Gday...

1725  -             John Newton, former English slave trader who wrote 'Amazing Grace', is born.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

John Newton was the self-proclaimed wretch who once was lost but then was found, saved by God's amazing grace. Newton was born in London on 24 July 1725. His father was commander of a merchant ship, and young John followed in his footsteps. After his father died, Newton joined the crew on the H.M.S. Hartwich, but deserted after he found the living conditions deplorable. He was recaptured, flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.

After this, Newton spent some time on a slave-trader's ship, learning the trade, and eventually commanding his own trade in slavery. His conversion occurred during a violent storm at sea on 10 May 1748. From then on, he was a changed man, ultimately leaving his sea-going days behind him, and studying to become a minister. He was ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln and given the curacy of Olney, Buckinghamshire. "Amazing Grace" was written whilst he was at Olney, most probably between 1760 and 1770.

1897  -             Female aviator, Amelia Earhart, is born.

Amelia Mary Earhart was born on 24 July 1897 in Atchison, Kansas, USA. She was the first woman to achieve the feat of flying across the Atlantic. Her first trip across the Atlantic in a Fokker F7 Friendship took 20 hours and 40 minutes. She then flew solo across the Atlantic in 1932. On 11 January 1935 Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu to California. She had departed Wheeler Field in Honolulu, Hawaii, and after a journey of over 3,800km in 18 hours, she arrived at Oakland Airport in Oakland, California.

In 1937, together with her navigator Fred Noonan, she attempted a round-the-world flight in a Lockheed Electra. Approximately five weeks after she set off, her plane disappeared, last heard about 100 miles off Howland Island in the Pacific. Speculation has been rife over the years regarding what happened to Amelia Earhart. The usual conspiracy theories and alien abduction theories have abounded but no evidence has ever been found to substantiate them, and the circumstances surrounding Earhart's disappearance remain a mystery.  

1936  -             The "talking clock" service is introduced in Sydney, Australia.

The world's first ever "talking clock", whereby people could ring a telephone number to find out what the time was, commenced operations in Paris in 1933. Australia received its first talking clock on 24 July 1936 in Sydney, serviced from the General Post Office. Previously, people wishing to know the time had to connect their call through to a young woman employed specifically for the purpose of announcing the time to callers. Coincidentally, in England, the talking clock started at Holborn Telephone Exchange also on 24 July 1936.

1969  -             Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, following the successful moon-walk.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin successfully completed the first moon-walk on July 20 (July 21 Australian time). After some 21 hours of collecting samples, performing experiments and leaving behind the legacy of the American flag and a plaque, they returned to the "Eagle" landing module. After launching from the moon's surface, it took them six hours to dock with the command module, the Columbia, piloted by fellow astronaut Michael Collins, who had remained in orbit.

Three days later, on 24 July 1969, the Apollo 11 re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, deployed gigantic parachutes to slow their descent, and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean. They underwent decontamination procedures where they splashed down, and were then transported by helicopters to the U.S.S. Hornet. After this, they were quarantined in a sealed van for several weeks to ensure they were free of "lunar germs". When they entered the quarantine trailer, they were greeted with the sign: PLEASE DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS. 

1973  -             The United States Supreme Court orders President Nixon to hand over tape recordings pertaining to the Watergate affair.

The Watergate scandal was an American political scandal and constitutional crisis that led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon. It began with a burglary at the Watergate Apartment complex. On 17 June 1972, five men were caught searching through confidential papers and bugging the office of President Nixon's political opponents, the Democratic National Committee. One of the men, James McCord, was officially employed as Chief of Security at the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP), indicating that the burglary was linked to US President Nixon's re-election campaign.

On 17 May 1973, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities began televised proceedings on the escalating Watergate scandal. On 24 July 1973, it was revealed that Nixon had secretly taped all conversations in the Oval Office. With this information available, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered President Richard Nixon to surrender the tape recordings. After prevaricating for three months, Nixon finally produced the tapes.

The break-in, resultant cover-up by Nixon and his aides, and the subsequent investigation ultimately led to the resignation of the President on 9 August 1974, forestalling his impeachment by the Senate. When President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon a month later, this prevented any criminal charges from being filed against the former president.

Cheers - John