Born on this day
Friday, December 27, 1822. : Biologist and chemist, Louis Pasteur, is born.
Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822 in Dole, Jura, France. Known as the founder of microbiology, he moved into this field when he discovered the role of bacteria in fermentation. His experiments with bacteria conclusively disproved the theory of spontaneous generation and led to the theory that infection is caused by germs. Extrapolating from this knowledge, Pasteur then developed a process in which liquids such as milk were heated to kill all bacteria and moulds already present within them. This process became known as pasteurisation.
Recognising that infectious diseases are caused by microorganisms, Pasteur’s research soon led others to investigate sterilisation, disinfection, vaccines, and eventually antibiotics. Pasteur created and tested vaccines for diphtheria, cholera, yellow fever, plague, rabies, anthrax, and tuberculosis.
Suffering from strokes since the age of 46, Pasteur eventually died in 1895 from complications as a result of these strokes
Australian History
Tuesday, December 27, 1803. : Convict William Buckley escapes, spawning the Australian phrase “Buckley’s chance”.
William Buckley was born in Marton, Cheshire, England in 1780. He arrived in Australia as a convict, and was a member of the first party of Europeans to attempt the first settlement at Sorrento, on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. On 27 December 1803, soon after his arrival, he escaped from custody.
Despite the friendliness of the local indigenous Wathaurong people, Buckley was concerned they might turn hostile, and initially chose to try to survive on his own. However, he soon realised his inability to fend for himself in the harsh bushland, and he sought out the Wathaurong again. On his way, he happened upon a spear stuck in the grave of a recently deceased member of the tribe; the Aborigines, finding him with the spear, believed he was their tribal member returned from the dead, and greeted his appearance with feasting and a corroboree. Buckley spent the next 32 years living among the indigenous Wathaurong people. Bridging the cultural gap between Europeans and Aborigines, he gained many valuable bush skills and was a crucial factor in reconciliation in those early days. To keep the peace between the two races, Buckley gave himself up to free settler John Batman’s landing party on 7 July 1835.
Ultimately, Buckley was pardoned and became a respected civil servant. The Australian saying “Buckley’s chance” means to have a very slim chance, and was spawned by his amazing story of survival in the bush.
World History
Friday, December 27, 1675. : King Charles II of England issues a proclamation suppressing coffee houses.
The first record of a public coffee house can be found in 1475, when the first known coffee shop, the Kiva Han, was opened in the Turkish city of Constantinople (now Istanbul). The popularity of coffee, and coffee houses, quickly spread, with Britain opening its first such establishment in 1652.
Coffeehouses were commonly frequented by members of the social upper-class of businessmen. They soon became meeting spots for intellectuals and, as Charles saw it, potential political subversives. Thus, on 27 December 1675, he issued a “Proclamation Suppressing Coffee-Houses”. The proclamation sought to prohibit “scandalous papers, books and libels from being read in them” and to prevent the coffee-houses from allowing their patrons freedom of speech or the right to express dissatisfaction with the government.
Twelve days later, the edict was withdrawn, on 8 January 1676. Its withdrawal was forced because the proclamation denied basic human rights: it had also become the subject of considerable ridicule.
World History
Tuesday, December 27, 1831. : Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of natural selection, commences his 5 year voyage on the HMS Beagle.
British naturalist Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin’s claim to fame is his publication of “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life”. The book put forth Darwin’s theory of evolutionary selection, which expounded that survival or extinction of populations of organisms is determined by the process of natural selection, achieved through that population’s ability to adapt to its environment. Ultimately, by following Darwin’s theory of evolution to its conclusion, the controversial book suggested that man evolved from apes. Although Darwin is given the credit for the theory of evolution, he developed the theory out of the writings of his grandfather Erasmus. Large sections from Erasmus’s major work, ‘Zoonomia or the Laws of Organic Life’ are repeated in Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’. There is evidence to suggest that many of the other ideas Charles proposed, such as the concept of modern biological evolution, including natural selection, were borrowed from ideas that had already been published by other scientists.
It was whilst studying medicine at Edinburgh University that Darwin developed his interest in natural history. On 27 December 1831, Darwin boarded the HMS Beagle to commence his five-year journey of scientific exploration. On this voyage, he collected a variety of wildlife and fossils, studying them to gradually develop his theory of natural selection.
During the voyage, the HMS Beagle visited ports along both the eastern and western coasts of South America. It continued on to New Zealand and Australia, Cape Town in South Africa and back to South America before returning to England. Interestingly, on this voyage, Darwin took a giant Galapagos Tortoise from the Galapagos Islands as a pet. This reptile ended up in Australia where it finally died in 2006, well over 170 years old.
World History
Thursday, December 27, 1979. : Soviet troops storm the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing President Hafizullah Amin.
Afghanistan has a long history of violence and unrest. The catalyst to the Soviet invasion of 1979 was the growth of the communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ties to the Soviet Union. Following years of coups and seizing of power by various parties, the PDPA imposed a Marxist-style “reform” program, which led to revolts and unrest among the various classes of Afghans. In December 1978, Moscow signed a bilateral treaty of cooperation with Afghanistan, which meant that the current regime became dependent on Soviet military equipment and advisers. Soviet advice to stabilise government in Afghanistan met with resistance and tensions between the two countries increased.
On 27 December 1979 700 KGB spetsnaz special forces troops dressed in Afghan uniforms stormed the Presidential Palace in Kabul, killing President Hafizullah Amin. On that day, Soviet ground forces also invaded from the north. It was intended that such action would end the factional struggles within the PDPA. However, the Afghans mounted a resistance movement which ultimately meant that the Soviet-Afghan war continued for ten years. The war did not end until Soviet troops finally withdrew from the area in February 1989.
World History
Tuesday, December 27, 1983. : Pope John Paul II visits the man who attempted to assassinate him almost two years earlier.
Pope John Paul II was elected to the papacy following the death of the popular “Smiling Pope”, Pope John Paul, after just 33 days in office. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland took the name of Pope John Paul II in deference to his predecessor. At just 58 years old, the new Pope became the youngest pope to be elected in the twentieth century.
A major theme of John Paul II’s papacy was his fight for freedom of religion in the Communist bloc and during his term as Pope, he was significant for his contribution to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. On 13 May 1981, the Pope was shot and seriously wounded while passing through St Peter’s Square in Rome in an open car. The Pope was rushed by ambulance to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he underwent surgery as the bullet had entered his abdomen, narrowly missing vital organs.
The would-be assassin was 23-year-old escaped Turkish murderer Mehmet Ali Agca. Bystanders quickly overcame Agca and detained him until police arrived. Four days later, the Pope offered forgiveness from his hospital bed. Agca was sentenced to life imprisonment. On 27 December 1983, Pope John Paul II personally visited his would-be assassin in a meeting that lasted 20 minutes. The Pope never revealed the nature of their discussion. He merely stated, “What we talked about will have to remain a secret between him and me. I spoke to him as a brother whom I have pardoned and who has my complete trust.”