Australian History
Friday, May 5, 1865. : Australian bushranger Ben Hall is shot dead by police.
Ben Hall was born on 29 April or 9 May 1837 in Maitland, in the Hunter Valley of NSW. Both his parents had been convicted for minor stealing offences and transported to New South Wales, where they met and married, moving to the Hunter Valley after receiving their tickets of leave. As an adult, Hall became a successful grazier, and it is unknown why he turned to bushranging. However, after being falsely accused and arrested for robbery, then acquitted, he returned to his property to find his stock missing. This may have engendered disillusionment with the ‘straight’ life.
Hall teamed up with bushranger Frank Gardiner in 1862. On 15 June 1862 Gardiner led a gang of ten, including Hall, to rob the gold escort coach near Eugowra of more than 14000 pounds in gold and banknotes. In another incident, Hall and his gang bailed up Robinson’s Hotel in Canowindra and held all the people of the town captive for three days. The prisoners were well treated and entertained, though the local constabulary was locked in his own cell. When the prisoners were freed the gang paid the hotelier and gave the townspeople “expenses”, thereby achieving the gang’s aim of ingratiating themselves in the public eye whilst lampooning the police.
Hall’s bushranging career soured after the gang killed a police sergeant during a robbery, and he was declared an outlaw. Michael Connolly, who had previously given Hall assistance and protection, betrayed him to the police for a substantial reward. At dawn on 5 May 1865, Ben Hall was ambushed and shot by eight police. He was buried in the NSW town of Forbes.
Australian History
Saturday, May 5, 1894. : The Australian slang term ‘fair dinkum’ appears in print for the first time.
“Fair dinkum” is an Australian slang term meaning honest, genuine or real. The derivation dinky-di means a native-born Australian or “the real thing”. The word “dinkum” had appeared by itself in print, in the novel “Robbery Under Arms” by Australian writer Rolf Boldrewood, when it was published in 1888. However, the term “fair dinkum”, giving the term an extra quality of incredulity, appeared in print for the first time in the magazine ‘The Bulletin’ on 5 May 1894. The Bulletin was immensely influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I.
It has been suggested that the word dinkum was a dialect word from Lincolnshire and Derbyshire in England, where it meant “hard work” or “fair work”; this was also the original meaning in Australian English.
World History
Monday, May 5, 1941. : Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who was ousted when Italian forces invaded his country, returns to Ethiopia.
In 1934, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was still one of the few independent states in a European-dominated Africa. Countries such as Britain and France had conquered smaller nations in the “Scramble for Africa” the previous century. In 1896, Italy had attempted to expand in eastern Africa by adding Abyssinia to her conquests (which included Eritrea and Somaliland), but the Italians were heavily defeated by the Abyssinians at the Battle of Adowa. Italy bided her time.
In 1928, Italy signed a treaty of friendship with Abyssinian leader Haile Selassie, but Italy was already secretly planning to invade the African nation. In December 1934, a dispute at the Wal Wal oasis along the border between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland gave Italian dictator Benito Mussolini an excuse to respond with aggression. Italian troops stationed in Somaliland and Eritrea were instructed to attack Abyssinia. Overwhelmed by the use of tanks and mustard gas, the Abyssinians stood little chance. The capital, Addis Ababa, fell in May 1936 and Haile Selassie was removed from the throne and replaced by the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel.
Selassie’s request for European help was largely ignored. It was not until World War II and the defeat of Italy, that he was returned to power. He returned to Addis Ababa from exile in Britain on 5 May 1941, after Ethiopia was liberated by British forces.
World History
Saturday, May 5, 1945. : Six people are killed in the only deaths caused by Japanese bombs on the American mainland in World War II.
The bombing attack by the Japanese on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 is one of the best-known and most tragic incidents in World War II. What is less known are the Japanese attempts to bomb the North American mainland using fire balloons, and the success of one such weapon.
The fire balloon, or Fu-Go, was a weapon developed by Japan during the Second World War, which made use of a hydrogen balloon carrying a bomb and incendiary devices. Around 9300 fire balloons were launched by Japan between November 1944 and April 1945, with the intention of them being carried east by the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean to Canada and mainland USA. Around 340 of these made their way to North America, with some of them causing minor damage: only one of them caused any deaths.
On 5 May 1945, Sunday School teacher Elyse Mitchell, who was pregnant, her Minister husband and five of her young teenage students were on their way to a picnic, driving along a mountainous road near Klamath Falls in eastern Oregon. They stopped when Mrs Mitchell felt sick, and she and the students walked some distance from the car. A short time later, just as Mrs Mitchell called her husband to see what the group had found, there was a tremendous explosion. All six in the group were killed.
This was the only incident of Japanese bombing on the American mainland which resulted in casualties. These were also the only combat deaths from any cause on the US mainland to date.
Australian Explorers
Thursday, May 6, 1875. : Giles departs on his final expedition, crossing the western deserts twice.
Ernest Giles emigrated to Australia in 1850 and was employed at various cattle and sheep stations, allowing him to develop good bush skills. He made several expeditions in the Australian desert. The first, lasting four months, commenced in August 1872 and resulted in discoveries such as Palm Valley, Gosse’s Bluff, Lake Amadeus, and the first sighting of Mount Olga.
Giles’s next expedition departed in August 1873. On this expedition, Giles was able to approach closer to the Olgas, but his attempts to continue further west were thwarted by interminable sand, dust, biting ants, Aboriginal attack and lack of water. The loss of one of Giles’s companions, Gibson, in April 1874 ended this second expedition, and the party arrived back at Charlotte Waters in July.
Giles was determined to explore the unknown country south of where Warburton and Forrest had explored, reaching Perth in the attempt. On 13 March 1875, Giles departed from Fowlers Bay, heading north first before crossing the western deserts. Although a short expedition, it was a difficult one, initially marked by severe water shortages until the discovery of permanent water holes.
Giles’s fourth expedition departed from the homestead of his sponsor Thomas Elder at Beltana on 6 May 1875. On this journey, Giles was supplied with camels. From Ooldea on the north-eastern edge of the Nullarbor Plain, he travelled west through the Great Victoria Desert, reaching Perth with no loss of life among his party. He then promptly turned around, re-crossing the desert back to the Overland Telegraph Line. Although he did not find good land, his main claim to fame was being the first to make the main western crossing from both directions.
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