Born on this day
Monday, November 25, 1844. : Karl Benz, German engineer and inventor of the petrol-driven automobile, is born.
Karl Friedrich Benz was born on 25 November 1844, in Baden Muehlburg, Germany, now part of Karlsruhe. The son of an engine driver, Benz went to school at the Karlsruhe grammar school and Karlsruhe Polytechnic. Benz started Benz & Company in 1883 in Mannheim to produce industrial engines. It was there that he invented and patented the two-stroke engine. He was later influenced by Gottlieb Daimler, who inspired Benz to develop a four-stroke engine suitable for powering a four-wheeled horseless carriage. He demonstrated the first gasoline car powered by an internal-combustion engine in Mannheim, Germany, on 3 July 1886 after patenting it on 29 January 1886. The vehicle had three wheels, an electric ignition, differential gears and was water-cooled. It reached a top speed of 10 kilometres per hour.
By 1900, Benz & Company, the company started by Benz, was the world’s largest manufacturer of automobiles. In 1926, the Benz and Daimler firms merged to form Daimler-Benz, which produces the Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Benz died in 1929.
Born on this day
Thursday, November 25, 1880. : Reverend John Flynn, founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, is born.
Australia’s Flying Doctor Service began with the vision of Reverend John Flynn. John Flynn was born on 25 November 1880, in the gold rush town of Moliagul, about 202 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. Flynn’s first posting as a Presbyterian minister was to Beltana, a tiny, remote settlement 500 kilometres north of Adelaide. After writing a report for his church superiors on the difficulties of ministering to such a widely scattered population, he was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, the ‘bush department’ of the Presbyterian Church, in 1912. Flynn served in the AIM at a time when only two doctors served an area of 300,000 sq kms in Western Australia and 1,500,000 sq kms in the Northern Territory. Realising the need for better medical care for the people of the outback, he established numerous bush hospitals and hostels.
Flynn’s attention was caught by the story of a young stockman, Jim Darcy, who had been seriously injured while mustering stock on a cattle station near Halls Creek, in the remote north of Western Australia. Darcy had been operated on by the Halls Creek Postmaster who had to follow instructions given via telegraph by a Perth doctor. Although the postmaster’s crude operation was successful, Darcy had died almost two months later of complications, before a doctor could attend. The story gave urgency to Flynn’s vision of delivering essential medical services to remote areas.
Following this tragedy, Flynn envisaged that new technology such as radio and the aeroplane could assist in providing a more effective medical service. His speculations attracted the attention of an Australian pilot serving in World War I, Clifford Peel, who wrote to Flynn, outlining the capabilities and costs of then-available planes. Flynn turned his considerable fund-raising talents to the task of establishing a flying medical service. On 15 May 1928, the Aerial Medical Service was established at Cloncurry, in western Queensland.
In order to facilitate communication with such a service, Flynn collaborated with Alfred Traeger, who developed the pedal radio, a lighter, more compact radio for communication, readily available to more residents of the outback for its size and cost. The pedal radio eliminated the need for electricity, which was available in very few areas of the outback in the 1920s. In this way, Flynn married the advantages of both radio and aeroplanes to provide a “Mantle of Safety” for the outback. Initially conceived as a one-year experiment, Flynn’s vision has continued successfully through the years, providing a valuable medical service to people in remote areas.
Australian History
Wednesday, November 25, 1789. : Indigenous Australian Bennelong is captured, to be used as an intermediary between the Aboriginal and white cultures.
Indigenous Australian Bennelong was a senior man of the Eora, a Koori, people of the Port Jackson area, when the First Fleet arrived in Australia, in 1788. He was captured on 25 November 1789, for the purpose of being used as an intermediary between the white and Aboriginal cultures. The Governor of New South Wales, Captain Arthur Phillip, wished to learn about the language and customs of the indigenous people. Bennelong willingly liaised between the cultures, and adopted European dress and other ways. His intervention was crucial when Phillip was speared by local Aborigines as, by persuading the Governor that the attack was caused by a misunderstanding, further violence was avoided.
While Governor Phillip’s intentions were not malicious, the Aborigines were not people to be captured and used for white purposes. Bennelong travelled with Phillip to England in 1792, and returned to Australia in 1795. Ultimately, he suffered ostracism from the Aborigines when he found it too difficult to integrate into the European culture, and sought to return to his own people. He died on 3 January 1813.
World History
Sunday, November 25, 1973. : US President Nixon calls for a Sunday ban on gasoline sales.
In October of 1973, an oil crisis sparked a number of legislation changes in the US. The crisis occurred when, in response to US support of Israel in the Yom Kippur war, Arab oil producers cut back supply of oil to the US, and increased oil prices fourfold overnight. Practical legislation to help improve fuel economy was enacted: this included imposing a highway speed limit of 55mph, and allowing motorists to turn right on a red light to minimise unnecessary idling. On 25 November 1973, Nixon also called for a ban on gasoline sales on Sundays, a ban which lasted until the crisis was resolved in March 1974.