Word of the day

Maledicent – someone addicted to abusive speech; one who enjoys speaking slanderously or reproachfully.

Wool + waste = winner

Wool Partners International  will be supplying wool for WoJo – a furnishing fabric developed for Starbucks.

The Wellington based design team The Formary created WoJoTM for Starbucks by combining LaneveTM wool, with its sustainable, ethical and traceable qualities, with jute from recycled coffee sacks, to form the new furnishing fabric.

The fabric uses 70% strong and mid fibre wool and the jute is recycled from Starbucks’ coffee sacks.

Mixing wool with waste has to be a winner – a natural product meets waste reduction.

 Federated Farmers meat and fibre spokesman Bruce Wills is excited about the venture:

“It’s an inspiring twist on the adage of something new and something old.

“While the initial focus of WoJo is upholstering Starbucks’ 8,000 stores outside of the United States, The Formary has really created a whole new ecologically friendly fabric.

“With the manufacturing partnership with Yorkshire-based Camira, we have a genuine opportunity to get wool back into people’s minds for their homes, offices, schools and even public transport.   Not just here but right around the globe.

“It’s easy to overlook the nearly $600 million that wool generates each year for New Zealand.  Yet we feel the potential is more than five times that sum, if, and that’s the key word, we can spark wool’s renaissance. 

“The Formary’s commitment to wool shows it is possible and we believe New Zealand Trade and Enterprise can see the vast potential that wool has. 

“It’s this kind of joined-up approach to market and product development with the exporters, that will make consumers take that all-important second look at wool. . . “

Wool should tick all the boxes for consumers who want a natural, renewable product and WoJo is a wonderful example of what can be done with it.

More good news followed this announcement - a continuing world shortage of wool is having a positive impact on the price.

Although meat companies often get blamed for the depressed state of the sheep industry, meat prices haven’t been bad. It’s low prices for wool and other by-products which have kept returns low.

Big losses in the southern snow storms and restocking will keep the supply of lambs low this season which will also help prices.

New MAF DG from North Otago

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s new Chief Executive and Director General is Wayne McNee .

He’s been CE of the Ministry of Fisheries for nearly three years and before that was CE of Pharmac.

“In his current role, Mr McNee is responsible for managing New Zealand’s fisheries resources worth approximately $1.6 billion per annum, and employs around 460 staff in 19 offices in New Zealand. . .

. . . In his previous role as Chief Executive of PHARMAC, Mr McNee was responsible for an operating budget of $15 million and approximately 50 staff, and a pharmaceutical budget of almost $1 billion dollars . . .”

He will take up the appointment next month.

The official announcement says he has a Bachelor of Pharmacy and PG Dip in Clinical Pharmacy from the University of Otago and has undertaken general management programmes at Monash, Oxford and Stanford Universities.

It doesn’t also say Wayne comes from North Otago. He grew up in Enfield and went to Waitaki Boys’ High.

Quote of the week – updated

 The fact he [Chris Carter] is in trouble because he is an over-promoted party hack with a hugely inflated ego have taken some time to sink in.

The hints of revelations – some MPs were all set to join him and roll Phil Goff, but have apparently now headed for the Parliamentary underbrush – have only added to the air of paranoid and despairing disarray around Labour.  Not for the first time, we recall the words of another Labour dissident, John Tamihere:  there were too many people in the party with “nothing but the ability to plot.”

It looks as though a lot of them aren’t even any good at plotting any more.

Trans Tasman.

Update:

The speaker Lockwood Smith will fine Carter because he hasn’t been in parliament on sitting days as required.

“I recognise that that the penalty is small, but this does not mean that I do not take the attendance of members seriously. While members draw a parliamentary salary they should attend sittings of the House.”

Mr Carter has been back at his new office in the basement of parliament this week after he was kicked out of the Labour Party on Monday night.

He has given a series of media interview and was this afternoon reportedly at a gym in Auckland before doing a stint on a radio talkback show.

Parliament has been sitting all week, including today.

Docking an MP’s salary by $10 a day isn’t a small penalty it’s ridiculous and needs to be reviewed. 

UPDATE 2:

Keeping Stock has more – Carter thinks Lockwood is kicking him while he’s down.

Tell that to his constituents who work for a lot less and would lose a lot more if they took a day off.

October 15 in history

On October 15:

70 BC  Virgil, Roman poet, was born (d. 19 BC).

533  Byzantine general Belisarius made his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals.

1582 Pope Gregory XIII implemented the Gregorian calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year was followed directly by October 15.

1764 Edward Gibbon observed a group of friars singing in the ruined Temple of Jupiter in Rome, which inspired him to begin work on The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

1783 The Montgolfier brothers‘ hot air balloon marked the first human ascent, by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, (tethered balloon).

 

1793 Queen Marie-Antoinette was tried and condemned in a swift, pre-determined trial.

1815 Napoleon I of France began his exile on Saint Helena.

1844 Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher, was born (d. 1900).

1863  American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sank during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.

1864  American Civil War: The Battle of Glasgow was fought, resulting in the surrender of Glasgow, Missouri and its Union garrison, to the Confederacy.

1877 Sir Geroge Grey, former Governor, became Premier of New Zealand.

1878  The Edison Electric Light Company began operation.

1880  Mexican soldiers killed Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.

1881 P. G. Wodehouse, British novelist, was born (d. 1975).

1888 The “From Hell” letter sent by Jack the Ripper was received by the investigators.

 

1894  Alfred Dreyfus was arrested for spying.

1908 John Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-born US economist, was born (d. 2006).

1917 World War I: Dutch dancer Mata Hari was executed by firing squad for spying for the German Empire.

 

1920 Mario Puzo, American novelist, was born (d. 1999).

1924 Lee Iacocca, American industrialist, was born.

1928 The airship, the Graf Zeppelin completed its first trans-Atlantic flight.

1932 Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) made its first flight.

1934 The Soviet Republic of China collapsed when Chiang Kai-shek’s National Revolutionary Army successfully encircled Ruijin, forcing the fleeing Communists to begin the Long March.

1939 The New York Municipal Airport (later renamed La Guardia Airport) was dedicated.

1944  The Arrow Cross Party took power in Hungary.

1945 World War II: The former premier of Vichy France Pierre Laval was shot by a firing squad for treason.

1946  Nuremberg Trials: Hermann Göring poisoned himself the night before his execution.

1951  Mexican chemist Luis E. Miramontes conducted the very last step of the first synthesis of norethisterone, the progestin that would later be used in one of the first two oral contraceptives.

 

1953  British nuclear test Totem 1 detonated at Emu Field, South Australia.

1956  Fortran, the first modern computer language, was shared with the coding community for the first time.

1959 Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, was born.

 

1965 Vietnam War: The National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States to result in arrest under a new law.

1966  Black Panther Party was created by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.

1970 Thirty-five construction workers were killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapsed.

1970  Aeroflot Flight 244 was hijacked and diverted to Turkey.

1971 The start of the 2500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia.

1979  Black Monday in Malta. The Building of the Times of Malta, the residence of the opposition leader Eddie Fenech Adami and several Nationalist Party clubs were ransacked and destroyed by supporters of the Malta Labour Party.

1987  The Great Storm of 1987 hit France and England.

1990  Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and open up his nation.

1997  The first supersonic land speed record was set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC.

 

1997  The Cassini probe launched from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn.

2003  China launched Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.

2003 The Staten Island Ferry boat Andrew J. Barberi ran into a pier at the St. George Ferry Terminal, killing 11 people and injuring 43.

 

2007  Seventeen activists were arrested in the Ureweara in New Zealand’s first anti-terrorism raids.

Sourced from NZ History Online and Wikipedia

Word of the day

Milagro - the Spanish word for miracle.

¡Qué increíble los mineros chilenos han sido salvado!

How incredible, the Chilean miners have been saved.

The last of the 33 men who were trapped in the San José mine near Copiapó since August 5, shift foreman,Luis Urzúo has been winched to safety.

No-one knew if anyone had survived the cave-in until rescuers heard tapping on the drill which had bored 688 metres down in an attempt to find if anyone was alive. The miners tied a note to the drill saying 33 of them were alive.

Since then the eyes of the world have been on Chile as the technically challenging and potentially dangerous work of rescuing the miners proceeded.

That all 33 of the men who were trapped have been freed is a tribute not only to the people who rescued them but to the men themselves. We can only guess at the strength of character,  discipline, leadership and faith which kept them alive for the 17 days before the first contact was made and the weeks of waiting and hoping which followed.

They will need all of that and more as they adjust to life on the surface again.

Reuters has a timeline on the two-month ordeal here.

The ODT calls it  miner miracles.

TV3 listed the miners in the order they were rescued. I’ve copied it after the break.

Let’s get together

Something good has come out of a united from the unification of Auckland already – South Island mayors are getting together to take a co-operative approach to ensure the Mainland’s voice is heard.

There’s around 800,000 people in the South Island, we’ll achieve much more with a united stance from our leaders than a competitive one.

Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton was a guest on Afternoon’s panel yesterday afternoon when this was discussed.

7/10

7/10 in the Dominion Post’s political trivia quiz.

My answer to Heather Roy’s list place differed from the one given but I’m not sure they’ve got it right.

Also missed the number of people to get medals and the name of the spider.

UPDATE: 8/10 - Kiwiblog confirms that I was right about the answer for Heather Roy’s list ranking being wrong.

Law change could save cost of by-election with bob-each-way candidates

When then-Waitaki District deputy mayor Gary Kircher decided to stand for the mayoralty he chose to make it all or nothing – standing for mayor and not the council as well.

It was always going to be tough to beat a first-term mayor when there were no defining issues. Gary came a credible second which means now he’s neither mayor nor councillor.

Had he taken the bob each way approach he’d probably still be on the council. But had he done that and won, the District would be facing a by-election, as it did three years ago when then-councillor,  Alex Familton stood for council and mayor and won both. When reporting on that, the ODT said a by-election cost about $11,000 in 2007.

Central Otago is facing the expense of a by-election this time round for the same reason. Tony Lepper won a seat as councillor in the Earnscleugh-Manuherikia ward and his bid for the mayoralty.

There is nothing in legislation to stop people standing for more than one position on the same council even though success in both will trigger a by-election and I’m not sure it would be in the best interests of democracy if there was.

However, a law change could enable the next-highest polling candidate to take the council seat with the proviso that a petition by 10% of registered voters could request a by-election.

That would save the expense of a by-election if the bob-each way candidates won two seats and still safeguard democracy by enabling people to request a by-election if enough of them objected to the runner-up taking the seat.

October 14 in history

On October 14:

1066  Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings – the forces of William the Conqueror defeated the English army and kill King Harold II of England.

1322  Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland’s independence.

1644 William Penn, English founder of Pennsylvania, was born (d. 1718).

1656  Massachusetts enacts the first punitive legislation against the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

1758  Seven Years’ War: Austria defeated Prussia at the Battle of Hochkirk.

1773  The first recorded Ministryof Education, the Komisja Edukacji Narodowej was formed in Poland.

1805 Battle of Elchingen, France defeated Austria.

 

1806 Battle of Jena-Auerstädt France defeated Prussia.

1840  The Maronite leader Bashir II surrendered to the British Army and then is sent into exile on the islands of Malta.

 

1843  The British arrested the Irish nationalist Daniel O’Connell for conspiracy to commit crimes.

1863  American Civil War: Battle of Bristoe Station – Confederate troops under the command of General Robert E. Lee failed to drive the American Union Army completely out of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

1867  The 15th and the last military Shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate resigned in Japan, returning his power to the Emperor of Japan and thence to the re-established civil government of Japan.

1882 Eamon de Valera, Irish politician and patriot, was born (d. 1975).

1882 University of the Punjab was founded in a part of India that later became West Pakistan.

1884  The American inventor, George Eastman, received a U.S. Government patent on his new paper-strip photographic film.

1888 Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand writer, was born (d. 1923).

1888  Louis Le Prince filmed first motion picture: Roundhay Garden Scene.

1890  Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th President of the United States, was born (d. 1969).

1894  E. E. Cummings, American poet, was born (d. 1962).

1912 While campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the former President Theodore Roosevelt, was shot and mildly wounded by John Schrank.With the fresh wound in his chest, and the bullet still within it, Mr. Roosevelt still carried out his scheduled public speech.

 

1913  Senghenydd Colliery Disaster, the United Kingdom’s worst coal mining accident claimed the lives of 439 miners.

1926  The children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A.A. Milne, was first published.

1927 Roger Moore, English actor, was born.

 

1938  The first flight of the Curtiss Aircraft Company’s P-40 Warhawk fighter plane.

 

1939 Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer, was born.

1939 The German Kriegsmarine submarine U-47 sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak in the harbour at Scapa Flow.

1940 Cliff Richard, English singer, was born.

1940 Christopher Timothy, British actor, was born.

1940  Balham subway station disaster, in London during an air raid.

 

1943 Prisoners at the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland revolted against the Germans, killing eleven SS troops who were guards there, and wounding many more.

1943 – The American Eighth Air Force lost 60 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers in aerial combat during the second mass-daylight air raid on the Schweinfurt ball-bearing factories in western Nazi Germany.

1944 – Athens was liberated by British Army troops.

1946 Justin Hayward, English musician (Moody Blues), was born.

1947 Captain Chuck Yeager of the U.S. Air Force flew a Bell X-1 rocket-powered experimental aircraft, the Glamorous Glennis, faster than the speed of sound.

1949 – Chinese Civil War: Chinese Communist forces occupied the city of Guangzhou.

1952  Korean War: United Nations and South Korean forces launched Operation Showdown against Chinese strongholds at the Iron Triangle. The resulting Battle of Triangle Hill was the biggest and bloodiest battle of 1952.

1956  Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Indian Untouchable caste leader, converted to Buddhism along with 385,000 of his followers (see Neo-Buddhism).

1957  Queen Elizabeth II became the first Canadian Monarch to open up an annual session of the Canadian Parliament, presenting her Speech from the Throne in Ottawa, Canada.

1958 The American Atomic Energy Commission, with supporting military units, carried out an underground nuclear weapon test.

1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis began: A U.S. Air Force U-2 reconnaissance plane and its pilot flew over  Cuba and took photographs of Soviet missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

1964 Leonid Brezhnev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

1967 Joan Baez was arrested concerning a physical blockade of the U.S. Army’s induction centre in Oakland, California.

 

1968 – An earthquake rated at 6.8 on the Richter Scale destroyed the Australian town of Meckering, Western Australia, and ruptured all nearby main highways and railroads.

1968  Jim Hines of the United States of America becomes the first man ever to break the so-called “ten-second barrier” in the 100-meter sprint in the Summer Olympic Gamesheld in Mexico City with a time of 9.95 seconds.

1969  The United Kingdom introduced fifty-pence coin, which replaced, over the following years, the British ten-shilling note, in anticipation of the decimalization of the British currency in 1971

1973  In the Thammasat student uprising over 100,000 people protested in Thailand against the Thanom military government; 77 were killed and 857 are injured by soldiers.

 

1979 The mutilated body of Marty Johnstone, leader of the Mr Asia drug syndicate, was found in Eccleston Delft, a flooded disused quarry in Lancashire.

1979  The National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, demanded “an end to all social, economic, judicial, and legal oppression of lesbian and gay people”, and draws 200,000 people.

1981  Amnesty International charged the U.S. Federal Government with holding Richard Marshall of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner.

1981 – Vice President Hosni Mubarak was elected as the President of Egypt.

1982 U.S. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed a War on Drugs.

1994 Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, and Foreign Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, received the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in the establishment of the Oslo Accords and the framing of the future Palestinian Self Governing.

Sourced from NZ History Online & WIkipedia

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Happy birthday Paul Simon, 69 today.

This isn’t the best recording of the song, but I was at the concert and they way the audience responded when the sound system failed was unforgettable. (It sounded better in the audience without the tune-less bloke whose voice dominates on the recording).

When they finished the song, Art Garufunkel said that was the nicest thing an audience had ever done for them.

Word of the day

Taphephobia – fear of being buried alive.

Today’s word comes as a tribute to the 33 Chilean miners who have been trapped in the San José mine near Copiapó for 69 days.

Reuters has a live video here.

The NZ Herald has live updates here.

Labour to take tax off weather

The Labour Party has announced a further plank in it’s economic policy – a proposal to take the tax off weather.

Party spokesperson Fairly Desperate made the announcement in response to the release of the September Food Index :

Fruit and vegetable prices rose 2.6 percent, with broccoli prices rising 49.5 percent and lettuce prices increasing 13.5 percent. “Vegetable prices were affected by unusually windy, wet, and cold September weather in different parts of the country,” Statistics New Zealand’s prices manager Chris Pike said.

 ”Obviously the weather has a significant impact on the price of food and our policy to take the tax off it will make a huge difference,” Mr Desperate said.

When asked to quantify the cost and benefit of the policy Mr Desperate said that wasn’t the point.

“We don’t want to let figures get in the way of a good sound bite, but you can be sure that tax-free weather will be a winner with the people we’re trying to confuse in to voting for us.

“We’ll be the only party offering voters tax-free weather and that’s sure to resonate with people at the supermarket and ballot box.”

Compass: A Triptych

This Tuesday’s poem is Compass: A Triptych by Nancy Mattson.

Among the links in the side bar are Renee Liang’s Open Letter to Mr Peter Brown of New Zealand First.

And A Greening by Saradha Koirala.

If you’re interested in, or puzzled by, poetry you may also enjoy Emma Neal’s piece in the ODT: Not all cats are black, not all poetry rhymes.

Right or left brained?

If this figure is turning clockwise you’re right brained, if it’s turning anti-cockwise you’re left brained, which is the majority.

I had to think for a moment before knowing which way was which so it’s no surprise I’m right brained – better at feelings than logic.

Hat Tip: Jim Mora

Hell hath no fury like an MP scorned

When you’ve been kicked out of the party you say you love you have several options.

Chris Carter has chosen the ballistic one:

Expelled former Labour MP Chris Carter has declared war on Labour and its leader Phil Goff, threatening to dish dirt and name those he said were involved in plotting to oust Mr Goff.

Mr Carter was booted out of the party by its ruling council on Monday night – the first such move since MP John A Lee was ousted in 1940 – despite an hour-long plea from Mr Carter laced with threats to reveal embarrassing skeletons. At one point he told the council: “I can be friend or foe. If it’s foe you want, its war.”

An ex-MP who has acted somewhat irrationally at times doesn’t have a lot of employment options.

One of those open to Carter is writing a book and it’s in his interests to keep himself in the headlines to generate sales.

But he may not be Labour’s only problem.

In his submission, leaked to The Dominion Post . . .

Was Carter the leaker or is there someone else in the party with issues?

Whose culture rules at our place?

Respecting other people’s beliefs when you’re on their territory is good manners, but how far should you go to accommodate other people’s beliefs when they’re on your territory?

This is just one of many questions being asked after a request for women who are pregnant or menstruating to stay away from a behind-the-scenes tour of Maori artefacts at Te Papa.

The request is being made to women from regional museums who will be going on a back-of-the-house tour of some of Te Papa’s collections, including the Taonga Maori collection, Te Papa spokeswoman Jane Keig said.

The Taonga Maori collection is not open to the general public and the request does not apply to them.

Ms Keig said the issue was a “cultural consideration” to respect Maori beliefs.

“There are items within that collection that have been used in sacred rituals. That rule is in place with consideration for both the safety of the taonga and the women,” Keig said.

She said there was a belief that each taonga had its own wairua, or spirit, inside it.

“Pregnant women are sacred and the policy is in place to protect women from these objects.”

“If they understand that they can attend at another time [when they are not pregnant or menstruating].”

The idea that the safety of the taonga or women could be compromised if they disregarded the request to stay away defies logic, as many cultural and religious beliefs do. Culture and religion are belief systems not science.

Margaret Mutu, head of Maori Studies at Auckland University, said women should not be offended by the request.

“The reproduction area is extremely powerful and can do damage to things that are not tapu. It’s about the power of women, not about stopping them.”

Mutu said the objects were obviously dangerous and the hapu they came from would have told the museum about how to treat them.

“They are tapu and pregnant or menstruating women are tapu. It would be very unwise to put the two up against each other.”

Mutu said in her hapu, women were also prevented from going onto gardens or fishing areas while tapu.

Many religious and cultural beliefs had a basis in health and safety and in ancient times keeping women who were menstruating out of kitchens and gardens may have been justified on the grounds of hygiene. It’s not so easy to find a reasonable basis for the concerns over pregnant women but even if there was a good reason then it doesn’t stand up in the 21st century.

The idea of taking a week or so off cooking and gardening every month has some appeal and may have worked well when people lived communally. But it’s impractical in modern life because it would rule women out of any work in kitchens and gardens.

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Chris Finlayson  quite rightly said he didn’t get involved in Te papa’s day to day affairs and he pointed out it was a request not an instruction.

Fair enough, and if the display was on the owner’s property that request should be respected.  But Te Papa is our place, it says so on the logo . In our place, our rules apply and among them are the ones which made women equal citizens.

This issue has led to many posts including:

On the inconvenience of periods and pregnancy at In A Strange Land Cross posted at The Hand Mirror where Julie posted on Tricky balancing act ahead (the comments on all three express a wide variety of views).

Superstition encouraged at Te Papa at NZ Conservative.

Don’t you just love modern cultures? at Credo Quia Absurdum Est.

Cultural twaddle makes us see red at Roar Prawn.

Superstitious bull at Kiwiblog.

Feminism vs multiculturalsim at Lindsay Mitchell.

Here’s a matter worthy of protest action and Margaret Mutu tell us more at Alf Grumble.

Two PC tribes have a spot of culture clash at Oswald Bastable.

Something to do if you’re menstruating  at Dim Post.

Why does Te Papa hate women so much (and other outraged thoughts) – Andrew Geddis at Pundit.

No place for women at our place - at No Right Turn.

PC priorities at Kiwipolitico.

Update:

Cook your own F***ing eggs I’m menstruating at Cactus Kate.

UPDATE 2:

Grandfather’s sword at Bowalley Road.

Te Papa revisted at Dim Post.

We should be encouraging women to come to Te Papa at Alf Grumble.

October 13 in history

On October 13:

54 Nero ascended to the Roman throne.

1307 Hundreds of Knights Templar in France were simultaneously arrested by agents of Phillip the Fair

1332  Rinchinbal Khan, Emperor Ningzong of Yuan became the Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, reigning for only 53 days.

1362  The Chancellor of England for the first time opened Parliament with a speech in English.

1773 The Whirlpool Galaxy was discovered by Charles Messier.

1775 The United States Continental Congress orders the establishment of the Continental Navy (later renamed the United States Navy).

1777  British General John Burgoyne’s Army at The Battles of Saratoga was surrounded by superior numbers, setting the stage for its surrende which inspired  France to enter the American Revolutionary War against the British.

1792  The cornerstone of the United States’ Executive Mansion (known as the White House ) was laid.

1812 War of 1812: Battle of Queenston Heights – As part of the Niagara campaign in Ontario, United States forces under General Stephen Van Rensselaer were repulsed from invading Canada by British and native troops led by Sir Isaac Brock.

1843 Henry Jones and 11 others founded B’nai B’rith (the oldest Jewish service organization in the world).

 

1845  A majority of voters in the Republic of Texas approved a proposed constitution, that if accepted by the U.S. Congress, would make Texas a U.S. state.

1862  Mary Kingsley, English writer and explorer, was born (d. 1900).

1884 Greenwich, was established as Universal Time meridian of longitude.

1885 The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) was founded in Atlanta.

1892  Edward Emerson Barnard discovered D/1892 T1, the first comet discovered by photographic means, on the night of October 13–14.

1904 Wilfred Pickles, English actor and broadcaster, ws born (d. 1978).

1915  The Battle for the Hohenzollern Redoubt marked the end of the Battle of Loos in northern France, World War I.

 

1917  The “Miracle of the Sun” was witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people in the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal.

 

1918  Mehmed Talat Pasha and the Young Turk (C.U.P.) ministry resigned and signed an armistice, ending Ottoman participation in World War I.

1923  Ankara replaced Istanbul as the capital of Turkey.

1925   Lenny Bruce, American comedian (d. 1966)

 

1925 – Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minsiter, was born.

1934 Nana Mouskouri, Greek singer and politician, was born.

 

1941 Paul Simon, American singer and musician (Simon & Garfunkel), was born.

1943  World War II: The new government of Italy sided with the Allies and declared war on Germany.

1946  France adopted the constitution of the Fourth Republic.

1959 Marie Osmond, American entertainer, was born.

1962 The Pacific Northwest experienced a cyclone the equal of a Cat 3 hurricane. Winds measured above 150 mph at several locations; 46 people died.

1968 Carlos Marin, Spanish baritone (Il Divo), was born.

 

1969 Nancy Kerrigan, American figure skater, was born.

 1970 Paul Potts, British opera singer, was born.

 

1972  An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashed outside Moscow killing 176.

1972  Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed in the Andes mountains. By December 23, only 16 out of 45 people were still alive  to be rescued.

 

1975 Dame Whina Cooper led a land march to parliament.

1976  A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashed in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, killing 100 (97, mostly children, killed on the ground).

1976  The first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle was obtained by Dr. F.A. Murphy.

1977 Four Palestinians hijacked Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demanded the release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.

1983 Ameritech Mobile Communications (now AT&T) launched the first US cellular network in Chicago, Illinois.

1990  End of the Lebanese Civil War. Syrian forces launched an attack on the free areas of Lebanon removing General Michel Aoun from the presidential palace.

1992  An Antonov An-124 operated by Antonov Airlines crashed near Kiev.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Misosophy - hatred of knowledge or wisdom.