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 Wednesday, 17 October 1945, A massive number of people, headed for the General Confederation of Labour (Argentina), gather in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires to demand Juan Perón’s release. This is known to the Peronists as the Día de la lealtad (Loyalty Day) and considered the founding day of Peronism.
On Saturday, 17 October 1970, October Crisis: Pierre Laporte is found murdered in south Montreal.
On Saturday, 17 October 1970, A cholera epidemic breaks out in Istanbul.
On Saturday, 17 October 1970, Anwar Sadat officially becomes President of Egypt.
On Wednesday, 17 October 1990, A peace agreement which formally ended 28 years of Sarawak Communist insurgency in Malaysia was signed by North Kalimantan Communist Party insurgents.
On Tuesday, 17 October 1995, French woman Jeanne Calment reaches the confirmed age of 120 years and 238 days, making her the oldest person ever recorded.
On Sunday, 17 October 2010, Mary MacKillop is canonised by the Pope Benedict XVI, making her Australia’s first Roman Catholic saint (Saint Mary of the Cross).
On Sunday, 17 October 2010, Ducati Corse rider Casey Stoner took a popular home crowd victory in the 2010 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix, finishing eight seconds ahead of Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo for the Yamaha Motor Racing team.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch