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 Thursday, 1 July 1920, Germany declares its neutrality in the war between Poland and Soviet Russia.
On Sunday, 1 July 1945, WWII: Germany is divided between the Allied occupation forces.
On Friday, 1 July 1960, Ghana becomes a republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President.
On Friday, 1 July 1960, Cold War: A Soviet Air Force MiG-19 fighter plane flying north of Murmansk, Russia, over the Barents Sea shoots down a six-man RB-47 Stratojet reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force. Four of the U.S. Air Force officers are killed, and the two survivors are held prisoner in the Soviet Union.
On Friday, 1 July 1960, The Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) gains its independence from Italy. Concurrently, it unites as scheduled with the five-day-old State of Somaliland (the former British Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic.
On Wednesday, 1 July 1970, Melbourne Airport is officially opened.
On Wednesday, 1 July 1970, Colorado State College changes its name to University of Northern Colorado.
On Wednesday, 1 July 1970, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is subordinated to Public Health Service.
On Tuesday, 1 July 1980, Women are allowed to join surf clubs as full members.
On Sunday, 1 July 1990, [Sometime in July] Kerry Packer purchases back control of the Nine Network for A$250 million from Alan Bond, who purchased it from him for $1 billion in 1987.
On Sunday, 1 July 1990, died Albert Field (born 1910), Queensland senator
On Sunday, 1 July 1990, German reunification: East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, the West German Deutsche Mark becoming the official currency of the East also. The Inner German border (constructed 1945) also ceases to function.
On Saturday, 1 July 1995, Telecom Australia changes its domestic trading name to Telstra.
On Saturday, 1 July 1995, [in July] Cheez TV begins on the Ten network. It later became a huge hit and eventually made Agro’s Cartoon Connection end in 1997.
On Saturday, 1 July 1995, Iraq disarmament crisis: In response to UNSCOM’s evidence, Iraq admits for first time the existence of an offensive biological weapons program, but denies weaponization.
On Saturday, 1 July 1995, [during July] Iraq disarmament crisis: Iraq threatens to end all cooperation with UNSCOM and IAEA, if sanctions against the country are not lifted by August 31. Following the defection of his son-in-law, Hussein Kamel al-Majid, Saddam Hussein makes new revelations about the full extent of Iraq’s biological and nuclear weapons programs. Iraq also withdraws its last U.N. declaration of prohibited biological weapons and turns over a large amount of new documents on its WMD programs.
On Saturday, 1 July 2000, Goods and Services Tax introduced.
On Saturday, 1 July 2000, The Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden is officially opened for traffic.
On Wednesday, 1 July 2015, [in July] Exercise Talisman Saber 2015 is conducted over 20 days in Central Queensland. It is the largest combined military exercise undertaken by the Australian Defence Force and involves up to 30,000 US and Australian troops. [Early to mid July 2015]
On Wednesday, 1 July 2015, Tim Carmody resigns as Chief Justice of Queensland after a controversial term lasting just under a year. He will continue to serve as a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland.
On Wednesday, 1 July 2015, [in July] Cricket: The 2015 Ashes between England and Australia is held in England. England defeat Australia 3-2, regaining the Ashes urn. [July 2015 to August 2015]
On Wednesday, 1 July 2015, [in July] Australian rules football: The Australian Football League (AFL) takes steps to stop the continued abuse of Sydney Swans player Adam Goodes by crowds at AFL matches.
On Wednesday, 1 July 2015, Greek government-debt crisis: Greece becomes the first advanced economy to miss a payment to the International Monetary Fund in the 71-year history of the IMF.
Images Citations in Composite: ID 17208541 © Anhong | Dreamstime.com; ID 35001957 © DiversityStudio1 | Dreamstime.com; ID 156394527 © Gerd Zahn | Dreamstime.com
Neville Buch