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 May 1870, born Newton Moore (died 1936), Premier of Western Australia.
On Monday, 17 May 1920, French and Belgian troops leave the cities they have occupied in Germany.
On Monday, 17 May 1920, The first flight of Dutch air company KLM, from Amsterdam to London, takes place.
On Sunday, 17 May 1970, Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II, to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
On Saturday, 17 May 1980, A Tampa, Florida court acquits four white police officers of killing Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive, provoking three days of race riots in Miami.
On Saturday, 17 May 1980, Internal conflict in Peru: On the eve of presidential elections, Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho.
On Thursday, 17 May 1990, The World Health Organization removes homosexuality from its list of diseases.
On Wednesday, 17 May 1995, died Frank Knopfelmacher, 72, philosopher.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch