Born on this day
Wednesday, October 15, 1924. : Actor Mark Lenard, best known as Spock’s father, Sarek, in Star Trek, is born.
Mark Lenard was born Leonard Rosenson in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 15 October 1924. Lenard was best known as the actor who played Vulcan Spock’s father, Sarek, in Star Trek: The Original Series and later in Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as several of the Star trek movies. However, he also played the first Romulan seen on the show and the first Klingon with a ridged forehead.
Lenard was not restricted to Star trek roles. He was in the television series “Gunsmoke”, and early episodes of “Mission: Impossible”. He appeared in the TV series “Here Come the Brides” as character Aaron Stempel, Urko in the television series version of “Planet of the Apes” and played the part of Charles Ingalls’s older brother in one episode of “Little House on the Prairie”.
Lenard died of multiple myeloma, a type of bone marrow cancer, on 22 November 1996.
Australian History
Thursday, October 15, 1953. : Britain conducts the first atomic test on the Australian mainland.
Australia’s remoteness made it a choice for Britain to conduct testing of its atomic weapons in the 1950s. In October of 1952, the Montebello islands, off north-west Western Australia, became the site for testing of the first British atomic bomb. “Operation Hurricane” was conducted 350 metres off the coast of Trimouille Island for the purpose of testing the effects of a bomb smuggled inside a ship.
One year later, on 15 October 1953, Britain conducted its first atomic test on the Australian mainland. Named Operation Totem, the test of a 10 kiloton atomic bomb was held at Emu Field, in the Great Victoria Desert of South Australia. The first test was followed by Totem 2, testing of an 8 kiloton bomb, at the same site, less than two weeks later, on 27 October. Further tests of nuclear weapons at the site were not undertaken, as it was considered too remote an area. Further atomic tests were conducted elsewhere, at Maralinga in 1956.
Later, it was discovered that the radioactive cloud from the first detonation did not disperse as it was expected to do, but instead travelled north-east over the Australian continent. An obelisk still stands at the site, warning that “Radiation levels for a few hundred metres around this point may be above those considered safe for permanent occupation”.
Australian History
Thursday, October 15, 1970. : 35 construction workers are killed when a span of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses.
The West Gate Bridge, completed in 1978, spans the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its design is cable-stayed, consisting of several pillars, with cables supporting the roadbed. Situated just north of the river mouth, the bridge links the inner city and Melbourne’s eastern suburbs with the western industrial suburbs and the main highway to the city of Geelong.
Two years after construction on the bridge commenced, it was necessary to fix a height discrepancy. It was proposed that the higher side of the bridge be weighted down with 8 x 10 tonne concrete blocks. However, due to structural weakness, the bridge would not support the weight of the blocks. On 15 October 1970 one of the spans collapsed, falling 50m below. 35 construction workers were killed. A Royal Commission attributed the collapse of the bridge to two causes; the structural design by designers Freeman Fox and Partners, and an unusual method of erection by World Services and Construction, the original contractors of the project.
The incident had considerable implications for Australia’s workplace safety laws. After the accident, workers were given greater input into workplace safety committees, gaining the right to question the wisdom and action of their supervisors regarding potentially dangerous practices in the workplace.
World History
Wednesday, October 15, 1997. : The Cassini space orbiter, the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn, is launched.
The Cassini space orbiter was part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, a collaborative NASA/ESA/ASI unmanned space mission for the purpose of studying Saturn and its moons. It was launched on 15 October 1997, from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA. It was comprised of two parts, the Cassini orbiter, which was intended to remain in orbit around Saturn and its moons, and the Huygens probe, supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft entered orbit around Saturn on July 1, 2004, and six months later, on 25 December 2004, the probe separated from the orbiter. From there, it travelled to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons, descending to the surface on 14 January 2005. Once on the surface, it began collecting and relaying scientific data.
Since the launch of the mission, three new moons have been discovered by Cassini whilst in orbit: Methone, Pallene and the third with the designation of S/2005 S 1.
World History
Wednesday, October 15, 2003. : China becomes the third nation to launch a manned space mission.
Shenzou 5 was the first manned space mission to be launched by the People’s Republic of China. It was preceded by four unmanned Shenzou missions in the previous four years. Shenzou 5 was launched from a base in the Gobi Desert on a Long March CZ-2F rocket booster on 15 October 2003, and carried Lieutenant Colonel Yang Liwei. Previously, the Soviet Union and the United States had been the only nations to launch manned missions into space. The mission completed 14 Earth orbits during a flight which lasted 21 hours. It ended with a parachute-assisted landing in Inner Mongolia in northern China.
New Zealand History
Sunday, October 15, 1769. : Lieutenant James Cook names ‘Kidnapper’s Bay’ in New Zealand after Māori attempt to kidnap a servant.
James Cook, born on 27 October 1728, in Yorkshire, England, was a British explorer and navigator. He entered the navy as an able seaman in 1755 and earned several promotions, finally being given command of the Endeavour. In 1768, Cook set out to travel to the Pacific Ocean to Tahiti to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun. In Tahiti, Cook established friendly relations with the natives, and was joined on his voyage by a Tahitian chief named Tupaia, who wanted to travel, together with his boy-servant Tayeto.
On his way to search the south Pacific for the great southern continent that many believed must extend around the southern pole, Cook came across New Zealand, which Abel Tasman had discovered in 1642. On 15 October 1769, as the Endeavour was off the coast of the North Island, a group of Māori in a canoe came alongside the Endeavour, and negotiated a trade of fresh fish. As Tayeto made his way to the canoe to accept the fish, he was grabbed by the Māori, who paddled off at top speed with the servant boy. Cook’s crew fired on the canoe, killing one Māori. Tayeto leapt overboard and was picked up by the Endeavour. Because of this event, Cook named the area Kidnapper’s Bay.