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.
| 13 May 1846 | Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on Mexico. |
| 13 May 1896 | The Franchise Bill is passed by the Colony of Natal’s Legislative Assembly, disfranchising natives of other countries. |
| 13 May 1896 | Nora Perry died, American newspaper correspondent (b. 1831) |
| Friday, 13 May 1921 | George Petersen born, Labor politician (died 2000) |
| Monday, 13 May 1946 | Tim Pigott-Smith born, English actor and author (d. 2017) |
| Monday, 13 May 1946 | Alexei Nikolaevich Bach died, Soviet biochemist and revolutionary leader (b. 1857) |
| Saturday, 13 May 1961 | Dennis Rodman born, American basketball player and actor |
| Saturday, 13 May 1961 | Gary Cooper died, American actor died, better known for his role in High Noon (b. 1901) |
| Wednesday, 13 May 1981 | Pope John Paul II is shot and nearly killed by Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish gunman who is allegedly on orders from the Soviet KGB to shoot him, as he enters St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City to address a general audience. The Pope recovers. |
| Wednesday, 13 May 1981 | Sunny Leone born, Canadian pornstar and Bollywood actress |
| Wednesday, 13 May 1981 | Rebecka Liljeberg born, Swedish actress |
| Wednesday, 13 May 1981 | Jimmy Wang Yang born, Korean professional wrestler |
| Wednesday, 13 May 1981 | Ben Andrews died, American actor (b. 1942) |
| Monday, 13 May 1991 | Myron Brinig died, Jewish-American author (b. 1896) |
| Monday, 13 May 1996 | Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people. |
| Sunday, 13 May 2001 | R. K. Narayan died, Indian novelist (b. 1906) |
| Sunday, 13 May 2001 | Silvio Berlusconi wins the general election and becomes Prime Minister of Italy for the second time. |
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Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
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Neville Buch
Professional Historian at Professional Historians Association (Queensland) Inc.
Neville Buch (Pronounced Book) Ph.D. is a certified member of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). Since 2010 he has operated a sole trade business in history consultancy. He was a Q ANZAC 100 Fellow 2014-2015 at the State Library of Queensland. Dr Buch was the PHA (Qld) e-Bulletin, the monthly state association’s electronic publication, and was a member of its Management Committee. He is the Managing Director of the Brisbane Southside History Network.