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 30 July 1870, The Klipdrift Republic is proclaimed in South Africa by diamond miners, with Stafford Parker as President.
On Friday, 30 July 1920, Start of the 1st World Scout Jamboree is held at Olympia, London.
On Monday, 30 July 1945, WWII: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis is hit and sunk by torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-58 in the Philippine Sea. Some 900 survivors jump into the sea and are adrift for up to four days. Nearly 600 die before help arrives. Captain Charles B. McVay III of the cruiser is later court-martialed and convicted.
On Thursday, 30 July 1970, Damages totalling £485,528 are awarded to 28 Thalidomide victims.
On Wednesday, 30 July 1980, Vanuatu gains independence.
On Wednesday, 30 July 1980, Israel’s Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.
On Monday, 30 July 1990, British politician and former Member of Parliament Ian Gow is assassinated by a Provisional Irish Republican Army car bomb outside his home in England.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch