Today in History

World History

Sunday, November 28, 1660. : The founding meeting is held prior to the formation of the Royal Society.


The Royal Society is also known as Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge. A voluntary organisation devoted to the advancement of Science, fellowship to the society is by peer election, and is considered a great honour.

The founding meeting for the Royal Society was held on 28 November 1660, at Gresham College in Bishopsgate. It followed a lecture by Sir Christopher Wren, who was Gresham's Professor of Astronomy. Those present included theologian, natural philosopher, chemist, physicistand inventor Robert Boyle, and English clergyman and author John Wilkins. All subsequent meetings, and the concept and design of the society, received endorsement from the restored monarchy of King Charles II.

The Royal Society of London was formally created after the passing of the Great Seal on 15 July 1662. Lord Brouncker was the first President, while Robert Hooke was appointed as Curator of Experiments in November 1662. A second Royal Charter was sealed on 23 April 1663, naming the King as Founder and changing the name to "The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge". Her Majesty The Queen is the current patron, and, since the foundation of the Royal Society, the reigning monarch has always been the patron.

Saturday, November 28, 1964. : Mariner 4, the first spacecraft to transmit close range images of Mars, is launched.

Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to obtain and transmit close range images of Mars. It was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, on 28 November 1964. The probe passed within 9844 kilometres of Mars on July 14, 1965, obtaining the first ever close-up photographs of the Mars surface. The images revealed that Mars had a vast, barren wasteland of craters scattered throughout a rust-colored surface of sand, with some indications that liquid water had once etched waterways through the surface. Mariner 4 had various field and particle sensors and detectors, and a television camera which took 22 television pictures, each 48 seconds apart, covering about 1% of the planet.
 

Nov 28th
1929
aviator/polar explorer,Richard Byrd makes his 1st flight to South Pole
1958
U.S. gov't reports 1st full range firing of a intercontinential ballistic missile
1984
250 yrs after their deaths,William Penn who founded state of Pennsylvania and his wife Hannah were made honorary citizens of the U.S.
 
Australian History

Wednesday, November 29, 1876. : The Queensland flag is officially adopted
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Queensland began as the colony of the Moreton Bay District. It was founded in 1824 when explorer John Oxley arrived at Redcliffe with a crew and 29 convicts to begin a settlement on the Redcliffe Peninsula. This settlement, which was later dubbed Humpybong by the indigenous people for its ‘dead huts’, was abandoned less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away, to the Brisbane River. The new settlement was given the name of Brisbane, after the Brisbane River which Oxley had explored earlier.

In 1859, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent declaring that Queensland was now a separate colony. Queensland was the last of the states to be separated from New South Wales. In 1869, Queen Victoria proposed that each of the colonies in Australia adopt a flag, which should consist of a Union flag with the state badge in the centre. Queensland had no badge at that time, so one needed to be designed. William Hemmant, then Queensland Colonial Secretary and Treasurer designed the badge, which is officially described as "On a Roundel Argent a Maltese Cross Azure surmounted with a Royal Crown".

The flag of Queensland, with the new badge, was introduced on 29 November 1876. As well as the badge, the flag featured the Imperial Crown, also known as the Tudor Crown, an emblem that changes in accordance with the ruling Monarch. Queen Victoria used the Imperial Crown, as did Edward VII and George VI, whilst George V and Elizabeth II used the St Edward's Crown. If the next ruling Monarch were to revert to the Imperial Crown when he ascends the throne, then the Queensland flag would change again.

Monday, November 29, 1948. : Australian Prime minister Ben Chifley launches the first mass-produced Australian car, the Holden FX.

"Made in Australia, For Australia".


These are the words spoken by Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley when he launched the Holden FX on 29 November 1948. The real name of the Holden FX is 48/215. '48 was the year it started production, and 215 indicated a Standard Sedan. The name "FX" originated as an unofficial designation within Holden after 1953, and was a reference to the updated suspension of that year.

The Holden company began as 'J.A. Holden & Co', a saddlery business in 1856, and moved into car production in 1908. By 1926, Holden had an assembly plant in each of Australia's mainland states, but due to the repercussions of the great Depression, production fell dramatically, from 34,000 units annually in 1930 to just 1,651 units in 1931. In that year, it became a subsidiary of the US-based General Motors (GM).

Post-World War II Australia was a time when only one in eight people owned an automobile, and many of these were American styled cars. Prior to the close of World War II, the Australian Government put into place initiatives to encourage an Australian automotive industry. Both GM and Ford responded to the government, making proposals for the production of the first Australian designed car. Although Ford's outline was preferred by the government, the Holden proposal required less financial assistance. Holden's managing director, Laurence Hartnett, wished to develop a local design, but GM wanted an American design. Compromises were made, and the final design was based on a previously rejected post-war proposed Chevrolet. Thus, in 1948, the Holden was launched - the first mass-produced Australian car.

Although the automobile's official designation was the 48/215, it was marketed as the "Holden". This was to honour Sir Edward Holden, the company's first chairman and grandson of J.A. Holden, who established the original Holden saddlery. Other names that were considered included the 'Austral', 'Woomerah', 'Boomerang', 'Melba', 'GeM', 'Emu' and even the 'Canbra', a name derived from Australia's capital city. The original retail price was AU£760.


Sunday, November 29, 1970. : Recreated goldfields town, Sovereign Hill in Victoria, is officially opened.

In August 1851, the Australian state of Victoria had its first gold strike at Sovereign Hill near Ballarat, in the same month it gained its independence from the NSW colony. While the Ballarat goldfields were rich and promising, the real goldrush began when gold was discovered at Mt Alexander, 60km northeast of Ballarat, and close to the town of Bendigo.

Nowadays, Sovereign Hill offers a re-creation of life on the goldfields and in a goldmining town. Officially opened on 29 November 1970, Sovereign Hill is an interactive outdoor museum which covers some 25 hectares on the southern outskirts of Ballarat. The town has been recreated with historic authenticity, complete with antiques, confectionery and foods, machinery, books, documents, livestock and other animals, carriages and other transport, all appropriate to the 1850s goldrush era. Visitors to the site can pan for alluvial gold, which can still be found in Sovereign Hill's Red Hill Gully Creek.

Australian Explorers

Saturday, November 29, 1823. : Oxley anchors off Pumicestone Channel to explore western Moreton Bay.


On 23 October 1823, Surveyor-General John Oxley set sail from Sydney to travel north along the coastline. His aim was to find a suitable settlement for convicts who had not been reformed, but continued to re-offend. Reaching Port Curtis (Gladstone), Oxley rejected the harbour as unsuitable, due to its many shoals and mangrove swamps. Oxley returned south and entered Moreton Bay, where he anchored off Pumicestone Channel, now Pumistone Passage, on 29 November 1823.

From here, Oxley set out in a smaller boat to chart the western shores of Moreton Bay. On 2 December 1823, he came across the entrance to the Brisbane River, which ticket-of-leave convict timber-getters, Parsons, Pamphlett and Finnegan had already discovered by accident.
 

World History

Thursday, November 29, 1314. : King Philip IV, who orders the suppression of the Knights Templar, dies in a hunting accident.


King Philip IV, also known as Philip the Fair, was born sometime during the year 1268. His nickname referred to his fair hair and blue eyes, and generally pleasing appearance, rather than any sense of justice. On the contrary, Philip had ambitions for France to be the major power in the empire, and to that end, he sought the resources owned by others. This included the Jews, whom he expelled from France after taking their properties, the Italian bankers (Lombards) and the wealthy Knights Templar.

On 13 October 1307, Philip IV ordered the arrest of the entire order of Knights Templar in France, and had their possessions confiscated. The knights were put on trial and were tortured to extract confessions of sacrilegious practices, including heresy and witchcraft. Many were burnt and tortured, and under duress, admitted to a variety of heresies, admissions which were later retracted as being forced admissions.

Philip IV died on 29 November 1314, whilst out on a hunting expedition. It is believed he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage or stroke, possibly as a result of a fall from his horse.


Monday, November 29, 1847. : Missionary physician Marcus Whitman and thirteen others are killed by Native Americans in Washington state.

Marcus Whitman was an American physician and missionary in Oregon, born in 1802. As a young man, Whitman was interested in becoming a minister, but studied medicine instead. In 1835 he travelled with missionary Samuel Parker to present-day north-western Montana and northern Idaho, to minister to the Native American bands of the Flathead and Nez Percé. Two years later he returned to live with the Indians, after marrying Narcissa Prentiss, a teacher of physics and chemistry. Whitman and Narcissa established several missions along their journey and their own settlement, Waiilatpu, near the present day city of Walla Walla, Washington. The settlement was in the territory of both the Cayuse and the Nez Percé tribes of Native Americans. Marcus farmed the land and utilised his medical skills, while Narcissa set up a school for the Native American children.

In 1843, Whitman organised the first large caravan of wagon trains along the Oregon Trail, opening it up to more settlers. The influx of white settlers brought to the region diseases to which the Indians had not developed immunity: in 1847, measles killed a large number of them. Whitman was unsuccessful in treating many of them, and his attempts to administer the measles vaccine resulted in more deaths. The recovery of many white patients resulted in the belief among the Native Americans that Whitman was causing the death of his Indian patients. To avenge the deaths, Cayuse tribal members murdered Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in their home on 29 November 1847, along with twelve other white settlers in the community.

Thursday, November 29, 1990. : The United Nations Security Council passes 'Resolution 678', authorising military intervention if Iraq does not withdraw its forces from Kuwait by 15 January 1991.

In the early hours of 2 August 1990, 100,000 Iraqi troops backed by 300 tanks invaded Kuwait in the Persian Gulf. US economic aid to Iraq had inadvertently allowed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to amass weaponry which was then deployed for the invasion. The United Nations acted immediately to implement economic sanctions against Iraq. Over the ensuing months, a series of UN Security Council and Arab League resolutions were passed regarding the conflict. One of these was Resolution 678, passed on 29 November 1990. This ordered Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait by 15 January 1991, and authorised the use of force via military intervention if Iraq did not comply.

Iraq had not complied by January of the following year, so a coalition force of armies from 34 nations, led by the United States, set out to free Kuwait. The Gulf War lasted around 6 weeks, and resulted in a decisive victory for the coalition forces.


Born on this day

Tuesday, November 29, 1898. : C S Lewis, author of the 'Narnia' series of books, is born.


C S Lewis was born Clive Staples Lewis on 29 November 1898, in Belfast, Ireland. As a young teenager, he abandoned the Christian faith with which he was raised, but returned to it when he was in his thirties. Lewis taught as a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1954, and later became the first Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

After embracing Christianity, Lewis's first novel was "Pilgrim's Regress", an unorthodox take on John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress", but which was based on his own experiences with his departure from and return to Christianity. Following this, Lewis penned the science-fiction "Space" trilogy, comprising "Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra" - also known as "Voyage to Venus" - and "That Hideous Strength". Other Christian fiction followed, including "The Screwtape Letters", in which an elderly demon, Screwtape, instructs his nephew, Wormwood, via a series of letters on the best ways to secure the damnation of a particular human. Lewis also wrote numerous theological works on Christianity. Although he became an Anglican upon his return to Christianity, he was greatly influenced by his Roman Catholic friend J R R Tolkien, writer of "Lord of the Rings".

Among Lewis's best-known works are the Narnia Chronicles, a series of seven fantasy novels for children, which describe the adventures of children who visit a magical land called Narnia. The novels effectively incorporate some elements of Christian theological concepts in ways that are easily understood by children and adults alike. Although C S Lewis died on 22 November 1963, the Narnia Chronicles remain as popular as ever still today.
 
29th November

1849 Sir John Ambrose Fleming, English electrical engineer, was born. His inventions included the Fleming Valve and many related devices that led to the development of modern electronics.

1940 The city of Liverpool endured early eight hours of bombing, which left 166 dead and 2,000 homeless. At the time, Prime Minister Windston Churchill described the tradedy as "the single worse civilian incident of the war."

1947 The UN approved Britain's plan for a partition of Palestine.

2001 George Harrison, musician, actor, songwriter and former lead guitarist with the Beatles died, aged 58.
 
Australian History

Thursday, November 30, 1854. :peter Lalor is elected to lead the gold-diggers in the movement that would become the Eureka Stockade.


The Eureka Stockade was the 1854 miners' uprising on the goldfields of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Peter Lalor was an Irish immigrant, born on 5 February 1827, who initially worked on the construction of the Melbourne - Geelong railway line, but soon joined the gold rush and began mining in the Ovens Valley, and then in Ballarat.

Conditions on the Australian goldfields were already harsh, with many people squeezed into over-crowded dustbowls on the fields, and competition was rife for the best diggings. Over-priced goods and equipment from traders, coupled with the excessively high cost of mining licences, exacerbated discontent and unrest, particularly when miners were subjected to frequent, surprise checks of their licences. Previous delegations for miners' rights had met with resistance from the Victorian government, so on 30 November 1854, Lalor was elected as a more militant leader. The result was the Eureka Stockade (see December 3).


Saturday, November 30, 1878. : Advance Australia Fair, the song that would become Australia's National Anthem over a century later, is performed for the first time in public.

'Australians, all, let us rejoice, for we are young and free.'


This is the well-known opening line of Australia's national anthem, 'Advance Australia Fair'. The song was composed by Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, who arrived in Sydney in 1855, taking up a position as a public school teacher in New South Wales. McCormick was heavily involved in the community as well as the Scottish Presbyterian church, and he developed a reputation for both his singing voice and his compositions. He composed around 30 patriotic songs, one of which was 'Advance Australia Fair'. 'Advance Australia Fair' was first performed in public on 30 November 1878. The occasion was the St Andrew's Day concert of the Highland Society. Initially, the song was published under the pseudonym of "Amicus", which is Latin for 'friend'.

In line with its nationalistic flavour, 'Advance Australia Fair' was performed by a 10,000-voice choir at the inauguration Federation ceremony for the proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia, on 1 January 1901. McCormick was subsequently paid one hundred pounds for his composition in 1907, and he registered it for copyright in 1915. Early in the twentieth century, the song was proposed as a possible national anthem for Australia, to replace the Royal anthem 'God Save the King' (later 'Queen'), but no official decision was made.

The first of many competitions to find a new national anthem was held in 1840, with subsequent quests and competitions in ensuing years, including the lead-up to the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Another Australia-wide national anthem quest was held in 1972-3. Following this, in 1977, the government held a referendum and attached a national plebiscite to choose a new anthem. 'Advance Australia Fair' won with 43% against Banjo Paterson's 'Waltzing Matilda' with 28% and Carl Linger's 'Song of Australia' with 10%. In favour of keeping 'God Save the Queen were 19%. In 1984, the Australian government made the final decision to change the national anthem as it sought to reinforce its independence from England. 'Advance Australia Fair' was adopted as the National anthem of Australia on 19 April 1984.

Tuesday, November 30, 1920. : The first south to north transcontinental flight across Australia occurs.

The first Australian to demonstrate that man could fly was Lawrence Hargrave, who was born in England in 1850, but emigrated to Australia in 1865. Hargrave invented the box kite in 1893, and used it to further his aerodynamic studies. In November 1894, Hargrave linked four of his kites together, added a sling seat, and flew about five metres in the air on a beach near Wollongong, New South Wales. In doing so, he demonstrated that it was possible for man to build, and be transported in, a safe and stable flying machine. His radical design for a wing that could support far more than its own weight opened up opportunities for other inventors to develop the design for commercial purposes.

In 1919, the first south to north transcontinental flight was undertaken in Australia. Captain Henry Wrigley and Sergeant Arthur Murphy flew a B.E.2E aircraft from Point Cook, Victoria to Darwin in the Northern Territory. It took the pair 46 flying hours to cover the 2,500 miles (4023 km).

A year later, the first east to west transcontinental flight in Australia was made. On 30 November 1920, a converted World War I bomber, an Airco DH.4, piloted by Captain Francis S Briggs and J Howard departed Melbourne. On board was also the aircraft's owner, Clement John de Garis, who wished to inspect a property he had purchased at Kendenup in Western Australia. The flight took 18 hours, and arrived in Perth on 2 December.

Friday, November 30, 1928. : Australian cricket icon Donald Bradman makes his Test debut.

Donald George Bradman was born on 27 August 1908 in Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia. One of Australia's most popular sporting heroes, he is often regarded as the greatest batsman of all time. The Bradman Museum and Bradman Oval are located in the New South Wales town of Bowral, where Bradman grew up, spending many an hour practising his cricket using a stump and a golf ball. Bradman developed his legendary split-second speed and accuracy by practising hitting into a water tank on a brick stand behind the Bradman home: when hit into the curved brick stand, the ball would rebound at high speed and varying angles. Bradman's batting average of 99.94 from his 52 Tests was nearly double the average of any other player before or since.

Bradman was drafted in grade cricket in Sydney at the age of 18. Within a year he was representing New South Wales. On 30 November 1928, Bradman made his Test debut, when he scored 18 runs and 1 run against England. Less than two years later, in the English summer of 1930, he scored 974 runs over the course of the five Ashes tests, the highest individual total in any test series. Even at almost forty years of age - most players today are retired by their mid-thirties - Bradman returned to play cricket after World War II. On 12 June 1948, he scored 138 in the First Test Cricket at Trent Bridge. In his farewell 1948 tour of England the team he led, dubbed "The Invincibles", went undefeated throughout the tour, a feat unmatched to date.

Bradman was awarded a knighthood in 1949 and a Companion of the Order of Australia, the country's highest civil honour, in 1979. In 1996, he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame as one of the ten innaugural members. After his retirement, he remained heavily involved in cricket administration, serving as a selector for the national team for nearly 30 years. Sir Donald Bradman died on 25 February 2001.

Australian Explorers

Wednesday, November 30, 1831. : Sir Thomas Mitchell sets out to investigate rumours of a vast river allegedly flowing north from New South Wales.


Major Thomas Mitchell was born in Craigend, Scotland, in 1792. He came to Australia after serving in the Army during the Napoleonic Wars, and took up the position of Surveyor-General of New South Wales. He undertook four expeditions into the NSW interior. Mitchell's first expedition was to investigate rumours of a north-flowing river situated in northern New South Wales. An escaped convict by the nickname of Clarke the Barber was spawning reports of a great river, which he named the Kindur. Setting off from the Hunter River on 30 November 1831, Mitchell came across numerous rivers, but they all flowed in a westerly direction, rather than north. After several months it became apparent that Clarke had fabricated the story, hoping for leniency upon his recapture.

Born on this day

Monday, November 30, 1835. : American author and satirist, Mark Twain, is born.


American writer Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on 30 November 1835, in Florida, Missouri. His birth was marked by the appearance of Halley's Comet, a phenomenon which reappeared at the time of his death, some 75 years later. Clemens grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, and later worked as a licensed Mississippi river-boat pilot.

Writing from a mixture of experience and imagination, the pseudonym 'Mark Twain' was spawned in 1861 when he signed a humorous travel account with that name. He acquired this name as a result of his time as a boat pilot, when a boatman's call would announce "Mark twain", meaning that the river was only two fathoms deep, the minimum depth for safe navigation.

Twain is best known for stories such as "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876), "The Prince And The Pauper" (1881), "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884), "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1889) and "The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson" (1894). As well as short stories, speeches, and essays, he penned some autobiographical works, including "The Innocents Abroad" (1869), "A Tramp Abroad" (1880), "Life on the Mississippi" (1883), and "Mark Twain's Autobiography." He continued writing under the pseudonym of Mark Twain until his death in 1910.

Monday, November 30, 1874. : Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during WWII, is born.

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born on 30 November 1874, at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. He served with the British Army in India and Sudan, and became nationally known through his writings when, as a journalist, he was captured in South Africa during the Boer War. Churchill became a member of Parliament in 1900, remaining an MP for over 64 years.

Churchill served as Prime Minister of Britain from 1940-45, during WWII. His powerful oratory and refusal to make peace with Hitler were instrumental in rallying and maintaining British resistance to Germany. This was particularly so during the first two years of the war and the onslaught of the Blitz by the German Luftwaffe, which was aimed at crushing Bitish morale. Initially, Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany, but Churchill promised his country and the world that the British people would "never surrender". His government was defeated shortly after the war ended, but he was re-elected in 1951. In 1953 Churchill was knighted, and awarded the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for his four-volume work, "A History of the English-speaking Peoples". He retired as Prime Minister in 1955 but remained in Parliament until 1964. A year later, on 24 January 1965, Churchill died and was laid to rest in the Oxfordshire parish churchyard of Bladon.
 
Nov 30th
1966
Barbados gains independence from Great Britian{National Day}
1982
Michael Jackson's 6th studio album'Thriller' is released,stayed 37 weeks at #1 on Billboard Charts,best selling album of all time,has sold 66million copies worldwide
2004
Ken Jennings, contestant on game show'Jeopardy' finally loses after 74 days,winning $2.5 million
He is to become the 'interim host' of the show when filming starts again.He's taking over from Alec Trabeck long time host of the show who recently died of cancer
 
Australian History

Friday, December 1, 1876. : Aboriginal stockman Sam Isaacs and teenager Grace Bussell rescue about 40 people from a stricken steamship off Western Australia.


The SS Georgette was a steamship built in 1872, which was sold in England to Western Australia, and used as a coastal trading and passenger service between Fremantle, Albany and Champion Bay. On 1 December 1876, the Georgette sprang a leak 32km out to sea, whilst carrying fifty passengers and a cargo of jarrah wood. The pumps failed to work, and despite passengers and crew bailing water non-stop, by 6pm the water had risen to put out the steamship's fires, leaving the ship adrift. A boatload of passengers was lowered into the sea but the lifeboat was smashed against the ship's side and broken. Some of the survivors were rescued by a second lifeboat, but twelve were killed. Each lifeboat that was released was swamped or capsized in the storm-driven seas.

As the stricken Georgette drifted into Calgardup Bay, it was seen by the Bussell family's Aboriginal stockman, Sam Isaacs. He and sixteen-year-old Grace Bussell raced down to the surf on horseback, and Grace then rode her horse into the bay until it was alongside one of the swamped lifeboats. People clung to her and her horse as she returned to shore and landed them. One man was left on the boat, and Isaacs was sent to collect him. Bussell and Isaacs continued their rescuing efforts, taking over four hours to land all the passengers.

For their acts of bravery and heroism, Grace was awarded the Royal Humane Society's silver medal and Isaacs received a bronze. The wreck of the Georgette still lies about 90 metres off Calgardup Beach.

Tuesday, December 1, 1987. : Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen is forced to resign as Queensland's longest-serving Premier.

Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was born in Dannevirke, New Zealand on 13 January 1911. He was the son of Danish immigrants, and his father was a Lutheran Pastor. When young Johannes, or Joh, was two years old, the family migrated to Australia, taking up dairy farming at Kingaroy in south-eastern Queensland. An industrious lad, despite a lifelong limp which was the result of polio, Joh learned to clear land efficiently, explored other agricultural pursuits such as peanut farming, obtaining a pilot's licence and started aerial spraying and grass seeding. All of these successful pursuits showed the drive and initiative which would serve him well later in politics.

Bjelke-Petersen entered politics in 1963, as minister for works and housing under Country Party leader Frank Nicklin. Following Nicklin's retirement in January 1968, Jack Pizzey became Country Party leader and hence Premier, but died unexpectedly within seven months of taking office. Bjelke-Petersen won the election for leadership of the Country Party and subsequently became Premier of Queensland on 8 August 1968.

Bjelke-Petersen enjoyed a long and successful career as premier, largely thanks to the electoral malapportionment which had been introduced by the Labor Party in 1949 to imrpove and concentrate its base of rural voters in as many districts as possible. The system worked well for the Country Party and, assisted by further redistributions by Bjelke-Patersen in 1972, worked to further weaken the Labor Party in Queensland's country areas. Ironically, Bjelke-Petersen was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for "services to parliamentary democracy" in 1984. Nonetheless, the state of Queensland thrived under Bjekle-Petersen's leadership and saw enormous economic and population growth.

In his later years as Premier, Bjelke-Petersen's leadership was marred by controversy and allegations of corruption. The two-year-long Commission of Inquiry into "Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct", chaired by barrister Tony Fitzgerald and known as the Fitzgerald Inquiry, uncovered evidence of corruption which implicated the Police Commissioner as well as senior members and associates of the Bjelke-Petersen government. Increased party tension led Bjelke-Petersen to announce he would retire as premier in August 1988, the twentieth anniversary of him becoming Premier. However, he was deposed by caucus and, after an extended standoff, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigned as Premier on 1 December 1987, and retired from politics altogether.

Wednesday, December 1, 2004. : Two years after being destroyed by bushfires, Mount Stromlo Observatory in the ACT becomes fully operational again.

In March 1973, the Geoscience Australia Lunar and Satellite Laser Ranging programme was established with the signing of a NASA-Division of National Mapping agreement under the USA-Australia Hornig Treaty for cooperation in Science. Australia has three Satellite Laser Ranging Stations and Observatories connected with this programme. They include Orroral Observatory, in the Namadgi National Park, New South Wales; the Moblas 5 (Yarragadee) SLR facility, 100 km south east of Geraldton, Western Australia; and Mount Stromlo, 18km southwest of Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.

The Mount Stromlo Observatory was established in 1924 as the Commonwealth Solar Observatory. It serves as the headquarters of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics of the Australian National University (ANU). The site currently holds the administrative centre; offices of the astronomers and students; the mechanical, electronic and optical workshops; and the computer laboratories. It also once held research telescopes, but this changed in January 2003, when the Mt Stromlo facility was destroyed by bushfires that swept through the ACT. The firestorm, ignited by lightning strikes in nearby national parks and fuelled by high temperatures and winds of up to 200 km per hour, destroyed five historically significant telescopes. Instrumentation and engineering workshops, the observatory's library and the main administration buildings were also consumed.

One of the first facilities to be constructed after the devastating bushfires was the Precision Engineering Centre, for the purpose of enabling ongoing manufacturing and engineering of instrumentation. Research telescopes were not reinstalled: the Observatory now uses telescopes located at Siding Springs, near Coonabarabran, in northern NSW. The newly rebuilt Mount Stromlo Observatory was officially opened on 1 April 2004. Following further testing and validating, it became operational on 1 December 2004.
 
World History

Tuesday, December 1, 1959. : The Antarctic Treaty is signed, ensuring the protection of the world's most remote and inhospitable continent.


Antarctica is the driest and coldest continent on Earth. An inhospitable place, the continent itself does not support any animal life as just 2% of the Antarctic is free of ice, but the Antarctic waters and coastline are teeming with marine mammals, birds, fish and invertebrates. The continent is often referred to as the Last Frontier, being a remote and still relatively pristine wilderness.

During the twentieth century, improved technology meant increased exploration of the previously inaccessible Antarctica. Scientific research stations were established, and territorial claims were made, though these were not recognised by all countries. Disputes and even armed conflicts ensued, as was the case when, in 1948, Argentine military forces fired on British troops in territory claimed by both countries. As it became more apparent that the Soviet Union was also interested in laying claim to the frozen continent, the United States suggested that Antarctica be made a trustee of the United Nations. The proposal was refused by the nations which stood to lose their claims of sovereignty to an international organisation.

The treaty is comprised of fourteen articles which control activities on the continent, and which stipulate that Antarctica should be used exclusively for peaceful purposes such as scientific research. The Treaty established Antarctica as a military-free zone, forbidding military presence and all testing of weapons of any sort, although it permitted the use of military personnel or equipment for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes. In addition, the treaty stipulated that previous territorial claims remain unaffected by the Treaty, but that no new claims can be made.

Saturday, December 1, 1990. : The final wall of rock is drilled out, to join the two halves of the Channel Tunnel and link Britain to France.

The Channel tunnel is a rail tunnel, 50 kilometres in length, beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover, connecting Cheriton in Kent, England and Coquelles near Calais in northern France. The concept of such a tunnel linking Britain and France had been under discussion for centuries, but it was only seriously realised in 1957 when le Tunnel sous la Manche Study Group was formed. Following the group's report in 1960, the project to construct the Tunnel was launched in 1973, but financial problems in 1975 halted progress beyond a 250m test tunnel.

In 1984, a joint United Kingdom and French government request for proposals to build a privately funded link brought forth four submissions, one of which closely resembled the 1973 route. The Fixed Link Treaty was signed by the British and French governments on 12 February 1986, and ratified in 1987. It took 15,000 workers over seven years to dig the tunnel, with tunnelling operations carried out simultaneously from both ends. On 1 December 1990, workers bored through the final wall of rock to join the two halves of the Channel Tunnel.

Monday, December 1, 1997. : Eight of the known planets in the solar system form a rare alignment from west to east.

On 1 December 1997, eight of the known planets of our solar system aligned from west to east. The alignment, which also included the Earth's moon, began with Pluto and continued with Mercury, Mars, Venus, Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn in that order. All but the farthest planets, Pluto, Uranus and Neptune, could be seen with the naked eye. Uranus and Neptune were visible with binoculars, but a telescope was needed to see Pluto. Another alignment occurred in May 2000, but the planets were too close to the sun to be visible from the Earth.
 
1st December

1643 The 1st English Civil War: A victory for Parliamentarian Forces when Colonel Sir William Waller stormed Farnham Castle in Kent. It became his base for the remainder of the war.

1761 Birth of Madame Marie Tussaud (Grosholz), Swiss born French waxworks moddeller. During the French Revolution she ade death masks from the severed heads of the famous. In 1800, separated from her husband, she toured Britain with her waxworks, eventually setting up a permanent exhibition in London.

2012 Christopher Law, the owner of Britain's last surviving temperance bar was banned from driving for 17 months after being caught drink driving. 🍺
 
1913
The 1st U.S. drive up gas station opens in Pittsburgh,PA
1924
The 1st NHL hockey game played in the U.S. between two expansion teams Boston Bruins & Montreal Maroons held in Boston,Bruins won 2-1
1953
Hugh Hefner,founder of Playboy Magazine publishes the 1st issue with actress,Marilyn Monroe as the centerfold
1988
Benazir Bhutto named the 1st female Prime MInister of a Muslim Country-Pakistan
 
Australian History

Tuesday, December 2, 1642. : Members of Tasman's crew become the first Europeans to set foot on Van Diemen's Land (later renamed Tasmania).


Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer and explorer who, as an employee of the Dutch East India Company, was ordered to explore the south-east waters in order to find a new sea trade route to Chile in South America. In November of 1642, he discovered a 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.

On 2 December 1642, several members of Tasman's crew were sent in two boats to a bay to seek “fresh water and other things.” They became the first known Europeans to set foot on Van Diemen's Land (which later became known as Tasmania). The men collected green plants, including sea parsley, or wild celery, to help ward off scurvy among the sailors. They also noted the presence of indigenous people, though they did not actually see them. They observed tall trees with steps cut in the trunks, trees scorched by fire, smoke rising in a number of locations and the far-off sound of music. Ship's master, Francis Jacobsz, also became the first to observe the existence of the Tasmanian Tiger. Though he did not see an actual Thylacine, he noted tracks "with claws resembling those of [tygers]".

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Wednesday, December 2, 1970. : The numbat is officially listed as endangered.

The numbat is a small, striped marsupial of Western Australia, and the faunal (animal) emblem of that state. Sometimes known as the banded anteater, it feeds almost exclusively on termites, and is Australia's only marsupial to do so. The numbat is unusual for several reasons; it is one of Australia's very few diurnal marsupials, and it does not have a full abdominal pouch, but rather an open pouch which lends little protection to the young which cling to the mother's underbelly while attached to the teat.

Numbats used to be widespread across the southern half of the continent, but numbers have declined severely since the beginning of European settlement in Australia. Numbats are now restricted to just a few areas of southwestern Western Australia. The introduction of predators such as cats, dogs and foxes have had a severe impact on numbat populations, as has land clearing for agriculture and changed fire regimes. Current figures estimate there are only about 1500 adult numbats remaining.

The numbat was officially listed as endangered on 2 December 1970. Since that time, the Department of Environment and Conservation of Western Australia has established a number of programmes to try and ensure the continued survival of this delicate and defenceless marsupial. In the 1980s, Perth Zoo also commenced a captive breeding programme for the purpose of releasing numbats back into protected wildlife reserves.

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Australian Explorers

Tuesday, December 2, 1823. : Oxley sights the entrance to the Brisbane River.


John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was one of Australia's early explorers. An experienced seaman who arrived in Australia in 1802, Oxley was appointed Surveyor-General in 1812, and immediately undertook a series of explorations inland from Sydney.

In 1823, Oxley set sail from Sydney to travel north along the coastline. His aim was to find a suitable settlement for convicts who had not been reformed, but continued to re-offend. Reaching Port Curtis (Gladstone), Oxley rejected the harbour as unsuitable, due to its many shoals and mangrove swamps. Oxley returned south and entered Moreton Bay, where he anchored off Pumicestone Channel, now Pumistone Passage, on 29 November 1823.

From here, Oxley set out in a smaller boat to chart the western shores of Moreton Bay. On 2 December 1823, he came across the entrance to the Brisbane River, which ticket-of-leave convict timber-getters, Parsons, Pamphlett and Finnegan had already discovered by accident. Naming it after New South Wales Governor, Sir Thomas Brisbane, Oxley surveyed the river for approximately eighty kilometres. Following his enthusiastic report on the river, a convict settlement was established at Moreton Bay in 1825.

Saturday, December 2, 1911. : Douglas Mawson departs Hobart to commence his Antarctic exploration.

Australian Antarctic explorer, Douglas Mawson, was born on 5 May 1882, in Yorkshire, but his family emigrated to Australia in 1884. He studied geology at Sydney University, and was appointed geologist to an expedition to the New Hebrides in 1903. After this, he returned to Australia to become a lecturer in petrology and mineralogy at the University of Adelaide in 1905. In 1907, Mawson joined an expedition to Antarctica led by Ernest Shackleton, as a scientific officer, and was one of the first to ascend Mount Erebus and get close to the South magnetic pole. He was offered a place on Robert Scott's Terra Nova expedition but turned it down to lead the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1914, sailing on the "Aurora".

On 2 December 1911, Mawson departed from Hobert on the "Aurora", bound for Macquarie Island, a sub-antarctic island 1500 kilometres south east of Tasmania and 1300 kilometres north of Antarctica. Here, he established a base before leaving on December 23 to explore the Antarctic continent.
 
World History

Sunday, December 2, 1804. : Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of France.


Napoléon Bonaparte was born Napoleone Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica, on 15 August 1769. His father, Carlo Buonaparte, was an attorney and Corsica's representative to the court of Louis XVI of France in 1778, so Napoleon later adopted a more French form of his name. He began his military career at the age of 16, and rapidly advanced through the ranks. Famed for being an excellent military strategist, he deposed the French Directory in 1799 and proclaimed himself First Consul of France. His military forays into Europe were highly successful, and by 1807 he ruled territory stretching from Portugal to Italy and north to the river Elbe. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France on 2 December 1804, at Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Despite Napoleon's military successes, he failed in his aim to conquer the rest of Europe. He was defeated in Moscow in 1812 in a move which nearly destroyed his empire, and his 1815 loss to the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo resulted in his exile to the island of St Helena, where he died in 1821. However, his codification of laws, the Napoleonic Code, remains the foundation of French civil law.
 
2nd December

1929 Britain's first 22 public telephones came into service. They were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and installed as part of a new scheme for policing and were made for general use in the Barnes, Kew and Richmond Districts.

1942 The first Bevin Boys, aged between 18 and 25, were directed into the mining industry. Many miners had been called up to ther armed forces, resulting in a grave shortage of coal.

1966 The Mini skirt, the symbol of the Swinging Sixties, was banned from the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
 
1845
Pres James Polk tells Congress the U.S. should aggressively expand into the West
1927
The 1st Model A Ford sold for $385
1970
EPA- Environmental Protection Agency begins in the U. S. under director,William Ruckleshaus
1976
Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba
1982
retired dentist,Barney Clark is implanted with the 1st permanent artifical heart-Jarvic 7.He lived for 112 days
 
Australian History

Saturday, December 3, 1831. : Controversial reformer Major-General Sir Richard Bourke is appointed as Governor of New South Wales.


Major-General Sir Richard Bourke was born in Dublin on 4 May 1777. He succeeded Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Darling, and was appointed Governor on 3 December 1831, to become the eighth Governor of New South Wales. Bourke was a major reformer in the colony of New South Wales. He had significant influence in bringing to an end the transportation of convicts to New South Wales, although that did not happen during his tenure. He was an advocate of emancipation and integration of convicts into civilian life, and his concern for the convicts was not appreciated by the conservative elements in the colony. Raising the ire of local magistrates who abused their powers, he set a punishment limit of fifty lashes where no previous limit had existed, and granted more rights to the emancipists, or freed convicts.

Bourke was a proponent of the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’, or ‘empty land’, which declared that the continent of Australia belonged to no-one, and therefore Britain had the right to claim it if they occupied it. This doctrine had been in effect since James Cook charted the east coast, and was unable to find any indigenous personnel who could read or write, to sign any treaty for land. In 1835, he issued a proclamation stating that the original inhabitants, indigenous Australians, could not sell or assign land. He declared John Batman’s agreement to offer supplies to the indigenous people of Port Phillip in exchange for land to be invalid on this basis. Despite this, the new settlement thrived, and Bourke eventually named it Melbourne, in honour of Lord Melbourne, Prime Minister of Great Britain.

One of Bourke’s major reforms was in the allocation of public funds for religious purposes. Although nominally Anglican himself, he did not agree with the Church of England being the state church of New South Wales. On 29 July 1836, he enacted the Church Act. This Act allowed for public funds to be given to the three major denominations present in the colony, Anglican, Catholic and Presbyterian, based on the number of adherents. It was later extended also to the Jewish, Wesleyan and Baptist churches. The Act diminished the power and dominance of the Anglican Church. A direct result was the great increase in numbers of new churches and clergy throughout the colony, while allowing better access for convicts and emancipists to religious communities.

Sunday, December 3, 1854. : The Battle of the Eureka Stockade is held near Ballarat, Victoria.

The Eureka Stockade was the rebellion initiated by the diggers on the Ballarat, Victoria goldfields in 1854. Conditions on the Australian goldfields were particularly harsh. The main source of discontent was the expensive miner's licence. It cost 30 shillings every month and permitted the holder to work a 3.6 metre square "claim". Licences had to be paid regardless of whether a digger's claim resulted in the finding of any gold. Frequent licence hunts, during which the miners were ordered to produce proof of their licences, added to the increasing unrest. Previous delegations for miners' rights had met with inaction from the Victorian government, so on 29 November 1854, the miners burned their licences in a mass display of resistance against the laws which controlled the miners. Following a massive licence hunt on November 30, Irish immigrant Peter Lalor was elected to lead the rebellion.

On December 1, the miners began to construct a wooden barricade, a stockade from which they planned to defend themselves against further licence arrests or other incursions by the authorities. At 3:00am on Sunday, 3 December 1854, 276 police and military personnel and several civilians stormed the stockade. It remains unclear which side fired first, but in the ensuing battle, 22 diggers and 5 troopers died.

Although the rebellion itself failed in its objective, it gained the attention of the Government. A Commission of Enquiry was conducted and changes were implemented. These included abolition of monthly gold licences, replaced by an affordable annual miner's licence. The numbers of troopers were reduced significantly, and Legislative Council was expanded to allow representation to the major goldfields. Peter Lalor and another representative, John Basson Humffray, were elected for Ballarat. Later, Lalor was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Victoria. For these reasons, the Eureka Stockade is regarded by many as the birthplace of Australian Democracy.

Australian Explorers

Sunday, December 3, 1797. : Bass departs Sydney to determine whether Van Diemen's Land is an island or part of the Australian continent.


The island of Tasmania, originally "Van Diemen's Land", was discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. It was thought to be part of the Australian mainland, though some seamen had their suspicions that it might be an island. Among them were George Bass and Matthew Flinders who, in 1796, together explored and charted the coastline south of Sydney.

The following year, Bass sought sponsorship from Governor Hunter to determine whether a navigable strait existed between Van Diemen's Land and the Australian continent. Bass departed Sydney on 3 December 1797, with six naval volunteers and an 8.5m long whaleboat. It was on this journey that Bass discovered the strait that is now named after him.

Wednesday, December 3, 1800. : James Grant discovers and names Mount Gambier in South Australia.

Mount Gambier, around which the city of the same name is built, is the remnant of an extinct volcano, located midway between the major capital cities of Melbourne (Victoria) and Adelaide (South Australia). Ancient volcanic activity is evident in the landscape of volcanic craters, lakes, caves and underground aquifers.

James Grant was a young lieutenant sent out on a survey voyage of the southern coast. Grant was given orders to take possession in the King's name of any large rivers and good pastureland, as long as such possession was done with the consent of any native inhabitants who might be present. On 3 December 1800, Grant discovered Cape Northumberland, naming it after the Duke who was British Commander-in-Chief. Beyond Cape Northumberland, he sighted Mount Gambier, naming it after Admiral Lord James Gambier, who had commanded the fleet at the Battle of Copenhagen.

Friday, December 3, 1824. : Hume and Hovell discover the Goulburn River, naming it the "Hovell River".

The Goulburn River is a significant river in the Australian state of Victoria. It begins near the western end of Mount Buller in the Victorian Alps, also known as the "High Country", and joins the Murray River near the town of Echuca. Discovered by the exploration party of Hume and Hovell on 3 December 1824, the Goulburn River was originally named the "Hovell", after William Hovell, who accompanied Hamilton Hume on the expedition to find an overland route from Sydney to Port Phillip.

Hume was a grazier who was interested in exploring south of the known Sydney area in order to open up new areas of land. However, he could not gain Government support for his proposed venture. William Hovell was an English immigrant with little bush experience, a former ship's captain who was keen to assist Hume's expedition financially, and accompany him. The expedition was set up, and Hume and Hovell departed Hume's father's farm at Appin, southwest of Sydney, in early October 1824.

Although the two men argued for most of their journey, and even for many years after their return, the expedition was successful in many ways. Hume and Hovell discovered many other rivers besides the Goulburn, including the "Hume River", which was later renamed by Sturt as the Murray River. The "Hovell River" was later renamed the Goulburn River after English statesman Henry Goulburn.
 
World History

Friday, December 3, 1971. : Pakistan invades India as a result of the Bangladeshi struggle for freedom.


The British Empire once stretched into almost every continent on Earth. In 1947, Britain dismantled its Indian empire and partitioned the sub-continent, resulting in an eruption of tensions between India and Pakistan. Pakistan itself was divided by civil war after its 1970 election saw the East Pakistani Awami League party win 167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan and 313 in total, claiming the right to form the Government. However, the Pakistan People's Party, representing West Pakistan, refused to give premiership of Pakistan to the East Pakistan party, and called in the military, which was made up largely of West Pakistanis. Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, openly supported the Bangladeshi (East Pakistan) struggle for freedom, and opened the Bangladesh-India border to allow safe refuge to the Bengalis in India.

On 3 December 1971, the border battles escalated into full scale war as Pakistan launched air raids on India. The raids were not successful, and the Indian Air Force launched a counter-attack, quickly achieving the military upper hand. The Indian Army, together with exiled Bangladeshi fighters, launched a massive coordinated air, sea, and land attack on Pakistan, gaining ground quickly, and forcing the Pakistani Army to retreat. On December 6, India became the first nation to recognise the new Bangladeshi government. On December 16 the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan surrendered, and agreed to a unilateral ceasefire.
 
Dec 3rd
1910
At the Paris Auto show neon lights were 1st seen
1931
Alka Seltzer goes on sale
1967
surgeon,Dr Christiaan Barnard performed 1st heart transplant to Louis Washkansky in South Africa.He lived for 18 days was able to talk with his wife&daughters
2019
the 70th anniversary of NATO in London,England with world leaders in attendance.A reception by Queen Elizabeth II was held at Buckingham Palace
 
Australian History

Friday, December 4, 1953. : Oil is discovered in Exmouth Gulf off the coast of Western Australia.


The first exploration drilling for oil in Western Australia was carried out in 1902 at Warren River in the southwest of the state. Traces of oil were located at various sites throughout western Australia in the ensuing years. In 1953, WAPET (West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd) acquired the use of some remaining defence buildings after the the US Navy established a submarine and navy base in 1942 during WWII. From this point, WAPET commenced its oil exploration. On 4 December 1953, the discovery of a flow of oil in WAPET’s Rough Range No. 1 well at Exmouth Gulf stimulated the growth of the state's oil industry.
 
World History

Wednesday, December 4, 1619. : The first Thanksgiving is celebrated in America, before the Pilgrims ever arrived.


Thanksgiving in North America is a day of feasting and celebration, and has been a tradition for hundreds of years. It is generally associated with the arrival of the Pilgrims, who had escaped religious persecution in England. During the late 1500s and early 1600s, religion in England was strictly dictated by the government. Anyone who did not conform to severe religious restrictions was subject to being punished by jailing, torture and even execution. Seeking escape from religious suppression, a group known as the Pilgrims left England on the ship Mayflower.

The Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in southeastern Massachusetts in December 1620, but due to hostility from the local Indians, moved to Cape Cod. The indians of this region, the Wampanoag, were friendly, assisting the colonists to survive in a strange land. The Wampanoag taught them optimum growing techniques, which differed from what they had experienced in England, and they also taught them how to hunt and fish. The following year, the colonists celebrated a successful harvest and their freedom with a huge feast, in what became known as Thanksgiving. The Wampanoag were invited along to this feast, and are believed to have supplied much of the food themselves, including venison.

However, the very first Thanksgiving actually occurred among a group unconnected with the Pilgrims. This festival was completely religious in nature, and no feasting was involved. On 4 December 1619, a group of settlers from England arrived at Berkeley Plantation on the James River, now known as Charles City, Virginia. In their charter, this group dedicated the day of their arrival as a Day of Thanksgiving to God. This was the first known Thanksgiving in North America.

Wednesday, December 4, 1872. : The 'Mary Celeste' is found abandoned, with its cargo intact, but no sign of its crew or passengers.

The Mary Celeste was a ship found abandoned off the coast of Portugal in 1872. Originally named 'The Amazon' when it was first built in Nova Scotia in 1861, the 103-foot, 282-ton brigantine was renamed the 'Mary Celeste' in 1869 after changing hands several times.

Early in November 1872, the ship set sail from New York to Genoa, Italy, under the command of Captain Benjamin Briggs. A month later, on 4 December 1872, it was found adrift and abandoned, yet its cargo of 1700 barrels of alcohol was intact. None of the Mary Celeste's crew or passengers was ever found. Theories have abounded as to what happened. The most logical was that the ship was hit by a seaquake, common in the Azores, where the ship would have been at that time. Evidence indicated that the quake had dislodged some of the alcohol barrels, dumping almost 500 gallons of raw alcohol into the bilge. The galley stove shook so violently that it was lifted up from its chocks, possibly sending sparks and embers flying. This, mixed with the alcohol fumes, could have caused the crew and passengers to fear for their safety. They may have taken to the lifeboats, but were unable to catch up to the brig when the quaking subsided. Regardless of the theories, the mystery endures as to why the 'Mary Celeste' was abandoned.

Friday, December 4, 1942. : Polish Christians risk their own lives for Polish Jews.

The Holocaust of World War II involved the mass slaughter of European Jews and others by the German-led Nazis. After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Jews were forced into ghettos, transported to concentration and labor camps, or murdered in extermination camps. Jews were stripped of their basic human rights as homes and shops were confiscated and synagogues burned to the ground. The plight of the Jews were left largely ignored by the rest of the world, concentrating as it was on defeating the Germans and the Japanese on opposite sides of the Earth. Non-Jewish Poles could see the atrocities occurring within their own neighbourhoods but, with fewer rights under Nazi rule, many feared for their own safety and thus remained silent.

On 4 December 1942, two Christian women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz, put their own lives at risk when they set up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews. The fate of these two women, and the other Christians who joined them in their support of the Jews, is unknown. But their willingness to sacrifice their own safety, and probably their lives, is an enduring reminder that human courage and Christian ethics will prevail.
 
Australian History

Sunday, December 5, 1909. : George Taylor, little-known pioneer in Australian aviation, achieves the first Australian flight of a heavier-than-air machine.


George Augustine Taylor was born in Sydney on 1 August 1872. As a young man, he trained as a builder and then worked as a cartoonist. However, emerging developments in science and technology began to capture his imagination. In 1908, he established a factory for the purpose of building light aircraft.

As a student and admirer of aviator Lawrence Hargrave, Taylor developed a keen interest in gliding. Inspired by Hargrave's experiments with flying using a box kite, Taylor built a biplane from coachwood, covered with oiled calico, and with a box-kite tail for balance. On 5 December 1909, together with Edward Hallstrom (later known for his developments in the manufacturing industry rather than his aviation achievements), Taylor launched his glider from the sandhills at the northern Sydney beach of Narrabeen, thus pioneering gliding in Australia. He conducted more than 20 flights that day, varying in distance from 100 to 250 metres, at heights ranging from 1 to 3 metres above the sand. Taylor's wife, Florence, also tried her hand at gliding that day, becoming the first woman to fly in Australia. She later complained that her biggest problem was her clothes, and having to tuck in her skirts as she flew.

Taylor went on to be an architect, engineer, founder and Secretary of the Australian Air League, and cartoonist for Bulletin and Punch magazines. He also founded the Wireless Institute of Australia, contributing much to the spread and development of wireless technology in Australia.
 
World History

Tuesday, December 5, 1933. : Prohibition in the United States ends.


Prohibition generally refers to the time between 1920 and 1933 during which the Eighteenth Amendment was in place. The Eighteenth Amendment, forbidding the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," was passed by Congress and ratified on 16 January 1919. The ensuing Volstead Act, which made provisions for the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment, was passed on 28 October 1919.

Prohibition failed to enforce sobriety, and the federal and state governments lost billions in tax revenue. In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and on 5 December 1933, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the required three-quarters majority of states' approval. Whilst this ended national Prohibition, some individual states continued to uphold their own temperance laws. Mississippi, for example, was the last state to end Prohibition, doing so only in 1966.

Friday, December 5, 1952. : The Great Smog of London starts, lasting until March of 1953.

London has long been known as a city of fog and pollution, a combination which turned deadly on 5 December 1952. November 1952 had been considerably colder than average, with heavy falls of snow in southern England. Londoners had already been burning more coal than usual for heating. Being the end of Autumn, the city was also converting from using electric trams to diesel-burning public transport. The formation of an atmospheric inversion meant that the layer of cold fog filled with dirty particles was trapped by warmer air above. The smog was so thick that it reduced visibility for drivers, and Heathrow Airport was closed. The smog entered indoors as well, causing the cancellation of concerts, theatrical performances and even films, as the audience could not see the stage or screen.

Around 4,000 people died during the first week, mostly the very young, elderly and those already suffering from respiratory problems. However, as the weeks dragged on and the smog hung around, the death toll continued, with another 8,000 dying before the smog finally lifted the following Spring, in March 1953. The Great Fog altered perceptions regarding the dangers of London's "pea-souper" fogs. Whereas Londoners had always been complacent about their smog, new regulations were put in place restricting the use of dirty fuels in industry and banning black smoke. These included the Clean Air Acts of 1956 and of 1968, and the City of London (Various Powers) Act of 1954.

Thursday, December 5, 2013. : Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid campaigner and the first democratically-elected President of South Africa, dies.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918. Rolihlahla Mandela was seven years old when he became the first member of his family to attend school: it was there that he was given the English name "Nelson" by a Methodist teacher.

In his university days, Mandela became a political activist against the white minority government's denial of political, social, and economic rights to South Africa's black majority. He became a prominent anti-apartheid activist of the country, and was involved in underground resistance activities. Although interred in jail from 1962 to 1990 for his resistance activities, including sabotage, Mandela continued to fight for the rights of the South African blacks. He was eventually freed, thanks to sustained campaigning by the African National Congress, and subsequent international pressure. He and State President F.W. de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Mandela was elected to the Presidency of South Africa in 1994. He retired in 1999, and died at his home in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013.

Born on this day

Thursday, December 5, 1901. : American animator and film producer, Walt Disney, is born.


Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 5 December 1901. After serving with the Red Cross Ambulance Corps during World War I, he worked first as a commercial artist, then established his own studio, producing animated cartoons. After the company failed to turn a profit, Disney gained animation experience with the Kansas City Film Ad Corporation, working on primitive animated advertisements for local movie houses. He then established Laugh-O-Grams, Inc, which produced short cartoons based on popular fairy tales and children’s stories. When the company went bankrupt, Disney was invited to join his brother Roy in Hollywood, where they started the Disney Brothers Studio. The Disney Brothers Studio became the Walt Disney Studio in 1926, and then Walt Disney Productions in 1928.

Disney is best known for creating Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and for establishing the first theme park, Disneyland, in the USA. Disney currently holds the record for career Academy Award nominations, having gained 64 nominations. Among Disney's better known animated characters are Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio and Ariel the Mermaid. Disney died from lung cancer on 15 December 1966.
 


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