Born on this day
Sunday, December 12, 1915. : American singer and actor Frank Sinatra is born.
Frank Sinatra was born Francis Albert Sinatra on 12 December 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He is regarded as one of the most important popular music figures of the 20th century. As a musician, he was well respected for his gifted vocalisations, rich baritone and his versatile musical style. After making his foray into films, he became the unofficial leader of the Hollywood ‘Rat Pack’ of the early 1960s, which also included Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. He appeared in 58 films, including On the Town (1949), From Here to Eternity (1953, and for which he received an Academy Award), Guys and Dolls (1955), Pal Joey (1957), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and The Detective (1968). Sinatra died of natural causes on 14 May 1998.
Australian Explorers
Tuesday, December 12, 1815. : Explorer James Kelly begins his circumnavigation of Tasmania.
Captain James Kelly was born in Parramatta, New South Wales, in 1791. He was believed to be the son of James Kelly, a cook in the convict transport Queen, and Catherine Devereaux, a convict transported for life from Dublin on the Queen. As a young man, he was inducted into the trades of sealer and sandalwood trader. At the age of 21, Kelly was enlisted to command the whaling fleet of Thomas William Birch of Hobart Town.
On 12 December 1815, Kelly embarked on a journey to circumnavigate Tasmania in the whaleboat “Elizabeth”, with the view to exploring the commercial potential along the Tasmanian coast. Kelly is credited with officially discovering Port Davey on the southwest coast and, late in December, of Macquarie Harbour on the central west coast. He discovered and named the Gordon River and Birch Inlet. Kelly’s successful journey took 40 days.
Australian History
Tuesday, December 12, 1882. : Australia’s worst gold mining disaster, to date, occurs in Creswick, Victoria.
Creswick is a small town located in the heart of the central goldfields in Victoria, Australia. The town, which currently has a population of just over 3 000, was born after squatters Charles, John and Henry Creswick ran sheep in the area which became known as Creswick’s Creek in 1842. The discovery of gold in September 1851 led to a gold rush, and the steady alluvial finds were boosted by the opening up of deeper workings in 1855-6. By 1861, the population of the town had swelled to over 5 000.
The Australasian Mining Company began prospecting for gold in the area in 1867, and enjoyed rich returns with the discovery of the Australasian Lead, one of five rich gold leads, or rivers of gold buried beneath layers of basalt, sand and gravel, that run through the area. A decade of regular flooding caused the Australasia No 1 mine shaft to be abandoned. The Australasia No 2 shaft was sunk approximately 200 metres away after the formation of a new company, the New Australasian Gold Mining Company, in 1878.
At around 5:30 am on the morning of Tuesday, 12 December 1882, water which had been accumulating in the Australasia No 1 mine burst through the wall of the reef drive, trapping 27 workers. Hearing the noise of the flooding above ground, water pump engine driver James Spargo increased the speed of the pump, and was quickly joined by two other engine drivers, James Harris and Thomas Clough. Over the next few days, the men ran the engines at more than 10 times their normal speed, trying to lower the water to save the trapped men. Unable to escape from the mine, the men sought respite from the rising waters in the small space of the No 11 jump-up, one of several cutaways where the men would “jump up” out of the way of the mine trucks. A special train was dispatched from Melbourne with equipment to dive into the water. Diving equipment borrowed from the HMS Cerberus, together with experienced divers, was sent up from Melbourne. It was Thursday (some sources say Friday) before the trapped men could be reached, and by that time, 22 had died. Only 5 were brought out alive.
This was not the only mining accident to occur in 1882: apart from the 22 who perished in this one incident, in the same year there were another 49 deaths due to mining accidents in the colony of Victoria alone. Following the Creswick disaster, 20 000 pounds was collected from townsfolk throughout Victoria to help the widows and orphans, with funds being allocated weekly to the families of the victims. Later, Parliament changed the fund to “The Mining Accident Relief Fund Act, 1884”, with moneys being paid to assist all victims of mining accidents.
Special Days
Friday, December 12, 1851. : Today is Poinsettia Day in the USA.
The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a plant, native to Mexico, with brilliantly red-coloured bracts in its native state. Newer varieties have also been bred, with bracts of different colours ranging from white through to lilac, pink and even spotted. Known sometimes as the lobster flower and flame leaf flower, the poinsettia has come to symbolise Christmas because of its bright red and green colours.
In the United States, December 12 has been set aside as National Poinsettia Day. The date marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett (2 March 1779 – 12 December 1851), an American statesman, physicist and botanist, who is credited with introducing the native Mexican plant to the United States. The purpose of the day is to celebrate the beauty of the poinsettia.
World History
Wednesday, December 12, 1917. : Father Flanagan establishes Boys Town, a home for orphaned boys, in Nebraska.
Father Edward J Flanagan, born July 1886, was a Roman Catholic priest in the USA. In December 1917, three homeless boys in Nebraska were assigned to Flanagan’s care. Unable to be supported by his financially struggling Parish, Flanagan found a house in Omaha, and borrowed $90 from a friend to pay the first month’s rent. He opened the house to the boys on 12 December 1917, and, using the tenet that “There is no such thing as a bad boy”, he continued to take in homeless and wayward youth.
After a while, Flanagan moved the boys from the house in Omaha to Overlook Farm outside town, and in 1936 it was renamed Boys Town. As welfare agencies and juvenile judges passed more children into Flanagan’s care, the farm came to rely on volunteers and contributions from the community to keep it running. It shifted from being a place for just orphans to one which took in children, including girls, who were in trouble with the law, or those who came from abusive situations. Possibly America’s best-known orphanage/home, Boys Town has established satellite homes in Florida, California, and Texas and is a consultant to other homes in the United States. Similar homes in other countries have been founded on the original model set by Father Flanagan.
World History
Saturday, December 12, 1953. : Charles Yeager becomes the first person to travel two and a half times the speed of sound.
Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager was born on 13 February 1923 in Myra, West Virginia. After joining the army at age 16 and training as an aircraft mechanic, he was then selected for flight training. His service record during WWII was impeccable, becoming an “ace-in-a-day” after shooting down five enemy aircraft in a single mission. Yeager remained in the Air Force after the war. He became a test pilot and was ultimately selected to fly the rocket-powered Bell X-1 in a NACA program to research high-speed flight. On 14 October 1947 he broke the sound barrier in the technologically advanced X-1.
Yeager continued to work with experimental craft, achieving faster and faster speeds. He piloted the X1-A, a longer and more powerful version of the X-1, to a speed of Mach 2.4 on 12 December 1953. This was almost two and a half times the speed of sound and the fastest of any human being to that date.