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 5 January 1895, Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
On Friday, 5 January 1945, Australia recognizes the Polish Committee of National Liberation as the government of Poland.
On Monday, 5 January 1970, Federal Opposition Leader Gough Whitlam tells a meeting of Wewak Councillors in Port Moresby that the Territory House of Assembly was a “rubber stamp” for policies formulated in Canberra.
On Monday, 5 January 1970, The 7.1 Mw Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme). Between 10,000–14,621 were killed and 26,783 were injured.
On Monday, 5 January 1970, The first episode of United States soap opera All My Children is broadcast on the ABC television network.
On Monday, 5 January 2015, A 58-year-old grandmother, who is a person of interest in the “Morayfield House of Horrors” murder is granted bail. She is charged with four counts of attempted murder and arson.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch