Born on this day
Thursday, March 26, 1931. : Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy is born.
Leonard Simon Nimoy, who gained worldwide fame as Star Trek’s Mr Spock, was born on 26 March 1931 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the second son of Jewish immigrants from Iziaslav, Ukraine. The interest he showed in acting from a very young age was encouraged by his grandfather. He undertook acting lessons, first at Boston College, and then at the historic Pasadena Playhouse in California. Here, he found himself drawn to “method acting”, which enabled him to develop a more intense understanding of characters’ psychologies, allowing for a better stage presence as an actor. Nimoy took Marlon Brando as his role model, even dressing as Brando did.
Nimoy’s first role was in the 1952 film Kid Monk Baroni, in which he played the main character. Although not a huge success at the time, the film attracted a greater audience while Nimoy served with the US Army Reserve in 1953-54: by the time he left the Army Reserve, he had gained prominence as an actor. He was offered numerous roles in television shows such as Dragnet, The Rough Riders, Sea Hunt, Bonanza, Rawhide, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, Dr Kildare and Perry Mason. However, it was after Nimoy appeared in a 1965 episode of The Lieutenant that his talents attracted the attention of producer and writer Gene Roddenberry, who was casting for the new science fiction series Star Trek.
Nimoy was perfect for the role of half-Vulcan, half-human science officer Mr Spock, and Roddenberry encouraged him to make the role his own, adding unique touches to cultivate the stoic and practical character. The iconic Vulcan salute was developed by Nimoy himself, and is believed to have been based on a Jewish blessing. The Vulcan nerve pinch was also Nimoy’s idea, as he wanted a more “sophisticated” method than phasers for rendering enemies unconscious. The original series of Star Trek aired from 1966 to 1969 and earned Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations. It became more popular after it was sold into syndication, and stations were able to air it at times more suited to its fans and potential audience. A new audience created a broad market for the franchise, thus paving the way for the success of six Star Trek movies based around the characters of the original series, all of which featured Mr Spock. After his Star Trek years, Nimoy continued to be involved in numerous other acting and directing projects, both on-screen and on stage.
Leonard Nimoy died on 27 February 2015 from complications arising from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which he had developed as a result of years of heavy smoking earlier in his life.
Australian Explorers
Monday, March 26, 1838. : George Grey discovers evidence to suggest other Europeans had explored Australia’s northwest hinterland prior to white settlement.
Sir George Edward Grey, born 14 April 1812, was Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony (South Africa), Premier of New Zealand and a writer. Prior to his political career, however, he was an explorer to one of Australia’s remotest regions – the northwest. He was the first known adventurer to this region.
Grey’s first expedition to the area was in late 1837, but it was beset with numerous problems including Aboriginal attack and intense heat and humidity (in some areas, over 50 degrees C) compounded by lack of water. Grey himself was speared in the hip and spent two weeks recovering. His first sight of luxuriant country beyond the Macdonald Range convinced him to continue, and after several more days, he discovered the Glenelg River, named after Lord Glenelg, the Colonial Secretary of State.
Shortly after this, Grey discovered evidence that he was perhaps not the first European to explore the hinterland of northwest Australia. On 26 March 1838, and over the ensuing three days, he discovered numerous Aboriginal cave paintings near the head of the Glenelg River. Some of the figures depicted seemed to be wearing long garments, with helmets or hats. Another cave held an unusual painting of a non-Aboriginal man’s figure, over 3m long, wearing a flowing reddish gown. Theories suggest that these paintings were early depictions of Portuguese or Spanish mariners or priests who may have visited the area long before any European settlement on the western coast.
Australian Explorers
Tuesday, March 26, 1996. : A bronze statue to Captain Matthew Flinders’ cat is unveiled at the New South Wales State Library.
Matthew Flinders was the sea explorer who, together with Bass, was the first to prove that Van Diemen’s Land, or Tasmania, was an island and not connected to the mainland. Flinders was also the first to circumnavigate the continent, and between December 1801 and June 1803, he charted most of the coastline of Australia.
Accompanying Flinders on most of his journeys between 1799 and 1804 was his cat, Trim. Trim was born on His Majesty’s ship ‘The Rousabout’ during a journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Botany Bay in 1799. Trim quickly endeared himself to whichever crew accompanied Flinders on his many journeys. Described as black with a bushy tail, a white star on his chest, white paws and a white chin, Trim showed himself to be a cat of superior intelligence and personality. After falling overboard numerous times, Trim became adept at swimming, catching a rope thrown to him and climbing back on board ship. Trim travelled with Flinders to Moreton Bay on the ‘Norfolk’, to England in ‘The Reliance’ and circumnavigated Australia in ‘The Investigator’.
Flinders was returning to England on ‘The Janty’ when he was shipwrecked on a coral reef in what Flinders referred to as the Great Equinoxial ocean on the night of 17 August 1803. Trim accompanied Flinders through two months of sheltering in tents on islands. When ships arrived to assist Flinders and his crew, Trim elected to follow his master in the schooner ‘Minikin’ rather than join the crew who travelled to China on a larger, sturdier ship. When Flinders was forced to land at the Isle of France due to the Minikin’s leaking, he was captured by the French and detained on the island of Mauritius on the grounds that he was a spy. For some time, Trim enjoyed the company of a French woman and her daughter on the island, until one night he sadly disappeared, never to be seen again. Flinders was distraught, and during his next few years’ internment at the island, penned a historic and little-known essay, a tribute to his beloved cat Trim.
On 28 March 1996, a bronze statue was unveiled commemorating Trim. Sculpted by John Cornwell, it now stands on the windowsill of the Mitchell Library in Macquarie Street, Sydney, fittingly positioned just behind a statue of his master, Matthew Flinders. The unveiling was performed by Rear-Admiral David Campbell, in the presence of State Librarian Dagmar Schmidmaier and around four hundred dignitaries and guests.
Australian History
Monday, March 26, 1934. : The Flying Doctor Service announces that it will expand from Queensland into Western Australia.
Australia’s Flying Doctor Service began with the vision of Reverend John Flynn. After Flynn was posted as a Presbyterian minister to Beltana, a tiny, remote settlement 500 kilometres north of Adelaide, he reported on the difficulties of ministering to such a widely scattered population. This resulted in him being appointed as the first Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, the ‘bush department’ of the Presbyterian Church. At that time, only two doctors served an area of 300,000 square kilometres in Western Australia and 1,500,000 square kilometres in the Northern Territory. Realising the need for better medical care for the people of the outback, Flynn established numerous bush hospitals and hostels.
Flynn realised that technology such as radio and the aeroplane could assist in providing a more effective medical service. After receiving advice from Australian World War 1 pilot, Clifford Peel, on 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. Flynn also collaborated with Alfred Traeger, who developed the pedal radio, a lighter, compact radio for communication, readily available to more residents of the outback for its size and cost.
Initially conceived as a one-year experiment, Flynn’s vision continued to expand, providing a valuable medical service to people in remote areas. On 26 March 1934, it was announced that the Flying Doctor Service would extend from Queensland into Western Australia. This was to be the first of numerous expansions into each of the other states.
In 1942 the service was renamed the Flying Doctor Service. Queen Elizabeth II approved the prefix “Royal” in 1955 following her visit to Australia, and the service became the Royal Flying Doctor Service, or RFDS.
Australian History
Monday, March 26, 1984. : Australia introduces the $100 note.
Decimal currency was first introduced in Australia on 14 February 1966. The new Australian dollar replaced the Australian pound as the nominal currency of Australia (different to the Pound Sterling), and introduced a decimal system. Initially, the Australian dollar was introduced at a rate of two dollars per pound, or ten shillings per dollar. The Australian dollar, AUD or A$, is the official currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu.
The introduction of decimal currency saw the first banknotes of $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20. The $50 was first issued in 1973, and on 26 March 1984, the first $100 note was issued.
World History
Thursday, March 26, 1812. : An earthquake devastates Caracas, Venezuela, killing 20,000.
Caracas is the capital of Venezuela, the northernmost country in South America. The city lies in the contours of a narrow mountain valley which is separated from the coast by a steep mountain range, Cerro Ávila, that rises above 2600 m.
On 26 March 1812, Caracas was destroyed by an earthquake. More than twenty thousand people in the city died, whilst a total of 45,000 people were killed in the further-reaching effects of the earthquake across Venezuela. At the time, the disaster was portrayed by authorities as a divine punishment to people rebelling against the Spanish Crown, following the declaration of Independence from Spain in 1811. The town recovered and was rebuilt after almost 90% of it was devastated.
World History
Friday, March 26, 1937. : Spinach growers in Crystal City, Texas, erect a statue of Popeye in gratitude to him for saving their dying industry.
Popeye the Sailor Man is a famous comic strip character, created by Elzie Crisler Segar and first appearing in the King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre on 17 January 1929. Popeye is naturally tough, but an adaptation of his character into animated cartoons saw him popping open a can of spinach and swallowing the contents whenever he needed a burst of super-human strength. Prior to the emergence of Popeye, spinach farmers in Crystal City, Texas, USA, were facing a decline in demand for their product. On 26 March 1937, the farmers were so grateful to Popeye for reviving their dying industry that they erected a statue of him in the town.
The statue that stands outside Crystal City Hall is only a reproduction of the real statue. To protect the original from vandals and mascot-collectors, the “real” statue remains within the walls of the Crystal City Hall.