Born on this day
Monday, May 12, 1924. : British comedian Tony Hancock is born.
Anthony John Hancock was born on 12 May 1924 in Birmingham, England. He was raised in Bournemouth where his mother and stepfather ran a small hotel, The Durlston Court, now renamed The Quality Hotel. In 1942 he joined the RAF Regiment, and after a failed audition for ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) ended up with The Ralph Reader Gang Show. Following the war he received regular radio work in shows such as Workers’ Playtime and Variety Bandbox. In 1951 he gained a part in Educating Archie, where he played the tutor and foil to a ventriloquist’s dummy. This brought him wider recognition and a catchphrase used frequently in the show; ‘flippin’ kids’. In 1954 he was given his own BBC radio show: Hancock’s Half Hour. Developing also into a television series, Hancock’s Half Hour lasted for five years and over a hundred episodes, featuring Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams, Moira Lister and Hattie Jacques.
Hancock was highly self-critical and doubted his own ability. He searched for meaning in the works of philosophers, classic novels and political books. In the later years of his career, his self-absorption led to self-destructiveness, most evident in his alcoholism. Hancock went to Australia in March 1968 and on 24 June 1968 he committed suicide in Sydney. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian’s Comedian, Hancock was voted the twelfth greatest comedian by fellow comics and comedy insiders.
Australian History
Monday, May 12, 1856. : A victory march is held in Victoria following the introduction of the eight hour working day.
Labour Day is a public holiday in all states and territories of Australia, although it is not celebrated on the same day in all states. Labour Day and May Day marches in Australia are commonly associated with the great Shearers’ Strike of 1891, but the history of Labour Day actually goes back to several decades earlier.
Through the mid to late 1800s, the working day for many Australian workers was very long, with some employees working up to 12 hours a day, six days a week. The Eureka Stockade of 1854 opened the way for the power of the people to change laws. On 21 April 1856, University of Melbourne stonemasons marched to Parliament House to protest in favour of an eight-hour working day. Negotiations were successful, and Victoria became the first state in Australia to welcome an eight-hour day. To celebrate, a victory march was held on 12 May 1856, and in subsequent years.
That same year, New South Wales also recognised the eight-hour day, followed by Queensland in 1858, South Australia in 1873 and Tasmania in 1874.
World History
Wednesday, May 12, 1937. : King George VI, father of Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, is crowned.
King George VI of England was born Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on 14 December 1895 at Sandringham, Norfolk, England. He was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria and the second son of King George V. He was born with the family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which became the British Royal Family’s name when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha in 1840. King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor during the First World War. Albert was created Duke of York in 1920. The Duke became King George VI when his elder brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated on 10 December 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. George VI was formally crowned on 12 May 1937, and reigned from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. He suffered a coronary thrombosis, a fatal blood clot in his heart. It was later revealed that he had also been suffering from lung cancer.
The King was survived by his wife Elizabeth, whom he married in 1923, and his two daughters, Princess Elizabeth, who then became Queen at the age of 25, and Princess Margaret, four years younger.
World History
Thursday, May 12, 1949. : The Soviet Union lifts its 11-month blockade on West Berlin.
The Berlin blockade was one of the first major crises of the Cold War. It began on 24 June 1948, when the Soviet Union blocked Western railroad and street access to West Berlin. The Western sectors of Berlin were also isolated from the city power grid, depriving the inhabitants of domestic and industrial electricity supplies. It was an attempt to stop the division of Germany into communist and free states. By forcing a land and water blockade of Berlin, the Soviet Union expected the Allies would abandon West Berlin.
On 25 June 1948 “Operation Vittles” commenced, to supply food and other necessary goods to the isolated West Berliners. This became known as the Berlin Airlift. The aircraft were supplied and flown by the United States, United Kingdom and France, but pilots and crew also came from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand in order to assist the supply of Berlin. Ultimately 278,228 flights were made, and 2,326,406 tons of food and supplies were delivered to Berlin. The Soviet Union lifted the blockade on 12 May 1949 (although theoretically, the blockade ended at 23:59 on 11 May 1949), but the airlift operation continued right through to September of that year. East and West Germany were established as separate republics that month.