Australian's reject Howard's Idea of a Republic - 6 November 1999

6 November 1999 is remembered as the day, Australians rejected the Republic Referendum and chose to remain a constitutional monarchy instead. However, the truth is that the idea of a republic per se held - and still holds - a majority in the population. Just the actual referendum question presented at the time boiled down to a choice of Queen Elisabeth as head of state, represented by the Governor-General, or a Canberra appointed President, rather than one elected directly by the people.

As an outside observer I couldn't - and honestly still can't - quite grasp how Prime Minister John Howard managed to get away with a referendum choice that did not reflect the full intention of the republican movement - it's like saying: "I don't care if you want wine. You can only choose between juice and water!"

This day saw Abraham Lincoln (1860) elected US president, while Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940) and Bill Clinton (1996) were re-elected for a second term - a feat Barack Obama would like to copy today.

Elsewhere in the world, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a shipwrecked Spaniard, became the first known European to set foot on Texan soil (1528), Jefferson Davies was elected President of the Confederated States of America (1861), the UN General Assembly condemned South Africa's Apartheid Policy and called its member states to observe a military and economical boycott of the country (1962) and Joe Cocker topped the UK charts "With a little help from my friends" (1967).

The inventor of the saxophone, Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax, was born on this day (Dinant/Belgium, 1814), as were George Redburn Young, co-writer of the Aussie rock classic "Friday On My Mind", member of The Easybeats and Flash and the Pan, elder brother of Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC fame (Glasgow/UK, 1946) and Eagles singer Glenn Frey (Detroit/Michigan, 1948). Keeping with the musical theme, the most famous death of the day would be Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer of "Swan Lake", who died of cholera in St. Petersburg/Russia (1893). 'Captain Socceroo', Johnny Warren, famous Australian football player, promoter and commentator lost his battle with cancer on this day as well (Sydney, 2004)

Raging River named after British Revolutionary

Guy Fawkes was caught on this day in 1605 trying to blow up the British Parliament.


Guy Fawkes River at Ebor Falls/NSW



Fawkes was tortured to reveal the names of his fellow conspirators, then sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in London. Climbing up the ladder to the hanging platform, fawkes jumped off and broke his neck.


A river and a national park in the New England area of Northern New South Wales, approximately 560km north of Sydney and 80km east of Armidale have been named after him. The park offers spectacular views over rugged gorge country, excellent bushwalking and is home to brumbies and a range of threatened plant and animal species.

The most famous place within the park is Ebor Falls on the Waterfall Way, which connects Armidale with Coffs Harbour on the coast and is one of the 'must-do' road trips in Australia!


Elsewhere in the world, Frederick the Great defeated the Allied French and Austrian armies at the Battle of Rossbach with minimal casualties despite facing an opponent nearly three times the strength of his own troops (Saxony, 1757), Parker Brothers launched the board game "Monopoly" (1935), Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees survived a railcrash in Britain, which killed 49 people (Hither Green/UK, 1967) and Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death (Baghdad/Iraq, 2006).

Australia's first Olympic athlete and gold medal winner in the 1896 games in Athens, Edwin Flack, was born on this day (London/UK, 1873), as were Rudolf Augstein, founder of the German news magazine "Der Spiegel" (Hanover/Germany, 1923), the first football player to score in four consecutive World Cup tournaments, Uwe Seeler (Hamburg, 1937), Fench-singing American singer-songwriter Joe Dassin (Brooklyn/NY, 1938), half of Simon & Garfunkel, Art Garfunkel (New York, 1941), Peter Noone, better known as Herman of Herman's "No Milk Today" Hermits (Davyhulme/UK, 1947) and Canadian rock super star Bryan Adams (Kingston/Ontario, 1959) while the world lost comic writer Rene Goscinny of Asterix and Lucky Luke fame (Paris/France, 1977).

Sydney's First Milk Bar Opened 4 November 1932

Greek migrant Joachim Tavlaridis, later known as "Mick Adams" opened Australia's first milk bar in 24 Martin Place 80 years today. It was known as the "Black and White 4d Fruit Milk Bar".

The first of its kind, it featured a bar counter with limited seats on one side and milkshake makers and soda pumps on the other and spawned the opening of more than 4000 milk bars across the country within a few years. His grandson, Adam Gerondis, today owns the Moo Gourmet Burger restaurants in Bondi, Coogee and other Sydney suburbs, where among others the "Black & White Burger" is being served.

Elsewhere in the world, Spanish forces ransacked Antwerp in Flanders during the Eighty Years War (1576), James Simpson discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform (1847), Phar Lap won the Melbourne Cup (1930), Iranian students invaded the US Embassy in Teheran taking 90 hostages (1979) and the first African-American got elected President of the USA (2008).

As for birthdays, there are Italian painter Guide Reni (Bologne, 1575), Mary of Orange, eldest daughter of Charles I of England and mother of William III of England (London/UK, 1631) and Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott (London/UK, 1954). German composer Felix Mendelssohn died in Leipzig (1847) and the author of "Jurassic Park", Michael Crichton also died on this day (Los Angeles/California, 2008).

3 November 1942 - on the Kokoda Trail

After recapture of Kokoda from Japanese forces the night before, 3 November 1942 marks the day the Australian flag was raised over Kokoda again - a milestone in the Pacific War.

Australian 39th Battalion in Papua, 1942

Japan's attempt to isolate Australia from the US by capturing Port Moresby in the then Australian territory of Papua failed after a 4-months long battle in the rugged jungle terrain of the Kokoda Trail - one of the major Australian war tales.
 
Elsewhere in the world, Panama split from Colombia (1903), the USA introduced the income tax (1913), 10-year old Elvis Presley performed in public for the first time, winning $5 for coming 2nd in a talent show (1945), Laika, the first dog in space, went into orbit aboard the Sputnik II (1957), the Caribbean island of Dominica gained independence (1978) as did the Federated States of Micronesia (1986).
 
Today's birthdays include the Italian goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (Florence/Italy, 1500), German publisher Karl Baedeker, whose company set the standard for tourist guide books (Essen/Prussia, 1801), Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Catania/Sicily, 1801), Adolf Dassler, the founder of Adidas (Herzogenaurach/Bavaria, 1900) and Roy Emerson, the Australian tennis hero, who won 12 Grand Slam tournaments in his career - a feat only surpassed by Pete Sampras (14) and Roger Federer (17) - in Blackbutt/QLD (1936), while Solomon R. Guggenheim, art collector, philanthropist and founder of the Guggenheim Museum in New York died on this day (New York, 1949), as did French Artist Henri Matisse (Nice/France, 1954) and Laika, the Russian space dog (Space, 1957)

Manly Council allows Daytime Ocean Bathing - 2 November 1903

It wasn't until this day 109 years ago that Manly Council finally allowed daytime swimming.

Manly Surf Beach early 20th century

It had been local newspaper owner William Henry Gocher, who repeatedly defied existing rules, was arrested because of it and the resulting publicity those instances evoked, which finally led Manly Council to rescind its old by-law and pass a new one allowing daytime swimming. However, the law still required men and women to bathe at different times and neck-to-knee costumes to be worn by any person above the age of 8.

Elsewhere in the world, New Zealand became the first country to officially adopt a standard time to be observed nationally (1868), UK Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour wrote a letter to Baron Rothschild voicing official British support for the creation of a Jewish State in Palestine, aka the Balfour Declaration (1917), 84-year-old Alexander Kennedy became the first passenger on a scheduled Qantas flight on the Longreach-Cloncurry section of the inaugural mail run between Charleville and Cloncurry, Queensland (1922), a London jury found Penguin Books not guilty of obscenity for publishing D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" (1960) and the first resident crew arrived at the ISS (Space, 2000).

Born on this day were Marie Antoinette, wife of Louix XVI (Vienna/Austria, 1755), Czech nobleman and Austrian General Graf Radetzky, immortalised in Johann Strauss' "Radetzky March" (Trebnice/Bohemia, 1766), American actor Burt Lancaster (New York, 1913) and the last Australian Formula 1 Champion, Alan Jones (Melbourne, 1946). Irish writer and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw died on this day (Ayot St. Lawrence/UK, 1950).

Daily Dose of History: 500 years of Michelangelo Masterpiece

On 1 November 1512 Michelangelo's famous fresco covering all 460m² (over 5000 square feet) of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling were unveiled to the public for the first time.

It had taken Michelangelo four years to paint the 343 figures - the two most famous ones being God giving life to Adam, one of the most famous paintings in the world, possibly rivalled only by DaVinci's Mona Lisa... Considering that Michelangelo was foremost a sculptor and not a painter, the result is even more astonishing. It truly is a mindblowing experience to stand beneath that ceiling!

Goethe has been quoted as stating: "Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving." I fully agree. Go and have a look for yourself. If you can't do in person, do it at least at http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

 

Elsewhere in the world, the name Austria was documented for the first time (996), the "All Saints Flood" devastated Dutch cities, killing tens of thousands of people (1570), Shakespeare's "Othello" and "The Tempest" premiered at Whitehall Palace (London, 1604 and 1611, respectively), Lisbon/Portugal got destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami, also killing tens of thousands of people (1755) and a group of convicts escaped from Parramatta, intending to walk to China (1791).

Today's Birthdays include Def Leppard's drummer Rick Allen (Dronfield/UK, 1963), German model Barbara Becker (Munich, 1966), Australian singer Tina Arena (East Keilor/VIC, 1967) and Australian actress Toni Colette of "Muriel's Wedding" fame (Blacktown/NSW, 1972).

In many parts of Europe today is "All Saints Day ", while in Mexico it is "El Dia De Los Muertos" and internationally also "World Vegan Day".

Redfern Railway Wreck - 31 October 1894



 

Redfern Railway Station, publ. by Kerry & Co., 1884-1906

The first train crash in NSW history resulting in double digit fatalities occurred on this day in 1894. In total 13 people were killed when a Goulburn bound train leaving Redfern station collided with an incoming local train from Strathfield at 9.30am. Among the dead was Edward Lloyd Jones, director of the David Jones department store, the world's oldest department store continously trading under it's original name.

The driver of the country train was charged with manslaughter for allegedly disobeying a stop signal. However, he maintained his innocence, claiming the signal had been set in his favour and was found not guilty by the jury. It was later determined that the accident occurred because of a number of factors including clocks being too fast, the signalman being unwell and a mistake occurring in the signaling.

Elsewhere in the world, Martin Luther pre-empted Facebook and used a church door to "post" his 95 theses on the "wall" (Wittenberg, 1517), Arthur Conan Doyle published "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1892), a world record heatwave of 160 consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures above 100F (37.8C) started in Marble Bar/Western Australia (1923), the Mount Rushmore Monument was finally completed after 14 years of construction (1941), Queen released "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975), Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated (1985), World Population hit 7 billion (2011).

Some famous birthdays of the day include the long time Leader of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-Shek (Fenghua/Zhejiang, 1887), German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton (Berlin, 1920), "Miss Ellie" Barbara Bel Geddes (New York, 1922), as well as the Italian Olympic swimmer [Helsinki, 1952 and Melbourne, 1956] and actor Carlo Pedersoli, better known as Bud Spencer (Naples, 1929). Amongst the deaths of the day is also the famous Hungarian-born magician Erik Weisz, aka Harry Houdini (Detroit/Michigan, 1926), who died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix.