#OTD 19 April

On 19 April 1770, Captain Cook’s Endeavour sighted mainland Australia. As Cook recorded in his journal: I have named it Point Hicks, because Leuit Hicks [sic] was the first who discover’d this land…” On 19 April 1984, Australia adopted Advance Australia Fair as its national anthem. The song has itself provided a national self-discovery of sorts.… Continue reading #OTD 19 April

#OTD 17 April

“The Capitulations of Santa Fe” was not a sequel to “The Alamo”, though without it neither Hollywood nor Texas nor Mexico would have existed in its current form. “Capitulation”, like “chapter”, “capital” and “captain”, comes from “caput”, Latin for “head”. Just as “chapters” are the head or lead sections of a written work, so a… Continue reading #OTD 17 April

#OTD 15 April

Behind the throne there is the power. Behind the inventor Thomas Edison sat the financier JP Morgan. In 1889, Morgan had orchestrated the merger of Edison’s business interests into Edison General Electric Company. At the time, DC man Edison was enmeshed in the costly battle of the currents with AC man George Westinghouse. In 1890,… Continue reading #OTD 15 April

#OTD 13 April

On 13 April 1742, Handel’s Messiah had its world premiere in Dublin. Everyone knew something was happening. To accommodate a large audience, gentlemen were asked to remove swords and ladies were asked not to wear hoops in their dresses. The oratorio is performed every year in many places including Royal Albert Hall. In 2010, Royal… Continue reading #OTD 13 April

#OTD 12 April

12 April 1927 was the Shanghai massacre. Or, in Taiwan, the April 12 incident or purge. Or, in China, the April 12 Counter-revolutionary Coup. Each tells a story of the day that Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the conservative forces of the KMT violently suppressed Communist groups in Shanghai. The immediate consequences were a greatly diminished… Continue reading #OTD 12 April