Born on this day
Tuesday, October 25, 1881. : Spanish artist Pablo Picasso is born.
Pablo Picasso was born Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso on 25 October 1881 in Málaga, Spain. When he was born, he was thought to be still born. Stories abound about who saved the child, including his nurse, uncle and doctor. The doctor is said to have given the baby artificial respiration from his own cigar-smoke filled lungs, while his uncle is said to have revived him by blowing smoke into his face.
Regardless of whoever revived him, he became one of the recognised masters of 20th century art, and famous as the founder of Cubism, along with Georges Braque. At his death in 1973, his works included over 11000 drawings, 1800 paintings, 1355 sculptures, 2880 ceramics and 27000 other miscellaneous works.
Australian History
Tuesday, October 25, 1616. : Dutch sea-captain Dirk Hartog becomes the first European to set foot on Australia’s western coast, and leaves his inscription at Cape Inscription, Western Australia.
Over 150 years before English explorer James Cook (then Lieutenant Cook) ever sighted eastern Australia, the Dutch landed in the far north and on the Western coast. In 1616, Dutch sea-captain Dirk Hartog sailed too far whilst trying out Henderik Brouwer’s recently discovered route from the Cape of Good Hope to Batavia, via the Roaring Forties. Reaching the western coast of Australia, he landed on what is now known as Dirk Hartog Island, at Cape Inscription, on 25 October 1616. Here he left a pewter plate with an inscription recording his landing. The translation of the inscription reads: ‘1616. On 25th October there arrived here the ship Eendraght of Amsterdam. Supercargo Gilles Miebais of Liege; skipper Dirck Hatichs of Amsterdam. On 27th do. she set sail again for Bantam. Subcargo Jan Stins; upper steersman Pieter Doores of Bil. In the year 1616.’
In 1697, Dutch sailor Willem de Vlamingh reached “New Holland”, as it was then called, and removed Hartog’s pewter plate, replacing it with another plate. The original was returned to Holland where it still is kept in the Rijksmuseum. The original inscription was copied onto a new plate, and Vlamingh added new information which listed the sailors on his own voyage and read: ‘Our fleet set sail from here to continue exploring the Southern Land, on the way to Batavia.’
Australian History
Thursday, October 25, 1888. : The mutiny of the Navy ship “The Gayundah” takes place on the Brisbane River, Queensland.
From the time of the first European discoveries of the Australian continent, several countries remained curious enough to chart the coastline of the Great South Land. French and Dutch interests were offset by British colonisation, but by the 1880s, there were increased concerns about the presence of Russian activity in the Pacific. The British had begun to withdraw their military presence in preceding decades, so each colonial government became responsible for its own defence force. In Queensland, Fort Lytton was constructed at the mouth of the Brisbane River in 1881. Three years later, the Queensland Maritime Defence Force acquired a torpedo boat, the HMQS Mosquito, and two British gunboats, the HMQS Gayundah and the Paluma, named for aboriginal words meaning ‘lightning’ and ‘thunder’ respectively.
The HMQS Gayundah departed Newcastle-On-Tyne in November 1884 and arrived in Brisbane in March 1885, under the command of ex-Royal Navy Captain Henry Townley Wright. Within a few months, it became evident that the Russian threat was minimal, so the ship entered the Brisbane River and anchored near Kangaroo Point, opposite the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. During the ensuing years, Captain Wright’s conduct deteriorated as he criticised the colonial navy and began appropriating government stores and alcohol for himself. In 1887, attempts by the government to remove Wright were unsuccessful, and he was retained for another year under the proviso that he did not have authority to order stores to be brought on board.
In September 1888, Wright applied for leave of absence, requesting that he be paid the remainder of his salary until the conclusion of his commission as a lump sum. Whilst leave was granted, Wright was still to be paid only monthly, which created problems as he had racked up considerable debts. On 25 October 1888, Wright refused orders to turn over command to First Lieutenant Francis Taylor, had his crew arrest Taylor for mutiny, and indicated his intentions to take the ship to Sydney. Queensland police, led by Police Commissioner David Thompson Seymour, boarded the vessel to take control by force, if necessary. Wright then asked his gunner where the Gayundah’s aft 6-inch gun should be aimed in order to hit the Queensland Parliament building. Wright was escorted to shore by the police.
The Gayundah became part of the Commonwealth Naval Forces in 1901 and, two years later, transmitted the first wireless message received from a ship at sea to an Australian wireless station. Upon formation of the Royal Australian Navy in 1911, the Gayundah was redesignated HMAS Gayundah, and was put into service patrolling Australia’s water borders along the north-west coast of the continent. The vessel was decommissioned in 1921, becoming a gravel carrier for private company Brisbane Gravel Pty Ltd. In the 1950s, she was sold for scrap, although her hull was later sold to Redcliffe Town Council. In 1958, the Gayundah was beached as a breakwater near the cliffs at Woody Point, Redcliffe, where she remains as a rusty skeleton.
Australian History
Tuesday, October 25, 2016. : A tragic accident at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast results in the loss of four lives.
Dreamworld is a theme park located at Coomera on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Opened in 1981 and currently Australia’s largest theme park, it features over 40 different rides and attractions. The first rides and attractions consisted of the Imax Theatre, Rocky Hollow, Log Ride, Captain Sturt Paddle Wheeler and the Cannon Ball Express. In 1986, Gold Rush Country opened. Among the rides in the new attraction was the Thunder River Rapids Ride, which featured circular rafts which travelled through a cave and a section of rapids. This became one of the park’s most popular rides.
On 25 October 2016, one of the two large water pumps which supplied the water for the ride malfunctioned, causing the water level to suddenly drop. One raft was left stranded on rails just before the ride brought the rafts back to the station on a conveyor belt. Shortly after this, a second raft crashed into the first, flipping the first raft into a vertical position on the mechanism of the conveyor belt. Four adults were killed, crushed by the machinery, while two children managed to climb out without serious injury.
The theme park was immediately shut down while investigations continued, remaining closed for almost two months. The Thunder River Rapids Ride was decommissioned immediately and demolished almost a year and a half after the accident. In July 2020 the owner of Dreamworld, Ardent Leisure, was charged with safety breaches and fined $4.5m.
World History
Thursday, October 25, 1984. : Famine in Ethiopia becomes critical, prompting the EEC to donate £1.8 million for emergency aid.
Ethiopia is a country situated in Eastern Africa, and bordered by Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti. The economy of Ethiopia is based on agriculture, yet it is often subject to droughts, the effects of which are exacerbated by overpopulation, and insecurity around the Eritrean border, which has prevented relief supplies from reaching their intended targets.
In 1984 the country was hit by intense famine, affecting eight million people, and causing the death of about one million. On 25 October 1984, the European Economic Community donated £1.8 million to alleviate the famine. Although it ordered the immediate shipment of 5,000 tons of food, with more to follow, 1,000 tons of food a day from other aid agencies were already being handled. Initially confined to the north, by 1986 the famine had spread to parts of the southern highlands, with an estimated 5.8 million people dependent on relief food. Locust plagues in 1986 also exacerbated the food shortage. Many Ethiopians today continue to rely on food aid from overseas.