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.
What Time is It? It is flow of a sandstorm that will on each day compress somewhere into a structure – sandstone, selected and only remembered in the longue durée.
On Thursday, 5 July 1945, Prime Minister John Curtin dies in office from heart problems at The Lodge in Canberra.
On Thursday, 5 July 1945, John Curtin, 14th Prime Minister of Australia, dies in office from heart failure at the age of 60. He was briefly replaced by his deputy Frank Forde, who served as the 15th Prime Minister until a Labor Party leadership election is held to replace Curtin.
On Thursday, 5 July 1945, WWII: The Philippines are declared liberated.
On Sunday, 5 July 1970, Air Canada Flight 621 crashes at Toronto International Airport, Toronto, Ontario; all 109 passengers and crew are killed.
On Saturday, 5 July 1980, The Australian film ‘Breaker’ Morant opens in Sydney and Melbourne, having been the toast of the recent 1980 Cannes Film Festival.
On Saturday, 5 July 1980, Evonne Cawley (née Goolagong) wins the Wimbledon singles for the second time, easily beating the popular American champion Chris Evert-Lloyd 6-1, 7-6 in the final. She becomes the first woman to have won the Wimbledon singles nine years apart and is the first mother ever to take tennis’ most coveted prize.
On Thursday, 5 July 1990, In Kenya, riots erupt against the Kenya African National Union’s monopoly on power.
On Sunday, 5 July 2015, Greek government-debt crisis: After six months of clashes and futile negotiations between Greece’s newly elected, leftist government and the country’s creditors, over the austerity measures imposed through bailout programmes, tension peaks as Greece votes in a referendum to reject the terms offered in a third programme; however the government eventually proceeds to concur to harsher terms than those offered before, in what was widely characterized as a coup on the creditors’ part. [July 5–13 2015]
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch
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