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, 23 May 1945, The Flensburg Government is dissolved by the Allies and President of Germany Karl Dönitz and Chancellor of Germany Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk are arrested by British forces at Flensburg. They are respectively the last German Head of state and Head of government until 1949.
On Wednesday, 23 May 1945, Heinrich Himmler, former head of the Nazi SS, commits suicide in British custody.
On Monday, 23 May 1960, Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
On Saturday, 23 May 1970, A fire occurs in the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait near Bangor, Caernarfonshire, Wales, contributing to its partial destruction and amounting to approximately £1,000,000 worth of fire damage.
On Saturday, 23 May 2015, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces that the Victorian Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Adem Somyurek has been stood down over allegations of bullying and intimidating behaviour.
On Saturday, 23 May 2015, Singer Guy Sebastian performs his song “Tonight Again” in Vienna as Australia’s very first entry into the Eurovision Song Contest. Overall he comes 5th out of 40 countries.
On Saturday, 23 May 2015, Ireland votes to legalize same-sex marriage, becoming the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch