Hello rockylizard

Re 1839 - Chocolate manufacturer George Cadbury is born.

For the average conditions back in that day, he appears to be an employer who would have had no problems keeping his staff

Gday...

[no internet yesterday )

1519  -             Ferdinand Magellan leaves Spain on his voyage around the world.

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea explorer. Born in 1480, at age 12 he became a page to King John II and Queen Eleonora at the royal court at Lisbon. Here he was able to pursue his academic interest in astronomy and geography. He first went to sea when he was 20, and gained much seafaring experience over the next 10 years. He was the first to sail from Europe westwards to Asia, and the first European to sail the Pacific Ocean.

On 20 September 1519 Magellan set sail to circumnavigate the world. His fleet reached the Philippines a year and a half later. Whilst Magellan was well received by many of the people, he died on 27 April 1521, during a battle with an indigenous group. 18 members of his crew and one ship of the fleet returned to Spain in 1522, having completed Magellan's goal of circumnavigating the globe.

1853  -             Inventor Elisha Otis sells his first safety elevator equipment.

Elisha Graves Otis was born in Halifax, Vermont, USA, in 1811. In 1852, Otis developed the first modern passenger elevator. It used his invention of a safety device which prevented the car from falling if the cables broke. On 20 September 1853 he sold his first safety elevator equipment to Benjamin Newhouse in New York City who used it for moving freight.

The safety equipment was not demonstrated in public until 1854, after Otis had begun his elevator business. At the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York, Otis ascended in the elevator, and called for the cable to be cut with an axe. The elevator platform did not fall, but held, secured by a brake using toothed guiderails in the elevator shaft and a spring-loaded bar that automatically caught in the toothed rail of the elevator car if the cable failed. Today, the Otis Elevator Company is the worlds largest company in the manufacture and service of elevators, escalators, moving walks and people-moving equipment.

1954  -             The first Fortran computer program is run.

Fortran is a computer programming language. It was originally developed in the 1950s, primarily for technical and scientific applications. The name "Fortran" is short for "Formula Translation". In its early form, it allowed users to express their problems in commonly understood mathematical formulae. Fortran was developed by an IBM team lead by John Backus, and the first Fortran programme was run on 20 September 1954. Continued modifications through the years have allowed the programme to develop with technology, and it is still a usable language today.

1963  -             Scrivener Dam is completed in order to make Lake Burley Griffin, a central feature of Canberra, Australia's capital.

The competition to design Australia's new capital city, Canberra, was won in 1911 by American architect Walter Burley Griffin. After winning the competition to design Australia's national capital, he and his wife moved to Australia, where Griffin was appointed as the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction.

As the Molonglo River flowed through the proposed site of Canberra, Burley Griffin's design included an artificial lake in the city's heart. The design allowed for a central circular basin, with irregularly shaped eastern and western lakes either side. Due to disputes with Australian authorities, Burley Griffin left Australia in 1920 with much of his vision for the city not yet realised. Thus, work on the lake only began in 1958 when engineers first began to investigate the hydrology and structural requirements needed to dam the Molonglo in order to construct the lake.

Excavation of the floodplain for the lake began in 1960. The dam to hold back the waters was named Scrivener Dam after Charles Scrivener, the man who surveyed several sites in New South Wales to select the site for the Australian Capital Territory and Canberra. The valves to complete Scrivener Dam were closed on 20 September 1963 by Interior Minister Gordon Freeth but, due to a drought, the lake only reached its planned level at the end of April the following year.

1975  -             13 miners are killed in the first of several mining accidents at Moura, Queensland.

The town of Moura is located in central Queensland, about 676 km north-west of Brisbane. The Kianga-Moura coalfields were developed in the early 1960s, and by 1968 the coalfields were the largest in Queensland, with coal being railed out to Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

Nicknamed 'The Coal and Cattle Centre of the Dawson Valley', Moura is a small town with a history of tragic accidents. The first of these occurred on 20 September 1975. 13 miners were killed in an explosion in a mineshaft near the town. An inquiry found that the explosion was caused by "a spontaneous combustion source which ignited inflammable gas and was propagated involving coal dust."

The second major mining accident occurred in the Moura Underground No 4 mine, on 16 July 1986. 12 miners, the youngest of whom was just 18 years old, were killed in this accident. A brass statue of a miner at the southern end of the town commemorates this disaster. Yet another 11 miners were killed on 7 August 1994, when an explosion occurred at the main BHP mine.

1984  -             A suicide bomber kills 20 people at the US Embassy in Beirut.

Long before the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed in a terrorist attack, the USA had been the target of terrorism. On 20 September 1984, a member of the Islamic Jihad group drove a truck containing 500kg of explosives towards the United States embassy in Beirut, capital of Lebanon. Despite attempts by guards to stop the vehicle, it reached its target and exploded directly in front of the building. Twenty people were killed in the blast, which ripped off the front of the five-storey building.

The previous embassy was blown up in April 1983, killing 61 people, and the current embassy had been open only 6 weeks at the time of the attack. The motivation for the attack was that The Islamic Jihad, who were allied with the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran, did not want any Americans to be on Lebanese soil. Many more attacks continued throughout the 1980s, with a total of nearly 270 US citizens killed in bombings, assassinations and kidnappings.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1522  -             The first edition of Martin Luther's German translation of the New Testament is published.

Martin Luther, born in 1483, was a German theologian and leader of the Reformation. The Reformation was a movement in Western Europe during the 16th century, which aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches. Luther himself was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church for his attacks on the wealth and corruption of the papacy, and his belief that salvation would be granted on the basis of faith alone rather than by works.

In 1521, the same year in which he was excommunicated, Luther was summoned before the Diet of Worms. The Diet was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that occurred in Worms, Germany, from January to May in 1521. When an edict of the Diet called for Luther's seizure, his friends took him for safekeeping to Wartburg, the castle of Elector Frederick III of Saxony. It was here that Luther translated the New Testament into German. This was published on 21 September 1522. Luther also began translating the entire Bible, which took him 10 years to complete. Luther's extensive writing on church matters included the composition of hymns, liturgy, and two catechisms that are basic statements of the Lutheran church.

1741  -             A strange substance known as "Angel Hair" falls over Selborne, England.

Angel Hair is a fine substance so named because of its likeness to very fine hair. While there is no conclusive evidence on its formation or origin, it is commonly believed to be fine web strands left by migrating spiders.

On 21 September 1741, a thick fall of Angel Hair occurred over Selborne, England. The phenomenon was documented in "The Natural History of Selbourne (England)" by Gilbert White, where he described it as follows: "A shower of cobwebs falling from very elevated regions and continued without interruption until the end of the day. Most were not single filmy threads floating in the air in all directions, but perfect flakes or rags, between an inch and 5 or 6 long, which fell with a degree of velocity that they were considerably heavier than the atmosphere. On every side the observer looked might he behold a continual succession of fresh flakes falling into his sight, twinkling like stars as they turned their sides towards the sun. How far this wonderful shower extended would be difficult to say, but we know it reached Bradley, Selbourne and Alresford, the three who lie in a sort of triangle, the shortest of whose sides is about 8 miles in extent."

1872  -             Warburton departs Adelaide on his journey to explore central Australia from Alice Springs to Perth.

Peter Egerton Warburton was born on 15 August 1813, at Northwich, Cheshire. He joined the navy at the tender age of 12, initially serving as a midshipman on the HMS Windsor Castle. He then served for many years in India before retiring in 1853. He then came to Australia, whereupon he was appointed to command the Police Forces of the Colony of South Australia, an office he held until 1867. It was during this time that he developed his love of exploring.

Warburton undertook numerous smaller expeditions, but his goal was to complete the first crossing of the central Australian continent from east to west. In 1872, he was selected by Sir Thomas Elder, a Member of the Legislative Council to lead an expedition in an attempt to find a route from central Australia to Perth, and to report on what sort of country lay in between. On 21 September 1872, Warburton departed Adelaide with his son Richard, two white men with bush knowledge, two Afghan camel drivers and a black-tracker. His purpose was to attempt to find an overland route from Alice Springs to Perth and determine the nature of the country in between. Warburton's expedition departed Alice Springs on 15 April 1873.

The expedition was particularly hard-going. The men endured long periods of extreme heat with little water and survived only by killing the camels for their meat. After finally crossing the Great Sandy Desert, they arrived at the Oakover River, 800 miles north of Perth with Warburton strapped to one of the two remaining camels. Warburton received a grant of £1000 and his party received £500 from the South Australian parliament for the expedition.

1897  -             The famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter is published.

On 21 September 1897, an eight year old girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the New York "Sun" newspaper, asking if Santa Claus was real, after her friends had told her he was not. One of the newspaper's editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, answered the letter in such a way that its timeless message has resounded down through the generations, becoming a much-loved Christmas message of hope. The reply was as follows:

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

1964  -             Today is Malta's Independence Day.

Malta is a European sovereign state, made up of three main islands: thus it is an island nation. It is located in Southern Europe, south of Sicily (Italy), in the Mediterranean Sea. Throughout its history, Malta has seen influence from a variety of ancient cultures, including Sicilians, Romans, Phoenicians, Byzantines and Arabs. Christianity came to the island when St Paul was shipwrecked there, as recounted in the Biblical book of Acts, chapters 27-28.

The Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem managed Malta from 1530 until the island was captured by Napoleon in 1798. After Britain assisted the people of Malta to overthrow the French in 1800, the island became a British Dominion, and was formally acquired by Britain in 1814. Malta remained a firm ally of Britain through the twentieth century, and was granted full independence on 21 September 1964. It joined the European Union on 1 May 2004.

2003  -             The mission of the Galileo space probe ends, after it has collected much data on Jupiter.

The Galileo space probe was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis in October 1989. Its mission was to orbit Jupiter and probe its atmosphere. As well as orbiting Jupiter 35 times, it also made numerous orbits of Jupiter's largest moons, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Amalthea. The probe was named the Galileo after the Italian scientist who discovered Jupiter's major moons in 1610.

After its fourteen year mission, the Galileo, travelling at 170,000 kilometres an hour, was directed into Jupiter's atmosphere by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This was intended to destroy the probe completely. Its complete vaporisation was necessary to prevent the possibility that any residual microscopic organisms carried on the probe from Earth might contaminate one of the moons if it crashed, uncontrolled, into one of the moons as its orbit decayed. Contact with the Galileo was lost just after 3:40 pm on 21 September 2003. The end of the mission was watched solemnly by over 1000 people who had worked on the program since its conception in 1976.

Cheers - John

Hello rockylizard

Re 1964 - Today is Malta's Independence Day.

The George Cross was awarded to the island of Malta so as to "bear witness to the heroism and devotion of its people" during the great siege it underwent in the early parts of World War II

My Dad as a merchant seaman, was on ships which went there a few times during the siege, he casually mentioned that there was no guarantee that you would return home

Gday...

1499  -             Switzerland gains its independence.

Switzerland is a landlocked country of central Europe, positioned at the crossroads of northern and southern Europe. Originally known as Helvetia, the land was Romanised after being overrun by Julius Caesar during the 1st Century BC. When the Roman Empire began to decline three centuries later, the area was invaded by Germanic forces, under which it remained until 1276, when the Austrian House of Habsburg took over the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. The Swiss struggled for independence against the Austrians for two hundred years, and the Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defence measure. Originally uniting three cantons, other localities also joined, eventually enabling the Swiss to bring down the Austrian forces.

Following the Battle of Dornach, in which Emperor Maximilian I's troops were decisively beaten, the Swiss Confederacy, or Confederation gained its independence from the Holy Roman Empire. This was sealed in the treaty of Basel on 22 September 1499, although the Treaty was not formally recognised until the Peace of Westphalia, two peace treaties of 1648 which affected a number of European states.

The Confederation was replaced by a central federal government following a new constitution in 1848, which was updated in 1874.

1831  -             The first drawing of a numbat is made, following the first recorded sighting.

The numbat is a small marsupial of Western Australia, and the faunal (animal) emblem of that state. It is distinctive for having red-brown fur with six or seven white stripes across its back, and a relatively long, bushy tail. As it feeds mostly on termites, it is sometimes referred to as the banded anteater. Unlike most marsupials, the numbat does not have a pouch for the young. The joeys cling to the mother's underbelly fur whilst attached to a teat. Numbats used to be widespread across the southern part of Australia, but European settlement caused the extinction of the eastern colonies. Always an elusive creature, the first time this marsupial was sighted and drawn was in 1831.

George Fletcher Moore was one of the early settlers in Western Australia. He was involved in several expeditions to explore the region, and on one occasion accompanied explorer Robert Dale in surveying and cutting a road from Guildford to the Avon Valley in the southwest. On 22 September 1831, after seeing a numbat for the first time, Moore drew and described the creature, including in his text that accompanied the drawing the following:

"... chase another of those little animals into a hollowed tree, succeed in getting it, suppose it to be an ant eater from the length of its tongue & other reasons - its colour is yellowish barred with black & white streaks across the hinder parts of its back - length about 12 inches."

1885  -             Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia from 1945-1949, is born.

Ben Chifley was born Joseph Benedict Chifley on 22 September 1885, in Bathurst, New South Wales. He was raised largely by his grandfather, and joined the railways at age 15. Moving up to the position of engine driver, he became one of the founders of the engine drivers' union, the AFULE, and was actively involved in the Australian Labor Party. In 1928, Chifley won the Bathurst-based seat of Macquarie in the House of Representatives, and in 1931 he became Minister for Defence, under Scullin. He lost his seat again shortly afterwards when the Scullin government fell, but regained it in 1940, becoming Treasurer in Curtin's government.

Curtin died in July 1945, and Chifley defeated Forde in the leadership ballot to become Prime Minister. He implemented necessary post-war economic controls, remaining Prime Minister until his defeat by Robert Menzies and the Liberal Party in 1949. Two years later, Chifley died of a heart attack.      

1914  -             During WWI, a German U-boat sinks three British cruisers, killing over 1400 sailors.

The German U-boat was a submarine utilising the latest technology of the time, and able to travel underwater for two hours at a time. In the early days of WWI, three British cruisers, the "Aboukir", the "Hogue", and the "Cressy" were sunk by the German U-9 submarine, all within a period of about an hour.

The "Aboukir" was the first to be hit, at around 6:25am on 22 September 1914. Captain Drummond ordered everyone to abandon ship, but most of the crew had to jump into the sea, as only one boat survived the attack. The "Hogue" stopped to lower its boats to rescue the men of the "Aboukir" and, unaware of the torpedo attack, was hit next. The "Cressy" had also stopped to lower its boats, and sighted the U-boat's periscope too late to evade attack. 1459 men died, whilst 837 men were rescued.

German U-boat attacks almost isolated Britain, until unprovoked attacks on American vessels travelling to Britain prompted the entry of the USA into the war. American weaponry proved too great for Germany, and helped turn the war in favour of the Allies.

1980  -             The first Persian Gulf War - not the "Gulf War" - between Iran and Iraq begins.

The First Persian Gulf War originally referred to a different incident to that of 2 August 1990, in which Iraqi troops and tanks invaded Kuwait, in the Persian Gulf. The war between Iran and Iraq, also known as the First Persian Gulf War, began when Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980.

The two countries had a long history of border disputes, going right back to when the countries were the kingdoms of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and Persia (Iran). Catching Iranian forces by surprise, Iraq held the advantage early in the war. However, Iran mounted a successful counteroffensive in 1982, regaining lost ground. The United Nations Security Council repeatedly called upon both countries to end the conflict, but it was not until August of 1988 that a ceasefire was agreed to. Ultimately, the war changed the balance of power in the Persian Gulf, and led to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The 1980 Iran-Iraq war was initially called the Gulf War, amongst other names, and then referred to as the First Gulf War for a time after the Iraq-Kuwait conflict of 1990. This latter conflict was initially referred to by the name Operation Desert Storm. After the 1990 war, the 1980 war then became known as the Iran-Iraq war and the 1990 war became known as the First Gulf War.

1985  -             France admits to bombing the Greenpeace flagship, the 'Rainbow Warrior', in Auckland Harbour.

The Greenpeace flagship, the 'Rainbow Warrior', was named after a North American Indian legend, and launched in 1978. The ship arrived in New Zealand in July 1985 in preparation for leading a flotilla of boats to Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to protest against French nuclear tests on the atoll.

Just before midnight on 10 July 1985, underwater charges which had been placed by frogmen on the hull of the Rainbow Warrior, exploded, sinking the vessel while it was in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand. One person was killed in the explosion, Portuguese photographer Fernando Periero. On 22 September 1985, Prime Minister of France Laurent Fabius admitted that the bombing had been carried out by 2 secret agents belonging to the French foreign intelligence agency, DGSC, or Directorate-General for External Security. This was despite a major cover-up operation in which the French Government denied its involvement.

Within months, the French defence minister Charles Hernu had resigned and New Zealand was paid $7m in compensation by the French Government. A new 'Rainbow Warrior' was launched in 1987.

2000  -             Today is World Car Free Day.

22 September is celebrated every year as World Car free Day. Car Free Days are held to encourage motorists to do without their cars for a day, in order to promote walking, cycling and to reduce the amount of pollution caused by cars.

The concept of World Car Free Days was initiated following the global oil crisis in 1973. Over the next two decades, small-scale projects were developed to encourage people to use either car-pooling or alternative, cleaner methods of transportation. In October 1994, the concept developed further when American Political scientist and sustainability activist, Eric Britton, addressed the issue at the International Ciudades Accesibles (Accessible Cities) Conference hosted in Spain. Britton's keynote speech promoted strategies for planning and implementing Car-free days, and led to the inception of the first large-scale Car-Free Days held in individual cities such as Reykjavík (Iceland), Bath (Britain) and La Rochelle (France).

Britain became the first to launch a national campaign geared towards a Car-free Day, in 1997, with the French developing their own national campaign the following year. By 2000, Car-Free Day was established as a Europe-wide initiative, occurring on 22 September each year.

Cheers - John

Hello rockylizard

Re 2000 - Today is World Car Free Day.

First time I had heard of this, just goes to show that I have not yet managed to pull myself into the 21st Century

Gday...

63  -     Augustus Caesar, first emperor of the Roman Empire, is born.

Augustus Caesar was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus on 23 September 63 BC. He was adopted by his great uncle Julius Caesar, and became known as Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. He later became the first emperor of the Roman Empire, ruling from 27 BC until he died in AD 14.

Prior to coming to power in 27 BC, Augustus Caesar was commonly known by the name Octavian. Following the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, Octavian was a member of the Second Triumvirate, along with Marc Antony and Lepidus. This ended after Antony became involved with Cleopatra, Pharaoh of Egypt, and sided against Rome. In 32 BC, Octavian declared war on Antony and Cleopatra. The senate deprived Antony of his powers, and the Romans supported Octavian. When Octavian's forces defeated Antony and Cleopatra in the naval battle at Actium, they fled to Egypt, where Marc Antony committed suicide. Once Antony was out of the way and Lepidus was forced to retire, Octavian became Augustus Caesar. Octavian's leadership through this tumultuous time made him a perfect contender for the position left vacant after Julius Caesar's death.

Octavian worked to restructure the powers of the Roman Republic until he was in a position to establish the new framework of the Roman Empire. He gained unprecedented control over the Roman Senate by his position of authority and leadership within the armed forces. He had the respect of the people and loyalty among his powerful companions, and none in the Senate dared oppose him. His rule as Emperor began an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace, which continued for two centuries.

1846  -             The planet Neptune is discovered.

The planet Neptune, named after the Roman god of the sea, is the eighth planet from the sun and the fourth largest in diameter. It is the smallest and outermost of the gas giants. The planet's blue appearance is caused by 2,000 km/h winds of hydrogen, helium, and methane. It has eight known moons and five unconfirmed moons.

Neptune was first observed by the astronomer Galileo on 27 December 1612, but Galileo believed it to be a star. The unusual orbit of Uranus caused astronomers to speculate on the influence of an eighth planet, but it was not until 23 September 1846, that German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle discovered Neptune.

1869  -             'Typhoid Mary', the woman responsible for major outbreaks of typhoid in the New York City area, is born.

'Typhoid Mary' is the nickname of Mary Mallon, the woman who became responsible for a number of outbreaks of typhoid in New York in the early twentieth century. Mary Mallon was born on 23 September 1869, in Cookstown, Ireland. As a teenager she emigrated to America, where she found work as a cook. Mallon was hired by New York banker Charles Henry Warren to be the family's cook during a summer holiday on Long Island. Shortly afterwards, one of Warren's daughters contracted typhoid fever. Next, Mrs Warren and two maids became ill, followed by the gardener and another of Warren's daughters. The owners of the holiday property hired investigators to find the cause.

Investigator George Soper, a civil engineer with experience in typhoid fever outbreaks, found that from 1900 to 1907, Mallon had worked at seven jobs in which 22 people had become ill with typhoid fever. The case that Mallon was a carrier was difficult to prove, as Mallon herself was perfectly healthy, showing no signs whatsoever of the disease. However, after being forcibly taken to the Willard Parker Hospital in New York, Mallon was shown to be harbouring Typhoid bacilli. She was then quarantined for several years, only being released on the condition that she no longer work as a cook.

Unable to find work that paid as well as a cook's wages, Typhoid Mary returned to cooking five years later at the Sloane Maternity Hospital in Manhattan, under the name of Mrs Brown. 25 people became ill with typhoid fever, and two of them died. Mallon was tracked down, and quarantined for another 23 years. Mallon eventually died on 11 November 1938.

1965  -             Lawyer and judge Roma Mitchell becomes the first female judge in Australia.

Roma Flinders Mitchell was born in Adelaide on 2 October 1913. She was educated at St Aloysius Convent College, Adelaide, and held ambitions from a young age to be a barrister. She excelled at Adelaide University, and her involvement in student politics led to her being a pioneer for women's rights when she was denied entrance to the Law Students' Society because she was a woman. This event led to the formation of the Women Law Students' Society.

Roma Mitchell was admitted to the Bar in 1934, and became a partner in the legal firm of Nelligan, Angas Parsons and Mitchell in 1935. She continued to excel in her career, an example of which was in 1940 when she was instrumental in assisting the drafting of the Guardianship of Infants Act, passed later that year by the South Australian Parliament.

On 23 September 1965, Mitchell was made a Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the first Australian woman to achieve this position. Pioneering the Australian women's rights movement, Mitchell was also the first woman in Australia to be a Queens Counsel (1962) and a chancellor of an Australian university, being Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1983-1990. As Governor of South Australia from 1991-1996, she also became the first woman Governor of an Australian state. In 1982 Roma Mitchell became a Dame Commander of the British Empire.

1973  -             Tens of thousands of small toads rain down in France.

Stories abound of creatures falling from the sky: frogs, shells, fish and even starfish have been known to fall in showers occurring inland, many kilometres from the coast. Usually this is the result of a violent storm causing updraughts, which take creatures from shallower waters into the atmosphere, dumping them elsewhere later.

A similar occurrence took place in Brignoles, a town in southern France, on 23 September 1973. On this day, tens of thousands of small toads fell from the sky during what was described as a "freak storm". At the same time in another French village, Chalon-sur-Sanone, toads continued to rain down for two days.

1993  -             Sydney is announced as the venue for the 2000 Olympic Games.

Sydney launched its bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games in 1991. The main contender against Sydney was Beijing, and voting was close right up until the final decision. On 23 September 1993, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, announced from Monte Carlo that Sydney, Australia, would be the host for the Olympic Games in the year 2000.

Sydney won for its emphasis on safety for athletes and the fact that it was more environmentally conscious. Further, China was known for its human rights abuses, and while some IOC members hoped that a Beijing win might signal a movement towards adopting democratic values in China, in the end Australia's security and political stability won out.

2008  -             A large lump of 'something unpleasant' and unidentifiable washes up on a New Zealand beach.

In September 2008, newspapers reported that large lumps of 'something unpleasant' had washed up on several New Zealand beaches. The first was at Breaker Bay, on New Zealand's North Island, on 20 September. The 500 kg foul-smelling, greasy lump was about the size and shape of a 44-gallon drum. The regularity of the lump's shape suggested that it could be a type of cheese such as brie, or just cooking lard. On 23 September 2008, another two lumps were found washed up, this time at Waikanae Beach. Both lumps were discovered by people walking their dogs.

Rumours that it could be ambergris had locals rushing to try to cut off chunks to sell. Ambergris is a solid, waxy discharge from the intestinal tract of some species of whales. It is so valuable in making perfumes that it can sell for thousands of dollars per kilogram. Because locals were keen to cart parts of the object away in lumps, Wellington City council workers were spared the task of finding a way to remove the first smelly, unsightly object from the beach.

The incidents were investigated by the Environmental Protection Department, and the objects were later identified as lumps of tallow or lard.

2008  -             A gunman kills 11 at a Finnish school, the day after being interviewed and released by police

Matti Juhani Saari was a 22-year-old student at a trade school in Finland. On 22 September 2008, he posted a video of himself firing a handgun at a shooting range on the internet. The YouTube video contained the chilling words, "You will die next". The video drew the attention of police who, after questioning Saari, saw no need to terminate the temporary licence he held for a .22-calibre gun. Police released him.

The following day, 23 September 2008, Saari began a shooting rampage at the trade school at the town of Kauhajoki, 360km from Helsinki, in southwest Finland. The killing spree began at 11am and lasted for an hour and a half, during which time Saari killed 8 of his female classmates, one male, and a teacher before setting fire to the classroom where the class had been sitting a test. Finally he turned the gun on himself.

Saari died later in hospital. Police stated that he left a note saying he had been planning such an attack since 2002, and that he hated the human race.

2009  -             A huge dust storm blankets parts of eastern Australia.

On 23 September 2009, residents in Sydney discovered that, overnight, a huge dust storm had descended on their city. Deep red and orange dust-laden skies obscured major landmarks in the city as 16,000 tonnes of soil per hour travelled in from the west and spread through most of the state, borne by high winds of up to 100 kph. Flights were delayed, and ferry services on the Harbour were cancelled. Absenteeism increased dramatically, with an extra 27,000 people staying away from work, whilst construction unions shut down building sites after workers experienced eye irritations and respiratory problems. The NSW economy was estimated to be affected to tens of millions of dollars. Originating in South Australia and the Northern Territory, the dust storm reduced visibility to just 10 metres at Broken Hill in the state's far southwest.

Within a few hours, the winds turned, pushing the dust north to Queensland. Flights which had been diverted from Sydney were delayed at Brisbane airport. Although not as thick and intense as it was in Sydney, the dust created widespread respiratory problems, with medical centres reporting increased numbers of asthma and related breathing difficulties. The dust gradually made its way northwards up the coast.

The high winds were caused by a cold front coming in from the west, meeting the heatwave conditions which had preceded the dust storm. Deepening El Nino conditions contributed to the dust storm.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1493  -             Christopher Columbus departs on his second voyage to the "New World".

Christopher Columbus is believed to have been born circa 30 October 1451: there is some doubt as to his actual country and region of birth. Columbus was determined to pioneer a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. On 3 August 1492 Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Marýa, the Pinta, and the Niña. During his journeys, Columbus explored the West Indies, South America, and Central America. He became the first explorer and trader to cross the Atlantic Ocean and sight the land of the Americas, on 12 October 1492, under the flag of Castile, a former kingdom of modern day Spain. It is most probable that the land he first sighted was Watling Island in the Bahamas.

Columbus returned to Spain laden with gold and new discoveries from his travels, including the previously unknown tobacco plant and the pineapple fruit. The success of his first expedition prompted his commissioning for a second voyage to the New World, and he set out from Cýdiz on 24 September 1493. He explored Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and various smaller Caribbean islands, and further ensuing explorations yielded discoveries such as Venezuela. Through all this, Columbus believed that he was travelling to parts of Asia. He believed Hispaniola was Japan, and that the peaks of Cuba were the Himalayas of India.

1664  -             The Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam (New York) to England.

Henry Hudson was the discoverer of the Hudson River, Long Island, and the site of present-day New York. Because Hudson had been hired by the Dutch East India Company to find a quicker trade route to Asia, the Dutch later claimed the area and established a colony, naming it New Amsterdam. Peter Minuit of the Dutch West Indies Company bought the island in 1626 from the Manhattan Indians for $24 worth of merchandise.

New Amsterdam developed into the largest Dutch colonial settlement in North America. During the second Anglo-Dutch War between England and the United Netherlands, the colony was surrendered to the English on 24 September 1664, and renamed New York. When the Dutch retook control briefly in 1673, they renamed it "New Orange", but ceded it permanently to England after the signing of the Treaty of Westminster in 1674.

1928  -             The Coniston Massacre of Aborigines occurs at a cattle station in the Northern Territory.

The Coniston Massacre was the last known massacre of Australian Aborigines. Occurring at Coniston cattle station, Northern Territory, Australia, it was a revenge killing for the death of dingo hunter Frederick Brooks, who was believed to have been killed by Aborigines in August 1928. Constable William Murray, officer in charge at Barrow Creek, investigated and came to the conclusion that the killing had been done by members of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre and Kaytetye people. There were no witnesses, and apparent inconsistencies in Murray's report were never questioned.

Murray took matters into his own hand. Over the next few days, up until 30 August, he shot 17 members of the Aboriginal tribes he believed were responsible, and claimed his actions were made in self-defence and that each tribal member he had killed was in possession of some item belonging to Brooks.

In the ensuing weeks, Murray again encountered several groups of Aborigines while investigating another non-fatal attack on a settler named Nugget Morton at Broadmeadows Station. Together with Morton, one other white man and an aboriginal boy, Murray embarked on a campaign of revenge, during which another 14 Aborigines were killed.

Murray was never punished for his actions. On the contrary, the Board of Enquiry members were selected to maximise damage-control. It was believed at the time that Murray's actions were appropriate for the circumstances. The Central Land Council organised the seventy-fifth anniversary of the massacre, commemorated near Yuendumu on 24 September 2003.

1936  -             Jim Henson, creator of the 'Muppets', is born.

Jim Henson was born James Maury Henson on 24 September 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi. His family moved to Maryland when he was a teenager, and it was there that he began creating puppets for a Saturday morning children's television show. In 1955, he created "Sam and Friends", a five-minute puppet show for WRC-TV, while attending the University of Maryland, College Park. "Sam and Friends" included an early version of Kermit the Frog, and the success of the segment led to a series of guest appearances on network talk and variety shows. In 1968, the Muppets began appearing on the children's show "Sesame Street" and from there, their fame grew to eventually include their own television show, and a number of films.

When Henson died of pneumonia on 16 May 1990, a memorial service for him was watched by millions of viewers around the world. The University of Maryland, College Park, honoured Henson with a permanent tribute on 24 September 2003. A special ceremony dedicated a life-sized statue of Henson conversing with one of his best-known creations, Kermit the Frog, on the college campus.

1960  -             'USS Enterprise', the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.

The USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier, powered by eight A2W reactors. The ship's keel was laid in 1958 and it was launched on 24 September 1960, at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. After being commissioned on 25 November 1961, Enterprise underwent a lengthy series of tests and training exercises. Flight operations commenced in January the following year, when an F8U Crusader became the first airplane to land on board the Enterprise's giant flight deck.

The name 'Enterprise' later came to be synonymous with pioneering vessels, both in real life and in the TV show 'Star trek'. The 'Enterprise' of Star Trek fame was named after the historical maritime vessels. The 'Enterprise' was also the name of the prototype space shuttle which preceded 'Challenger', 'Columbia' and 'Discovery'.

1985  -             A Chinese farmer finds an uncut diamond inside a chicken he is preparing for his meal.

Throughout history, unusual objects have often been found inside animals. There is the story of the fish vendor in a Cambridge market who found a rare book inside a fish he was cleaning in June 1626; there is also the case of the Siouz Indian woman who found a gold nugget inside a chicken she was cleaning, in 1985.

In that same year, on 24 September 1985, a Chinese farmer from Hunan was cleaning a chicken he had just killed for his evening meal. Within the chicken's gizzard, Yungzhong Li found a 1.18 carat uncut diamond. It is uncertain what the diamond's real value was, as Yungzhong Li was a poor peasant, and keen to sell the diamond for a good amount of money. However, he was given 300 pounds for the diamond, which was three times the amount he would have earned in one year.     

Cheers - John

Gday...

1764  -             Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty against Captain Bligh, is born.

Fletcher Christian was born in Cumberland, England, on 25 September 1764. He went to sea at the age of sixteen, and two years later he sailed aboard HMS Cambridge where he met William Bligh for the first time. Bligh, ten years older, had also started his seagoing career at the age of 16, quickly rising through the officer ranks. Bligh and Christian were very close during their early years together.

The 'HMS Bounty' sailed with a crew of 45 men from Spithead, England in December 1787 under Captain William Bligh, bound for Tahiti. Their mission was to collect breadfruit plants to be transplanted in the West Indies as cheap food for the slaves. After collecting those plants, Bounty was returning to England when, on the morning of 28 April 1789, Fletcher Christian and part of the crew mutinied, taking over the ship, and setting the Captain and 18 crew members adrift in the ships 23-foot launch. Captain Bligh sailed nearly 6000km back to England, arriving there on 14 March 1790, where he was initially court-martialled and ultimately acquitted. The mutineers took HMS Bounty back to Tahiti, and collected 6 Polynesian men and 12 women. They then continued on to Pitcairn Island, arriving there on 15 January 1790. After burning the ship they established a settlement and colony on Pitcairn Island that still exists.

Fletcher Christian was killed during a conflict between the Tahitian men and the mutineers which killed all the island men but one. By the time Captain Mayhew Folger of the American sealing ship 'Topaz' landed at Pitcairn Islands in 1808, only John Adams survived. Adams, by then a changed man after his conversion to Christianity, went on to become the respected leader on Pitcairn.

1862  -             Australian Prime Minister during WWI, Billy Hughes, is born.

William Morris Hughes was born on 25 September 1862. He was born in London but migrated to Australia in 1884. He joined the newly formed Labour Party in 1893. Hughes was elected to the first federal Parliament as Labor MP for West Sydney in 1901, and continued to develop his political career until he was elected as the Prime Minister in 1915.

Hughes was pro-conscription during WWI, and passionate about supporting England with troops. His war efforts earned him the nickname of the "Little Digger". Even after he was no longer Prime Minister, Hughes retained a seat in Parliament, with a political career which spanned 58 years. He was the last member of the original Australian Parliament elected in 1901 still in the Parliament when he died on 28 October 1952.

1876  -             The current state flag of Tasmania is adopted.

Tasmania began as a second colony in 1803, administered by the Governor of New South Wales. In June 1825, Van Diemen's Land, as it was then known, was separated administratively from New South Wales, and Hobart Town was declared the capital of the colony. The colony was officially renamed Tasmania, in honour of its discoverer Abel Tasman, in 1856.

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. The first Tasmanian flag was adopted by proclamation of Tasmanian colonial Governor Sir Frederick Weld in November 1875, but as it included two badges - both a white cross and the Southern Cross - it was discarded within two weeks.

A year later, it was decided that the badge should consist of a red lion on a white disc. The new flag was adopted on 25 September 1876, and has remained virtually unchanged since then, with only a minor alteration to the lion.

1956  -             The world's first trans-Atlantic telephone cable system commences operations.

The Trans-Atlantic telephone system opened in 1927. Prior to 1956, however, telephone calls across the ocean had been transmitted via radio waves. Cables, which provided better signal quality, avoided atmospheric interference and presented greater capacity and security, were not used until the first Trans-Atlantic submarine cable commenced operations on 25 September 1956.

While the first transatlantic telegraph cable had been laid in 1858, modifications and technological advances had to be made for it to suit telephonic communications. These advances were not practical until the 1940s. The initial capacity of the cables was 36 calls at a time, costed at $12 for the first three minutes. In the first 24 hours of service, there were 588 London-US calls and 119 from London to Canada. The capacity of the cable was soon increased to 48 channels.

1957  -             The largest explosion in a second series of British atomic tests at Maralinga, South Australia, takes place.

Australia's relative remoteness from the major populated countries of the world made it a strategic location for testing of British atomic weapons in the 1950s. Initial tests were conducted at the Montebello islands, off north-west Western Australia. In 1953, Britain's first atomic test on the Australian mainland was carried out at Emu Field, in the Great Victoria Desert of South Australia, about 480 kilometres northwest of Woomera. Several years later, testing was moved to Maralinga, a remote area of South Australia, and the home of the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal group.

"Operation Buffalo" involved four open-air nuclear test explosions at Maralinga, commencing in September 1956, and continuing through to October 22. The next series of tests at Maralinga was codenamed "Operation Antler". These tests commenced in September 1957, with an explosion of one kiloton on 14 September. The second, much larger explosion took place on 25 September 1957, and yielded six kilotons. A third detonation took place from a balloon at a high altitude. Acid rain fallout was reported from as far away as Adelaide.

The tests at Maralinga left a legacy of radioactive contamination. Cleanup operations were insufficient to combat radiation poisoning among Australian servicemen and Aborigines who were at Maralinga during the tests. The site was formally handed back to the Maralinga people under the Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act in 1985. In 1994, the Australian Government made a compensation settlement of $13.5 million with Maralinga Tjarutja, in relation to the nuclear testing.

1957  -             Over 1000 US paratroopers are required to escort nine black students into a previously all-white school.

Civil rights for African-Americans was becoming a prominent issue in the 1950s. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court had granted African-Americans the right to an equal education. Early in September 1957, 9 black students were due to enrol in the previously segregated Little Rock Central High School. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, rallied 270 armed National Guardsmen to prevent the nine students from entering the school.

President Eisenhower deliberated with the governor and the mayor of Little Rock for many days. During this time, there were frequent scenes of racial hatred and prejudice shown by the white community in Little Rock, and fears grew that the tensions would escalate into violence. On 25 September 1957, Eisenhower was forced to send in 1,100 paratroopers to escort the students into the school. Eisenhower federalised the Arkansas National Guard, because as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he felt this was the only way to establish law and order. For the entire school year, the federalised National Guard remained as a peace-keeping force, and to protect the African-American students.

Cheers - John

Gday...

70  -     Jerusalem falls to the Roman Emperor Vespasian.

Vespasian, also known as Titus Flavius Vespasianus, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until he died in 79 AD. For centuries, the Jews had revolted against Roman rule in their land, and the Romans became increasingly violent in their suppression of Jewish revolt. Appointed to oversee the war in judea in 66, Vespasian proved himself a ruthless enemy.

The cruel Emperor Nero, known for both his persecution of Christians and his personal excesses, was overthrown in 68 and Vespasian was declared Emperor in 69. Departing for Rome, Vespasian left his eldest son Titus in charge of operations. Titus led his troops in the final assault and siege of Jerusalem. On 26 September 70 AD, Jerusalem finally fell, marking the end of the Jewish revolt against Rome. By then, the Jewish temple, the very heart of Jewish worship and culture, had been completely destroyed, and many citizens taken captive.          

1449  -             Two gigantic reptiles, described as monsters or dragons, are seen fighting on the banks of the River Stour in England.

Whether dragons were real or only a myth has been the subject of many a debate over the years. However, according to a medieval chronicle, on 26 September 1449 two fire-breathing monsters were seen battling each other near the village of Little Cornard, on the banks of the River Stour along the English county borders of Suffolk and Essex. One dragon was from Killingdown Hill near Suffolk, and the other from Ballingdon Hill in Essex. There were many witnesses as the two beasts met in what later came to be known as Sharpfight Meadow, for an hour-long battle. One of the creatures was black, and its opponent reddish and spotted. The black one yielded first, returning to its lair.

Also in Suffolk at the time was a lake known as Bures Lake. Witnesses described a huge monster with a crested head and enormous tail, which was seen to devour a shepherd and numerous sheep. Similar creatures (or the same creature) have been described in Suffolk folklore.

1824  -             The tomato, previously regarded with suspicion, is proven to be harmless when Colonel Robert Johnson eats a basketful of tomatoes in public and without ill effect.

The tomato was not always the popular vegetable (or fruit) that it is today. During the 17th century, it was known as the stinking golden apple or wolf peach in northern Europe and the United States, due to the belief that it was poisonous. Its Latin genus name 'Lycopersicon' means wolf peach; 'peach' for its tempting, luscious appearance, and 'wolf' for its supposedly poisonous qualities. It was believed that eating a raw tomato would cause immediate death.

Colonel Robert Johnson brought the humble tomato to the United States, but the food was initially regarded with much suspicion. On 26 September 1820, Johnson announced he would eat a bushel of tomatoes in public. A crowd of 2000 people gathered to watch what they believed would be a public suicide. However, the reputation of the tomato was changed when Johnson ate the whole basketful without ill effect.

1855  -             The first railway line in New South Wales is opened.

Up until the mid-1800s, the horse and carriage remained the major means of transporting goods and people long distances overland. Victoria was the first colony to build a railway line, which ran from Melbourne's Flinders Street Station and Port Melbourne, then called Sandridge. The line was opened on 12 September 1854.

In 1849, the Sydney Railway Company started building the first railway track in New South Wales. It ran between Sydney and Parramatta, for a distance of 22 km. The construction suffered some setbacks, in particular financial difficulty, and was put on hold until taken over by the New South Wales colonial government. The line finally opened on 26 September 1855.

1973  -             Supersonic aircraft, the Concorde, makes its first trans-Atlantic crossing in record time.

The concept of supersonic aircraft was conceived in the 1950s. During the 1960s, Britain's Bristol Aeroplane Company and France's Sud Aviation were simultaneously working on designs, but the anticipated costs of the project were too great to be developed by an individual company: hence, France and Britain decided to work cooperatively. An international treaty between Britain and France was negotiated for the development of the project. The first test flight took place from Toulouse, France, on 2 March 1969, and the first supersonic flight occurred on October 1 of that year.

Concorde had a cruise speed of Mach 2.04, twice the speed of sound, and a cruise altitude of 17,700 metres (60,000 feet). Initially, it ran regular services between Britain and France, but on 26 September 1973 the Concorde made its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic. The flight between Washington DC to Orly airport in Paris was made in three hours 32 minutes, halving the previous flight time of any trans-Atlantic aircraft crossing.

1983  -             A potential nuclear war is averted when a Russian army colonel refuses to believe his computerised early warning systems.

Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, born in 1939, is a relatively unknown hero who averted nuclear war on 26 September 1983 (local time). The computerised early warning systems he was monitoring indicated that the United States had launched a missile against the USSR. Petrov, however, refused to believe the systems, reasoning that if the USA really wished to attack the USSR, it would launch many missiles rather than the single one indicated. Further, the reliability of the warning system had been proven to be doubtful in previous instances. Shortly after the first alarm, the system warned that another four missiles had been launched. Still Petrov believed a computer error had occurred. Knowing that he could be condemning his own countrymen to death, but also knowing that a false report could result in an unprecedented Soviet attack on the US, he chose to declare the situation as a false alarm.

Due to the Cold War, Petrov's actions were not made public until 1998. He was reprimanded by his own country for defying military protocol, reassigned, and ultimately retired from his military career. Whilst he was never awarded recognition within his own country for averting a major catastrophe, on 21 May 2004 the Association of World Citizens, based in the USA, awarded Colonel Petrov its World Citizen trophy and $1,000 US dollars in recognition of his actions.

1991  -             Eight people commence a two-year stay inside Biosphere 2, a sealed, manmade experimental environment in Arizona, USA.

Biosphere 2 is an artificial, sealed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona. It was built in the late 1980s, to test whether people could live and study in a closed, isolated environment, whilst carrying out scientific experiments. Biosphere 2 was designed as an airtight replica of Earth's environment, and included a 3,406,000 litre ocean, rainforest, a desert, agricultural areas and a human habitat. It was called Biosphere 2, because Earth itself is considered the first biosphere. The experiment was intended to explore the possible use of closed biospheres in space colonisation.

The first mission involved four men and four women living in the Biosphere for two years. It commenced on 26 September 1991, and the eight people emerged on 26 September 1993. The experiment lost some credibility when oxygen and other necessities were required to be provided. The second mission, which extended for six months in 1994, was fraught with problems and the project met with considerable disdain among the scientific community. Biosphere 2 is now open as a hands-on, interactive science centre.

2008  -             Actor and humanitarian Paul Newman dies.

Paul Newman was a humble actor who became a Hollywood legend, yet never lost his integrity and generous spirit. Born in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio on 26 January 1925, Paul Leonard Newman was the son of a Jewish father and a Slovak Catholic mother. He made his acting debut at 7 years old, as a court jester in a school production of Robin Hood. He graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1943 and attended Ohio University in Athens for a short time.

Newman served in the Navy in World War II in the Pacific and returned to university, hoping to train to be a pilot. The discovery that he was colour blind prevented him from pursuing that career, but he remained in the military field, undergoing training as a radioman and gunner. He served on the USS Bunker Hill during the battle for Okinawa in 1945, and narrowly averted death when his pilot developed an infection shortly before the main attack and could not fly: all others in his troop who flew that day died.

Newman's theatre career began on Broadway, and he successfully transitioned to films. In all, he appeared in around 60 films, including classics such as The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973).

Newman was a generous humanitarian: when he founded Newman's Own, a line of food products, in 1982, he established a policy that all proceeds from the sale of Newman's Own products, after taxes, would be donated to charity. By 2006, this had resulted in over $200 million in donations. In June 1999 Newman donated $250,000 to the relief of Kosovo refugees. He founded the "Hole in the Wall" camps which provide camps for children suffering chronic or fatal illnesses. Many other groups representing the socially disadvantaged have benefited from Newman's philanthropy through the years.

Paul Newman died on 26 September 2008, at the age of 83, after a long battle with lung cancer. His daughters led the tributes to him, citing his "selfless humility and generosity" as a legacy that would continue, thanks to his humanitarian work.

Cheers - John

Hello rockylizard

Re 1449 - Two gigantic reptiles, described as monsters or dragons, are seen fighting on the banks of the River Stour in England.

There has been a lot of myths throughout England history

One teacher always went out of his way to explain that, back in the day, many people were superstitious.
He explained that they thought that it was bad luck to speak against any demons.
If one person said that they saw a demon, then the rest agreed
Long before we were old enough to know what a drunkard actually was, he use to recite the poem by GK Chesterton

Quote
Before the Roman came to Rye or out to Severn strode,
The rolling English drunkard made the rolling English road.
A reeling road, a rolling road, that rambles round the shire,
And after him the parson ran, the sexton and the squire
Unquote

Or words to that effect

Gday...

1631  -             Puritans are outraged as Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is performed on a Sunday.

The romantic comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was written by William Shakespeare between 1594 and 1596. Drawing on mythology, magic and fairies for much of its content, the play was a far cry from some of the tragedies for which Shakespeare was well known.

Puritans, an extremist religious group, raised an outcry when 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' was performed on a Sunday, on 27 September 1631. The private performance took place in the Bishop of Lincoln's house in London. Seeking punishment for those who participated, the Puritans required that the cast member who played "Bottom", a donkey, was required to spend twelve hours in the stocks wearing a donkey's head and a sign proclaiming:

'Good people, I have played the beast,
And brought ill things to pass;
I was a man, but thus have made,
Myself a silly ass.'

Due largely to the influence of the Puritans, drama was banned and theatres remained closed from 1642 to 1660.

1660  -             Vincent de Paul, founder of many charitable organisations, dies.

Saint Vincent de Paul was born on 24 April 1580 at Pouy, Landes, Gascony, France. He was ordained as a priest in 1600, but captured and sold into slavery by Turkish pirates before he could take up his first parish position. Vincent de Paul converted his owner to Christianity, and was freed from slavery in 1607. After returning to France and taking up a position as parish priest near Paris, he founded many charitable organisations such as Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, and the Congregation of Priests of the Mission, also known as Lazarists. Vincent de Paul died on 27 September 1660.

Today, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul is an international organisation, the primary mission of which is to assist the poor. The Society, which was founded in 1833, took Saint Vincent de Paul as its patron saint: thus, his name has come to be synonymous with charity.

1722  -             An Irish woman is killed by a dobhar-chu, an Irish cryptid.

The field of 'cryptozoology' is the study of 'cryptids' such as Yowies and the Sasquatch, the existence of which has not been proven. Such creatures are elusive, and belief in them is based on anecdotal sightings rather than scientific evidence.

The Dobhar-chu, roughly translated as "water-hound" or "water-dog", is a cryptid of Irish folklore. It is an amphibious creature, reported to be a cross between a dog and an otter, with fish-like qualities. On 27 September 1722, an Irish woman known only by the name "Grace" was apparently killed by a dobhar-chu while she was washing her clothes in Glenade Lake. Screaming for help, she was heard by her husband who, with a friend, arrived too late to save her. Finding the dobhar-chu sitting atop her mutilated body, he stabbed it. The whistling noise it made as it died alerted another dobhar-chu, which arose from the lake and chased the man and his friend. However, they were able to kill it before it hurt either man.

1851  -             Australian explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell wins the last official duel in New South Wales.

Sir Thomas Mitchell was Surveyor-General of New South Wales and the explorer who discovered "Australia Felix", or "Happy Australia", which was the rich land of western Victoria. As well as being well-known for his immense contribution to exploration, Mitchell is less-known for fighting the last known duel in Australia. It was fought between Mitchell and one of New England's well-known early settlers, Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson.

The duel occurred on 27 September 1851 in Centennial Park, Sydney, and it is believed to have been over land - Tenterfield Station - which was a crown grant to Donaldson. As Surveyor-General, Mitchell had gazetted a town to be built on part of Donaldsons Tenterfield Station. The enraged Donaldson challenged Mitchell to a duel. Three shots were fired, and the last one of Mitchell's found its mark, blowing Donaldson's hat off. Donaldson was not injured, and later went on to become the first Premier of New South Wales.

1854  -             The first major disaster involving an ocean liner occurs when the 'Arctic' sinks, killing over 300.

The "Arctic" was one of four sidewheel steamships built for the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company, also known as the Collins Line. The Arctic was 87 metres long, with 10 metre paddle wheels on either side. It could traverse the distance from New York to Liverpool in a record-breaking nine days.

On the morning of 20 September 1854 the Arctic sailed from Liverpool with 150 crew and between 322 and 389 passengers. On 27 September 1854 it was 85km off the Newfoundland coast when it collided with the French steamship, "Vesta", a propeller-driven steamer much smaller than the Arctic. Concerned by the water pouring in through a gaping hole in the hull, Captain James Luce attempted to make for the coast, but the ship sank an hour later. Many of the crew took the lifeboats which were already inadequate in number, and in the end not a single woman or child who was aboard the vessel survived. Captain Luce gallantly tried to save many, but dehydration and exhaustion caused them to drop off the paddle-wheel box to which Luce and others clung. Luce gave a true account of his crew's cowardice. Of the 87 survivors overall, only 22 had been passengers. Around 350 people were killed that day.

1990  -             The hero of the 1852 Gundagai floods, Aboriginal Yarri, is honoured with a headstone placed on his grave.

The town of Gundagai is located on the Murrumbidgee River 390 km south-west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Australian explorer Hamilton Hume, together with immigrant William Hovell, were the first Europeans to visit when they passed through the area in 1824, and their expedition subsequently opened up the area for farming land. Explorer Charles Sturt identified a spot near Gundagai as the best crossing point of the river for coaches and drovers. A settlement gradually grew up along the Murrumbidgee River at the river crossing, and by 1852, there were around 300 people living along the river flats.

The flats had already shown they were prone to flooding, but people ignored the warnings and stayed in close proximity to the water. Torrential rain had been falling in the Snowy Mountains for most of the month of June 1852. Despite the rising river, many people chose to wait out the floods in the lofts of their houses rather than evacuate, as they were familiar with floods. However, in the early hours of 25 June 1852, a torrent swept down the Murrumbidgee valley. Houses collapsed and people were swept away. A punt sent out to rescue people capsized, its occupants thrown into the raging waters. Two Aborigines, Yarri and Jackey Jackey, showed great courage and heroism as they took their canoes out into the torrent to rescue people stranded in trees and the water. Although they rescued 49, another 89 were killed in the Gundagai flood.

After another, higher flood in 1853, the town was relocated at its current site on the hill, Mount Parnassus, above the river. Yarri, who led the rescue, has been honoured through the years with various small monuments around the town. On 27 September 1990, NSW Premier Nick Greiner formally unveiled a headstone for Yarri's grave, which had lain unmarked for a century.

Cheers - John

Gday...

929  -   Good King Wenceslas is killed by his brother.

Wenceslas was the Duke of Bohemia, and an honest and generous man. Wenceslas was born around 907 in the castle of Stochov near Prague. Having been brought up with a strong Christian faith by his grandmother St Ludmila, he was a man who believed in putting his Christian faith into action. His own mother, Drahomira, was allied with an anti-Christian group that murdered Wenceslas grandmother, allowing Drahomira to become regent in Bohemia in 920 AD when Wenceslas's own father died. Drahomira was deposed, and Wenceslas became king, at the age of 18.

Many of the Bohemian nobles were against Wenceslas's attempts to spread Christianity, and resented his allegiance to the king of Germany, Henry I. He was murdered on 28 September 929 by his wicked younger brother Boleslav, who joined the nobles plotting to murder Wenceslas. After inviting Wenceslas to a religious festival, Boleslav attacked him along the way, assisted by other assassins.

Wenceslas had been particularly caring towards children, doing what he could to help orphans. Thus in 1853 he was chosen by lyricist John Mason Neale as the subject of a Christmas carol which would give the example of generosity and high principles. The melody is from a 13th century song called "Tempus Adest Floridum," or "Spring Has Unwrapped Her Flowers."

1861  -             The cache buried beneath the 'Dig' Tree, revealing the notes and journals of Burke and Wills, is dug up by Howitt's rescue party.

Burke and Wills, with a huge party of men and supplies, departed Melbourne in August 1860 to cross Australia to the north coast and back. Burke, being impatient and anxious to complete the crossing as quickly as possible, split the expedition at Menindee. He moved on ahead to establish a depot at Cooper Creek, leaving William Wright in command of the Menindee depot. Splitting his party yet again at Cooper Creek, Burke chose to make a dash to the Gulf in the heat of Summer with Wills, Gray and King. He left stockman William Brahe in charge with instructions that if the party did not return in three months, Brahe was to return to Menindee. The trek to the Gulf and back took over four months, and during that time Gray died. A full day was spent in burying his body. When Burke returned to Cooper Creek, he discovered lettering freshly blazed on the coolibah tree at the depot, giving instructions to dig for the supplies Brahe had left. Thus the name 'Dig' Tree was spawned.

When Burke left the Dig tree to try to reach the police station at Mt Hopeless, 240km away, he failed to leave further messages emblazoned on the Dig tree. Thus, when Brahe and Wright returned to check the depot, they found no evidence of Burke's return, and saw no need to dig up the cache beneath the tree. Believing Burke and Wills were lost, a rescue expedition was organised in Melbourne. Headed up by Alfred Howitt, the rescue party reached the Dig tree in September 1861. Finding no sign of Burke and Wills, the men moved downstream. It was there that they found King, the only survivor, who was able to tell how Burke and Wills had died six weeks earlier.

On 28 September 1861, Howitt dug up the cache beneath the Dig tree, and found the evidence which could have saved Burke and Wills. Had the cache been dug up earlier, Burke and Wills' movements could have been tracked and the tragedy avoided. A Royal Commission into the failed expedition laid the blame on Burke for splitting the expedition party, on Wright for not moving from Menindee more quickly and opening the cache, and on the exploration committee for not acting sooner to rescue Burke and Wills.

1973  -             The first performance takes place in the new Sydney Opera House.

The Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, sits on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour. Designed by Danish architect Joern Utzon in 1955, it has become one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. Utzon arrived in Sydney to oversee the project in 1957 and work commenced on the opera House in 1959. The building was completed in 1973, at a cost of $102 million, and formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.

The opening was celebrated with fireworks and a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Prior to this, however, Sergei Prokofiev's 'War and Peace' was played at the Opera Theatre on 28 September 1973. The following day, the first public performance was held, with a programme performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Mackerras and with accompanying singer Birgit Nilsson.

1978  -             Pope John Paul I is found dead, with a copy of a devotional he was reading in his hands.

Pope John Paul I was born on 17 October 1912 in northern Italy. After being educated in seminaries within the diocese of Belluno, he was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic Church on 7 July 1935. He was made bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1958 by Pope John XXIII. Pope Paul VI appointed him patriarch of Venice in 1969, and he was named a cardinal in 1973.

Knowing his own ill-health, John Paul was surprised to be elected to the papacy on the third ballot of the 1978 Papal Conclave. He took his name in honour of his two predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. He quickly became popular for his warmth, beaming smile and ready sense of humour. However, only 33 days after he was elected, Pope John Paul died, on 28 September 1939. His death was supposedly due to heart attack, but as autopsies are not performed on Popes, out of respect, the official finding was never confirmed. Conspiracy theories have abounded concerning the popular Pope's untimely death, but no evidence has surfaced to support the theories. Pope John Paul was succeeded on 16 October 1978 by Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, who took the name of Pope John Paul II in deference to his predecessor.

1994  -             850 die as the ferry 'MS Estonia' sinks in the Baltic Sea.

The 'MS Estonia' was an Estline ferry which regularly ran from Talinn, Estonia to Stockholm, Sweden. The ferry could be subject to heavy storms, but had always borne up against the impact with no difficulties. However, at 1:00am on the morning of 28 September 1994, after being pounded by a series of unusually large waves the bow door tore off the ship, opening a vital inner door which protected the car deck from the open sea. As water poured in, the ship listed starboard by 15 degrees. By 1:30am, the ferry had sunk.

Of the 929 people who were aboard the ferry that day, 852 were killed. A Swedish-Finnish-Estonian inquiry on the cause of the disaster reported that a combination of incompetent crew and design faults in the ferry's bow door contributed to the accident. The Meyer shipyard which built the ferry also set up its own investigation, and reported that the accident was due to poor maintenance and excessive speed.

Cheers - John

Hello rockylizard

A good read as always, so thanks for that

Re 1973 - The first performance takes place in the new Sydney Opera House.

I am led to believe, prior to the Opera House being completed, Paul Robson an American singer, was the first unofficial entertainer, and sang on the steps
I am also led to believe that he was invited by the unions, and that he sang a few anti establishment or pro workers songs

I remember that I saw a uTube of it a few years ago

Gday...

Ta for the info Tony always good to learn more about our history -

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/big-voice-of-the-left-paul-robeson-resounds-to-this-day/story-e6frg8n6-1225949630309

Cheers - John

Gday...

1791  -             George Vancouver formally claims southwestern Australia for Great Britain.

The area of Western Australia where Albany now stands was first discovered by George Vancouver in 1791. After being sent to explore the southern coastline of Australia, Vancouver first made landfall at Cape Leeuwin, then travelled southeast. On 28 September 1791, he discovered an excellent harbour which he named "King George the Third's Sound", later shortened to King George's Sound or, as it is now, King George Sound. Standing at Possession Point, Vancouver formally claimed this land as British territory on 29 September 1791.

British occupation of King George's Sound, the first settlement in Western Australia, did not begin until 1826. At that time, the western third of Australia was unclaimed by any country, and there were fears that France would stake its claim. To prevent this, Governor Darling of New South Wales sent Major Edmund Lockyer, with troops and 23 convicts, to establish a settlement at King George Sound. They arrived in the brig 'Amity' on Christmas Day in 1826. Lockyer initially named the site Frederickstown after His Royal Highness, Duke of York & Albany, Frederick Augustus second son of King George III.

1829  -             London's Metropolitan Police Service is established.

The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the main police force in Greater London, England. It does not include the square mile of the commercial and financial centre of London, which has its own police force, the City of London Police.

Prior to the mid 18th century, London did not have a police force. Law and order was maintained by magistrates, volunteer constables, watchmen and sometimes even the armed forces. The Metropolitan Police Service began operations on 29 September 1829. British Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, succeeded in reforming the criminal laws and established the London police force, which then became known as Scotland Yard. Having been established by Peel, members of the force were given the nicknames of 'Peelers' or "Bobbies'.

1903  -             Prussia becomes the first locality in the world to make drivers licences for automobiles compulsory.

In 1886, Karl Benz demonstrated the first gasoline car powered by an internal-combustion engine in Mannheim, Germany. The development of the automobile progressed quickly from this point, with more and more people opting for the new mode of transportation.

With the increased number of automobiles came the need for more rules and controls. One of the first innovations was the drivers licence. The very first such licence was issued to the inventor of the modern automobile, Karl Benz, in 1888, who sought permission from the Grand Ducal authorities to drive his vehicle on public roads following a number of complaints by his fellow citizens in Mannheim. Following the introduction of the licence, other European countries issued drivers licences only according to need.

The first European state, however, to legislate for drivers licences was Prussia, doing so on 29 September 1903. Testing was conducted by the Dampfkesselüberwachungsverein, or Steam Boiler Supervision Association, and concentrated less on how well a driver controlled his car than on his ability to maintain the mechanics of his vehicle.

1916  -             The New York Times reports that John D Rockefeller has become America's first billionaire.

John D Rockefeller was born John Davison Rockefeller on 8 July 1839 in Richford, New York. Starting his career as a humble assistant bookkeeper for a small firm of commission merchants and produce shippers, he then went into the produce commission business in 1858. His firm Clark & Rockefeller invested in an oil refinery in 1862, and in 1865 Rockefeller sold out his share to his partner Clark. He then paid $72,500 for a larger share in another refinery, and formed the partnership of Rockefeller & Andrews. In 1867 he and his brother merged their refineries, and were joined by another partner, Henry M Flagler. In 1870 the two Rockefellers, Flagler, Andrews and a refiner named Stephen V Harkness formed the Standard Oil Company, with John D Rockefeller as president. This was Rockefeller's start to his incredible wealth.

On 29 September 1916 the New York Times reported in a front-page story that John D Rockefeller was America's first billionaire. His oil holdings alone were worth $500 million, and by the end of the day, they had increased in value by $8 million.

1939  -             During WWII, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree to divide up Poland.

On the last day of August 1939, Germany staged an attack on Poland, dressing Nazi S.S. troops in Polish uniforms and leaving behind dead German prisoners in Polish uniforms as evidence of the 'Polish attack'. Using this as propaganda served to pave the way for Germany to invade Poland the next day. On 17 September 1939 the Soviet Red Army invaded eastern Poland. This was in co-operation with Nazi Germany, as a means of carrying out their part of the secret appendix of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which involved the division of Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence.

The German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty of 29 September 1939 involved dividing control of occupied Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. Germany was given the land west of the Bug River, which included heavily populated and industrialised areas. Stalin himself drew up the line which then gave the Soviets control of the region of Lvov and its rich oil wells and Lithuania, as well as the strategic advantage of a western buffer zone.

1941  -             The Babi Yar massacre, considered to be the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust, begins.

The Holocaust of World War II involved the mass slaughter of European Jews and others by the German-led Nazis. The killings were not restricted to Germany and its immediate neighbours.

Babi Yar is a ravine near Kiev, capital of the Ukraine. At the time of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in mid-September of 1941, the city of Kiev held around 175,000 Jews. Within two weeks of capturing Kiev, beginning on 29 September 1941, the Nazis rounded up 33,771 Jewish civilians - men, women and children - and took them to Babi Yar, near the Jewish cemetery. Firstly they were stripped of their clothes and beaten. Then they were marched down into the ravine and ordered to lie on the ground. There, the innocent Jews were machine-gunned in what is believed to have been the largest single slaughter of Jews in the history of the Holocaust. Each time, a thin layer of dirt was placed over the bodies, and the next group was ordered down into the ravine, to repeat the process. The massacre of nearly 34,000 people took two days.

Babi Yar was later converted into an extermination camp for more Jewish victims from throughout the Ukraine. In the months following the massacre, and during the course of WWII, over 100,000 more were captured and taken to Babi Yar where they were executed.

2004  -             The 4179 Toutatis/1989 AC asteroid passes within 4 lunar distances of Earth.

The 4179 Toutatis/1989 AC is an asteroid with an irregular orbit. Its very low orbital inclination (0.47°) and its orbital period of just under 4 years causes Toutatis to make regular close approaches to Earth. One such approach occurred on 29 September 2004, when it came within 4 lunar distances of Earth, or 0.0104 AU (astronomical units). There was no danger of Toutatis impacting the Earth, but its proximity provided excellent opportunities for observation of the asteroid.

Toutatis was first observed on 10 February 1934, but only named when it was rediscovered by astronomer Christian Pollas on 4 January 1989. It is a very irregularly shaped object consisting of two lobes, one measuring approximately 4.6 km wide and the other 2.4 km wide.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1813  -             The strange coins "holey dollar" and "dump" are circulated in NSW to combat currency shortages. 

The coins "holey dollar" and "dump" were created by punching the centre out of Spanish dollars. The external circle was the "holey dollar" and the punched-out inner circle was the "dump". They were only ever used in New South Wales, Australia, and on Prince Edward Island, Canada.

In 1813, Governor Lachlan Macquarie faced the problem of currency shortages in the young colony of New South Wales. When the British Government sent £10,000 worth of Spanish dollars (40,000 Spanish dollars) to New South Wales, Macquarie took the initiative to create "holey dollars" and "dumps". The dumps were assigned a value of 15 pence and were restruck with a crown on the obverse side and the denomination on the reverse. The dollars were worth 5 shillings, and were stamped with "New South Wales 1813" around the hole. The coins were released on 30 September 1813. The holey dollar became the first official currency produced specifically for circulation in Australia.

There are estimated to be around 350 Holey dollars and 1500 dumps still in circulation today. The coins were replaced by sterling coinage from 1822.

1882  -             The world's first hydro-electric power plant is opened in Wisconsin, USA.

Hydroelectric power makes use of energy released by water falling, flowing downhill, moving tidally, or moving in some other way, to generate electricity. The world's first commercial hydro-electric power plant was opened on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA, on 30 September 1882. It supplied power for lighting to two paper mills and a house. A few weeks later, another hydro-electric power plant was installed for commercial service at Minneapolis.

100 years later, in 1980, hydro-electric power accounted for about 25% of global electricity and 5% of total world energy use.

1902  -             The synthetic fabric, rayon, is patented.

Rayon is a cellulose-based substance, originally known as "artificial silk", or "art silk". Unlike other man-made fibres such as nylon, it is not entirely synthetic, being made from wood pulp, a naturally-occurring, cellulose-based raw material. It was patented on 30 September 1902 by William H Walker, Arthur D Little and Harry S Mork of Massachusetts, the patent covering the process of the "making of cellulose esters". Rayon can also be produced in a transparent sheet form known as "cellophane".

1939  -             The Munich Agr eement is signed, giving Germany strategic sections of Czechoslovakia.

Following on from the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty of 29 September 1939, which involved dividing control of occupied Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union, another country was also carved up and handed to Germany. In the early hours of 30 September 1939, the "Munich Agreement" was signed. This agreement allowed Germany to annex the strategically significant Sudetenland area of Czechosolvakia, where ethnic Germans made up most of the population.

Germany, France, Britain, and Italy all signed the agreement. It was believed that, by acceding to Hitler's growing demands for territory, war could be averted. Czechoslovakia itself was not invited to the conference to discuss its future, and because of this, the Munich Agreement has sometimes been referred to as the Munich Dictate.

1951  -             Barry Marshall, Australian physician who proved ulcers are caused by bacteria, not stress, is born.

Barry James Marshall is an Australian physician and Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine, credited with disproving the myth that stress is the main cause of stomach ulcers.

Born on 30 September 1951 in the outback gold town of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Marshall lived in Kalgoorlie and Carnarvon until his family moved to Perth when he was seven. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Western Australia in 1975.

Together with Robin Warren, a pathologist interested in gastritis, he studied the presence of spiral bacteria in association with gastritis. In 1982, Marshall and Warren performed the initial culture of Helicobacter pylori, developing their theory related to the bacterial cause of peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. Initially, Marshall's hypothesis met with scepticism from colleagues, but continued cultures and even tests upon himself eventually indicated strong links between H. pylori, and peptic ulcers and gastritis.

To date, Marshall is continuing his research into the H. pylori, and oversees the H.pylori Research Laboratory at the University of Western Australia. In 2005, Marshall and Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm "for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease".

1955  -             Actor James Dean is killed in a road accident.

James "Jimmy" Dean was born James Byron Dean on 8 February 1931 on a farm in Indiana. Once he left school, he enrolled in Santa Monica College, California, and initially studied law, later changing his major to drama. After an unremarkable start to his acting career, he moved to New York to pursue a career in stage acting, where he was accepted to study under Lee Strasberg in the Actors Studio. This opened doors for more acting opportunities, culminating in starring roles in 'Rebel Without a Cause' and the 1956 release 'Giant', for which Dean was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dean's roles in 'Rebel Without a Cause' and 'Blackboard Jungle'symbolised the growing rebellion of American youth against the values of their parents, especially as seen in the emergence of rock 'n' roll. Many young people began to model themselves on Dean, and he gained iconic status, particularly when he died so young and in such a violent manner. Dean was killed on 30 September 1955, while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder near Cholame, California when another car crossed in front of his.

Cheers - John

Hello rockylizard

Re 1951 Barry Marshall, Australian physician who proved ulcers are caused by bacteria, not stress, is born.

He and his team have done a lot of good in understanding stomach ulcers
I have no idea how they use to treat ulcers, but I know of at least one person who was cured using the tablets designed by Barry Marshall and Robin Warren

They received a Nobel Prize in 2005 for their work in Medicine

Gday...

1844  -             German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt sets out from the Darling Downs to travel northwest to Port Essington.

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt was born on 23 October 1813, in Trebatsch, Prussia, which is now Brandenburg, Germany. Passionate about the natural sciences, he came to Australia in 1842, where he promptly undertook to explore the continent and gather botanical and geological specimens.

On 1 October 1844, Leichhardt commenced his first expedition, leaving from Jimbour Station on the Darling Downs to find a new route to the tiny military outpost of Port Essington in the north, not far from where Darwin now stands. Leichhardt was not a good bushman, lacked skills of organising his party, and often became lost. One man was killed by aborigines on the marathon expedition, and numerous horses and supplies were lost. Leichhardt reluctantly discarded his extensive collection of botanical specimens, as there were too many to carry. His journey of nearly 5,000km took so much longer than expected that a friend of Leichhardt's composed a funeral dirge for him, expecting to never see him again. However, Leichhardt reached Port Essington in December 1845.

1850  -             Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, is founded.

The University of Sydney is Australias oldest university. Located in Sydneys inner city, the university has expanded to establish a number of campuses around Sydney, as well as the One Tree Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef.

The University of Sydneys progressive ideas were due largely to the influence of statesman William Charles Wentworth. Wentworth believed that students should be admitted based on their academic aptitude, rather than class or religion, as was the case in England. Born to a convict woman on the Second Fleet, Wentworth was educated in England, as his father was Dr D'Arcy Wentworth, whose patron and kinsman was Lord Fitzwilliam. William Wentworth understood the limitations of a society based on class. As a "Currency Lad", one of the first children born into the colony of New South Wales, Wentworth enjoyed his status as different from the "English ascendancy," and was an outspoken nationalist, determined to gain civil rights for those who, like himself, were very much in the minority. As well as being a leading figure in the establishment of the first university in any of the colonies of Australia and Oceania, Wentworth was also instrumental in establishing the first real system of state primary education in New South Wales.

Founded on 1 October 1850, The University of Sydney opened its doors to students in 1852, and the first degrees were awarded in 1856. In 1881, it became one of the first universities in the world to allow women to enrol.

1908  -             The first Model T Ford is introduced to the American public.

The Model T Ford, also known as the Tin Lizzie, was an automobile produced by Henry Ford's Motor Company from 1908 through to 1928. Ford had first attempted to develop a reliable, inexpensive car for the average American market in 1903. His success with this venture came with the introduction of the Model T Ford to American consumers on 1 October 1908. Ford managed to retain the car as affordable for everyone by employing new and revolutionary mass production methods, with completely interchangeable parts. When first introduced, the Model T cost only $850, and was available only in black.

Although only 11 cars were produced in the first month, by 1914, the assembly process had become so streamlined that it took only 93 minutes to assemble a car. Improved assembly line technique and volume brought the price of the Model T down to about $300 by the 1920s. Model T cars ceased being produced by May 1927, but motors continued to be produced until August 1941.

1935  -             Heinz & Company in Australia begins producing tinned baked beans.

The process of canning food was developed by Frenchman Nicolas Appert in the 1790s, and patented by Englishman Peter Durand in 1810. Initially, an average worker could expect to produce four cans every day, but technology has progressed significantly since then.

From 1814, canned foods began to be sent from Britain to its outlying colonies, and the first tinned goods reached Australia in 1815. Australia's first canning operation commenced in 1846, when Sizar Elliot opened a small canning factory in Sydney's Charlotte Place, now Grosvenor Street. Australia's early explorers relied considerably on canned foods during their journeys.

Canning operations in Australia quickly spread, and by 1869, Queensland manufacturers were exporting over one million kilograms of tinned meat annually, while SPC in Shepparton, Victoria, produced almost half a million cans of fruit in 1917. Ardmona began producing tinned fruit in 1925, while the Edgell & Sons factory at Bathurst first started canning asparagus in 1926. Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce, still a favourite of many Australians today, was first produced by Heinz & Company on 1 October 1935.

1942  -             Little Golden Books publishes its first set of children's books.

The concept of Little Golden Books was conceived in the early 1940s by George Duplaix, head of the Artists and Writers Guild and his assistant, Lucille Ogle. They wanted to develop a line of full-colour children's books, able to be easily handled by children, which were cheap enough for the average consumer. Publishing firm Simon & Schuster helped them develop their product.

The uniform format was to include a spine of plain blue cloth, and inside were to be 44 pages, with 14 pages illustrated in colour and 30 pages in black and white. The first twelve titles were issued simultaneously on 1 October 1942 at a cost of 25c each. These original titles included 'Three Little Kittens', 'The Poky Little Puppy' and 'The Little Red Hen'. To date, over two billion Little Golden Books have been printed.

1962  -             Two people are killed during riots as America's first black college student is admitted to the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford.

Civil rights for African-Americans became a prominent issue in the 1950s. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court granted African-Americans the right to an equal education. When black students attempted to enter a white school in Arkansas, rioting broke out, and was only quelled by the presence of armed forces.

A similar situation occurred when the first black student, James Meredith, was admitted to the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford on his fourth attempt, on 1 October 1962. Federal forces were stationed in Oxford, and hundreds of extra troops were deployed as violence spilled into the streets. President John F Kennedy was forced to federalise the Mississippi National Guard to maintain law and order, and to mobilise other infantrymen and military police across the state line in Tennessee. Mississippi governor, Ross Barnett, like his Arkansas counterpart in 1957, had previously defied court orders requiring desegregation. Eventually the riots ended, and troops were able to be withdrawn from the town, but not before two people were killed, and 75 injured in the resultant violence.

1969  -             The Concorde breaks the sound barrier for the first time.

The Concorde was a form of specially designed supersonic air transport. The concept of supersonic aircraft was conceived in the 1950s. During the 1960s, Britain's Bristol Aeroplane Company and France's Sud Aviation were simultaneously working on designs, but the anticipated costs of the project were too great to be developed by an individual company: hence, France and Britain decided to work cooperatively. An international treaty between Britain and France was negotiated for the development of the project. The first test flight took place from Toulouse, France, on 2 March 1969.

The sound barrier is the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed. Air Force Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager was the first to break the sound barrier, on 14 October 1947. On 1 October 1969, the Concorde broke the sound barrier for the first time. It was the first commercial aircraft to break the sound barrier, but it was not the first passenger-carrying airliner to do so. In August 1961, a Douglas DC-8 broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.012 during a controlled dive while collecting data on a new leading-edge design for the wing.

2009  -             Australia's population passes 22 million.

By world standards, Australia is a very young country. It is the second-youngest country to have been settled by Europeans, with the youngest being New Zealand. On 1 October 2009, Australia's population reached a new milestone, exceeding 22 million. Australian Demographic Statistics indicated that this figure was reached at 1:58pm. The country's national birth rate had increased from 1.7 to 1.9 in the previous four years. Immigration had also contributed 63% of the previous year's population growth of 2.1 per cent.

By comparison, at the same time, the world's largest city of Tokyo had a population in excess of 33 million.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1608  -             Hans Lippershey demonstrates the first telescope.

Hans Lippershey, also known as Jan or Hans Lippersheim, was born around 1570 (exact date unknown) in Wesel, western Germany. After settling in the Netherlands, he became a maker of spectacles. Lippershey is credited with creating the design for the first practical telescope, after experimenting with different sized lenses. He demonstrated his invention before the Dutch Parliament on 2 October 1608, calling it a "kijker", meaning "looker" in Dutch. The astronomer Galileo Galilei created a working design of the telescope in 1609 after receiving a description of Lippershey's invention.

1869  -             Political leader and humanitarian, Mahatma Gandhi, is born.

Mahatma Gandhi was born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, India. Gandhi was a peace-loving man who initially trained as a barrister in England, but was unsuccessful in pursuing a career in law once he returned to India. After accepting a post to Natal, South Africa, Gandhi experienced frequent humiliation and oppression commonly directed at Indians in South Africa. This caused him to then spend two decades fighting for the rights of immigrants in South Africa.

After WWI broke out, Gandhi returned to India. Here, he turned his back on western influences to embrace a life of abstinence and spirituality. Inspired by the American writer Henry David Thoreau's famous essay on "Civil Disobedience", Gandhi implemented his own campaign of non-violent civil disobedience to bring about change in Britain's oppression of Indians within their own country. Although frequently jailed by the British authorities, pressure from his followers usually secured his release before he fasted himself to death. Following WWII, he participated in negotiations which eventually led to India's gaining independence from Britain.

Gandhi advocated that all people were equal under one God. On 30 January 1948 he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who could not accept Gandhi's assertion that Muslims had equal value to Hindus and no creed or religion was better than any other.

1902  -             William Gocher defies the Australian law that prohibits daylight bathing in the ocean, and sets a new precedent in surf-swimming.

In the 1800s, a Manly Council by-law (Sydney) prohibited swimming in the ocean during daylight hours, specifically between 6am and 8pm. William Henry Gocher was the proprietor of a local newspaper, who disagreed with the law enough to openly defy it. In his newspaper, the 'Manly and North Sydney News', he announced his intention to go bathing in the ocean during the daylight hours on 2 October 1902.

Gocher flouted the law three times before he was actually arrested. However, he maintained his campaign against the bathing laws, and a year later, on November 3rd, the Manly Council rescinded the by-law that prohibited bathing during daylight hours. A new by-law was issued permitting bathing in daylight hours, but emphasising the need for neck-to-knee swimwear for anyone over 8 years old. Men and women were also required to swim at separate times.

1942  -             Ocean Liner 'The Queen Mary' accidentally slices through an escort ship, killing 338.

The ocean liner 'Queen Mary' sailed the North Atlantic Ocean as a passenger ship from 1936 to 1967, except during the years of World War II. In 1940, the Queen Mary was commissioned for use as a troop ship. In Sydney, the Queen Mary, together with several other liners, was converted into a troopship to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the UK.

These ships earned a reputation for being the largest and fastest troopships, carrying up to 15,000 men in a single voyage. The Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, also converted, were both nicknamed 'The Grey Ghost'. Their speed, and the fact that they often travelled out of convoy and without an escort, enabled them to elude the German U-boats, their greatest threat.

On 2 October 1942, the Queen Mary was travelling with an escort. Whilst travelling near the Irish coast, the liner accidentally sliced through its escort ship, light cruiser HMS Curacoa. The Captain was forced to continue, being under strict orders not to stop for any reason, due to the threat posed by the U-boats. Royal Navy destroyers which accompanied the ship were ordered to reverse course and rescue any survivors. 338 people were killed in the accident.

1950  -             T he comic strip 'Peanuts', by Charles M Schulz, makes its debut in seven newspapers across America.

Charles Monroe Schulz, creator of 'Peanuts', was born in St Paul, Minnesota, on 26 November 1922. As a teenager, he was shy and introverted, and when he created his comic strip 'Peanuts' he based the character of Charlie Brown on himself. Charlie Brown first appeared in the comic strip "Li'l Folks", published in 1947 by the St Paul Pioneer Press. In 1950, Schulz approached the United Features Syndicate with his best strips from "Li'l Folks", and "Peanuts" made its debut on 2 October 1950.

"Peanuts" ran for nearly 50 years, appearing in over 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries. It ended only when Schulz's own failing health prevented him from continuing to produce the comic strip. The final original Peanuts comic strip was written on 3 January 2000 and published in newspapers a day after Schulz's death on February 12.

Cheers - John

Hello rockylizard

Re 1942 - Ocean Liner 'The Queen Mary' accidentally slices through an escort ship, killing 338.

My Dad as a merchant seaman was a trained gunner.
He was in charge of an anti aircraft gun on the stern of the Queen Mary, when it sliced the light cruiser HMS Curacoa in half.

He said that the Queen Mary had a pre determined zig zag course. A bell would ring, and the helmsman would turn the wheel to the new setting.
The Curacoa being much slower was always going straight ahead to keep up.
Both the Captains knew each other, and were talking through loud hailers, about meeting up in a restaurant that night in Glasgow, each time the ships came close.

As the remains of the Curacoa were coming up to the stern of the Queen Mary, my dad could see that both the bow and stern, were standing upright in the water
He could see that the sailors would have no way of untying their carley floats, before their part of the ship sank.
He ordered the nearest carley float from his section to be thrown overboard.
He knew that the three destroyers, which were with the Curacoa, were a long way away, pinging for U Boats.

Most of the sailors from the Curacoa who survived, did so by reaching the carley float.
Two destroyers were ordered to pick up the survivors, while the third escorted the Queen Mary, which had slowed down, due to a big hole in the bow

My dad got into trouble for that action, but that is another story

Gday...

1824  -             Explorers Hume and Hovell set out to explore between Sydney and Western Port.

Hamilton Hume was an Australian-born settler with excellent bush skills. He was interested in exploring south of the known Sydney area in order to open up new areas of land, but 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, on 3 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 were the first to discover the "Hume River", though it was later renamed by Sturt as the Murray River. They were the first white men to see the Australian Alps. Much good grazing and pasture land was also found.

There was one major mistake, however. Hovell, as navigator, managed to incorrectly calulate their position when they thought they had reached Westernport on the southern coast. They were in fact at Corio Bay in Port Phillip, where the city of Geelong now stands. As a result of their reports of excellent farmland when they returned to Sydney, a party was sent to settle the Westernport area in 1826, only to find poor water and soil quality. The Port Philip settlement was abandoned, and not resumed for another ten years. Nonetheless, Hume and Hovell's expedition still opened up vast tracts of valuable land.

1916  -             Inventor of the portable defibrillator, James F Pantridge, is born.

James Francis "Frank" Pantridge was born on 3 October 1916, in Hillsborough, Ireland. He was educated at Queen's University in Belfast, graduating in medicine in 1939, and became a physician and cardiologist. He served in the British Army during WWII, became a prisoner of war and spent much time working on the infamous Burma railway. After the war, he returned to a life of academia, and studied further under cardiologist F N Wilson.

After returning to Northern Ireland in 1950, he was appointed as cardiac consultant to the Royal Victoria Hospital and professor at Queen's University, where he established a specialist cardiology unit. Together with his colleague Dr John Geddes, he introduced modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the early treatment of heart attack. Further study led Frank Pantridge to the realisation that death occurred within the first hour for 60% of pre-middle-aged males who died from heart attack, and of these, 90% suffered ventricular fibrillation. To facilitate the earliest possible treatment, Pantridge equipped an ambulance with a portable defibrillator. It achieved a 50% long-term patient survival rate. The first automated external defibrillators (AEDs) became available in 1979, and have since contributed significantly to improved chances of survival from heart attack.

1935  -             The Australian/New Zealand dessert, the pavlova, is named after ballerina Anna Pavlova.

The pavlova is a traditional Australian dessert consisting of a base made of a meringue crust topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits such as kiwi fruit, passionfruit and strawberries.

There is some dispute as to whether the pavlova was actually created in Australia or New Zealand. The Australian legend states that the pavlova was created by Herbert Sachse, the chef of the Hotel Esplanade in Perth, Western Australia, on 3 October 1935. It is said to have been given the name "Pavlova" by Harry Naire from the Perth hotel, in honour of the visiting Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. Naire is alleged to have stated that the built up sides of the dessert reminded him of a tutu.

New Zealand may have a greater claim to the pavlova, however. Recipes for pavlova appeared in a magazine and a cookery book from 1929 and 1933, whilst extra notes from a biographer state that it was invented in 1926 after Anna Pavlova's visit. What is clear is that, while the dessert may have been invented in New Zealand, it was undisputedly named in Australia.

1935  -             Italian troops invade the African nation of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia).

In 1934, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was still one of the few independent states in a European-dominated Africa. Countries such as Britain and France had conquered smaller nations in the "Scramble for Africa" the previous century. In 1896, Italy had attempted to expand in eastern Africa by adding Abyssinia to her conquests (which included Eritrea and Somaliland), but the Italians were heavily defeated by the Abyssinians at the Battle of Adowa. Italy bided her time.

In 1928, Italy signed a treaty of friendship with Abyssinian leader Haile Selassie, but Italy was already secretly planning to invade the African nation. In December 1934, a dispute at the Wal Wal oasis along the border between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland gave Italian dictator Benito Mussolini an excuse to respond with aggression. Italian troops stationed in Somaliland and Eritrea were instructed to attack Abyssinia, and the invasion occurred on 3 October 1935. Overwhelmed by the use of tanks and mustard gas, the Abyssinians stood little chance. The capital, Addis Ababa, fell in May 1936 and Haile Selassie was removed from the throne and replaced by the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel.

Selassie's request for European help was largely ignored. It was not until after World War II, and the defeat of Italy, that he was returned to power.

1942  -             Nazi Germany initiates the Space Age, launching the first rocket to reach outer space.

The Space Age is generally regarded as commencing with the launch of the first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957. In reality, the Space Age began over a decade earlier, with the development of a military test facility by Nazi Germany, which saw the launch of the very first rocket into outer space.

In 1936, Nazi Germany began building a technological facility at Peenemünde in the northeast of the German Baltic island of Usedom. Construction was largely undertaken by foreign workers, prisoners of war, inmates of concentration camps and slave labour. The Peenemünde Military Test Site, considered to be the worlds first large-scale research facility, was responsible for the development of the rocket which became known as the "wonder weapon, under the direction of physicist Wernher von Braun. Originally called the Aggregat 4 rocket (A4), Nazi propaganda referred to the rocket as "Vergeltungswaffe 2", translated as Vengeance Weapon 2. It was later renamed the V-2.

The first rocket was launched on 3 October 1942. This was the first ballistic missile to reach outer space, travelling 90 km into the atmosphere, and signified the first major step in the Space Age. Capable of transporting explosives, the rocket achieved four times the speed of sound. It is now regarded as the prototype for all modern military and civilian booster rockets. The V-2 was used for assaults on Allied targets in Belgium, Britain and France from September 1944 onwards. Although it was directly responsible for the deaths of thousands, even more workers were killed during its development, with figures suggesting up to 20 000 people died during its production and testing.

After World War II ended, von Braun and around 500 of his best scientists were surrendered to the USA, which sought to recruit engineers from the facility to help develop space technology. The technology which von Braun developed led to his design of the Saturn rocket boosters which were eventually employed to put the first man on the Moon. The former test site in Germany is now the location of the Peenemünde Historical Technical Museum which, in 2002, was awarded the Coventry Cross of Nails for its contribution to reconciliation and world peace.

1953  -             Britain tests its first atomic bomb at a group of uninhabited islands off Western Australia.

The Montebello islands are a group of islands about 140 kilometres off the Pilbara coast of North West Australia. As well as the two main islands, Hermite Island and Trimouille Island, there are about 170 other islands in the archipelago, of which another 30 or so are named. Prior to World War II, much pearl fishing was conducted off the islands.

On 3 October 1952, the Montebello islands became the site for testing of the first British atomic bomb. "Operation Hurricane" was conducted 350 metres off the coast of Trimouille Island for the purpose of testing the effects of a bomb smuggled inside a ship - a great concern at the time. The plutonium implosion bomb was exploded inside the hull of HMS Plym, a 1,370-ton River class frigate, which was anchored in 12 m of water. The resulting explosion left a saucer-shaped crater on the seabed 6 metres deep and 300 metres across.

1990  -             West Germany and East Germany are reunified for the first time since 1949.

Following Germany's defeat in World War II, Germany was split into two separately controlled countries. West Germany, also known as the Federal Republic of Germany, was proclaimed on 23 May 1949 with Bonn as its capital. As a liberal parliamentary republic and part of NATO, the country maintained good relations with the Western Allies. East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic, was proclaimed in East Berlin on 7 October 1949. It adopted a socialist republic, and remained allied with the communist powers, being occupied by Soviet forces. The Berlin Wall, which divided the original capital of Germany into east and west-controlled sectors, was constructed in 1961.

The Soviet powers began to dwindle in the late 1980s, and the Communist Party in East Germany began to lose its grip on power. In 1989 the Berlin Wall started to crumble, and was completely dismantled shortly afterwards. On 18 March 1990, the first and only free elections in the history of the GDR were held, producing a government whose major mandate was to negotiate an end to itself and its state. The German "Einigungsvertrag" (Unification Treaty) was signed on 31 August 1990 by representatives of West Germany and East Germany. German reunification took place on 3 October 1990, when the areas of the former German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, were incorporated into The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1797  -             The first flock of Spanish Merinos, upon which Australia's wool industry was founded, arrive in Sydney.

In the early years of settlement, the colony of New South Wales struggled to achieve self-sufficiency. 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. An industry suited to Australia's harsh conditions needed to be established.

John Macarthur arrived in New South Wales in 1790. In 1793, Macarthur was given a land grant of 100 acres which he cleared and improved, assisted by convict labour. After receiving another land grant, he and his wife Elizabeth worked hard to improve and develop the land, eventually planting 120 acres of wheat, and numerous fruits and vegetables.

On 4 October 1797, the first flock of Spanish merino sheep arrived in Australia. They had been bought in South Africa by British officers Henry Waterhouse and William Kent, who then sold some of them to the Macarthurs. The Spanish Merino was a hardy sheep which was tolerant of Australia's extreme conditions. Unlike other settlers, Macarthur did not try to cross-breed the sheep with other breeds, which only resulted in sheep with coarse wool of a lower quality. By 1803, the Macarthur flock numbered over 4000. The Macarthurs had improved the bloodline and strength of the flock by purchasing merinos from flocks in different regions, thus limiting inter-breeding of similar bloodlines. For this reason, John Macarthur is often regarded as the founder of the wool industry in Australia.

1883  -             The Orient Express commences its first run.

The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train, the route for which has changed considerably in modern times. The first run of The Orient Express was on 4 October 1883. The train travelled from Paris to Giurgiu in Romania, via Munich and Vienna. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse in Bulgaria to pick up another train to Varna. From here they completed their journey to Istanbul by ferry.

The Orient Express reached the height of its popularity in the 1930s, when three parallel services ran. These included the Orient Express, the Simplon Orient Express, which took a more southerly route via Milan, Venice and Trieste, and also the Arlberg Orient Express, which ran via Zurich and Innsbruck to Budapest, with sleeper cars running onwards from there to Bucharest and Athens.

1931  -             The comic strip "Dick Tracy" makes its debut.

The comic strip "Dick Tracy" revolves around the investigations of a character by the same name, Dick Tracy. Tracy is an exceptionally intelligent police detective, classic in his 1930s attire, and forced to match his wits against a variety of strange-looking and unmitigatingly evil villains. These criminals invariably have names to match their grotesquely deformed features. Such characters include "Flattop" Jones and the Nazi spy Pruneface.

"Dick Tracy" was originally created by cartoonist Chester Gould, and made its debut on 4 October 1931. Gould drew Dick Tracy up until 1977 when he retired, but his work was continued by Max Allan Collins and longtime Gould assistant Rick Fletcher, who in turn was succeeded by editorial cartoonist Dick Locher. The modern strips have incorporated new villains keeping up with modern technology, such as the video pirate named Splitscreen.

Dick Tracy is easily one of the world's longest-running comic strips. It enjoyed a fourteen-year run as a radio serial, and has formed the basis for a number of television programmes, feature films, and a major 1990 film starring Warren Beatty.

1935  -             The Hornibrook Highway, Australia's longest road bridge for many decades, is opened, allowing access to the Redcliffe Peninsula.

The city of Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, was the site of the first European settlement in Moreton Bay. Oxley and Settlement Commandant Lieutenant Miller, together with a crew and 29 convicts, sailed on the 'Amity' from Sydney and arrived at Redcliffe on 13 September 1824 to found the new colony. Abandoned as a convict colony less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away to the Brisbane River, it was eventually reclaimed by free settlers, becoming a popular seaside resort in the 1880s. Originally, day trippers would travel to the Redcliffe Peninsula by steamer, whilst those planning for a longer stay would travel the inland route from Brisbane, via Petrie.

The area's increasing popularity necessitated the building of a bridge across the mouth of the Pine River at Hayes Inlet, which separates the Brisbane suburb of Brighton from Redcliffe. On 4 October 1935, the 2.8km two-lane Hornibrook Highway was opened, reducing Redcliffe's isolation. Still Australia's longest road bridge, it has a single central arch where the channel of the river runs, allowing for fishing craft to pass underneath. Deterioration of the bridge through the years necessitated the building of a new bridge, and a replacement three lane bridge, the Houghton Highway, was opened in 1979. The Hornibrook Highway was, for many years, used only for pedestrians and cyclists. Until it was dismantled in 2011, it remained a popular fishing spot.

On 11 July 2010, yet another new road bridge was opened, 30 metres east of the Houghton Highway. The 'Ted Smout Memorial Bridge', built 4 metres higher than the Houghton, features 3 traffic lanes and a pedestrian and cycle path, as well as a fishing platform near the Pine River channel.

The Hornibrook Highway lost its status as Australia's longest road bridge in 2013, with the opening of a new bridge over the Macleay River in New South Wales.

1957  -             The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

Germany is credited with initiating the Space Age, when it became the first country to launch a rocket into outer space, doing so in 1942. However, serious development of the Space Age commenced in 1957, when the Soviet Union became the first to launch an artificial satellite into orbit around the Earth, on 4 October 1957.

The Sputnik spacecraft, meaning 'companion' or 'fellow traveller', weighed 83kg and was about the size of a basketball. It orbited the Earth approximately every 98 minutes at a speed of 32,000km per hour, 800km above the earth. Sputnik was launched from Kazakhstan, and stayed in orbit for three months, plunging to Earth on 4 January 1958. The development and launch of Sputnik is regarded as the beginning of the Space Race between the USA and the USSR.

1992  -             An Israeli Boeing 747 cargo plane crashes into an apartment building in Amsterdam, killing 47 people.

On 4 October 1992, shortly after departing Amsterdam, Netherlands on a flight to Tel Aviv, Israel a cargo plane carrying four passengers crashed into an apartment complex in the suburb of Bijlmereer on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Fifty flats in the nine-storey complex were directly hit by the plane when it fell, killing a total of 43 people on the ground.

The accident happened after the number three engine and pylon separated from the wing and collided with the number four engine, causing the number four engine and pylon to separate. Part of the leading edge of the right wing was damaged, and several other aircraft systems were affected. The crew attempted to turn back for an emergency landing, but were unable to maintain control of the aircraft.

A subsequent inquiry into the crash found that metal fatigue had probably damaged the engine mountings, which had then torn away. Interestingly, the investigation also led to later claims of a cover-up. In 1998, it was revealed that the plane had been carrying at least one of the ingredients needed to make the nerve gas, sarin. For many years after the crash, occupants of the district exposed to the plane's explosion suffered from depression, listlessness and respiratory problems. The government was censured in 1999 for failing to thoroughly investigate the crash and to initiate health checks.

Cheers - John