Australian History
Wednesday, March 25, 1936. : Prime Minister Joseph Lyons opens the world’s longest submarine telephone and telegraph cable link, extending from mainland Australia to Tasmania.
The telegraph was the precursor to the telephone. Within Australia, the first telegraph line was laid from Melbourne’s city centre to Williamstown in 1854, while South Australia followed two years later with a line from Port Adelaide to Adelaide city. The first intercolonial telegraph line connected Melbourne to Adelaide in 1858, leading the way for links to the other Australian colonies over the next few decades.
Meanwhile, Alexander Graham Bell developed telephone technology and demonstrated the first practical telephone in 1876. That same year, experimentation with the telephone commenced in Australia. These early tests were conducted by Charles Todd, South Australian Government Astronomer and Postmaster General, and a leading figure in the development of telegraphy and telephony in Australia. Transmissions enabling the human voice to carry over distances of up to 400 kilometres were successfully trialled. The first telephone exchanges in Australia opened in 1880, in Melbourne and Brisbane. By 1887, each of the capital cities had its own exchange. Although the telephone essentially developed out of improvements to the telegraph, new cables were required to accommodate telephonic communication. In 1898, an extra copper wire for the telephone was added to the Overland Telegraph Line, which connected Australia to the rest of the world.
Despite being separated from the Australian mainland, submarine technology enabled the colony of Tasmania to also be linked. The first telegraph underwater cable had been laid from the island to Victoria in 1859, but it had failed and been replaced in 1869. A new submarine cable was required for the telephone link to the mainland. Extending from Apollo Bay in Victoria to Stanley on the northwest coast of Tasmania, the cable was completed in 1936 and was, at the time, the longest submarine cable in the world. On 25 March 1936, Australia’s 10th Prime Minister, Joseph Lyons, who was born in the town of Stanley, opened the new telephone and telegraph cable link between Tasmania and the mainland.
World History
Monday, March 25, 1957. : The European Economic Community, or Common Market, is formed.
The European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market, was founded on 25 March 1957 with the signing of the Treaty in Rome, and came into operation in January 1958. The original member states included Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany (now Germany). The EEC had as its aim the eventual economic union of its member nations, ultimately leading to economic and political union of Western Europe. It worked for the free movement of labour and capital, the abolition of trusts and cartels, and the development of joint and reciprocal policies on labour, social welfare, agriculture, transport, and foreign trade. The formation of the EEC was in response to both the giant market enjoyed by the United States and the sharing of political and economic resources apparent in Eastern Europe.
Britain initially declined to join the EEC, establishing the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in 1960 instead. Significant economic growth by the EEC caused Britain to reconsider by the early 1960s: however, its application for membership was vetoed by France, due to Britain’s close ties to the USA. Britain finally gained entrance to the Common Market in 1973, as did Ireland and Denmark. Greece joined in 1981, Portugal and Spain in 1986, and the former East Germany as part of reunified Germany in 1990.
In 1993, the European Union succeeded the EEC, paving the way for the creation of a central European bank and common currency, and a common defence policy. Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU in 1995.
World History
Tuesday, March 25, 1975. : King Faisal of Saudi Arabia is assassinated.
Faisal bin Abdelaziz Al Saud was King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975. He was appointed regent of Saudi Arabia after financial misdealings of his father, Ibn Saud, caused the nation to become bankrupt. He assumed office on 4 March 1964, and on 2 November of that year he became king following the abdication of his brother Saud who left for Greece.
Faisal’s rule saw oil production increase, which along with the rise in price of oil, gave the Saudi government previously unknown wealth. This allowed Faisal to introduce various reforms, including girls’ schools and television. He sought a balance between modernisation and maintaining Saudi Arabia’s Islamic heritage. In 1973, Faisal began a program intended to increase the military power of Saudi Arabia. On October 17, he withdrew Saudi oil from world markets, quadrupling the price. Faisal’s action was the primary force behind the 1973 energy crisis.
King Faisal was fatally wounded on 25 March 1975 when his nephew Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed allegedly fired three bullets at him with a pistol at point blank range as the king greeted him. The Prince was later found guilty of regicide and was executed in the traditional Islamic way in June 1975. Although the prince’s motives remain unknown, it has been speculated that he sought to avenge the death of his elder brother Khalid, who died in a clash with security forces in 1966.
World History
Sunday, March 25, 1979. : The world’s first space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, is delivered to the John F Kennedy Space Centre to prepare for launch.
Space Shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable space vehicle, was the first space shuttle in NASA’s orbital fleet. Columbia was named after the Boston-based sloop Columbia captained by American Robert Gray, which explored the Pacific Northwest and became the first American vessel to circumnavigate the world. Following its construction, the orbiter arrived at John F Kennedy Space Center on 25 March 1979 to prepare for its first launch. Its first mission lasted from April 12 to April 14, 1981, during which it orbited the Earth 36 times.
On its final mission, the craft was carrying the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, and the first female astronaut of Indian birth, Kalpana Chawla. Other crew members on the final flight included Rick Husband (commander), Willie McCool (pilot), Michael P Anderson, Laurel Clark, and David M Brown. Columbia re-entered the atmosphere after a 16-day scientific mission on the morning of 1 February 2003. It disintegrated 16 minutes before it was due to land at Cape Canaveral in Florida, killing all of the astronauts on board. Subsequent investigations indicated that a breach of the shuttle’s heat shield on take-off caused it to break up on re-entry.
World History
Saturday, March 25, 1995. : The precursor to all modern Wikis makes its debut.
A wiki is a collaborative content management system or, to put it more simply, a website which allows users to contribute and edit content. The world’s first user-editable website was WikiWikiWeb. Launched on 25 March 1995 by its developer, programmer Ward Cunningham, it was designed as an easier way for programmers to share and exchange their ideas. The word ‘wiki’ is a Hawaiian word meaning “quick”. It was selected by Cunningham as he wanted the content to be able to be quickly and easily edited by users. The formats for all modern wikis are descended from this original WikiWikiWeb, including online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in 2001.
New Zealand History
Tuesday, March 25, 2008. : New Zealand ghost ship ‘Air Apparent’ is abandoned.
The “Air Apparent” was a small yacht which was abandoned off the northern coast of New Zealand on 25 March 2008. The inexperience of the yacht’s crew caused them to panic when the boat’s battery died amidst high winds, and they mutinied against skipper Bill Heritage. When they set off an emergency position indicating radio beacon against the skipper’s orders, this alerted the coast guard who sent a rescue helicopter, and Heritage was forced to abandon his yacht.
“Air Apparent” continued to sail alone, reaching Norfolk Island some 800 nautical miles away, where it was reported by the French Navy patrol ship La Moqueuse on a trip from Noumea to Nelson. Fourteen months after the yacht was abandoned on 25 March, fishermen from the small north Queensland sugar town of Bowen towed it ashore. It was found to have suffered significant water damage due to the hatch being left open, but skipper Bill Heritage was amazed it was still afloat.