Gday...

1811  -             Hungarian piano virtuoso and composer, Franz Liszt, is born.

Franz Liszt was a composer of the Romantic Era, the period of European classical music which encompassed the early 1800s to the beginning of the 20th century. He was born Franz Joseph Liszt on 22 October 1811, in Sopron, Hungary. A virtuoso on the piano, his compositions comprised fantastic technical challenges and dramatic expression. He was a generous performer, who freely gave of his time and money to help orphans and victims of disasters. He often taught students for free.

Liszt's piano compositions include his Piano Sonata in B minor, two piano concertos, and numerous piano transcriptions of operas, famous symphonies, and Schubert Lieder (songs). He also originated the concept of the symphonic poem, or tone poem, which was a piece of orchestral music in one single movement (as opposed to the three movements of a standard symphony), in which some extra-musical programme provided a narrative or illustrative element. It was commonly based on a poem, novel, painting or nationalistic ideal. His style served to influence contemporary composers such as Chopin, Berlioz, Bruckner, Mahler, Dvorak and Wagner.

1824  -             Hume and Hovell convert a bullock cart into a boat in order to cross the flooded Murrumbidgee River.

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.

When they reached the Murrumbidgee River, it was 36m wide, in full flood, and still rising. After spending several days trying to find a way around the river, on 22 October 1824, they found a unique solution to making the crossing. They converted the body of one of the carts into a boat, sealing it with a tarpaulin, and placing their supplies inside. Hume and an assigned convict swam across the river with a length of fishing line in their teeth, which in turn hauled a rope. Reaching the opposite side, they tied the rope around a tree and used it to guide the boat across. About 9 trips were required to ferry all the supplies across, and the horses and bullocks were swum over without incident. This was a method the men used several times to cross rivers on their journey.

1854  -             Around 10,000 miners converge near Bakery Hill in Victoria to discuss their grievances for more rights on the goldfields.

The Eureka Stockade was the 1854 miners' uprising on the goldfields of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Conditions on the Australian goldfields were harsh. The fields were crowded and unsanitary, and troopers dealt harshly with minor offences. The main source of discontent was the miner's licence, which cost a monthly fee of 30 shillings and permitted the holder to work a 3.6 metre square "claim". Licences had to be paid regardless of whether a digger's claim resulted in the finding of any gold. Frequent licence hunts were conducted, during which the miners were ordered to produce proof of their licences, and this added to the increasing unrest.

On 22 October 1854, approximately 10,000 miners gathered at Bakery Hill directly across the flat from the Government Camp, on the road to the mainly Irish encampment of Eureka. In a non-violent campaign, they attempted to air their grievances, but were met with complete inaction. The lack of interest in the miners' plight was the precursor to the Eureka Stockade which occurred over a month later near Ballarat.

1872  -             The first overseas telegraph messages are received in Adelaide via the newly constructed Overland Telegraph Line.

The Overland Telegraph Line was a major feat of engineering, which connected Australia to the rest of world via a single wire. The motivation for building the Overland Telegraph Line came from the fact that a submarine cable already reached from England to Java, and the British-Australian Telegraph Company was prepared to lay a submarine cable from Java to Darwin. It remained only to connect Darwin to the rest of Australia.

The line was to connect first with Adelaide, as Adelaide was the closest point linking to the major centres of Melbourne and Sydney. Thanks to the influence of Charles Todd, superintendent of telegraphs and government astronomer in South Australia, the South Australian government agreed to build the necessary 3200 kilometre overland telegraph line connecting Darwin with Port Augusta, north of Adelaide. The line closely followed the route charted by explorer John McDouall Stuart on his final expedition in 1862. Scottish bushman John Ross marked out the trail prior to the construction of the line. 36 000 wooden poles were cut and transported, mainly from Wirrabara Forest (formerly Whites Forest) on the eastern slopes and foothills of the southern Flinders Ranges.

Begun on 15 September 1870, the Overland Telegraph Line was completed on 22 August 1872, when the northern and southern sections were joined. The first telegraph messages from overseas were received in Morse code in the GPO building in Adelaide on 22 October 1972.

1990  -             The Royal Geographical Society declaims irrigation as one of the causes of the world's worst ecological disaster around the Aral Sea.

The Aral Sea lies in central Asia, between Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan in the south. In 1960 it was the world's fourth-largest lake, with an area of approximately 68,000 km², about the size of the Republic of Ireland. By 1998, it was only eighth-largest, and had shrunk to 28,687 km². During the 1980s, the water level fell so low that the sea split into two bodies of water, the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea. The artificial channel which was dug to connect them had disappeared by 1999, as the two bodies of water continued to shrink.

On 22 October 1990, the Royal Geographical Society claimed the area had suffered the world's worst ecological disaster. The devastation was largely due to the Soviet construction of irrigation channels to divert the two rivers that fed the Aral Sea, the Amu Darya in the south and the Syr Darya in the northeast. The irrigation channels were poorly constructed, allowing water to leak out or evaporate, resulting in wastage of between 30 and 70%. This situation has never been rectified.

Whilst there is some attempt to resurrect the North Aral Sea, the South Aral has continued to shrink, leaving behind vast saltpans which, together with the higher concentration of pesticides in the area, has resulted in severe health problems for the area's four million inhabitants. The fishing industry has been decimated and the climate has changed, with short, dry summers and long, cold winters. The incidence of cancer has increased tenfold, and death from lung disease is among the highest in the world, as the result of salt and toxic chemicals being picked up by winds and dumped as toxic dust on surrounding areas.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1825  -             The Erie Canal, linking the Great Lakes of North America with the Atlantic Ocean, is opened.

The Erie Canal runs from the Hudson River in New York State to Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. First proposed in 1699, it was another hundred years before construction commenced. The first section of canal was completed in 1819, and the entire canal was opened on 26 October 1825. The opening of the Canal brought a massive population surge to western New York, and opened areas further west for settlement, as it cut costs of transportation to remote areas by 90%. The canal was 584km long, 12m wide and 1.2m deep.

In 1918 the Erie Canal was replaced by the larger New York State Barge Canal, replacing much of the original route, and incorporating more rivers such as the Mohawk, Seneca and Clyde Rivers, and Oneida Lake. Today, the Erie Canal Corridor covers 843km.

1948  -             20 die as air pollution descends on Donora, Pennsylvania, USA.

In 1948, Donora was a small city of 14,000 people, lying in a valley. Much of the town's economy centred around its heavy industry, including a sulfuric acid plant, a steel mill, and a zinc production plant. On 26 October 1948, an air inversion descended on the valley, trapping effluent from the various industries and producing a suffocating mixture of fog and pollution. In the three days that the inversion layer remained, twenty people died. Six-thousand more suffered illnesses ranging from sore throats to nausea, and many had permanently damaged lungs and hearts. A decade later, the mortality rate in Donora remained substantially higher than in nearby towns.

1985  -             The Australian Government returns ownership of Uluru to the traditional owners

Uluru, in central Australia, is an inselberg, often referred to as the second largest monolith in the world, second only to Mt Augustus which is also in Australia. Also known as Ayers Rock, it was named after the former Premier of South Australia, Sir Henry Ayers by William Gosse, of the South Australian Survey Department, who became the first European explorer to see Ayers Rock. Gosse sighted Ayers Rock on 18 July 1873, recording that, "This rock is certainly the most wonderful natural feature I have ever seen".

The indigenous people of central Australia have known about the feature for many thousands of years. Uluru, which is believed to mean either 'Great pebble' or 'Meeting place', is sacred to the Aborigines. On 26 October 1985, ownership of Uluru was returned to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines. One of the conditions was that the Anangu would lease it back to the National Parks and Wildlife for 99 years and that it would be jointly managed.

1994  -             Israel and Jordan sign a peace treaty, ending 46 years of war.

Israel and Jordan had long maintained good relations in secret, despite the Israeli conquest of the West Bank and Jerusalem in the 1967 6-day war. Israel's overtures of peace towards her neighbours matched Jordan's pro-Western policies. However, the two nations were theoretically in a state of war until such time as a peace treaty would come into being.

As soon as it appeared that elements of the peace process were proceeding with the Palestinians, Jordan and Israel were able to quickly conclude a formal treaty. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein formally made peace at a ceremony in Wadi Araba on the Israeli-Jordanian border, on 26 October 1994. The treaty, involving only minor changes in the borders, was overseen by US President Bill Clinton. However, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was not invited. Most Israelis welcomed the agreement, but Palestinians, who made up approximately 60% of Jordan's population, were angered by a deal which they felt did not address their many grievances. Nonetheless, the peace treaty still lives on effectively today.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1466  -             Erasmus, translator of the first Greek New Testament, is born.

For centuries, the Bible was out of reach of most Christians. The only copies that existed were in Latin, which most people could not read or understand, and it was left to the clergy who were educated in the Latin language to mete out their own explanations - a practice which tended to be subjective, rather than objective.

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a Dutch scholar who went by the by the name of Erasmus was born Gerrit Gerritszoon in Rotterdam on 27 October, in either 1466 or 1469. A contemporary of Martin Luther, and an ordained monk as well, Erasmus saw how the Bible was being withheld from the common people. Like Luther, Erasmus was critical of some Roman Catholic beliefs, abuses and practices. He became a scholar of Latin and Greek, carefully studied the original Greek texts and put together the first copy of the Greek translation of the Bible, in 1516.

This action had further repercussions, giving Luther the foundation, and motivation, to translate the entire New Testament into German. This in turn made the Bible accessible to all people, which was what Luther wanted: to make the Gospel of Salvation available to everyone.

1728  -             Captain James Cook, who charted Australia's eastern coastline, is born.

James Cook was born at Marton in North Yorkshire, on 27 October 1728. He was the son of a farm labourer, and held no great ambitions, being apprenticed in a grocer/haberdashery when he was 16. Lack of aptitude in the trade led his employer to introduce Cook to local shipowners, who took him on as a merchant navy apprentice. Here he was educated in algebra, trigonometry, navigation, and astronomy, which later set Cook up to command his own ship.

After working his way up to positions of greater responsibility and experience, Cook was hired in 1766 by the Royal Society to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun. Following this, Cook's next orders were to search the south Pacific for Terra Australis Incognita, the great southern continent that many believed must extend around the southern pole. He came across New Zealand, which Abel Tasman had discovered in 1642, and spent some months there, charting the coastline. Nearly a year later, Cook set sail west for New Holland, which was later to become Australia.

1841  -             One of the last ships with religious refugees from Germany arrives in South Australia.

In the 1800s, under King Friedrich Wilhelm III, German/Prussian Lutherans suffered religious persecution. Friedrich Wilhelm was an autocratic king who believed he had the right to create his own state church from the two main Protestant churches - the Lutheran church and the smaller Reformed church - in a united Prussian state church. This would effectively remove the right of Lutherans to worship in a way of their choosing. Penalties for non-adherence to the state religion were severe. Many Lutherans immigrated to Australia to escape the persecution.

Thanks to wealthy Scottish businessman and chairman of the South Australian Company, George Fife Angas, a deal was struck by Pastor August Kavel to start a new Lutheran settlement in South Australia. The first group of 21 Lutherans arrived on the ship 'Bengalee' on 18 November 1838, followed two days later by the main group on the 'Prince George'. They first settled at the town of Klemzig. Many more ships followed over the next three years.

One of the last ships to arrive in South Australia with religious refugees was the Skjold on 27 October 1841. Captain Hans Christian Claussen commanded the Skjold which brought over two hundred Lutheran immigrants. Several of these Lutheran migrants were among the first to start the South Australian settlements of Lobethal and Bethany. Lobethal was started by about thirty families who, between them, acquired about two hundred acres, and paved the way for the German settlement of the region.

1939  -             British actor and comedian John "Fawlty Towers" Cleese is born.

John Cleese was born John Marwood Cleese on 27 October 1939, in Somerset, England. He showed his talent for comedy early in his life, although it was not always appreciated. He was expelled from Clifton College in Bristol, for painting footsteps to suggest that the school's statue of Field Marshal Douglas Haig had got down from his plinth and gone to the toilet.

It was whilst studying law that he joined Cambridge Footlights Revue, where he met his future writing partner Graham Chapman. Soon he began writing for BBC radio, working on the Dick Emery Show. Further work led to his association with British comedians such as future Goodies Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor, Frank Muir, Jo Kendall, Marty Feldman, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, Dick Vosburgh and future Monty Python members Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.

Cleese developed the popular Monty Python series for many years, and continued to write British comedy, including episodes of Doctor in the House. After leaving the Monty Python Show, Cleese went on to star in one of his best known roles, the awful hotel manager Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, which he co-wrote with Connie Booth. Cleese based Basil Fawlty on a real character, Donald Sinclare, whom he encountered when the Monty Python team was staying at the Gleneagles hotel in Torquay whilst filming Monty Python's Flying Circus. During the Pythons' stay, Sinclare threw Eric Idle's briefcase out of the hotel "in case it contained a bomb", complained about Terry Gilliam's "American" table manners, and threw a bus timetable at another guest after they dared to ask the time of the next bus to town.

1904  -             The first underground line of the New York subway opens.

The New York City Subway was the world's first underground and underwater rail system. Elevated train lines around the city were not enough to facilitate the easy flow of increasing traffic, and it was seen that there was a need for another method to clear street congestion and spread city development into the outlying areas. Chief engineer William Barclay Parsons oversaw almost 8000 men constructing the 33.6km route. The subway officially began operating on 27 October 1904. Today, the New York City Subway has the world's largest fleet of subway cars, at over 6,400 cars as of 2002.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1886  -             The first ticker-tape parade is held as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated.

The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island, formerly Bedloe's Island, in New York Harbor. Its full title is "Liberty Enlightening the World". Gustave Eiffel was the Structural Engineer of the Statue of Liberty and its Sculptor was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The Statue was completed in Paris in June 1884, presented to America by the people of France on 4 July 1884, then dismantled and shipped to US in 1885 as 350 individual pieces in 214 crates. In response, the American community in Paris gave a return gift to the French of a bronze replica of the Statue of Liberty, standing about 11 metres high, and sculpted to a quarter-size scale.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on 28 October 1886. Over a million people lined the streets for the dedication. The New York Times reported that as the parade passed by, the office boys " from a hundred windows began to unreel the spools of tape that record the fateful messages of the 'ticker.' In a moment the air was white with curling streamers." This began the tradition that came to be known as the ticker-tape parade.

1916  -             Australia's first referendum on conscription fails.

William Morris 'Billy' Hughes was Australia's seventh Prime Minister. Born in London on 25 September 1862, he migrated to Australia in 1884. After many years of wandering from job to job, he established a mixed business which sold, among other things, political pamphlets. As a result, his shop came popular with young reformers, and listening to their discussions piqued Hughes's interest in politics. In 1894, he won pre-selection for the seat of Lang, allowing his debut into state parliament.

Although initially opposed to Federation, Hughes saw the advantages Federation offered for his particular areas of interest, those being defence, immigration and industrial relations. He won the federal seat of West Sydney in 1901, and held it until 1916, being an eloquent speaker and shrewd tactician. During the opening years of World War I, Hughes, as attorney-general, was active in his ministry. When Prime Minister Andrew Fisher resigned due to ill health in 1915, Hughes was chosen to succeed him.

One of the most controversial of Hughes's policies was conscription, an issue which not only created a rift in the Labor Party, but divided the young nation as well. On 28 October 1916, the first referendum to introduce compulsory military enlistment was voted on, and narrowly defeated.

Two weeks later, on 13 November, the Labor Party expelled Hughes over his support for conscription. However, just a few days earlier Hughes had formed the Nationalist Party which incorporated both expelled Labor Party members and members of the opposition. Hughes formed a new cabinet and remained as Prime Minister, a position he retained until 1923.

1919  -             The Volstead Act is passed, resulting in the Prohibition in the USA.

Prohibition generally refers to the time between 1920 and 1933, during which the Eighteenth Amendment was in place. The Eighteenth Amendment, forbidding the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," was passed by Congress and ratified on 16 January 1919. The ensuing Volstead Act, which made provisions for the enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment, was passed on 28 October 1919.

Advocates of Prohibition were disturbed by the other vices, such as gambling and prostitution, which many saloonkeepers introduced in an attempt to increase their profits. The strength of the movement grew after the formation of the Anti-Saloon League in 1893. Prohibition began on 16 January 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect.

1962  -             The Cuban Missile Crisis ends, after bringing the world to the brink of nuclear warfare.

Cuba is an island between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 150 km south of Florida, in the USA. In 1962, it was controlled by a socialist government under Fidel Castro. Castro had already sought support from the Soviet Union after the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, during which the country had adopted Marxist ideals. This had put the country in direct conflict with the USA, and Cuba needed a powerful ally.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was seen as the point in the Cold War when the USA and USSR were closest to engaging in nuclear warfare. Reconnaissance photographs taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane on 14 October 1962 revealed that Soviet missiles were under construction in Cuba. A tense standoff ensued for two weeks, during which the USA placed a naval quarantine around Cuba to prevent further weapons being conveyed to the island.

It was not until 28 October 1962 that Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, and remove Soviet light bombers from Cuba. This occurred on the condition that the United States would not invade Cuba.

2005  -             A Dutch-Mauritian research team discovers an intact layer of dodo bones, allowing for the first modern research into the extinct dodo.

The dodo was a flightless bird believed to be endemic to the island of Mauritius. Standing about a metre tall and weighing around 20kg, the dodo had only small, rudimentary wings which were useless for flight.

The dodo was first sighted by Dutch travellers, who originally referred to it by the name of "Walghvogel". This translated to "wallow bird" or "loathsome bird" because the early travellers who killed it for food found the meat to be tough, as they cooked it for too long. The dodo's existence was first recorded by vice-admiral Wybrand van Warwijck in 1598 and, eight years later, was described in more detail by Cornelis Matelief de Jonge.

Once the island of Mauritius was settled, dodo habitat was cleared, while new species were introduced, including dogs and pigs which killed the dodos, cats and rats which were a threat to the chicks, and Crab-eating Macaques, which ate the eggs of the dodo. Controversy surrounds the date the last dodo was sighted, but it was believed to have been between 1662 and 1690.

On 28 October 2005, a research team consisting of Dutch and Mauritian scientists uncovered the first known intact layer of dodo bones, along with botanical matter at a Mauritian sugar cane plantation. The find included the bones of adult birds and chicks, along with part of a beak. It also included the bones of other extinct bird species and some tortoise bones, all together in a mass grave which may possibly have been due to a natural disaster. The discovery opened the way for the first modern research into the dodo bird.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1517  -             Christian Protestant Reformation leader, Martin Luther, posts his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Castle Church.

Martin Luther was a German theologian and Augustinian monk whose teachings inspired the Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of the Protestant churches in general, and the Lutheran church in particular. Luther openly questioned the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, in particular, the nature of penance, the authority of the pope and the usefulness of indulgences. The Reformation of the church began on 31 October 1517, with Luther's act of posting his Ninety-Five Theses, more fully known as the "Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials.

Controversy raged over the posting of the 95 Theses. Luther was excommunicated several years later 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. Here, Luther continued to write his prolific theological works, which greatly influenced the direction of the Protestant Reformation movement.

1818  -             Oxley's expedition party is attacked by Aborigines as they camp near Port Stephens.

After discovering the rich, fertile country of the Liverpool Plains in New South Wales, Oxley continued east, heading back towards Sydney. On the way, he crossed the Great Diving Range and came upon the Hastings River, which he followed to its mouth, traversing what Oxley described as "excellent and rich country". Early in October 1818, Oxley reached the seashore at an excellent harbour and river estuary, naming the region Port Macquarie. He then continued south towards Sydney, making camp along the way in the Port Stephens area.

On 30 October 1818, a large group of Aborigines, who seemed to be from the Newcastle region, approached Oxley and his party. As they seemed to come in peace, they were also greeted in peace, with Oxley's party showering trinkets and gifts on the tribe. However, the next morning, October 31, four of the Aborigines from the group returned armed with spears, one of which was thrown, narrowly missing one of Oxley's men who had finished his morning's bathing and was attempting to get dressed. After disappearing briefly, more natives returned with spears and began attacking Oxley's entire party, which was forced to pack up and move on quickly.

1894  -             Fourteen people are killed in one of Australia's earliest train accidents.

Opening on 26 September 1855, the New South Wales railway, Australia, was the first government-owned railway in the British Empire. The first line ran the 22km from Sydney to Parramatta. By 1862, the western line had reached Penrith. The railway continued to expand, reaching Albury in 1881, Glen Innes in 1884 and far west New South Wales at Bourke in 1886.

On 31 October 1894, a country train bound for Goulburn, New South Wales, was hit at Redfern, Sydney, by a suburban train heading from Strathfield to the city. Two engine crew and twelve passengers from the suburban train were killed, and twenty-seven people were injured. The accident was caused by an incorrectly set signal. Among those killed were Edward Lloyd Jones, Chairman of David Jones & Co and son of the founder of the David Jones department store chain. Also killed was Father Callaghan McCarthy, Dean of St Mary's Cathedral.

1913  -             The first automobile road right across the United States, the Lincoln Highway, is dedicated.

The Lincoln Highway is a major highway in the United States extending from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. The highway originally ran through thirteen states - New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California, although the "Colorado Loop" is no longer included, and a change of route now sees the highway passing through the far north of West Virginia.

The idea of a cross-America highway was first conceived in 1912. Dedicated on 31 October 1913, the Lincoln Highway was the USA's first national memorial to President Abraham Lincoln. The initial length was 5,454 km, or 3,389 miles, although improvements and realignments over the years have seen it shortened to 5,057 km, or 3,142 miles. Nicknamed "The Main Street Across America", the building of the highway gave an economic boost to small towns and cities across its length, and its construction inspired the building of many other national roads

1923  -             A record 160-day heatwave begins in Marble Bar, Western Australia.

Marble Bar is a tiny town in the Pilbara region of north-western Western Australia. The discovery of gold in 1890 by Francis Jenkins led to the establishment of a town, which was officially gazetted in 1893. The town derives its name from a nearby jasper formation which was mistaken by early settlers for a bar of marble. This rock formation is also known as the Marble Bar, and the nearby Marble Bar Pool is a popular picnic and swimming area for both tourists and the people of the township. During the goldrushes, Marble Bar had over 5000 residents, but its population now is closer to 400. It is still a productive area, being mined for gold, tin, silver, lead, zinc, copper and jade deposits.

Known for its excessive temperatures, Marble Bar achieved a new heat record in 1923-24. Beginning on 31 October 1923, the town experienced a heatwave which continued for 160 consecutive days, where the maximum temperature was 37.8 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher. The last day of the heatwave was 7 April 1924.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1512  -             Michelangelo's magnificent artwork on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is exhibited to the public for the first time.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, considered by many to be the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists, was born near Arezzo, in Caprese, Tuscany, Italy, in 1475. He was apprenticed to artist Domenico Ghirlandaio at age 13. Ghirlandaio was so impressed with his young protege that he recommended him to Lorenzo de' Medici, the ruler of the Florentine republic and a great patron of the arts. After demonstrating his mastery of sculpture in such works as the Pietý (1498) and David (1504), he was commissioned by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1508 to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the chief consecrated space in the Vatican.

Michelangelo spent four years painting the epic ceiling frescoes, depicting detailed Biblical scenes. There are nine panels devoted to biblical world history, the most famous of which is The Creation of Adam, a painting in which the arms of God and Adam are stretching toward each other. Michelangelo's frescoes on the vaulted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome were first shown to the public on 1 November 1512.

1539  -             Sea dikes burst in Holland, submerging much of the country and killing 400,000 people.

The Netherlands, or Holland, has always been well-known for its dykes. A dyke, or dike, is a stone or earthen wall constructed to reclaim land from the sea. In order to make the country inhabitable, people in the Netherlands needed to protect themselves against the sea and rivers flooding. They also drained the lowland areas as well. This was achieved by the construction of thousands of kilometres of dykes. Many dykes in early Holland were earthen or peat embankments, essential to the continued drainage of reclaimed land. In the sixteenth century, great storm surges caused large-scale dike slides, and on 1 November 1530, sea dikes burst in Holland, allowing the sea to burst through, submerging much of the country and killing 400,000 people.

1755  -             A massive earthquake and tsunami hits Lisbon, Portugal, killing between 60,000 and 90,000 people.

In 1755, Lisbon, capital city of Portugal, was a sophisticated and wealthy city. Considered to be a cultural centre of Europe, it had a population of around 250,000. On the evening of 31 October 1755, water in the city's wells developed an unusual taste, strange plumes of yellow smoke could be observed, and animals became agitated. At around 9:30am the next day, 1 November 1755, an earthquake estimated to have had a magnitude of 8.6 or higher hit about 200km offshore, killing 600 with its initial devastation and generating a catastrophic tsunami which hit the city 40 minutes later. The actual size of the earthquake is unknown, as there were no instruments for measuring earthquake magnitude at the time.

It is believed that the great Lisbon earthquake occurred along the Azores-Gibraltar fracture zone (AGFZ), which marks the boundary of significant tectonic activity between the African and Eurasian plates. The severe rocking motion of the ground weakened Lisbon's buildings so that they collapsed on the people fleeing through the streets. Being a Sunday and All Saints' Day, tens of thousands of people were worshipping in the city's great cathedrals such as Basilica de Santa Maria, Sao Vincente de Fora, Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina and the Misericordia. These all collapsed, killing thousands more.

The effects of the earthquake were felt on an even wider scale. Shock waves were felt throughout Europe and North Africa, over an area of more than two million square kilometres. In Lisbon, buildings that survived the earthquake and tsunami were devastated by a fire that raged for the next three days. Much of the cultural collections contained in the city were decimated as Lisbon's museums and libraries were destroyed. Archives, manuscripts, historical records and other precious documents were completely consumed, as were the invaluable records of the India Company. The inferno destroyed the king's palace and its 70,000-volume library. Over two hundred fine, priceless paintings, including paintings by Titan, Reubens, and Coreggio, were burned in the palace of the Marques de Lourcal.

1791  -             A party of convicts escapes from Parramatta, intending to walk to China.

Australia was originally settled by convicts and officers of the First Fleet. The fleet assembled in Portsmouth, England, and set sail on 13 May 1787. They arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. After determining that Botany Bay was unsuitable for settlement, Captain Arthur Phillip led the Fleet northwards to Port Jackson, arriving on 26 January 1788.

Conditions in the new colony were tough. The English tools could not stand up to the hard work of tilling the Australian soil, and they broke easily. The convicts were disinclined to work hard, many of them not being used to manual labour, and the heat and humidity of the Australian climate only added to their discomfort and lack of motivation to work. In addition, rations had to be meted out very carefully until farms could start producing crops. Many convicts were hungry enough to steal food, and punishment for theft was severe, ranging from lashing with a cat o' nine tails, or even death by hanging. Governor Phillip could not afford for any rations to be lost to theft, so he felt compelled to enforce harsh disciplinary measures. As a result, many convicts attempted escape.

It was not known what lay beyond the boundaries of the colony at Port Jackson, but many believed that China lay beyond the Blue Mountains. On 1 November 1791, a group of 20 or 21 male convicts and one pregnant female convict escaped from the gaol at Parramatta in an attempt to reach China. They took with them rations, tools and clothes. Whilst some of the convicts were recaptured, many simply died in the unfamiliar bushland of New South Wales.

1865  -             The first European explorer to see Ayers Rock, William Christie Gosse, is appointed Government Surveyor in the South Australian colony.

William Christie Gosse was born on 11 December 1842 in Hoddesdon, England. His parents migrated to Adelaide in 1850, where his father became a leading figure in Adelaide, being elected to the Board of the Adelaide Hospital, establishing the Home for Incurables, forming the second branch of the British Medical Association outside England and becoming the first warden of the Senate of the University of Adelaide.

William attended John Lorenzo Young's Adelaide Educational Institute on North Terrace, and joined the Government Survey Office in 1859. Gosse was appointed Government Surveyor on 1 November 1865. He gained considerable expertise and understanding of travel in the outback while working on the Overland Telegraph Line in 1872.

In 1873, Governor Goyder sent Gosse to open up a route from the recently completed Overland Telegraph Line at Alice Springs in Central Australia, to Perth. It was while on this expedition that Gosse made perhaps his greatest discovery: Uluru, or Ayers Rock. Gosse became became the first European explorer to see Ayers Rock, which he named in honour of former South Australian Premier, Sir Henry Ayers. Gosse discovered the rock, now known by its native name of Uluru, by accident during an expedition through Australia's interior. The need to find water for his camels forced him to take a more southerly course than he had originally planned, and in July 1873, he sighted Ayers Rock, recording that, "This rock is certainly the most wonderful natural feature I have ever seen".

1884  -             Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is adopted.

Greenwich Mean (or Meridian) Time (GMT) is the mean (average) time that the earth takes to rotate from noon-to-noon. GMT sets the current time or official time around the globe. The time zones division was officially adopted on 1 November 1884, at a meeting of the International Meridian Conference in Washington, DC, USA. During the conference, the International Date Line was drawn up and 24 time zones created, every 15 meridians east and west of 0 (the prime meridian) at Greenwich, England.

Cheers - John

Gday...

AW - get out Doug ... or is that shut the front gate 

Doncha 'member - you n me - esky in hand full of ice and frothies ... listening to the speeches at the opening of the Sistine Chapel ?

Geez - that Michelangelo bloke was a hoot those Roman jokes were great ... and those two Roman twins you met .... they were summit hey ?

Cheers - John

Gday...

1755  -             Marie Antoinette, queen of France and wife of Louis XVI, is born.

Marie Antoinette was born in Vienna on 2 November 1755, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife Empress Maria Theresa. When a new peace treaty was signed between Austria and France, it was hoped that a royal marriage would seal the peace. At age fourteen, Marie Antoinette was chosen to marry the dauphin in France, who became King Louis XVI four years later.

Marie Antoinette embraced the lavish lifestyle with enthusiasm. She had little regard for the poor and struggling peasants, and spent money frivolously. For her attitude, she became the symbol of the people's hatred for the old regime during the French Revolution. When the French Revolution began, Marie Antionette supported the old regime. When the National Convention established the French Republic in 1792, Marie Antoinette and the king were imprisoned. Antoinette was beheaded on 16 October 1793.

1868  -             New Zealand becomes the first country to adopt a standard national time.

New Zealand is an island nation in the South Pacific, located approximately 2,250 km to the southeast of Australia. Although the first European discoverer was Abel Tasman, in 1642, New Zealand was claimed for Great Britain by James Cook in November 1769. Following Cook's visit to the islands, they were settled by whalers, missionaries, and traders. The islands were annexed by Great Britain early in 1840, and the first permanent European settlement established on 22 January 1840. Early in February, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by over 500 Mori chiefs of New Zealand and the British Governor William Hobson, signalling that New Zealand was now an official colony of Great Britain. Initially part of the Australian colony of New South Wales, New Zealand became a separate colony in 1841 and attained self-government in 1852.

New Zealand is believed to be the first country in the world to adopt a standard time zone, doing so on 2 November 1868. The standard was known as New Zealand Mean Time (NZMT). This was even before the Greenwich Mean Time zone divisions were officially adopted in 1884. In 1941, clocks were advanced half an hour in a move which was made permanent in 1946, putting New Zealand exactly 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

1903  -             Manly Council (Sydney) rescinds its by-law prohibiting bathing in the ocean during daylight hours.

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 2 November 1903, the Manly Council rescinded the by-law that prohibited bathing during daylight hours, specifically, after 7:00am. 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.

1917  -             Britain declares its intention to establish a new Jewish state within Palestine.

On 2 November 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a declaration of intent to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This letter, to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, became known as the Balfour Declaration, and stated that the British government supported Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. Some of the motivation for the Declaration came from Britain's hopes to increase Jewish support for the Allied effort in World War I.

The Balfour Declaration was unpopular among Arabs in Palestine, who feared that their own rights would be subjugated with the creation of a Jewish homeland. Increased tension between Jews and Arabs during the post-war period caused delays in the enacting of the Balfour Declaration. However, after the atrocities to the Jewish people during the Holocaust in WWII, the Zionist cause gained much support from the international community, resulting in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.

2000  -             An American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts became the first permanent residents of the International Space Station.

The International Space Station (ISS) is located in "low Earth" orbit around our planet at an altitude of approximately 360km. It is a joint project of 6 space agencies: the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Russian Federal Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA/ASC), Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

On 2 November 2000, American astronaut William Shepherd, together with Russian cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev and Yuri Gidzenko, became the first permanent residents of the International Space Station. The mission of this first crew was to activate life support systems and experiments, while continuing stowage and checkout of the new station. They also assisted with the ongoing assembly of the Space Station and conducted the first station-based spacewalks. The turnaround for crews is four months, and so far, only Americans and Russians have inhabited the Space Station.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1878  -             Police patrols are increased along the Murray River as the manhunt for the Kelly gang intensifies, following the murder of three policemen at Stringybark Creek.

Ned Kelly, Australia's most famous bushranger, was born in December 1854 in Beveridge, Victoria. Kelly was twelve when his father died, and he was subsequently required to leave school to take on the new position as head of the family. Shortly after this, the Kellys moved to Glenrowan. As a teenager, Ned became involved in petty crimes, regularly targeting the wealthy landowners. He gradually progressed to crimes of increasing seriousness and violence, including bank robbery and murder, soon becoming a wanted man, together with the members of his gang, his brother Dan, Joe Byrne and Steve Hart.

Following a series of robberies in 1878, police hunts for the Kelly Gang intensified. Whilst attempting to track down the gang, three policemen were murdered at Stringybark Creek on 25 October 1878. The ruthless killing of Constable Lonigan, Sergeant Michael Kennedy and Mounted Constable Michael Scanlon resulted in the Kelly gang being declared outlaws. Two hundred police were brought into the area, while aboriginal troopers with tracking skills were brought down from Queensland.

On Monday, 4 November 1878, police patrols were increased along the Murray River, as the gang had been reported in the Chiltern area. However, the gang remained at large, even managing to rob the National bank in the Victorian town of Euroa of about 2000 pounds early in December.

1922  -             The entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb is discovered.

Egypt's King Tutankhamen was the son of King Akhenaten, who lived from 1353 to 1337 BC. He was born around 1347 BC and died in his late teens. His tomb lay undiscovered for over 3300 years until a team of British archaeologists, led by Howard Carter, discovered a step leading to the tomb on 4 November 1922. The step was hidden in the debris near the entrance of the nearby tomb of King Ramses VI, in the Valley of the Kings. Twenty-two days later, Carter and his crew entered the tomb itself, eventually discovering a stone sarcophagus containing three coffins, fitted within each other. Inside the final coffin, which was made out of solid gold, was the mummified body of King Tutankhamun.

The tomb also contained hundreds of objects, elaborately decorated and covered in gold, that the Egyptians believed would be needed by the king in his afterlife. These rich artifacts are now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The walls of the burial chamber were painted with scenes of his voyage to the afterworld. The find was considered particularly significant, not only for the remarkable preservation of the mummy and the treasures, but for the fact that most of the Egyptian kings' tombs were believed to have already been found.

1930  -             Australia's greatest racehorse, Phar Lap, wins the Melbourne Cup.

Phar Lap, a giant chestnut thoroughbred gelding, standing 17.1 hands high, is regarded by many to be Australia's and New Zealand's greatest racehorse. A much loved Australian national icon, he was actually born and bred in Timaru, in the South Island of New Zealand, but never raced in New Zealand.

The name Phar Lap was derived from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning. According to the Museum Victoria, medical student Aubrey Ping often visited the track in Randwick, talking with riders and trainers. He had learned some Zhuang from his father, who migrated to Australia from southern China. He reputedly suggested "Farlap" as the horse's name. Sydney trainer Harry Telford liked the name, but changed the F to a Ph to create a seven letter word, and split it into two words, so as to replicate the dominant pattern set by Melbourne Cup winners.

Phar Lap dominated the racing scene in Australia during a long and distinguished career. In the four years of his racing career, he won 37 of 51 races he entered. During 1930 and 1931, he won 14 races in a row. On 4 November 1930, ridden by Jimmy Pike, Phar Lap won the Melbourne Cup. He started as the shortest-priced favourite in the history of the race at odds of 811, having finished third in 1929.

Phar Lap died in April 1932. A necropsy revealed that the horse's stomach and intestines were inflamed, and many believed he had been deliberately poisoned. A variety of theories have been propounded through the years. In 2006 Australian Synchrotron Research scientists said it was almost certain Phar Lap was poisoned with a large single dose of arsenic 35 hours before he died, supporting the belief that Phar Lap was killed on the orders of US gangsters, who feared the Melbourne-Cup-winning champion would inflict big losses on their illegal bookmakers.

Phar Lap's heart was a remarkable size, weighing 6.2 kg, compared with a normal horse's heart at 3.2 kg. Phar Lap's heart is now held at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. It is consistently the display visitors request most often to see, and pay their respects to the gentle, big-hearted giant of the horse racing world.

1932  -             Australia's first Milk Bar is opened.

A milk bar in Australia is a small, local general store, known as a corner store in some places. As well as selling basic groceries and newspapers, early milk bars offered milkshakes, lollies and drinks.

Australia's first milk bar was opened in Martin Place, Sydney, on 4 November 1932. Called the Black and White 4d Milk Bar, it was established by Greek migrant Joachim Tavlaridis who later adopted the name "Mick Adams". The milk bar was famous for its milkshakes and for its mechanical cow. Unlike contemporary businesses with table service, it featured a bar counter with limited seats on one side and milkshake makers and soda pumps on the other, harking back to an American influence. The success of the business had a strong influence in making the term "milk bar" known throughout Australia, and even the United Kingdom.

1956  -             Soviet troops invade Hungary in a massive dawn offensive.

Hungary had been subjected to Soviet occupation since 1944. On 23 October 1956, a group of students began a peaceful demonstration in Budapest, demanding an end to Soviet occupation and the implementation of "true socialism". This was the beginning of the Hungarian Uprising. The next day, commissioned officers and soldiers joined the demonstration on the streets of Budapest, pulling down the statue of Stalin. On October 25, the Soviets responded by firing on the protestors in Parliament Square with tanks. Newly elected Hungarian leader Imre Nagy promised the Hungarian people independence and political freedom, and the demonstrations increased in response.

On 4 November 1956, Soviet troops invade Hungary in a massive dawn offensive. Over 1000 tanks rolled into Budapest, and troops were deployed throughout the country. Nagy appealed to the UN and Western governments for protection, but his pleas were largely ignored as other crises occupied the attention of the west. Thousands of Hungarians were killed and injured, and the demonstrations were quelled. Nagy and others involved in the uprising were captured, secretly tried and executed in June 1958. It was not until 1991, with the collapse of communism across Europe, that Soviet troops finally withdrew from Hungary.

1995  -             Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated.

Yitzhak Rabin was born on 1 March 1922. He was the first Israeli-born Prime Minister of Israel, and the fifth Prime Minister, serving first from 1974 until 1977 and again in 1992 until his death in 1995. Even though Israel and Jordan had long maintained good relations in secret, theoretically the two countries were in a state of war. Rabin was instrumental in negotiating formal peace with Jordan. He and Jordan's King Hussein formally made peace at a ceremony in Wadi Araba on the Israeli-Jordanian border, on 26 October 1994. Rabin was awarded the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to create peace in the Middle East.

On 4 November 1995, Rabin was shot three times at close range by a gunman as he left a peace rally in Tel Aviv. The gunman, extreme right-wing activist Yigal Amir, was quickly arrested, and ultimately received a life sentence in prison. The day on which Rabin died was designated a national memorial day in his honour, and many public places now bear his name.

Cheers - John