Born on this day
Thursday, December 20, 1894. : Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, is born.
Robert Gordon Menzies was born in the Victorian town of Jeparit on 20 December 1894. In 1928 he entered politics after being elected to Victoria’s Legislative Council for East Yarra. After six years in Victorian state politics as Attorney-General and Minister for Railways (1928–34), he was elected to federal parliament as Member for Kooyong. On 18 April 1939, he was elected leader of the United Australia Party following the death of Joseph Lyons eleven days earlier, and became Prime Minister on 26 April 1939.
On 28 August 1941, party dissension led Menzies to resign as Prime Minister. However, after forming the Liberal Party of Australia from the remnants of the UAP in 1944, Menzies regrouped to become Prime Minister for the second time on 19 December 1949 when the new Liberal Party, in coalition with the Country Party, beat Labor. He then remained as Prime Minister for another 16 years, a record which has not been broken in Australian politics. He retired in 1966, and died in 1978.
Born on this day
Wednesday, December 20, 1922. : Geoff “Tangletongue” Mack, who wrote the iconic Australian song “I’ve Been Everywhere”, is born.
“Tullamore, Seymour, Lismore, Mooloolaba, Nambour, Maroochydore, Kilmore, Murwillumbah, Birdsville, Emmaville, Wallaville, Cunnamulla, Condamine, Strathpine, Proserpine, Ulladulla, Darwin, Gin Gin, Deniliquin, Muckadilla, Wallumbilla, Boggabilla, Kumbarilla”
This is just one verse of Geoff Mack’s greatest claim to fame: the song “I’ve Been Everywhere”, which incorporates dozens of uniquely Australian place names and earned him the nickname of “Tangletongue”.
Albert Geoffrey McElhinney, better known as Geoff Mack, is a country music singer and songwriter. He was born on 20 December 1922 in Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia. Mack’s musical career developed during World War II, after he had enlisted in the RAAF and was serving in Borneo. His ability to sing and play the guitar was used to entertain the troops and visitors. After the war, he performed with the Occupation Forces, and was appointed to Radio WLKS as the voice of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces.
Written in 1959, “I’ve Been Everywhere” became a hit when singer Lucky Starr released a version he recorded, in 1962. That same year, Mack was called upon to write a version using American and Canadian names: this single became a #1 hit in America. The song has now been recorded in 131 different versions, with arguably its most famous version included on Johnny Cash’s 1996 album “Unchained”.
Mack has received numerous awards and commendations. He was inducted into the International Songwriters Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee in 1963, into the Hands of Fame at Tamworth NSW in 1978, and he received the Tamworth Song Writer’s Association Song Maker Award in 1997. As well, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2005 for his service to country music, and his support of community and senior citizens’ groups. More place names included in “Tangletongue’s” work are:
Moree, Taree, Jerilderie, Bambaroo, Toowoomba, Gunnedah, Caringbah, Woolloomooloo, Dalveen, Tamborine, Engadine, Jindabyne, Lithgow, Casino, Brigalow, Narromine, Megalong, Wyong, Tuggeranong, Wanganella, Morella, Augathella, Brindabella, Wollongong, Geelong, Kurrajong, Mullumbimby, Mittagong, Molong, Grong Grong, Goondiwindi, Yarra Yarra, Boroondara, Wallangarra, Turramurra, Boggabri, Gundagai, Narrabri, Tibooburra, Gulgong, Adelong, Billabong, Cabramatta, Parramatta, Wangaratta, Coolangatta
And there is still another verse …
World History
Thursday, December 20, 1860. : South Carolina becomes the first US state to secede from the Union, ultimately sparking the Civil War.
The first African slaves arrived in north America in 1526, and though the practice of slavery took many years to become popular, it thrived under British colonialism. On the first day of January 1808 American Congress voted to ban further importation of slaves, but children of slaves automatically became slaves themselves. There was no legislation against the internal US slave trade, or against the involvement in the international slave trade and the outfitting of ships for that trade by US citizens.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, did not favour abolition of slavery, but he opposed its expansion into new territories and states in the American West. It was this issue that led to the secession of the southern states to form the Confederate States of America, and ultimately also led to the Civil War. On 20 December 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede. Within a few weeks, six other states also seceded, collectively forming the Confederate States of America. When the Civil War erupted, another four states joined the Confederacy.
World History
Sunday, December 20, 1942. : During World War II, the Japanese bomb Calcutta.
Calcutta, also known as Kolkata since 2001, is situated in eastern India in the Ganges Delta. With a population in excess of 15 million, it is India’s third-largest city and the world’s 14th largest metropolitan area.
The arrival of the British East India Company in 1690 had a profound effect on future development of the city. With India subject to British Imperialism, Calcutta was the centre of the revolutionary movement for India’s independence. During World War II, there was a strong British Defence force presence in the city. Consequently, it came under frequent attack by the Japanese.
The first attack on Calcutta took place on 20 December 1942. Docks, airfields and shipping were the main targets in this, the first of many air-raids. The longer term effects of these raids, which spread over several days, were that many food grain shops were forced to close down, providing a catalyst to the widespread famine of 1943. Whilst the bombing resulted in casualties, far more of the Indian population died as a result of the famine that followed.
World History
Friday, December 20, 1957. : The “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, Elvis Presley, receives his draft notice.
Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935. He began learning the guitar at age 11, and often busked around the Lauderdale Courts public housing development, where he lived during his teen years. At age 20, he signed with RCA records, and began to make the music charts regularly. During the course of his career, he had 146 Hot 100 hits, 112 top 40 hits, 72 top 20 hits and 40 top 10 hits. A strong television exposure followed, with appearances on shows such as the Ed Sullivan Show. His next step was movies: between 1956 and 1969, Elvis Presley starred in 31 films.
On 20 December 1957, Elvis Presley received his draft notice to join the U.S. Army for National Service. Presley was sworn in as a private in the U.S. Army on 24 March 1958. He was sent to basic training in Fort Hood, Texas, after which he was shipped to Germany, where he served in Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Corps, from 1 October 1958 to 1 March 1960.
World History
Friday, December 20, 1991. : Archaeologists announce the discovery of a fleet of 5,000 year old Egyptian royal ships buried 13km from the River Nile.
On 20 December 1991, American and Egyptian archaeologists announced that they had discovered a fleet of 5,000 year old Egyptian royal ships. In itself, this was not unusual: what was unusual was the fact that the ships were buried in the desert at Abydos, about 13km from the River Nile. The wooden vessels, discovered in September of that year, were estimated to be between 15 and 21m long. Twelve boats were located in the initial discovery; to date, at least fourteen have been excavated.
The ships were found lying in formation adjacent to a gigantic mud-brick enclosure, thought to have been the mortuary temple of the Second Dynasty Pharaoh Khasekhemwy. In 2000, however, archaeologists determined that the ships were buried prior to the construction of the funerary enclosure. Originally coated with mud plaster and whitewash, they were most likely intended for the afterlife of a First Dynasty Pharaoh.
Special Days
Friday, December 20, 2013. : The United Nations General Assembly proclaims 3 March as World Wildlife Day.
World Wildlife Day has become an annual celebration of the world’s unique plants and wild animals. Designed to raise awareness of the world’s biological diversity and the threat faced by flora and fauna all over the Earth, World Wildlife Day encourages people to learn about the animal and plant species under threat in their area or country, and to examine what can be done to conserve them.
The seed of World Wildlife Day was generated in 1963 at a meeting of members of IUCN (The International Union for Conservation of Nature), during which the need to protect endangered species throughout the world was highlighted. Ten years later, on 3 March 1973, the original resolution was agreed to and signed by representatives of 80 countries in Washington DC after many years of drafting the text of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 3 March as World Wildlife Day. This annual event is now considered to be the most important global celebration committed to preserving wildlife.