6 September

A lot to do with ships today - then also some birthdays and a random few other historical events from all over the world

In 1522 One of the five ships that set out in Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world made it back to Spain. Only 15 of the original 265 men that set out survived. Magellan himself had been killed by local inhabitants of the Philippines.

In 1907, the luxury liner Lusitania left London for New York on her maiden voyage.




The photograph left shows RMS Windsor Castle departing Cape Town for the last time on 6 September 1977. On the horizon left can be seen the SAN type 12 frigate SAS President Pretorius, waiting to intercept Windsor Castle. Out in the bay a shot was fired across the bow of Windsor Castle and she hove to, then a ‘boarding party’ from PP presented a commemorative plaque to the Captain of Windsor Castle and she was ‘allowed’ to continue her voyage. A fitting tribute to the end of an era.  (This information thanks to my friend Graham Sonnenberg's friend Tony Jones.  They count among those who dig up wonderful bits of information about Cape Town and its history.)


In 1901, the US President William McKinley was shot and  killed in Buffalo, New York by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. 

In 1966, there was another assassination: South Africa's  Prime Minister Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd, regarded  by many as the father of apartheid, was stabbed to death on 6 September in House of Assembly, in Cape Town, by a parliamentary messenger, Dimitrios Tsafendas.  Five years earlier, on 9 April 1961 there had been another attempt on his life when, at the Rand Easter Show, in Johannesburg, he had been shot twice in the face by David Beresford Pratt.

The date is also important in South African history for another reason: on this day in 1939, South Africa declared war on Germany under its new government led by Genl Jan Smuts (leader of the United Party). The previous day, Prime Minister JBM Hertzog resigned after his motion to remain neutral in the war was defeated by 80 votes to 67 (he reconciled with Daniel F Malan (Herenigde Nasionale Party) to become leader of the opposition.  

Two years later, in Germany on 6 September 1941, the head of the Secret Police in Germany ordered all Jews over 6 years old to wear a yellow star of David on their coats together with the word Jude (Jew).  Their movements without police permission were also curtailed.

Still in the 1940s, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands was inaugurated in Amsterdam on 6 September 1948.  Four years later (1952), across the channel, there was the Farnborough

31 August

On 31 August 1997, Diana, the Princess of Wales, Dodi Fayed and their driver Henri Paul were killed in a car crash in Paris.  Following an unprecedented outpouring of public mourning in Britain and beyond, her public funeral at Westminster Abbey on 6 September drew an estimated 3 million onlookers in London, as well as worldwide television coverage watched by as many as 2.5 billion people.

Four decades earlier, on this day in 1957 Malaya became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth.

Then, in 1978, four hundred of the world's top climatologists met in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss climate change and debate to what extent it is influenced by human pollution. The debate continues, while the planet continues to spin around its axis.  There is some action to address our role in climate change, but not enough.  whatever happens - unless there is some cataclysmic event that shatters the planet in the same way that our Moon was born in the early days of the formation of the Solar System - Earth will be here in a million, even a billion years.  But will mankind survive our own short-sightedness? Nobody knows.

Some first performances of famous music took place on 31 August:  Liszt's Graner Mass (1886), Rossini's opera William Tell, in Paris (1829) and  FP of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, in Berlin (1928).

Birthdays today include the French poet Théophile Gautier (1811), the Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli (1834) the singer/songwriter  Van Morrison (1945) and the violinist Itzhak Perlman (1945).




Christian's song

Today is also the birthday of my friend Christian Bresnier, who follows this blog regularly and who has been posting a "song of the day" regularly on Facebook.  I'm sharing his choice for the day, with his comments.   In fact, I think I am going to ask him if he will allow me to share his song choices regularly as a kind of "Christian's song choice".  

Here are his comments to today's song: "For my birthday song I chose this poem which I consider one of the most beautiful and poignant and which captures the essence of regret and nostalgia. Pity that the English subtitles are so pedestrian. There exists a great english version by Graeme Allwright but unfortunately unavailable on the Internet. Incidentally, George Brassens is my favorite French lyricist, a bon-vivant par excellence, warm, naughty and funny and his death in 1982 or thereabouts touched me deeply. I don't have 'idols' but there is a man I would have liked to meet."

30 August

In 30 BC Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, committed suicide, according to legend via a bite by an asp (snake). This powerful queen's life, during which her lovers included both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, inspired numerous stories, plays (including Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw), books, operas and cantatas (among others by Samuel Barber, Jules-Émile-Frédéric Massenet, Domenico Cimarosa and Hector Berlioz) and movies (of which the most famous was the 1963 version starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison). 

On 30 August 1959, the first Austin Mini 7 went on sale for £497- one of the cheapest saloon cars available at the time. The Mini (as it was renamed in 1962) went on to become the most popular British-made car ever made. 

The Euro Currency was formally Introduced on August 30, 2001 and came into operation the following year. 

On this day in 1751, the German-born British composer George Frideric Handel  finished his  last oratorio Jephtha (libretto: Rev. Thomas Morell.)

Ernest Rutherford

The British physicist and chemist  Ernest Rutherford, 1^st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, was born on 30 August 1871 near Nelson, New Zealand.  He was awarded the 1908 Nobel Prize for his contributions to radiation chemistry. Rutherford became a mentor to many big names in nuclear physics, including Niels Bohr, James Chadwick, Robert Oppenheimer, Hans Geiger, John Cockroft and Ernest Walton.  He is  buried in Westminster Abbey near Isaac Newton, and the element rutherfordium was named after him.

Other birthdays today include novelist Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 - author of among others Frankenstein),Chinese-American composer Chen Yuan Lin (1957- his film scores include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) , the Greek pianist Dimitris Sgouros (1969) and the  American entrepreneur Warren Buffett (1930).

On 30 August 1984 the Space Shuttle Discovery took off on its maiden voyage. It was retired on 9 March 2011, after 39 missions and having spent a whole year (365 days) in total in orbit. Its highlight missions included the Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (1990) and the 100th Space Shuttle mission (2000).  The photograph below shows the space shuttles Enterprise (left) and Discovery 'meet' on 19 April 2012 at a welcoming ceremony at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre. Discovery  will remain on permanent display at the Centre's  James S. McDonnell Space Hangar.  Enterprise will be on display at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City. 

Photo:Carolyn Russo, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution 

29 August

Interior of the cathedral in Brasilia,
capital of Brazil

Seven years ago, on 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and indeed a large part of the US Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida. It left more than 1 800 people dead and more than  $80 billion in damage.

On this day in 1842, Portugal recognized the Independence of Brazil, after a bitter war of independence following Dom Pedro I being declared Emperor of Brazil on 12 October 1822.  The country became a republic in 1889 and is today the largest country in South America and the 5th largest in the world.

A little more than a century later, in 1949, the Soviet Union became the second country to test an atomic weapon - a 22 kiloton device nickknamed 'First Lightning'. I do wish the US and Russia never started the nuclear arms race and were not subsequently joined by the other countries who developed those weapons of mass destruction...

Today also marks something more upbeat, but which was part of another race between the US and the then USSR: the space race.  On this day in 1965,  the Gemini V spacecraft returned to Earth with the two American astronauts Charles Conrad and Gordon Cooper, after orbiting the Earth for more than a week - a record at the time.  Just 4 years later, man would land on our Moon. 

The death of Leonardo da Vinci by Ingres

Finally, two birthdays; the famous French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was born on 29 August 1780. He shared a birthday with among others Henry V, King of England (1387).

28 August

Today's entries are mainly political and scientific. Way back, on 28 August 1619,  Ferdinand II was  elected emperor of the Imperium Romanum Sacrum, the Holy Roman Empire. 

More than two centuries later, the Slavery Abolition Act of  1833 enacted by the British Parliament outlawed slavery in the British Empire, thus liberating around 700 000 people. 

And talking about empires and spheres of influence, on 28 August 1867  the United States took possession of the tiny Midway Atoll (only slightly more than 6 km² ) in the North Pacific Ocean.  A century later the Battle of Midway (1942)  became an important naval milestone of World War II when the US  Navy defeated a Japanese attack.

Another empire collapsed on 28 August 1991, when  Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party of the then Soviet Union.  On the same day, the Ukraine declared its independence from the USSR.

Here, courtesy of the British Library,
is the original score of Herschel's Symphony No 15   

On this date in 1789 William Herschel, the German-born British astronomer who was also a prolific composer, discovered one of my favourite moons in the Solar System - Saturn's beautiful Enceladus. Herchel is, of course, perhaps best known as the astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus in 1781. Currently we are learning more about Enceladus and other moons in the Saturn system via the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Cassini mission.  

The first issue of Scientific American magazine was published on 28 August 1845.  It is now the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the US with  

27 August

Nihil novi sub sole. On 27 August 1986, South African police opened fire with tear gas on 500 people who had marched to the council offices in Soweto, in protest against evictions following an 11 week rent boycot.  Twelve people died as a result and more than 60 were wounded.

A different kind of "fire": in 1941, Reza Shah of Iran was forced to abdicate after the invasion of Iran by Britain and Russia, who suspected him of Nazi sympathies.  A month later he was succeeded by his son Mohammad Reza. Reza Shah died in exile in Johannesburg in 1944. 

And yet another fire-related story: 1892 the Metropolitan Opera House in New York (the "Old Met") was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt along its original lines until it was closed in 1966 and replaced by the current Met at Lincoln Centre.  Despite efforts to save the old building, it was demolished in 1967 to make place for a 40-storey office building. 

The most fiery of all was the final large explosion of Krakatoa (see yesterday) that took place on 27 August 1883.

And now for something cooler: the first, 197-page, edition of the Guinness Book of World Records was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British best-seller lists by the end of that year.  It has remained a favourite item under Christmas trees ever since.

26 August

On this day in 1946 George Orwell  published his novel "Animal Farm". In an unrelated event more than 5 centuries earlier - in 1429 – Joan of Arc made a triumphant entry into Paris. 

Today is the anniversary of the opening of the 2002 Earth Summit in Johannesburg. There were 60 000 delegates from 174 countries. Thirty years earlier  in 1972  another big event opened:  the 20th Olympic Games in Munich, West Germany.  These were the Games during which a terrorist attack killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches, and a West German police officer, while five terrorists also died. But the Games continued and Mark Spitz famously won seven medals in swimming events. The 1969 movie title had it wrong  - the island is/was in fact  to the West of Java.  A few days ago, I mentioned the big disaster caused when Vesuvius erupted in 79. Anak Krakatau Eighteen centuries later, between 26 and 27 August 1883, the volcano on Krakatoa erupted in a series of major explosions, destroying almost all of the island itself. It had been  been stirring and erupting for months before that, but nobody could  predict the final cataclysmic explosion on 27 August. The sound is believed to be the loudest ever heard by modern man and was audible at a distance of up to more than 4 500 km from Krakatoa, which was situated between Java and Sumatra in what is today known as Indonesia.  Most of the 36 000 people killed as a result, were victims of tsunami caused by the explosion.   As had been predicted by volcanologists, in 1927 a new volcanic island, Anak Krakatau ('Child of Krakatoa') rose from the sea in the area where Krakatoa had been.  It disappeared after a while, but arose again and an eruption in 1930 produced one that stayed above water and has been steadily growing.

Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on Earth's moon, has passed away, aged 82. RIP, Rocket Man.

Here is a link to the NASA media release and obit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/armstrong_obit.html.  

NASA also put together this piece about Apollo 11 in 2006: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/19jul_seaoftranquillity/

...and this page: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/armstrong.html

He was a reluctant hero and  interviewee, but here are two historical interviews:

In a weird way, the random connection with someone else with the same surname is not so far fetched... just look at the pictures on this video with the big hit by Louis Armstrong

Lastly, you have to understand Afrikaans to appreciate these words from a song by the Afrikaans singer/composer Koos Du Plessis:

.....Elke woord is retoriek, 

elke droom is bloot plastieken atoom’s die idioom van wie verstaan. Iewers moet ’n rusplek weesvir die afgematte gees — maar, kyk, daar lê reeds spore op die maan … 

25 August

On 25 August 1960, the 17th Olympic Summer Games opened in Rome (the Winter Olympics were then still held in the same year as the Summer Olympics and the 1960 games were at Squaw Valley, US, during February). It was the last Olympics in which South Africa competed while under the Apartheid regime - and also the Olympics in which, among others, Cassius Clay, AKA Muhammad Ali, won boxing's light-heavyweight gold medal.

In 1981 the Voyager 2 spacecraft made its closest approach to Saturn (100 000 km) and on the same day,  Mark Chapman, John Lennon's murderer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.  Many, many years earlier (1330) AntiPope Nicolaas V overthrew himself - which was almost a millenium after the Council of Nicaea (325) adopted the Nicene Creed establishing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

Birthdays today include authors Frederick Forsyth and Martin Amis, Actor Sean Connery and Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), 1st tsar of Russia.

The two Voyager space probes were launched in 1977 (Voyager 2 on 20 August,  Voyager 1 on 5 September.  But Voyager 1  reached both Jupiter and Saturn sooner, as it was launched in a shorter  trajectory.  Each bears a gold-plated audio-visual disc in the event that it is ever found by intelligent life forms elsewhere in the Universe.  They include e.g. the sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a variety of music clips.

24 August

The Three Mile Island nuclear plant before the incident in 1979

Today marks the anniversary (in 1979) of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Middletown, Pa. And on this day in 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart began her solo trip across the Pacific Ocean. Also on this day, in 1349, Jews of Cologne, Germany set themselves on fire to avoid baptism and in 1391, the Jews of Palma Majorca were massacred. 

But in 1456 the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed. 

Today a year ago, the late Steve Jobs resigned his job as CEO at Apple. 

And as mentioned yesterday, on this day in the year 79, Mt Vesuvius exploded in one of history's most dramatic volcanic events.

So there, some food for your and my weekend small talk.

23 August

Mt Vesuvius

Starting this blog just for fun. It may appeal to those who have scatter-brained, easily distracted, interested-in-everything minds.  

Today is actor, writer, entertainer, popular user of twitter and Apple products and all-round clever guy Stephen Fry's birthday - which he shares with millions of other people, but among others also the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, the South African cricket player Adrian Kuiper and Louis XVI, King of France.

Today also marks the day, in the year 79, when Mount Vesuvius began stirring - on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire (it erupted a day later, burying the cities of Pompeii & Herculaneum). So now you know all of that too.