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 Monday, 3 May 1920, A Bolshevik coup fails, in the Democratic Republic of Georgia.
On Thursday, 3 May 1945, WWII: The prison ships Cap Arcona (5,000 dead), Thielbek (2,750 dead) and Deutschland (all survive) are sunk by the British Royal Air Force in Lübeck Bay.
On Thursday, 3 May 1945, Rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and 120 members of his team surrender to U.S. forces (later going on to help to start the U.S. space program).
On Thursday, 3 May 1945, German Protestant theologian Gerhard Kittel is arrested by the French forces in Tübingen, Germany.
On Tuesday, 3 May 1960, The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is established.
On Tuesday, 3 May 1960, The Fantasticks, the world’s longest-running musical, opens at New York City’s Sullivan Street Playhouse, where it will play for 42 years.
On Sunday, 3 May 1970, A new international terminal is opened at Sydney Airport
On Wednesday, 3 May 2000, Anthony Mundine, after going AWOL from the St George Illawarra Dragons for 10 days, announces his retirement from rugby league and switches to boxing.
On Wednesday, 3 May 2000, In San Antonio, Texas, computer pioneer Datapoint files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch
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On May 3rd 1945, after Hitler’s Third Reich capitulated to the Allies, Gerharl Kittel was arrested by the French occupying forces, removed from office and interned at Balingen. From the events of 75 years ago, it is standard that conventional leaders remember and celebrate Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Gerharl Kittel and those like him are conveniently forgotten, an embarrassment, and a cutting-challenge to those who try to justify their own present views as not really bad, and were never align to a morally-defeated regime. Quite revealing, Kittel claimed he no previous involvement in politics but called the Party “a folkish renewal movement… Read more »