Gday...

1856  -   A victory march is held in Victoria following the introduction of the eight hour working day.

Labour Day is a public holiday in all states and territories of Australia, although it is not celebrated on the same day in all states. Labour Day and May Day marches in Australia are commonly associated with the great Shearers' Strike of 1891, but the history of Labour Day actually goes back to several decades earlier.

Through the mid to late 1800s, the working day for many Australian workers was very long, with some employees working up to 12 hours a day, six days a week. The Eureka Stockade of 1854 opened the way for the power of the people to change laws. On 21 April 1856, University of Melbourne stonemasons marched to Parliament House to protest in favour of an eight-hour working day. Negotiations were successful, and Victoria became the first state in Australia to welcome an eight-hour day. To celebrate, a victory march was held on 12 May 1856, and in subsequent years.

That same year, New South Wales also recognised the eight-hour day, followed by Queensland in 1858, South Australia in 1873 and Tasmania in 1874.

1924  -   British comedian Tony Han**** is born. 

1937  -   King George VI, father of Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, is crowned

1949  -   The Soviet Union lifts its 11-month blockade on West Berlin.

The Berlin blockade was one of the first major crises of the Cold War. It began on 24 June 1948, when the Soviet Union blocked Western railroad and street access to West Berlin. The Western sectors of Berlin were also isolated from the city power grid, depriving the inhabitants of domestic and industrial electricity supplies. It was an attempt to stop the division of Germany into communist and free states. By forcing a land and water blockade of Berlin, the Soviet Union expected the Allies would abandon West Berlin.

On 25 June 1948 "Operation Vittles" commenced, to supply food and other necessary goods to the isolated West Berliners. This became known as the Berlin Airlift. The aircraft were supplied and flown by the United States, United Kingdom and France, but pilots and crew also came from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand in order to assist the supply of Berlin. Ultimately 278,228 flights were made and 2,326,406 tons of food and supplies were delivered to Berlin. The Soviet Union lifted the blockade on 12 May 1949 (although theoretically, the blockade ended at 23:59 on 11 May 1949), but the airlift operation continued right through to September of that year. East and West Germany were established as separate republics that month.

Cheers - John