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.
| 15 February 1871 | John W. Nordstrom born, Swedish-born American co-founder of the Nordstrom department store chain (d. 1963) |
| Tuesday, 15 February 1921 | Jefferson J. DeBlanc born, World War II United States Marine Corps fighter ace (d. 2007) |
| Tuesday, 15 February 1921 | Martha Farkas Glaser born, Hungarian-American civil rights activist born, manager of jazz musician Erroll Garner (d. 2014) |
| Friday, 15 February 1946 | Canada indicts 22 communist agents. |
| Friday, 15 February 1946 | Maliq Bushati died, Albanian collaborator and 18th Prime Minister of Albania (b. 1880) |
| Friday, 15 February 1946 | Cornelius Johnson died, American athlete (b. 1913) |
| Wednesday, 15 February 1961 | President Kennedy warns the Soviet Union to avoid interfering with the United Nations pacification of the Congo. |
| Wednesday, 15 February 1961 | A Sabena Boeing 707 crashes near Brussels, Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team and several coaches. |
| Wednesday, 15 February 1961 | A total solar eclipse occurs in the southern part of Europe. |
| Wednesday, 15 February 1961 | Cheam Channy born, Cambodian politician (d. 2018) |
| Wednesday, 15 February 1961 | Laurence Owen died, American figure skater (b. 1944) |
| Monday, 15 February 1971 | Decimal Day: 1971. The United Kingdom and Ireland both switch to decimal currency. |
| Monday, 15 February 1971 | Protesting Belgian farmers bring 3 live cows to crash the EEC meeting in Brussels. |
| Monday, 15 February 1971 | Alex Borstein born, American actress born, voice artist born, producer born, and screenwriter |
| Monday, 15 February 1971 | Renee O’Connor born, American actress |
| Sunday, 15 February 1981 | Jenna Morasca born, American television personality |
| Sunday, 15 February 1981 | Olivia born, American singer |
| Sunday, 15 February 1981 | Karl Richter died, German conductor (b. 1926) |
| Friday, 15 February 1991 | The Visegrad Agreement, establishing cooperation to move toward free-market systems, is signed by the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland. |
| Thursday, 15 February 1996 | The American Embassy in Athens, Greece, comes under mortar fire. |
| Thursday, 15 February 1996 | Begum Khaleda Zia is re-elected as Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The country’s second democratic election is marred by low voter turnout, due to several boycotts and pre-election violence, which has resulted in at least thirteen deaths. |
| Thursday, 15 February 1996 | The UK government publishes the Scott Report. |
| Thursday, 15 February 1996 | Long March rocket, with Intelsat 708 satellite, veers upon launch. |
| Thursday, 15 February 1996 | Tommy Rettig died, American actor (b. 1941) |
| Thursday, 15 February 1996 | McLean Stevenson died, American actor (b. 1929) |
| Thursday, 15 February 2001 | Haley Tju born, American actress |
| Tuesday, 15 February 2011 | The First Libyan Civil War starts. |
| Monday, 15 February 2016 | Former Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane announces his retirement. |
| Monday, 15 February 2016 | More than $1 billion worth of liquid methylamphetamine is seized from a shipment of stick-on gel bras and inside storage units filled with art supplies. It is described as the biggest seizure in Australian history. |
| Monday, 15 February 2016 | The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission recommends a waste facility could be safely set up in South Australia. |
| Monday, 15 February 2016 | George Gaynes died, Finnish-born American actor (b. 1917) |
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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.