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 December 1845, Ludwig Leichhardt arrives at Port Essington, Northern Territory, after an overland journey of 4800 km from Jimbour on the Darling Downs.
On Friday, 17 December 1920, The authority to issue currency notes is transferred from Treasury on the Australian Notes Board.
On Friday, 17 December 1920, South Africa is granted a League of Nations Class C mandate over South West Africa.
On Saturday, 17 December 1960, Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia overcome the coup that began on December 13, returning the reins to the Emperor upon his return from a trip to Brazil. The Emperor absolves his own son of any guilt.
On Thursday, 17 December 1970, Polish 1970 protests: Soldiers fire on civilians returning to work in Gdynia. Martial law is imposed in the country until December 22.
On Wednesday, 17 December 1980, Turkish Consul-General, Sarik Ariyak, and his bodyguard, Engin Sever, are shot dead in the street outside the consulate in Dover Heights, Sydney, becoming the victims of Australia’s first political assassinations. The obscure international terrorist army, the “Justice Commandoes of Armenian Genocide”, claim responsibility for the deaths only 20 minutes after the shootings.
On Friday, 17 December 2010, The attempted suicide of Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Tunisia, triggers the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring throughout the Arab world.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch