson reached the point where he felt he could not develop the strip or the characters according to syndicate constraints any further and, fearing a stalemate, ended Calvin and Hobbes on a high, with the final cartoon being published on 31 December 1995. Many newspapers around the world continue to run the strip as a weekly feature. Watterson has never accepted any merchandising deals for his comic strup, feeling it would "cheapen" it. Because Calvin and Hobbes items are so rare, in 2012 an original 1986 comic strip by Watterson was sold for a record-breaking price of $203,150.
1999 - Millennium celebrations are held around the world.
A millennium is a period of one thousand years. Because the Western calendar lacks a year numbered zero and begins instead with the year 1, there are two main viewpoints about naming millennia: whether each one begins on the year ending in '000' (e.g. the years 1000 and 2000) or whether the new millennium commences with the year ending in 001 (e.g. 1001, 2001). Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a point in favour of celebrating the millennium at the end of 2001, and was named "the party pooper of the century" by local newspapers.
Regardless of the semantic debate, the majority of millennium celebrations around the world were held on the evening of 31 December 1999. Celebrations began at 1000 GMT as the Chatham Islands, Tonga, Fiji and Kiribati experienced the new millennium first. The millennium arrived last of all in Samoa, 25 hours after arriving in Greenwich.
Cheers - John
jules47 said
03:56 PM Dec 31, 2016
Thanks John - happy new year!!!
Radar said
07:48 AM Jan 1, 2017
Thank you John for another wonderful year of Today in History and to its continuous read.
Have a awesome year.
rockylizard said
08:28 AM Jan 1, 2017
Gday...
1622 - January 1 is declared as the first day of the year.
Today is New Year's Day, the first day of the year, and is celebrated as a holiday in many countries. Among the ancient peoples, New Year's Day was traditionally celebrated in conjunction with the vernal or autumnal equinox or the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was set at the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, usually on March 25.
The Gregorian calendar, which is widely in use throughout the western world today, was adopted by many Catholic countries in 1582. However, England, Scotland and all countries within the British Empire did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. January 1 was declared as the first day of the new year on 1 January 1622.
1856 - The name change from 'Van Diemen's Land' to 'Tasmania' comes into effect.
Tasmania was first discovered by Abel Tasman on 24 November 1642. Tasman discovered the previously unknown island on his voyage past the "Great South Land", or "New Holland", as the Dutch called Australia. He named it "Antony Van Diemen's Land" in honour of the High Magistrate, or Governor-General of Batavia.
When the First Fleet arrived in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip claimed the entire eastern coast for the British Empire, including Van Diemen's Land, though it was not yet proven to be separate from the mainland. In January 1799 Bass and Flinders completed their circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land, proving it to be an island. Van Diemen's Land was settled as a separate colony in 1803, but continued to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales. In 1825, Van Diemen's Land was separated administratively from New South Wales, and Hobart Town was declared the capital of the colony.
The push to change the name of the colony gained momentum through 1854, and in 1855 Queen Victoria approved the new constitution. In November 1855, the colony's first governor, Lieutenant-Governor Henry Fox-Young, signed the Order to change the name of the colony from Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania, in honour of its discoverer. On 1 January 1856, the colony gained self-government, and its new name became official throughout Australia.
1864 - The Queensland Police Force is inaugurated.
Prior to Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859, there was no formalised police force for the settlers north of Tenterfield. Police were appointed by local police magistrates or justices of the peace. A separate Mounted police force was established at Goondiwindi, now on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. Under the command of Captain Fred "Filibuster" Walker, the Native Police Corps, comprising both European and indigenous troopers, protected the early settlers of the inland, and their property.
The "Police Act of 1863" came into effect on 1 January 1864, and with it, the Queensland Police Force was inaugurated, meaning the force began officially operating under its own legislation. Queensland's first Police Commissioner, David Thompson Seymour, headed up a force of between 143 and 157 police as well as the 120 members of the Native Police Corps. He was appointed in a temporary capacity in January 1864, and his appointment was confirmed in July of that year. He continued to command the Queensland Police Force for thirty years. Commissioner Seymour was nominally in charge of the Water Police in regard to appointments, dismissals and punishments but actual control sat with Water Police Magistrate William Thornton.
1866 - The first Queensland route of famous coach company, Cobb & Co, is established.
Cobb & Co was the name of Australia's famous coach company which operated during the latter half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. It was begun by Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, James Swanton and John Lamber. Americans themselves, they started a network of horse and coach runs in a manner similar to what operated in the United States. Originally called the American Telegraph Line of Coaches, the name was later changed to Cobb & Co. Specially sprung coaches that could handle Australia's rough roads and rocky tracks were imported from America for the enterprise. Horses were replaced at changing stations 25 to 40 kilometres apart, meaning that fresher horses improved travelling time.
Cobb & Co's first run was on 30 January 1854, departing Melbourne for the Forest Creek diggings (now Castlemaine) and Bendigo. The network of routes was quickly expanded to deal with increased demand in the growing colony of Victoria. Initially a passenger service, Cobb & Co's reputation for speed and reliable service soon saw it being used for mail delivery and gold escort as well.
Headquarters were moved from Victoria to Bathurst in 1862. Workshops were built at Hay and Bourke in New South Wales and Castlemaine in Victoria, and the service was expanded to include Queensland. The first Cobb & Co coach in Queensland ran from Brisbane to Ipswich on 1 January 1866. The railway line took passengers from Ipswich to Grandchester, and another Cobb & Co service took the passengers from Grandchester on up to Toowoomba.
In the ensuing years, the service was expanded up the coast to Gympie in 1869, out to central western Queensland, including Clermont and Copperfield in the 1870s, and north to Palmer River, Charters Towers and Croydon by the 1880s. Major depots were established at Barcaldine, Longreach, Winton and Charleville, the latter also becoming the site for more Cobb & Co workshops.
1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed.
Prior to 1901, Australia was made up of six self-governing colonies; New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. These colonies were ultimately under British rule from the time the First Fleet landed, in 1788, until 1901. Numerous politicians and influential Australians through the years had pushed for federation of the colonies, and self-government. After not being accepted by the states the first time, the amended Commonwealth Constitution was given Royal Assent on 9 July 1900.
On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. Australia's first Governor-General, John Hope, made the proclamation at Centennial Park in Sydney. Australia's first Prime Minister was Edmund Barton.
This event did not mark independence from Great Britain: it gave Australia the right to govern itself. Independence was a gradual process which continued right up until the Australia Acts came into effect on 3 March 1986.
1908 - The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is founded.
The Bureau of Meteorology is the main agency of the Australian Government which is responsible for observing and reporting on weather events in and around Australia. Compiling data from a number of sources, it provides forecasts, warnings and observations to the Australian public, as well as offering feature articles and educational resources.
The earliest regular weather observations in Australia were undertaken by Captain William Dawes in 1788, who established the first observatory at what is now known as Dawes Point on the western point of Sydney Cove. Dawes originally named the location Maskelyne Point in honour of his British sponsor, Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, who had secured Dawes's position upon the First Fleet. Successive observatories were built at strategic locations as colonial settlement spread across the Australian continent. Initially, following Federation in 1901, each of the states continued to maintain its own observatories. However, it was soon decided that a central national weather bureau was needed to consolidate all of the information from across Australia.
The Meteorology Act 1906 enabled such an institute to be founded and, on 1 January 1908, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology was established in Melbourne. Its inaugural Director was Henry Ambrose Hunt, who served in this capacity until 1931. During his time with the Bureau, Hunt developed several ground-breaking meteorological theories which were compiled in a 1929 book A basis for seasonal forecasting in Australia. This book was the catalyst to new research into the relationship between the weather cycle and droughts, an especially pertinent topic for Australians.
1911 - The Commonwealth of Australia takes over control of the Northern Territory from South Australia.
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, bordered by the states of Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia. From 1825 to 1863, the Northern Territory was part of New South Wales. In 1863, control of the Northern Territory was handed to South Australia. This was as a result of the successful 1862 expedition of John McDouall Stuart to find an overland route through the desert from Adelaide to the north. This route was subsequently utilised for the building of the Overland Telegraph line, which provided an important communications link between Australia and the rest of the world.
On 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control. At the time, former Prime Minister Alfred Deakin made the comment that "To me the question has been not so much commercial as national, first, second, third and last. Either we must accomplish the peopling of the northern territory or submit to its transfer to some other nation."
1915 - Four Australians are killed when two Turks attack a picnic train near Broken Hill.
Each New Year's Day in Australia, the Manchester Unity Lodge customarily held a picnic at Silverton, 25km northwest of Broken Hill in far western New South Wales. On 1 January 1915, at 10:00am, a train pulled out of the Broken Hill railway station at Sulphide Street, carrying 1200 men, women and children in 40 open trucks fitted with wooden seats. Just a few kilometres out of Broken Hill the train passed an ice-cream cart bearing a Turkish flag.
Two Turks lying in wait started shooting at the train, killing two picnickers immediately. A pipeline inspector cycling alongside the train was also killed, whilst a man chopping wood in the yard of a local hotel was killed by a ricocheting bullet from the Turks. Police and locals quickly descended on the scene and a gun battle ensued, during which the snipers were killed. Looking for scapegoats, the public descended on the local Muslim community, but further bloodshed was prevented by police and militia. Local Muslims did not condone the shooting and refused to be responsible for the burial of the Turks. The bodies were later buried away from the local cemetery, in an undisclosed location.
So there ya have it another year passes into obscurity. I wont be posting a Today in History this coming year as I will focus more on my own year.
If you want to continue learning about daily history, this site will give you all you need to know ... you can even subscribe to receive it each morning in our inbox.
..... but once again I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, prosperous coming year and the expectations of you and your family are fulfilled.
Cheers - John
jules47 said
07:21 PM Jan 1, 2017
Thanks John -
aussie_paul said
08:44 PM Jan 1, 2017
Thanks you John, much appreciated. Enjoy your year.
Aussie Paul.
Tony Bev said
06:14 PM Jan 4, 2017
Another good read John, so thanks for that
Re December 25 1974 - Cyclone Tracy leaves Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, in tatters.
That was a Christmas day, which will always stay in my memory
Later on in life, I met a few people who were there, on that day They said that it was terrifying
The call went out for tradesmen, younger brother who was still single, and just out of his time, put his name down They were not looking for Boilermakers, but building trades people
Edit to say that I hope that I am not losing my manners, in my old age
Thank you for posting "This Day in History", John
It has been a very entertaining read for me, and I will assume many others
Hope that you have a very enjoyable 2017, without the stress of keeping this topic going
-- Edited by Tony Bev on Wednesday 4th of January 2017 06:24:30 PM
The Belmont Bear said
11:23 AM Jan 5, 2017
Thanks John for all your work I'm sure that a lot of people on this forum, me included looked forward to reading and commenting on your daily instalments. Time for you to have a break and enjoy yourself.
Cheers BB
Lancelot Link said
01:38 AM Mar 3, 2017
On this day, I will not divulge the year as it will probably give my age away, and this is not an internet findable fact as the internet was not invented then, I lied in a doctors surgery attached to 240 volts whilst under local anaesthetic(my god, crosswords do work, I got it right first time), and had warts burnt off my feet. The smell of burnt pork was horrible. The sound of the machine as it burnt my flesh to a crisp and left a hole at least a quarter of inch deep which later got infected and needed packing and cleaning every day with the associated smells etc etc and so forth.
I figure this was a notable date for me in history.
Apart from that, Ronald Ryan, December whatever year, as a kids playing in a park in Avondale Heights, we were surrounded by armed, guns drawn police from all directions. Police cars in places police cars were not meant to be. Cousins down from Sydney for Christmas. We were all questioned and taken home, around the corner in police cars! Apparently some one had seen Ronald Ryan in the playground! That was my today in history!
-- Edited by Lancelot Link on Friday 3rd of March 2017 01:41:09 AM
Kisha said
04:25 PM Jun 3, 2017
3-Jun-17 Mabo Day Indigenous Australians The Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision on 3 June 1992, which recognised that Indigenous people have a special relationship with the land. This paved the way for land rights known as native title. Mabo Day is held 3 June to celebrate the life of Eddie Koiki Mabo.
Thanks John - hope your Chrissy Day was a good one, and that 2017 is going to be fantastic
Gday...
1903 - The Iroquois theater fire in Chicago, USA, claims 602 lives.
The Iroquois Theater in Chicago, Illinois, was a grand building advertised as "Absolutely Fireproof" on its playbills. Constructed hastily in preparation for the holiday crowds, the theatre opened on 23 November 1903. On 30 December 1903, approximately 2000 people - almost 300 more than the theatre's actual seating capacity - had turned out to watch a Wednesday matinee performance. Many of them were children on their holiday break.
At around 3:15pm, an arc light shorted, igniting a curtain, the fire then spreading to the backdrops consisting of huge painted canvas scenery flats. The protective asbestos fire curtain between the stage and the audience could not be immediately lowered because the operator was in hospital and his substitute was unfamiliar with its operation. There were 6 firefighting canisters which were almost useless on the huge blaze. When the actors realised there was a fire, they quickly exited through a back door, and the resultant inrush of cold air fuelled the fire further.
Most of the fire exits were locked, and the patrons were unable to unlock them. Lobby doors were locked and the fire escapes outside were unfinished. Many people jumped to their deaths, yet ironically their bodies cushioned others who leapt out the windows to try to escape. 575 people died on the day, and another 30 died later from their injuries or burns. The fire lasted only twenty minutes, yet claimed a total of 602 lives.
The Iroquois Theater Fire remains the deadliest single-building fire in US history.
1922 - The Soviet Union, or USSR, is established.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a former country of eastern Europe and northern Asia. It included Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation, which in 1936 was divided into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics. The USSR became the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism. Its formation was the culmination of the Russian Revolution of 1917, in which the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seized the government of Russia and overthrew Tsar Nicholas II. The Soviet Union was officially established on 30 December 1922.
Over the next few decades, the Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two super-powers, along with the United States of America. It was not until decades after World War II that the increasing push for independence among the states, together with the gradual crumbling of communism in the 1980s, led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.
1936 - Mary Tyler Moore is born.
Although she began her career as a dancer, Moore's success came from her TV roles, first as the secretary on Richard Diamond, Private Detective and then as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She is best known, however, as the star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the most popular sitcom of the 1970s and the first show to centre on a happily unmarried career woman. Over the years, she has won multiple Emmys and Golden Globes
1982 - A blue moon occurs simultaneously with a lunar eclipse.
A "blue moon" does not refer to the colour of the moon at a particular stage in its cycle: it means the second in a pair of full moons that occur in the same calendar month. A blue moon happens every 2.7 years and is due to a disparity between the Gregorian calendar and the lunar cycle. The lunar cycle, the time it takes for the moon to revolve around the earth, does not take 28 days, but takes 29 days, 12 hours, and 44 minutes. During the twentieth century, there were a total of 44 blue moons.
On 30 December 1982, a blue moon occurred in conjunction with a total lunar eclipse. This was the only time this happened in the twentieth century, although a blue moon did occur in conjunction with a partial lunar eclipse on three other occasions. It was also a perigee lunation, which occurs when the Moon is at or near its closest approach to Earth.
1998 - One of a set of stegosaurus prints stolen from a sacred Aboriginal site near Broome is recovered.
On 16 October 1996, it was reported that a set of fossilised dinosaur footprints had been stolen from a sacred Aboriginal site in outback Australia. The footprints came from the best preserved trackway of a stegosaur in the world, and were the world's only known set of fossilised stegosaurus prints. They were also the only evidence that stegosaurs had once populated the Australian continent. The footprints were regarded by Aborigines near Broome, northwestern Australia, to belong to a mythical creature from their "Dream Time". The theft shocked and outraged Aborigines, as it violated an Aboriginal sacred site on the isolated coastline near Broome.
On 30 December 1998, one of the missing footprints was recovered. Police investigations found that the thieves had attempted to sell the prints on the Asian market, but had been unsuccessful, possibly because of the size and weight of the fossils. Each of the three toes of the large print measured 15cm. The 30kg block of rock in which the print was embedded measured 60cm by 40cm and was 13cm deep. Police did not elaborate on how they had recovered the missing fossil.
2006 - Iraqi Dictator, Saddam Hussein, is executed by hanging following his trial.
Saddam Hussein, born 28 April 1937 in Tikrit, Iraq, was dictator of Iraq from 1979 until 2003. He led Iraq through a decade-long war with Iran. He was also responsible for the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 which led to the Gulf War the following year. Following the terrorist attacks on New York's Twin Towers in 2001, Hussein, though not directly responsible for the attacks, came under renewed pressure from the United States, which sought to remove the dictator from power.
Early in April 2003, US tanks rolled into Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq, in preparation for the battle which would topple Hussein's regime. Hussein disappeared, but he was captured by US forces on 13 December 2003. He was located hiding in a small underground pit at a farmhouse in ad-Dawr near his home town Tikrit, in what was called Operation Red Dawn. His trial occurred over many months during 2006, and on 5 November 2006, Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. Saddam Hussein was executed on 30 December 2006 at approximately 06:10 local time, at Camp Justice, an Iraqi army base in northeast Baghdad.
Cheers - John
Gday...
1600 - Queen Elizabeth I grants a Royal Charter to the Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies, later the East India Company.
The East India Company was an early English company formed for the purpose of developing trade with the East Indies. Not to be confused with the Dutch East India Company, the EIC was established as Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading with the East Indies after being granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600. The charter gave the company a monopoly on trade with the East Indies, specifically, all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. This was to safeguard the profits of the 125 initial shareholders and the Governor, Sir Thomas Smythe.
The first four ships of the East India Company departed England less than two months later, under the command of James Lancaster, and returned in 1603, having successfully traded for pepper. During the ensuing years, Lancaster established a factory in the city of Bantam on the island of Java. At first, the English company faced considerable opposition from the Dutch-based United East India Company, which prevented the East India Company from obtaining other spices such as cloves, nutmeg and mace from the Bandas and Moluccas Islands in eastern Indonesia. However, after the British moved into India, establishing a profitable factory in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, the East India Company found itself in a position of greater power, which eventually consolidated its success in the Pacific arena.
1696 - King William III introduces the window tax, causing many people to brick over their windows.
Travelling through parts of the United Kingdom today, numerous buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries with bricked-up window-spaces may be observed. This was a direct result of the window tax, introduced by King William III on 31 December 1696.
The window tax was a glass tax designed to impact on the wealthy who resided in larger houses with many windows. The people of England opposed income tax on the basis that it was an intrusion into one's privacy. The window tax was intended to circumvent this invasion of privacy. Initially, the tax involved a flat-rate house tax of 2 shillings per house and a variable tax for the number of windows above ten windows. Properties with ten to twenty windows paid a total of four shillings, and those above twenty windows paid eight shillings.
The tax was unpopular as residents saw it as a tax on light and air. In order to avoid paying, many bricked over their windows, whilst the extremely wealthy ostentatiously included even more windows on their properties, as a public display of their wealth. The window tax was repealed in 1851 and replaced by House Duty.
1790 - Enough barley is harvested in the penal colony of New South Wales to alleviate impending starvation.
The First Fleet, containing the officers and convicts who would first settle Australia, arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. The colony's Governor, Captain Arthur Phillip, immediately determined that there was insufficient fresh water, an absence of usable timber, poor quality soil and no safe harbour at Botany Bay. Thus the fleet was moved to Port Jackson, arriving on 26 January 1788.
The penal colony of New South Wales struggled, but managed to survive largely through the efforts of Governor Phillip. He was a practical man who had suggested that convicts with experience in farming, building and crafts be included in the First Fleet, but his proposal was rejected. Phillip faced many obstacles in his attempts to establish the new colony. The convicts were not skilled in farming, and unwilling to work hard in the intense heat and humidity of Australia. British farming methods, seeds and implements were unsuitable for use in the different climate and soil, and the colony faced near-starvation in its first two years. On 31 December 1790, twenty-five bushels of barley were successfully harvested. This went a long way towards alleviating food shortages. The colony finally succeeded in developing a solid foundation, agriculturally and economically, thanks to the perseverance of Captain Arthur Phillip.
1914 - The second convoy of AIF troops departs Albany, Western Australia, to fight in World War I.
Australias involvement in World War I began in earnest in early August 1914 when Australian Prime Minister Joseph Cook pledged support, offering Britain 20 000 troops, and stating that "...when the Empire is at war, so also is Australia." Cook's offer was accepted by the British government, which requested that the troops be sent "as soon as possible". At this time, Australia had a population of approximately 4 million, meaning that the defence forces could draw from a pool of around 820 000 men of fighting age, i.e. 19-38. By the end of 1914, 50 000 eligible men who met the minimum height requirement of 5 feet 6 inches, or 168cm, had joined up, while thousands more were turned away on medical grounds. The first convoy of ANZACs, or Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, departed from King George Sound, Albany in Western Australia on the first day of November 1914.
The second contingent of troops departed Albany on 31 December 1914. Following training in Egypt and the Middle East, many of these troops were among those who landed in Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.
1918 - The performance of Beethoven's Ninth by German POWs spawns a Japanese tradition of playing the symphony for New Year's celebrations.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a brilliant and passionate composer of the Classical-Romantic era. His talent was recognised when he was very young, but only began to develop fully after he moved to Vienna in 1792 and studied under Joseph Haydn. This marked his "Early" composing career, when he tended to write music in the style of his predecessors, Haydn and Mozart.
Beethoven's "Middle" period of composing began shortly after he was beset with deafness. His music of this period tended towards large-scale works expressing heroism and struggle, and included six symphonies, commencing with the "Eroica", and including the rich and penetrating Fifth Symphony.
The "Late" period of Beethoven's career encompassed the final eleven years of his life, and his compositions reflected his personal expression in their depth and intensity. Among the works of this period are the Ninth Symphony.
During World War I, the Japanese were treated for the first time to a performance of Beethoven's Ninth. In the Spring of 1918, German prisoners-of-war in the Bando POW camp in Tokushima prefecture performed the symphony using an improvised orchestra playing instruments they had partly made themselves. Following their rendition, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony became very popular in Japan. Since that time, the performance of the Ninth has gradually developed into an annual New Year's tradition. Indeed, the world standard of 72 minutes of playing time for CDs was set in Japan in 1970, to ensure the entire symphony could be recorded on a single CD.
1964 - Donald Campbell breaks the world water speed record.
Donald Malcolm Campbell was born on 23 March 1921 in Horley, Surrey, England. He became the only person to ever break both the world land speed and water speed records in the same year. He broke the land speed record in July 1964 on a Lake Eyre salt flat in northern South Australia, with a speed of 648.72 km per hour.
Campbell set seven world water-speed records between 1955 and 1964. The first was at Lake Ullswater on 23 July 1955, where he set a record of 325 km per hour. He continued to break records until the culmination of his attempts, on 31 December 1964 at Dumbleyung Lake, Western Australia, when he reached 444.71 km per hour in his jet-powered boat, Bluebird. Prior to this, he had attempted to break the record at several other locations around Australia, including Lake Bonney, South Australia, where the weather had proved too unpredictable. Campbell's initial attempt at Lake Dumbleyung was thwarted by wild ducks which could not fly away because they were moulting. Winds then whipped up 61cm waves on the lake, preventing any attempt from being made. Campbell was about to move to another lake south of Perth when the weather suddenly calmed, allowing the attempt to be made at Dumbleyung.
Campbell was killed three years later while attempting to break his record yet again, this time on Lake Coniston, Cumbria. Just before his Bluebird K7 broke the record, travelling at more than 483 km per hour, the boat's nose lifted and it was catapulted 15m into the air. Campbell was killed instantly as the boat hit the water and disintegrated. His body was not recovered from the wreckage at the bottom of the lake for another 34 years.
1995 - The final new Calvin and Hobbs comic strip is drawn.
Calvin and Hobbes is a cartoon strip by cartoonist Bill Watterson. It features a six-year-old boy, Calvin, whose mischievous nature is the bane of everyone around him, and his stuffed tiger Hobbes, which only Calvin sees as real and alive. The characters are named after 16th-century French Reformation theologian John Calvin, and Thomas Hobbes, an English political philosopher from the 17th century.
Watterson began drawing cartoons as a sideline while working in advertising. After experiencing numerous rejections for his work, Watterson was encouraged by some interest shown in one of his minor characters who was the younger brother of the main subject: this character became Calvin. The strip was picked up by Universal Press Syndicate, and first published on 18 November 1985.
Calvin and Hobbes enjoyed an immensely successful run, earning Watterson the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society, in the Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year category, in both 1986 and 1988. He was also awarded the Humor Comic Strip Award for 1988. Despite his success, Watterson reached the point where he felt he could not develop the strip or the characters according to syndicate constraints any further and, fearing a stalemate, ended Calvin and Hobbes on a high, with the final cartoon being published on 31 December 1995. Many newspapers around the world continue to run the strip as a weekly feature. Watterson has never accepted any merchandising deals for his comic strup, feeling it would "cheapen" it. Because Calvin and Hobbes items are so rare, in 2012 an original 1986 comic strip by Watterson was sold for a record-breaking price of $203,150.
1999 - Millennium celebrations are held around the world.
A millennium is a period of one thousand years. Because the Western calendar lacks a year numbered zero and begins instead with the year 1, there are two main viewpoints about naming millennia: whether each one begins on the year ending in '000' (e.g. the years 1000 and 2000) or whether the new millennium commences with the year ending in 001 (e.g. 1001, 2001). Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a point in favour of celebrating the millennium at the end of 2001, and was named "the party pooper of the century" by local newspapers.
Regardless of the semantic debate, the majority of millennium celebrations around the world were held on the evening of 31 December 1999. Celebrations began at 1000 GMT as the Chatham Islands, Tonga, Fiji and Kiribati experienced the new millennium first. The millennium arrived last of all in Samoa, 25 hours after arriving in Greenwich.
Cheers - John
Thank you John for another wonderful year of Today in History and to its continuous read.
Have a awesome year.
Gday...
1622 - January 1 is declared as the first day of the year.
Today is New Year's Day, the first day of the year, and is celebrated as a holiday in many countries. Among the ancient peoples, New Year's Day was traditionally celebrated in conjunction with the vernal or autumnal equinox or the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was set at the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, usually on March 25.
The Gregorian calendar, which is widely in use throughout the western world today, was adopted by many Catholic countries in 1582. However, England, Scotland and all countries within the British Empire did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. January 1 was declared as the first day of the new year on 1 January 1622.
1856 - The name change from 'Van Diemen's Land' to 'Tasmania' comes into effect.
Tasmania was first discovered by Abel Tasman on 24 November 1642. Tasman discovered the previously unknown island on his voyage past the "Great South Land", or "New Holland", as the Dutch called Australia. He named it "Antony Van Diemen's Land" in honour of the High Magistrate, or Governor-General of Batavia.
When the First Fleet arrived in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip claimed the entire eastern coast for the British Empire, including Van Diemen's Land, though it was not yet proven to be separate from the mainland. In January 1799 Bass and Flinders completed their circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land, proving it to be an island. Van Diemen's Land was settled as a separate colony in 1803, but continued to be administered by the Governor of New South Wales. In 1825, Van Diemen's Land was separated administratively from New South Wales, and Hobart Town was declared the capital of the colony.
The push to change the name of the colony gained momentum through 1854, and in 1855 Queen Victoria approved the new constitution. In November 1855, the colony's first governor, Lieutenant-Governor Henry Fox-Young, signed the Order to change the name of the colony from Van Diemen's Land to Tasmania, in honour of its discoverer. On 1 January 1856, the colony gained self-government, and its new name became official throughout Australia.
1864 - The Queensland Police Force is inaugurated.
Prior to Queensland's separation from New South Wales in 1859, there was no formalised police force for the settlers north of Tenterfield. Police were appointed by local police magistrates or justices of the peace. A separate Mounted police force was established at Goondiwindi, now on the border of Queensland and New South Wales. Under the command of Captain Fred "Filibuster" Walker, the Native Police Corps, comprising both European and indigenous troopers, protected the early settlers of the inland, and their property.
The "Police Act of 1863" came into effect on 1 January 1864, and with it, the Queensland Police Force was inaugurated, meaning the force began officially operating under its own legislation. Queensland's first Police Commissioner, David Thompson Seymour, headed up a force of between 143 and 157 police as well as the 120 members of the Native Police Corps. He was appointed in a temporary capacity in January 1864, and his appointment was confirmed in July of that year. He continued to command the Queensland Police Force for thirty years. Commissioner Seymour was nominally in charge of the Water Police in regard to appointments, dismissals and punishments but actual control sat with Water Police Magistrate William Thornton.
1866 - The first Queensland route of famous coach company, Cobb & Co, is established.
Cobb & Co was the name of Australia's famous coach company which operated during the latter half of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century. It was begun by Freeman Cobb, John Murray Peck, James Swanton and John Lamber. Americans themselves, they started a network of horse and coach runs in a manner similar to what operated in the United States. Originally called the American Telegraph Line of Coaches, the name was later changed to Cobb & Co. Specially sprung coaches that could handle Australia's rough roads and rocky tracks were imported from America for the enterprise. Horses were replaced at changing stations 25 to 40 kilometres apart, meaning that fresher horses improved travelling time.
Cobb & Co's first run was on 30 January 1854, departing Melbourne for the Forest Creek diggings (now Castlemaine) and Bendigo. The network of routes was quickly expanded to deal with increased demand in the growing colony of Victoria. Initially a passenger service, Cobb & Co's reputation for speed and reliable service soon saw it being used for mail delivery and gold escort as well.
Headquarters were moved from Victoria to Bathurst in 1862. Workshops were built at Hay and Bourke in New South Wales and Castlemaine in Victoria, and the service was expanded to include Queensland. The first Cobb & Co coach in Queensland ran from Brisbane to Ipswich on 1 January 1866. The railway line took passengers from Ipswich to Grandchester, and another Cobb & Co service took the passengers from Grandchester on up to Toowoomba.
In the ensuing years, the service was expanded up the coast to Gympie in 1869, out to central western Queensland, including Clermont and Copperfield in the 1870s, and north to Palmer River, Charters Towers and Croydon by the 1880s. Major depots were established at Barcaldine, Longreach, Winton and Charleville, the latter also becoming the site for more Cobb & Co workshops.
1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia is proclaimed.
Prior to 1901, Australia was made up of six self-governing colonies; New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. These colonies were ultimately under British rule from the time the First Fleet landed, in 1788, until 1901. Numerous politicians and influential Australians through the years had pushed for federation of the colonies, and self-government. After not being accepted by the states the first time, the amended Commonwealth Constitution was given Royal Assent on 9 July 1900.
On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. Australia's first Governor-General, John Hope, made the proclamation at Centennial Park in Sydney. Australia's first Prime Minister was Edmund Barton.
This event did not mark independence from Great Britain: it gave Australia the right to govern itself. Independence was a gradual process which continued right up until the Australia Acts came into effect on 3 March 1986.
1908 - The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is founded.
The Bureau of Meteorology is the main agency of the Australian Government which is responsible for observing and reporting on weather events in and around Australia. Compiling data from a number of sources, it provides forecasts, warnings and observations to the Australian public, as well as offering feature articles and educational resources.
The earliest regular weather observations in Australia were undertaken by Captain William Dawes in 1788, who established the first observatory at what is now known as Dawes Point on the western point of Sydney Cove. Dawes originally named the location Maskelyne Point in honour of his British sponsor, Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, who had secured Dawes's position upon the First Fleet. Successive observatories were built at strategic locations as colonial settlement spread across the Australian continent. Initially, following Federation in 1901, each of the states continued to maintain its own observatories. However, it was soon decided that a central national weather bureau was needed to consolidate all of the information from across Australia.
The Meteorology Act 1906 enabled such an institute to be founded and, on 1 January 1908, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology was established in Melbourne. Its inaugural Director was Henry Ambrose Hunt, who served in this capacity until 1931. During his time with the Bureau, Hunt developed several ground-breaking meteorological theories which were compiled in a 1929 book A basis for seasonal forecasting in Australia. This book was the catalyst to new research into the relationship between the weather cycle and droughts, an especially pertinent topic for Australians.
1911 - The Commonwealth of Australia takes over control of the Northern Territory from South Australia.
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, bordered by the states of Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia. From 1825 to 1863, the Northern Territory was part of New South Wales. In 1863, control of the Northern Territory was handed to South Australia. This was as a result of the successful 1862 expedition of John McDouall Stuart to find an overland route through the desert from Adelaide to the north. This route was subsequently utilised for the building of the Overland Telegraph line, which provided an important communications link between Australia and the rest of the world.
On 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control. At the time, former Prime Minister Alfred Deakin made the comment that "To me the question has been not so much commercial as national, first, second, third and last. Either we must accomplish the peopling of the northern territory or submit to its transfer to some other nation."
1915 - Four Australians are killed when two Turks attack a picnic train near Broken Hill.
Each New Year's Day in Australia, the Manchester Unity Lodge customarily held a picnic at Silverton, 25km northwest of Broken Hill in far western New South Wales. On 1 January 1915, at 10:00am, a train pulled out of the Broken Hill railway station at Sulphide Street, carrying 1200 men, women and children in 40 open trucks fitted with wooden seats. Just a few kilometres out of Broken Hill the train passed an ice-cream cart bearing a Turkish flag.
Two Turks lying in wait started shooting at the train, killing two picnickers immediately. A pipeline inspector cycling alongside the train was also killed, whilst a man chopping wood in the yard of a local hotel was killed by a ricocheting bullet from the Turks. Police and locals quickly descended on the scene and a gun battle ensued, during which the snipers were killed. Looking for scapegoats, the public descended on the local Muslim community, but further bloodshed was prevented by police and militia. Local Muslims did not condone the shooting and refused to be responsible for the burial of the Turks. The bodies were later buried away from the local cemetery, in an undisclosed location.
So there ya have it another year passes into obscurity. I wont be posting a Today in History this coming year as I will focus more on my own year.
If you want to continue learning about daily history, this site will give you all you need to know ... you can even subscribe to receive it each morning in our inbox.
http://today.wmit.net.au/
..... but once again I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, prosperous coming year and the expectations of you and your family are fulfilled.
Cheers - John
Thanks John -
Thanks you John, much appreciated. Enjoy your year.
Aussie Paul.
Another good read John, so thanks for that
Re December 25 1974 - Cyclone Tracy leaves Darwin, in Australia's Northern Territory, in tatters.
That was a Christmas day, which will always stay in my memory
Later on in life, I met a few people who were there, on that day
They said that it was terrifying
The call went out for tradesmen, younger brother who was still single, and just out of his time, put his name down
They were not looking for Boilermakers, but building trades people
Edit to say that I hope that I am not losing my manners, in my old age
Thank you for posting "This Day in History", John
It has been a very entertaining read for me, and I will assume many others
Hope that you have a very enjoyable 2017, without the stress of keeping this topic going
-- Edited by Tony Bev on Wednesday 4th of January 2017 06:24:30 PM
Thanks John for all your work I'm sure that a lot of people on this forum, me included looked forward to reading and commenting on your daily instalments. Time for you to have a break and enjoy yourself.
Cheers BB
On this day, I will not divulge the year as it will probably give my age away, and this is not an internet findable fact as the internet was not invented then, I lied in a doctors surgery attached to 240 volts whilst under local anaesthetic(my god, crosswords do work, I got it right first time), and had warts burnt off my feet. The smell of burnt pork was horrible. The sound of the machine as it burnt my flesh to a crisp and left a hole at least a quarter of inch deep which later got infected and needed packing and cleaning every day with the associated smells etc etc and so forth.
I figure this was a notable date for me in history.
Apart from that, Ronald Ryan, December whatever year, as a kids playing in a park in Avondale Heights, we were surrounded by armed, guns drawn police from all directions. Police cars in places police cars were not meant to be. Cousins down from Sydney for Christmas. We were all questioned and taken home, around the corner in police cars! Apparently some one had seen Ronald Ryan in the playground! That was my today in history!
-- Edited by Lancelot Link on Friday 3rd of March 2017 01:41:09 AM
3-Jun-17 Mabo Day Indigenous Australians The Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision on 3 June 1992, which recognised that Indigenous people have a special relationship with the land. This paved the way for land rights known as native title. Mabo Day is held 3 June to celebrate the life of Eddie Koiki Mabo.