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 2 February 1870, It is revealed that the famed Cardiff Giant in the U.S. is just carved gypsum, and not the petrified remains of a human.
On Monday, 2 February 1920, Estonian War of Independence: The Tartu Peace Treaty is signed, ending the war and recognizing the independence of both the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.
On Monday, 2 February 1920, France occupies Memel.
On Monday, 2 February 1920, Sayyid Muhammad, Khan of Khiva, abdicates.
On Saturday, 2 February 1980, Abscam: FBI personnel target members of the Congress of the United States in a sting operation.
On Saturday, 2 February 1980, The New Mexico State Penitentiary riot takes place; 33 inmates are killed and more than 100 inmates injured.
On Friday, 2 February 1990, Cyclone Nancy hits the town of Maryborough in Queensland.
On Friday, 2 February 1990, Apartheid: F. W. de Klerk announces the unbanning of the African National Congress and promises to release Nelson Mandela.
On Thursday, 2 February 1995, Tasmanian Premier Ray Groom defies Prime Minister Paul Keating’s moratorium on logging in 72 Tasmanian coupes.
On Monday, 2 February 2015, Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles is replaced in a late night leadership challenge for the Country Liberal Party by Willem Westra van Holthe.
On Monday, 2 February 2015, Prime Minister Tony Abbott addresses the National Press Club (Australia) in Canberra, announcing that the Federal Government is abandoning its paid parental leave proposal. The Prime Minister also clarifies that all awards of the Order of Australia, including knighthoods and damehoods will in future be exclusively the province of the Council of the Order of Australia.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch