Gday...

1930  -     Aviator Charles Lindbergh's young son, who is later kidnapped and murdered, is born.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr was born on 22 June 1930. His father was Charles Lindbergh, most famous for being the first pilot to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. Because his father's flying exploits had earned him the nickname "The Lone Eagle", baby Charles was popularly dubbed the "eaglet".

On the evening of 1 March 1932, Lindbergh discovered his son was missing from his cot in their house in East Amwell, New Jersey, USA. A handwritten ransom note riddled with spelling errors and grammatical irregularities was left, demanding $50,000. The New Jersey police were called in, but the lack of organisation meant that a lot of valuable evidence was disturbed or destroyed. The Bureau of Investigations (not yet called the FBI) was authorised to investigate the case. Further ransom notes were received, and even leaders of organised crime rings were prepared to assist in the recovery of the child, in return for legal favours and protection. However, baby Charles was never returned alive: his body was found by a truck driver on 12 May 1932, in a wooded area just a few kilometres from the Lindbergh home.

1964  -     The Royal Flying Doctor Service's Cloncurry base is relocated to Mt Isa, Queensland.

Australia's Flying Doctor Service began with the vision of Reverend John Flynn. John Flynn was born on 25 November 1880, in the gold rush town of Moliagul, about 202 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. Flynn's first posting as a Presbyterian minister was to Beltana, a tiny, remote settlement 500 kilometres north of Adelaide. After writing a report for his church superiors on the difficulties of ministering to such a widely scattered population, he was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, the bush department of the Presbyterian Church, in 1912. Flynn served in the AIM at a time when only two doctors served an area of 300,000 sq kms in Western Australia and 1,500,000 sq kms in the Northern Territory. Realising the need for better medical care for the people of the outback, he established numerous bush hospitals and hostels.

By 1917, Flynn envisaged that new technology such as radio and the aeroplane could assist in providing a more effective medical service. His speculations attracted the attention of an Australian pilot serving in World War I, Clifford Peel, who wrote to Flynn, outlining the capabilities and costs of then-available planes. Flynn turned his considerable fund-raising talents to the task of establishing a flying medical service. On 15 May 1928, the Aerial Medical Service was established at Cloncurry, in western Queensland.

In order to facilitate communication with such a service, Flynn collaborated with Alfred Traeger, who developed the pedal radio, a lighter, more compact radio for communication, readily available to more residents of the outback for its size and cost. The pedal radio eliminated the need for electricity, which was available in very few areas of the outback in the 1920s. In this way, Flynn married the advantages of both radio and aeroplanes to provide a "Mantle of Safety" for the outback. Initially conceived as a one-year experiment, Flynn's vision has continued successfully through the years, providing a valuable medical service to people in remote areas.

In 1942 the service was renamed the Flying Doctor Service. Queen Elizabeth II approved the prefix "Royal" in 1955 following her visit to Australia, and the service became the Royal Flying Doctor Service, or RFDS. The RFDS was relocated from its original Cloncurry base to Mt Isa, western Queensland, on 22 June 1964. Whilst some bases have been closed or relocated through the years, more new bases have been established through the years, and the Service continues to grow.

1982 -       Prince William born

The eldest son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, Prince William is second in line for the British throne. In 2011, he wed Catherine Middleton in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey, broadcast live on televisions around the globe and watched by tens of millions of people. Their first child, Prince George, was born in July 2013. Dubbed Wills by the popular media, Wombat by his mother and Billy the Fish by his Air Force buddies.

1987  -     Singer, dancer and actor Fred Astaire dies.

Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in Nebraska on 10 May 1899. Astaire's mother took him to New York for professional dance training in 1906, with the intent to train him for a career in vaudeville. A Paramount Pictures screen test report on Astaire read simply: "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Also dances." Astaire went on to become a film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor.

Astaire was awarded an honorary Oscar for his "unique artistry and his contributions to the techniques of musical pictures" in 1948. He won nine Emmys for a series of TV specials in the 1950s and 60s and in 1978, he was among the first recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement. He was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1981 by the American Film Institute. Physically active right into old age, Astaire died from pneumonia on 22 June 1987.

Cheers - John