Born on this day
Wednesday, December 22, 1858. : Italian operatic composer Giacomo Puccini is born.
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was born on 22 December 1858 in Lucca, Italy. He descended from a long line of musicians, so from a young age was instructed in piano and organ in Lucca, later going on to study at the Milan Conservatory. He is best known for the operas he composed, beginning with the one-act opera “Le Villi” in 1884. Later operas included “Manon Lescaut” in 1893, “La Bohème” in 1896, “Tosca” in 1900, “Madama Butterfly” in 1904, “La Fanciulla del West” (The Girl of the Golden West) in 1910 and “Turandot”, which was produced posthumously and incomplete in 1926. His rich orchestration and expressive melodies have earned him the reputation as a composer of some of music’s greatest and most famous operas. Despite receiving treatment for throat cancer, Puccini died in Brussels, Belgium, in 1924.
Australian Explorers
Monday, December 22, 1817. : Phillip Parker King sets off to map the northern coast of Australia uncharted by Flinders.
Phillip Parker King, eldest son of Governor King, the third Governor of Australia, was born on Norfolk Island in 1791. He entered the Portsmouth Naval Academy in Britain, but it was his introduction to Matthew Flinders which engendered an enthusiasm to discover more of Australia’s coastline. In 1817, King was given command of an expedition to complete the exploration of the north-western coast of Australia, filling in the gaps that Flinders had not yet mapped. He was instructed to explore all gulfs, inlets and other waterways “likely to lead to an interior navigation into this great continent”.
King set out on 22 December 1817 in the cutter “Mermaid”. Also on board was botanist and future explorer Allan Cunningham. King sailed via Bass Strait to North West Cape before commencing his survey along the coast towards Arnhem Land. During the four journeys that King ultimately made off the northern and north-western coasts, he named Port Essington and Buccaneer’s Archipelago (after Dampier), proved Melville Island was indeed an island, and charted the coastline. He also surveyed the west coast from Rottnest Island to Cygnet Bay, in King George the Third’s Sound, now King George Sound, and the entrance to Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania.
Australian History
Monday, December 22, 1845. : Land for the first gold mine in Australia is purchased.
The first recorded gold discovery in Australia was in 1823 by James McBrien who discovered flecks of alluvial gold in the Fish River of New South Wales. Further traces of gold were discovered in areas of the Blue Mountains in the ensuing decades. Early discoveries of gold were kept secret as it was feared that the promise of easy wealth would incite riots amongst the convicts. Further, discoveries were usually made by settlers who did not want their valuable sheep and cattle properties to be degraded by the sudden influx of prospectors and lawlessness that would inevitably follow. There was little incentive to report gold finds in the early 1800s, as all gold was owned by the government, and would not provide any personal gains. However, some enterprising individuals still saw the value in prospecting, realising the benefits of minerals and metals as the Australian colonies grew.
Captain Charles Sturt, whose charting of the Murray River was a significant catalyst to the establishment of the southern colony, was among the first to recognise the likelihood of mineral wealth in the ranges of South Australia. His claims were backed by German immigrant Johannes Menge, who was employed by the South Australian Company as their Mine and Quarry Agent and Geologist. The men were proven correct when silver was discovered at Glen Osmond in 1841 and copper and traces of gold were discovered at Montacute in 1842. On the back of these discoveries, on 22 December 1845 Frederick Wicksteed, on behalf of the Victoria Mining Company, paid 799 pounds for 147 acres at Montacute, to be used for copper mining.
Within a few months of opening in 1846, the investment paid off. Captain John Terrill discovered high quality gold, and the copper mine became Australia’s first gold mine, five years before gold was ‘officially’ discovered in New South Wales.
Australian History
Friday, December 22, 1989. : A bus crash in Kempsey, New South Wales, kills 35 people.
In the early hours of 22 December 1989, two tourist coaches were involved in a head-on collision at Clybucca Flat, twelve kilometres north of Kempsey, New South Wales. The McCafferty’s Sydney-bound coach impacted five rows back into the cabin of the TransCity Brisbane-bound coach. Both drivers were killed instantly, another 33 passengers died, and 41 more were injured. A coroner’s inquest found that neither coach was speeding at the time of the crash, and there were no mechanical faults present in either vehicle. The inquiry ultimately found that the driver of the Sydney-bound coach fell asleep at the wheel and failed to negotiate a left-hand bend on the highway, causing the bus to cross to the wrong side of the road.
A contributing factor to the high death toll was the fact that the impact snapped seats from their anchor bolts so that both seats and passengers were hurled about the vehicles with tremendous force. Subsequently, the report from the inquiry recommended research to improve coach seating, seat anchorages and seatbelts. Better emergency exits for coaches were also recommended, as rescuers were unable to enter the wreckage immediately because the exits were 2.4m above the ground.
World History
Wednesday, December 22, 0877. : The tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas begins.
King Alfred the Great ruled England from ruled 871-899. He was considered a powerful, fair king who defended Anglo-Saxon England from Viking raids, established consistent, fair and just laws, emphasised the importance of genuinely pious religious observance and promoted interest in education and scholarly pursuits.
Alfred was born at Wantage in the historic county of Berkshire, now Oxfordshire, in 847. At age five he was sent to Rome where, legend states, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who “anointed him as king.” Alfred is revered as a Saint in the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church and is regarded as a hero of the Christian Church in the Anglican Communion, being honoured with a feast day on 26 October.
On 22 December 877, King Alfred the Great passed a law that stated no servant had to work during the 12 days of celebration which followed Midwinter. This coincided approximately with the 12 Days of Christmas instigated by Christians to replace the pagan festival of Saturnalia.
World History
Friday, December 22, 1933. : The ‘Mad Gasser of Roanoke’ makes his first attack.
The ‘Mad Gasser of Roanoke’ was a mysterious character who ran amok in Botetourt County, Virginia, spraying poisonous gas into resident’s windows, making them violently ill. His (or her) first attack occurred on 22 December 1933, at the home of Cal Huffman in the small country town of Haymakertown in western Botetourt County. Around 10pm, Mr Huffman’s wife noticed a strong odour and became slightly nauseated. The smell returned half an hour later and again at 1am. At this time, the Huffman’s daughter Alice became so ill that a doctor had to resuscitate her. A neighbour reported seeing a shadowy figure running away from the house and a woman’s high heel shoe print was found under the window where the gasser had stood.
The second gassing occurred in Cloverdale, where Mr Clarence Hall returned home with his family after a Christmas Eve church service to find his house filled with poisonous fumes. The gasser struck several more times over the next two months. The final incident was on 11 February 1934, after which the whole series of attacks was dismissed as mere hysteria. The perpetrator, if there was one, was never caught.
World History
Friday, December 22, 1989. : The Brandenburg Gate between East and West Berlin is opened for the first time in nearly thirty years.
Berlin, the capital city of Germany, was divided following World War II. With the development of the Cold War, tensions began to increase between the Soviet Union which controlled the East, and the western allies which controlled West Berlin. The border between East and West Germany was closed in 1952, but people continued to defect from East Germany via West Berlin. On 13 August 1961, construction commenced on a wall to separate the East and Western halves of Berlin. Ultimately, the wall included over 300 watchtowers, 106km of concrete and 66.5km of wire fencing surrounding West Berlin and preventing any access from East Germany. Even the famous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1791 to represent peace, was incorporated into the wall.
The wall remained as a barrier between East and West until 1989, when the collapse of communism led to its fall. On 9 November 1989, an international peace conference began in East Berlin. At the conclusion of the peace conference, greater freedom of travel was announced for people of the German Democratic Republic. At midnight, the East German government allowed gates along the Wall to be opened after hundreds of people converged on crossing points. Many people then took to the wall with hammers and chisels, dismantling it piece by piece. On 22 December 1989, the Brandenburg Gate was once again opened, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.