Anniversaries and commemorations come and go daily. Most of us, even the best historians, miss most occasions. If we think of history as events then we are faced with a continually showering in the grains of sand. Nevertheless, we do pick out certain patterns in the remembrance of historical dates. The blog here reminds us of some dates where the local, state, national, and global perspectives entwine.

On 18, Wednesday December 1844, Takashima Tomonosuke, Japanese general, born (d. 1916)
On 18, Saturday December 1869, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer, pianist, died (b. 1829)
On 18, Tuesday December 1894, South Australia is the first colony to legislate women equal franchise with men, taking effect in 1895.
On 18, Tuesday December 1894, The Australian Workers’ Union is formed from the joining of the Amalgamated Shearers’ Union of Australia and the General Labourers’ Union.
On 18, Tuesday December 1894, Women in South Australia become the first in Australia to gain the right to vote and to be elected to Parliament, taking effect from 1895.
On 18, Thursday December 1919, Sir John Alcock, British aviator; pilot of first nonstop transatlantic flight in airplane, June 1919, died (b. 1892)
On 18, Friday December 1959, Edouard Borovansky, died (born 1902), Czech born ballet dancer and choreographer; founder of the Borovansky Australian Ballet
On 18, Thursday December 1969, Irvin Duguid, Scottish rock keyboard player (Stiltskin)
On 18, Thursday December 1969, Mille Petrozza, German-Italian rock vocalist and guitarist (Kreator)
On 18, Thursday December 1969, Joe Randa, American Major League Baseball player and radio talk-show host, born
On 18, Tuesday December 1979, Amy Grabow, American actress, born
On 18, Tuesday December 1979, Mohammad Mofatteh, Iranian philosopher, died (b. 1928)
On 18, Tuesday December 1979, Franz Suchomel, Sudeten German Nazi Unterscharführer, died (b. 1907)
On 18, Monday December 1989, Ashley Benson, American actress, born
On 18, Sunday December 1994, Lilia Skala, Austrian-born American actress, died (b. 1896)
On 18, Saturday December 1999, NASA launched the Terra platform into orbit, carrying 5 Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.
On 18, Saturday December 1999, Robert Bresson, French filmmaker, died (b. 1901)
On 18, Thursday December 2014, Virna Lisi, Italian actress, died (b. 1936)

Other On This Day days in history

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Neville Buch

Professional Historian at Professional Historians Association (Queensland) Inc.

Neville Buch (Pronounced Book) Ph.D. is a certified member of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). Since 2010 he has operated a sole trade business in history consultancy. He was a Q ANZAC 100 Fellow 2014-2015 at the State Library of Queensland. Dr Buch was the PHA (Qld) e-Bulletin, the monthly state association’s electronic publication, and was a member of its Management Committee. He is the Managing Director of the Brisbane Southside History Network.

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