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, 9 April 1945, WWII: The Battle of Königsberg, in East Prussia, ends with Soviet forces capturing the city.
On Monday, 9 April 1945, Abwehr conspirators Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster and Hans von Dohnányi are hanged at Flossenberg concentration camp, along with pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
On Monday, 9 April 1945, Johann Georg Elser, would-be assassin of Adolf Hitler, is executed at Dachau concentration camp.
On Saturday, 9 April 1960, Gunman David Pratt shoots South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd in Johannesburg, wounding him seriously.
On Monday, 9 April 1990, Comet Austin, the brightest comet visible from Earth since 1975, makes its closest approach to the sun.
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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