President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Christmas message

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the geo-political history, there is no excuse for the death and destruction Vladimir Putin is inflicting on Ukraine.

Whatever the question, war should not be the first answer.

Whatever justification Vladimir Putin thought he had in invading his neighbour, he seriously underestimated the response and the determination of Ukrainians to defend their homeland.

The strength of that is illustrated in  Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Chirstmas message:

Dear people!

These days, millions of people in Ukraine and the world celebrate Christmas. The appearance of the Son of God gave people hope for salvation, faith in the victory of goodness and mercy.

Unfortunately, all the holidays have a bitter aftertaste for us this year. And we can feel the traditional Spirit of Christmas differently. Dinner at the family table cannot be so tasty and warm. There may be empty chairs around it. And our houses and streets can’t be so bright. And Christmas bells can ring not so loudly and inspiringly. Through air raid sirens, or even worse – gunshots and explosions. And all this together can pose a bigger threat. It is a disappointment. Of the higher forces and their power, of goodness and justice in the world. Loss of hope. Loss of love. Loss of myself…

But isn’t this what evil and darkness, which have taken up arms against us, want in their essence?

We have been resisting them for more than three hundred days and eight years. And will we allow them to achieve what they want?

In this battle, we have another powerful and effective weapon. The hammer and sword of our spirit and consciousness. The wisdom of God. Courage and bravery. Virtues that incline us to do good and overcome evil.

The main act of courage is endurance and completion of one’s work to the end, despite everything. The truth illuminates our path. We know it. We defend it. Our truth is a struggle for freedom. Freedom comes at a high price. But slavery has an even higher price.

Our path is illuminated by faith and patience. Patience and faith. These are twin forces. As it was said, “he who rules and controls his own spirit, is better than he who captures a city.” To endure does not mean to accept the circumstances. Patience is watching to make sure that we don’t let any doubt or fear into our minds. It is faith in one’s own strength.

Evil has no weapon stronger than the armor given to us by God. Evil smashes against this armor like a stone wall. We have seen this more than once. We endured at the beginning of the war. We endured attacks, threats, nuclear blackmail, terror, missile strikes. Let’s endure this winter because we know what we are fighting for.

We go forward through the thorns to the stars, knowing what awaits us at the end of the road. God is a just Judge who rewards good and punishes evil. Which side we are on is obvious. Who is who in this battle is obvious. There are at least seven proofs of this – they are known – “A proud look, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, Feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.” We oppose all this. Being a role model for others. The faithful, that is, those who really believe, must be a light to the rest of the world. For more than three hundred days, Ukrainians have been striving for this, proving it, serving as an example to others. We are not righteous, not holy, but we are definitely fighting for good and fighting for the light, with faith in Bible prophecy:

“Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given!”

We believe that tears will be replaced by joy, hope will come after despair, and death will be defeated by life.

Today and all future winter holidays we meet in difficult circumstances. Someone will see the first star in the sky over Bakhmut, Rubizhne, and Kreminna today. Along thousands of kilometers of the front line. Someone is on the road, on the way – from the Ukrainian-Polish border to Kherson region or Zaporizhzhia. Someone will see it through the bullet holes of his or her own home. Someone will celebrate the holiday in other people’s homes, but strange people’s homes – homes of Ukrainians who gave shelter to Ukrainians. In Zakarpattia, Bukovyna, Lviv region, Ivano-Frankivsk region and many other regions. Someone will hear Shchedryk in another language – in Warsaw, Berlin, London, New York, Toronto and many other cities and countries. And someone will meet this Christmas in captivity, but let them remember that we are also coming for our people, we will return freedom to all Ukrainian men and women.

Wherever we are, we will be together today. And together we will look at the evening sky. And together we will remember the morning of February 24. Let’s remember how much we have passed. Let’s remember Azovstal, Irpin, Bucha, Kramatorsk, Snake Island, Chornobayivka, Izium, Kherson. We make a wish. One for all. And we will feel joy. One for all. And we will understand the truth. One for all. About the fact that no kamikaze drones are capable of extinguishing the Christmas Dawn. We will see its glow even underground in a bomb shelter. We will fill our hearts with warmth and light. No Kinzhal missile can hurt them. They will break against our steel spirit. And our struggle will continue without stopping. It is not threatened by planned or emergency blackouts. And we will never feel a shortage of courage and indomitability.

We have experienced a lot of bitter news and will deservedly receive good news. We will sing Christmas carols – cheerier than ever – louder than the sound of a generator. We will hear the voices and greetings of relatives – in our hearts – even if communication service and the Internet are down. And even in total darkness – we will find each other – to hug each other tightly. And if there is no heat, we will give a big hug to warm each other.

We will celebrate our holidays! As always. We will smile and be happy. As always. The difference is one. We will not wait for a miracle. After all, we create it ourselves.

Christ is born! Let’s praise Him! 

Greenwashing strengthened Putin’s hand

Theodore Dalrymple explains how green energy policies played into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands:

. . .Europe finds itself as weak as a baby in the face of Russia, despite the fact that it has an economy many times the size of Russia’s and a standard of living incomparably higher.

One of the reasons for this seeming paradox—it’s usually polities with the strongest economies that have the upper hand—is the energy policies pursued by European countries. Under pressure from “idealistic,” that is to say utopian, green activists, they have decided to reduce their consumption of oil, ban coal, decommission nuclear power stations and prohibit the practice of fracking. Britain stopped oil and gas exploration in the North Sea, and Germany chose the very time of the Ukrainian crisis to close its last nuclear power stations.

At the same time, Europe is committed to the electrification of all its vehicles (which initially, at any rate, will act as a heavy tax on the poor). The extra electricity required will have to be generated somehow. So-called renewables are unreliable: The wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine. For the moment, the only plausible solution is natural gas, much of which must be imported from Russia. One may accuse Putin of many things, but not of stupidity: He’s fully aware of the lever this has put into his hands, and many people believe that he has been funding ecological movements in Europe that stymie a more realistic policy. Whether or not this is true, he now has the perfect tool for causing serious stagflation in Europe, restricting the supply of a vital productive factor and raising the price of everything.

It isn’t even as if the green utopians care much for the environment, or at any rate not for its beauty. They would be happy to see the land covered with hideous, noisy, wildlife destroying wind farms. What they care for is not power generation, but political power, their own power to dictate policy irrespective of consequences.

Thus, the green utopians, whom cowardly or corrupt governments have appeased, have strengthened Putin’s hand and condemned Ukrainians to a very anxious future.

The same kind of people believe in a world without conflict in which armed forces are unnecessary at best and a menace at worst. A combination of utopian pacifism and utter military reliance on the United States has disarmed Europe completely: It probably couldn’t long withstand an attack from Turkey, let alone from Russia. . .

Meanwhile, American power is itself being undermined and weakened by utopian social movements that are making its armed forces a laughing-stock to the Russians and Chinese. Their mission is no longer to defend the country and its interests but to further the cause of so-called diversity, inclusion, and equity, in the same way that universities and colleges have been sapped of their true purpose. Diversity, inclusion, and equity are like termites in a wooden building: The building appears to be just the same as it always was until it suddenly collapses in a heap of sawdust. Suffice it to say that it’s doubtful that the armed forces of Russia and China are much concerned with diversity, inclusion, and equity—which in any case are, in true Newspeak fashion, the very opposite of what they appear to mean. They are really uniformity, exclusion, and injustice. . .

Is New Zealand any different? Do you remember the soldier whose essay prize was taken from him because it didn’t conform to the offenderati’s thoughts?

Melanie Phillips also writes of how the green dream has turned lethal:

But even more shocking that all this is that, through their unhinged obsession with “climate change,” America, Britain and Europe have handed Putin his greatest weapon against them.

In their determination to reduce carbon emissions by turning against fossil fuels, and having put so many of their eggs in the basket of renewables which are desperately unreliable as national sources of energy, they have made themselves overly dependent on gas.

Not only that, but they have made themselves reliant upon gas sold to them by Russia. As Senator Marco Rubio has observed:

While Biden’s been working on this Green New Deal which is a joke and ridiculous and terrible, Russia’s become the second-largest natural gas supplier in the world, the third-largest oil exporter.

So now Putin, with his hand on the gas spigots which he can open or shut at will, has the power to restrict gas supplies, send the price of gas shootin up and inflict on western nations both power outages and eye-watering increases in their cost of living.

Western countries are already paying dearly for their supreme green folly.

New Zealand is a long way from Europe but we too are paying the price for green folly, not least of which is the importation of coal from Indonesia which is dirtier than our own coal which we’re not permitted to mine.

Germany and mainland Europe are particularly vulnerable to Putin’s blackmail since they now get around one third of their energy supplies from Russia. Germany, which backed the Nord Stream pipeline, has now come under extreme pressure from the Biden administration to resist its coming on stream.

As a result, Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said its operation is suspended. But he should have said it was now cancelled altogether. Suspension will reinforce Putin’s probable assessment that, before too long, the west will tire of fretting over Ukraine and will return to business as normal — just as it did after he annexed Crimea.

It gets worse. As Andrew Bolt noted on his HeraldSun blog, Europe was so eager to posture as defenders of the planet against man-made global warming that it shut down factories with high carbon emissions — only for factories making the same goods to open up in China, a world leader in carbon emissions, and export such goods from there. This not only merely outsourced carbon emissions from Europe to China, but in the process made China richer and Europe poorer. How brilliant was that?!

Now the potency of the energy weapon that the west has gifted to Putin means that it won’t undertake the measures necessary to resist his aggression. Italy, for example, which imports some 90 per cent of its gas from Russia, wants European sanctions to exclude energy. As the Wall Street Journal commented:

This kind of pre-emptive surrender is exactly why Mr. Putin figures the price of an invasion would be lower than advertised. . .

Greenwashing policies come at a high economic and social cost. At best they do nothing good for the environment and too often they cause it harm.

The factors behind Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are multiple and complex, but greenwashing which reduced energy self-sufficiency in Western Europe has strengthened his hand.

October 7 in history

3761 BC – The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).

336  Pope Mark died, leaving the papacy vacant.

1513  Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardonadefeated the Venetians.

1542  Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.

1571  The Battle of Lepanto – the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroyed the Turkish fleet.

1763 George III  issued British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1776 Crown Prince Paul of Russia married Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeated the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1800  French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captured the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d’août.

1826  The Granite Railway began operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

1828  The city of Patras, Greece, was liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.

1840  Willem II became King of the Netherlands.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces’ attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.

1864 American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captured the CSSFloridaConfederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.

1868  Cornell University held opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment was 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

1870  Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta fled Paris in a balloon.

1879  Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the “Twofold Covenant” and created the Dual Alliance.

1893 – Alice Dalgliesh, Trinidadian-American author and publisher, was born (d. 1979).

1900 Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, was born (d. 1945).

1907 – Helen MacInnes, Scottish-American librarian and author, was born (d. 1985).

1912  The Helsinki Stock Exchange‘s first transaction.

1914 Sarah Churchill, British actress, was born (d. 1982).

1916 Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in the mostlopsided college football game in American history.

1917 Count Felix Graf von Luckner, the German “Sea-Devil” was imprisoned in New Zealand.

1919  KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1920  The Suwalki Agreement between Poland and Lithuania was signed.

1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor, was born (d. 2009).

1931  Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate, was born.

1933  Air France was inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.

1934  Aeromexico was inaugareted 75 years after it becomes the # 1 airline in Mexico.

1935  – Thomas Keneally, Australian author and playwright, was born.

1939 – Clive James, Australian television host, author, and critic, was born.

1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist was born.

1940  World War II: the McCollum memo proposed bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1942  World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal began as United States Marine Corps forces attacked Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

1944 World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burned down the crematoria.

1949  German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1952 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation, was born.

1955  Beat poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem “Howl” for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.

1958  President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of GeneralAyub Khan and the army, suspended the 1956 constitution, imposed martial law, and cancelled the elections scheduled for January 1959.

1959 – Simon Cowell, English businessman and producer, created The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, was born.

1959 U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmitted its first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.

1962  U.S.S.R. performed nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

1963  John F. Kennedy signed ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.

1966  – Janet Shaw, Australian cyclist and author, was born (d. 2012).

1973 – Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Georgian politician and diplomat, 7th Prime Minister of Georgia, was born.

1977  The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.

1982  Cats opened on Broadway.

1985  The Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.

1993  The Great Flood of 1993 ended at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began.

2001  The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan started with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

2004 King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicated.

2003 – An historic recall election took place in California in which the sitting Governor Gray Davis a Democrat was overwhelmingly voted out of office. Actor/bodybuilder and Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzeneggerwas elected to be the 38th Governor of California over fellow RepublicanTom McClintock and Democrat Cruz Bustamante who at the time was the sitting Lt. Governor of California.

2006 – Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed outside her home in Moscow.

2008  – Asteroid 2008 TC3 hit the Earth over Sudan.

2016 – In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rose to 800.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

October 7 in history

3761 BC – The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).

336  Pope Mark died, leaving the papacy vacant.

1513  Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardonadefeated the Venetians.

1542  Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.

1571  The Battle of Lepanto – the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroyed the Turkish fleet.

1763 George III  issued British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1776 Crown Prince Paul of Russia married Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeated the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1800  French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captured the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d’août.

1826  The Granite Railway began operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

1828  The city of Patras, Greece, was liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.

1840  Willem II became King of the Netherlands.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces’ attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.

1864 American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captured the CSSFloridaConfederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.

1868  Cornell University held opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment was 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

1870  Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta fled Paris in a balloon.

1879  Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the “Twofold Covenant” and created the Dual Alliance.

1893 – Alice Dalgliesh, Trinidadian-American author and publisher, was born (d. 1979).

1900 Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, was born (d. 1945).

1907 – Helen MacInnes, Scottish-American librarian and author, was born (d. 1985).

1912  The Helsinki Stock Exchange‘s first transaction.

1914 Sarah Churchill, British actress, was born (d. 1982).

1916 Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in the mostlopsided college football game in American history.

1917 Count Felix Graf von Luckner, the German “Sea-Devil” was imprisoned in New Zealand.

1919  KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1920  The Suwalki Agreement between Poland and Lithuania was signed.

1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor, was born (d. 2009).

1931  Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate, was born.

1933  Air France was inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.

1934  Aeromexico was inaugareted 75 years after it becomes the # 1 airline in Mexico.

1935  – Thomas Keneally, Australian author and playwright, was born.

1939 – Clive James, Australian television host, author, and critic, was born.

1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist was born.

1940  World War II: the McCollum memo proposed bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1942  World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal began as United States Marine Corps forces attacked Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

1944 World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burned down the crematoria.

1949  German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1952 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation, was born.

1955  Beat poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem “Howl” for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.

1958  President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of GeneralAyub Khan and the army, suspended the 1956 constitution, imposed martial law, and cancelled the elections scheduled for January 1959.

1959 – Simon Cowell, English businessman and producer, created The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, was born.

1959 U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmitted its first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.

1962  U.S.S.R. performed nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

1963  John F. Kennedy signed ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.

1966  – Janet Shaw, Australian cyclist and author, was born (d. 2012).

1973 – Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Georgian politician and diplomat, 7th Prime Minister of Georgia, was born.

1977  The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.

1982  Cats opened on Broadway.

1985  The Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.

1993  The Great Flood of 1993 ended at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began.

2001  The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan started with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

2004 King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicated.

2003 – An historic recall election took place in California in which the sitting Governor Gray Davis a Democrat was overwhelmingly voted out of office. Actor/bodybuilder and Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzeneggerwas elected to be the 38th Governor of California over fellow RepublicanTom McClintock and Democrat Cruz Bustamante who at the time was the sitting Lt. Governor of California.

2006 – Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed outside her home in Moscow.

2008  – Asteroid 2008 TC3 hit the Earth over Sudan.

2016 – In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the death toll rose to 800.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

October 7 in history

3761 BC – The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).

336  Pope Mark died, leaving the papacy vacant.

1513  Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardonadefeated the Venetians.

1542  Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.

1571  The Battle of Lepanto – the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroyed the Turkish fleet.

1763 George III  issued British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1776 Crown Prince Paul of Russia married Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeated the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1800  French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captured the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d’août.

1826  The Granite Railway began operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

1828  The city of Patras, Greece, was liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.

1840  Willem II became King of the Netherlands.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces’ attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.

1864 American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captured the CSSFloridaConfederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.

1868  Cornell University held opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment was 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

1870  Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta fled Paris in a balloon.

1879  Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the “Twofold Covenant” and created the Dual Alliance.

1893 – Alice Dalgliesh, Trinidadian-American author and publisher, was born (d. 1979).

1900 Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, was born (d. 1945).

1907 – Helen MacInnes, Scottish-American librarian and author, was born (d. 1985).

1912  The Helsinki Stock Exchange‘s first transaction.

1914 Sarah Churchill, British actress, was born (d. 1982).

1916 Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in the mostlopsided college football game in American history.

1917 Count Felix Graf von Luckner, the German “Sea-Devil” was imprisoned in New Zealand.

1919  KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1920  The Suwalki Agreement between Poland and Lithuania was signed.

1927 – Al Martino, American singer and actor, was born (d. 2009).

1931  Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate, was born.

1933  Air France was inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.

1934  Aeromexico was inaugareted 75 years after it becomes the # 1 airline in Mexico.

1935  – Thomas Keneally, Australian author and playwright, was born.

1939 – Clive James, Australian television host, author, and critic, was born.

1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist was born.

1940  World War II: the McCollum memo proposed bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1942  World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal began as United States Marine Corps forces attacked Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

1944 World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burned down the crematoria.

1949  German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1952 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation, was born.

1955  Beat poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem “Howl” for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.

1958  President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of GeneralAyub Khan and the army, suspended the 1956 constitution, imposed martial law, and cancelled the elections scheduled for January 1959.

1959 – Simon Cowell, English businessman and producer, created The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, was born.

1959 U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmitted its first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.

1962  U.S.S.R. performed nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

1963  John F. Kennedy signed ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.

1966  – Janet Shaw, Australian cyclist and author, was born (d. 2012).

1973 – Grigol Mgaloblishvili, Georgian politician and diplomat, 7th Prime Minister of Georgia, was born.

1977  The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.

1982  Cats opened on Broadway.

1985  The Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.

1993  The Great Flood of 1993 ended at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began.

2001  The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan started with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

2004 King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicated.

2003 – An historic recall election took place in California in which the sitting Governor Gray Davis a Democrat was overwhelmingly voted out of office. Actor/bodybuilder and Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzeneggerwas elected to be the 38th Governor of California over fellow RepublicanTom McClintock and Democrat Cruz Bustamante who at the time was the sitting Lt. Governor of California.

2006 – Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed outside her home in Moscow.

2008  – Asteroid 2008 TC3 hit the Earth over Sudan.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

October 7 in history

3761 BC – The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).

336  Pope Mark died, leaving the papacy vacant.

1513  Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeated the Venetians.

1542  Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.

1571  The Battle of Lepanto – the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroyed the Turkish fleet.

1763 George III  issued British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1776 Crown Prince Paul of Russia married Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeated the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1800  French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captured the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d’août.

1826  The Granite Railway began operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

1828  The city of Patras, Greece, was liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.

1840  Willem II became King of the Netherlands.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces’ attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.

1864 American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captured the CSS Florida Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.

1868  Cornell University held opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment was 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

1870  Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta fled Paris in a balloon.

1879  Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the “Twofold Covenant” and created the Dual Alliance.

1900 Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, was born (d. 1945).

1912  The Helsinki Stock Exchange‘s first transaction.

1914 Sarah Churchill, British actress, was born (d. 1982).

1916 Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.

1917 Count Felix Graf von Luckner, the German “Sea-Devil” was imprisoned in New Zealand.

1919  KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1920  The Suwalki Agreement between Poland and Lithuania was signed.

1931  Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate, was born.

1933  Air France was inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.

1934  Aeromexico was inaugareted 75 years after it becomes the # 1 airline in Mexico.

1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist was born.

1940  World War II: the McCollum memo proposed bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1942  World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal began as United States Marine Corps forces attacked Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

1944 World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burned down the crematoria.

1949  German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1952 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation, was born.

1955  Beat poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem “Howl” for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.

1958  President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspended the 1956 constitution, imposed martial law, and cancelled the elections scheduled for January 1959.

1959 U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmitted its first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.

1962  U.S.S.R. performed nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

1963  John F. Kennedy signed ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.

1977  The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.

1982  Cats opened on Broadway.

1985  The Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.

1993  The Great Flood of 1993 ended at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began.

2001  The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan started with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

2004 King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicated.

2003 – An historic recall election took place in California in which the sitting Governor Gray Davis a Democrat was overwhelmingly voted out of office. Actor/bodybuilder and Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to be the 38th Governor of California over fellow Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Cruz Bustamante who at the time was the sitting Lt. Governor of California.

2006 – Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed outside her home in Moscow.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

October 7 in history

3761 BC – The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar).

336  Pope Mark died, leaving the papacy vacant.

1513  Battle of La Motta: Spanish troops under Ramón de Cardona defeated the Venetians.

1542  Explorer Cabrillo discovered Santa Catalina Island off the California coast.

1571  The Battle of Lepanto – the Holy League (Spain and Italy) destroyed the Turkish fleet.

1763 George III  issued British Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing aboriginal lands in North America north and west of Alleghenies to white settlements.

1776 Crown Prince Paul of Russia married Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.

1777 American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeated the British in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights.

1780  American Revolutionary War: Battle of Kings Mountain American Patriot militia defeat Loyalist irregulars led by British colonel Patrick Ferguson in South Carolina.

1800  French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captured the British 38-gun Kent inspiring the traditional French song Le Trente-et-un du mois d’août.

1826  The Granite Railway began operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S.

1828  The city of Patras, Greece, was liberated by the French expeditionary force in Peloponnese under General Maison.

1840  Willem II became King of the Netherlands.

1864  American Civil War: Battle of Darbytown Road: the Confederate forces’ attempt to regain ground that had been lost around Richmond is thwarted.

1864 American Civil War: U.S.S. Wachusett captured the CSS Florida Confederate raider ship while in port in Bahia, Brazil.

1868  Cornell University held opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment was 412, the highest at any American university to that date.

1870  Franco-Prussian War – Siege of Paris: Leon Gambetta fled Paris in a balloon.

1879  Germany and Austria-Hungary signed the “Twofold Covenant” and created the Dual Alliance.

1900 Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, was born (d. 1945).

1912  The Helsinki Stock Exchange‘s first transaction.

1914 Sarah Churchill, British actress, was born (d. 1982).

1916 Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history.

1917 Count Felix Graf von Luckner, the German “Sea-Devil” was imprisoned in New Zealand.

1919  KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, was founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name.

1920  The Suwalki Agreement between Poland and Lithuania was signed.

1931  Desmond Tutu, South African archbishop and Nobel Laureate, was born.

1933  Air France was inaugurated, after being formed from a merger of 5 French airlines.

1934  Aeromexico was inaugareted 75 years after it becomes the # 1 airline in Mexico.

1939 – John Hopcroft, American computer scientist was born.

1940  World War II: the McCollum memo proposed bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States.

1942  World War II: The October Matanikau action on Guadalcanal began as United States Marine Corps forces attacked Japanese Army units along the Matanikau River.

1944 World War II: Uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jews burned down the crematoria.

1949  German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1952 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation, was born.

1955  Beat poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem “Howl” for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.

1958  President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza, with the support of General Ayub Khan and the army, suspended the 1956 constitution, imposed martial law, and cancelled the elections scheduled for January 1959.

1959 U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmitted its first ever photographs of the far side of the moon.

1962  U.S.S.R. performed nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya.

1963  John F. Kennedy signed ratification for Partial Test Ban Treaty.

1977  The adoption of the Fourth Soviet Constitution.

1982  Cats opened on Broadway.

1985  The Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestine Liberation Organization.

1993  The Great Flood of 1993 ended at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began.

2001  The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan started with an air assault and covert operations on the ground.

2004 King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia abdicated.

2006 – Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya was shot and killed outside her home in Moscow.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

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December 31 in history

On December 31:

400  Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gaul.

1229  James I of Aragon the Conqueror entered Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain)  consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca.

1599  The British East India Company was chartered.

1687– The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.

1695 A window tax was imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.

1729 Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the British throne, was born.

1759 Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease at £45 per annum and started brewing Guinness.

1853 Sir George Grey left New Zealand after finishing hisfirst  term as Governor.

1857 Queen Victoria chose Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.

                           

1869 Henri Matisse, French painter, was born.

1878  Elizabeth Arden, Canadian businesswoman, was born.

1879 Thomas Edison demonstrated incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.

1904 The first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in Times Square (then known as Longacre Square) in New York.

1908  Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor, was born.

1909  Manhattan Bridge opened.

1923 The chimes of Big Ben were broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.

1937 Sir Anthony Hopkins, Welsh actor, was born.

1943 John Denver, American singer and songwriter, was born.

1943 Sir Ben Kingsley, English actor was born.

1943  Pete Quaife, English bassist (The Kinks) was born.

Original lineup in 1965. From left: Pete Quaife, Dave Davies, Ray Davies, Mick Avory.

1946 President Harry Truman officially proclaimed the end of hostilities in World War II.

1951 The Marshall Plan expired after distributing more than $13.3 billion USD in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.^[1]

1955  The General Motors Corporation became the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.

1960 The farthing coin ceased to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.

1963  The Central African Federation officially collapsed and split into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.

1965  Nicholas Sparks, American author, was born.

1980 – Richie McCaw, New Zealand rugby player, was born.

1983 – The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.

1991  All official Soviet Union institutions ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union was officially dissolved.

1992 Czechoslovakia was dissolved, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

 

 

      

 

 

1998  The European Exchange Rate Mechanism froze the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and established the value of the euro currency.

 

 

 

1999  Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.

1999 – The United States Government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.

2004  The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 ft).

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

October 7 in history

On October 7:

1900 Heinrich Himmler, German Nazi official, was born.

1914 English actress Sarah Churchill was born.

1917 Count Felix Graf von Luckner had earned the epithet Der Seeteufel (the Sea-Devil) due to his exploits as captain of the German raider SMS Seeadler (Sea Eagle) in 1916–17, was imprisoned in New Zealand.

1919 Netherlands airline KLM was founded.

1929 English writer Robert Westall was born.

1932 South African bishop Desmond Tutu was born.

1933 Air France was inaugurated, after the merger of 5 French airlines

1939 Autralian author, television presenter and critic Clive James was born.

1949 German Democratic Republic (East Germany)was  formed.

1952 Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister and former President of the Russian Federation was born.

1955 Poet Allen Ginsberg read his poem “Howl” for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco.

1957 English figure Skater Jayne Torvill was born.

1982 Cats opened on Broadway and ran for nearly 18 years.

 

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.