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 17 January 1895, Félix Faure is elected President of the French Republic, after the resignation of Jean Casimir-Perier.
On Wednesday, 17 January 1945, WWII: The Soviet Union occupies Warsaw, Poland.
On Wednesday, 17 January 1945, The Holocaust: A Soviet patrol arrests Raoul Wallenberg in Hungary.
On Saturday, 17 January 1970, Cyclone Ada hits Central Queensland, killing 14.
On Thursday, 17 January 1980, Debbie Wardley becomes Australia’s first female pilot to take to the skies when she co-pilots a Fokker Friendship on Ansett Flight 232 on the so-called “milk run” from Alice Springs to Darwin. The flight marks the end of a 15-month legal battle with Ansett Airlines to overcome gender-based discrimination which had prevented her from earlier taking the controls.
On Thursday, 17 January 1980, Gippsland’s GLV-10 becomes GLV-8. This is done so that Melbourne’s ATV-0 can become ATV-10.
On Wednesday, 17 January 1990, Prime Minister Bob Hawke is heckled by pilots while on the campaign trail.
On Wednesday, 17 January 1990, The National Australia Bank buys out Britain’s Yorkshire Bank.
On Wednesday, 17 January 1990, Smith & Wesson introduce the .40 S&W cartridge.
On Tuesday, 17 January 1995, The 6.9 Mw Great Hanshin earthquake strikes the southern Hyōgo Prefecture with a maximum Shindo of VII, leaving 5,502–6,434 people dead, and 251,301–310,000 displaced.
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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