Anniversaries for 6th December - my pick.
Of late, a few people I know have been doing memes that are designed to make them write diary/journal/blog entries more frequently.
So I figured I'd join in, but with my own. Every day, I'm going to pull up the Wikipedia page for that day of the month and pick what I think are the best and worst thing on the list.
December 6th
There's some strong competition for the best thing to happen on the 6th December.
In 1768, the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica was published. To expand people's knowledge is a good thing, surely.
In 1897 London licensed taxicabs. This is remarkably provincial of me as a Londoner, but I also think that this is an example of regulation improving service - London wouldn't be the same without black cabs and their driver's knowledge.
But really, the highlight of today has to be from 1865 - Georgia ratified the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal in the USA. It was an important step the long (and continuing) road to equality, and I think it's easily the best anniversary of the day.
A neutral item of note - the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in London today in 1921, providing the framework for an independent Ireland. Sadly, this is neutral because it's done as much harm as good, simply because extremists couldn't accept the compromise.
There are plenty of commiserations for today, sadly.
On 6th December 1941 the UK declared war on Finland, as a political expedient to keep Russia as an ally.
Two IRA actions began or occurred on this day - a hostage taking which thankfully ended with no bloodshed, and a disco bombing that resulted in 17 dead and over 30 seriously injured.
The Yugoslavian National Army shelled the city of Dubrovnik, resulting in 19 dead and 60 wounded.
A very strong candidate for the lowlight was the Halifax explosion, with 1,950 dead and 9,000 injured. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever, and a tragedy of the first world war which has sadly become forgotten with time.
But the lowlight of today's horrors has to be the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in India. This sparked months of rioting between Hindu and Muslim, which are ultimately reckoned to have claimed over 1,500 lives. That certainly gave me pause, and if I could magically remove one thing from the list today then that (and its causes and effects) would be it.
Why choose the demolition of the Babri Masjid as the lowlight rather than the Halifax explosion? Especially when more died or were injured in the Halifax explosion?
Well, the explosion was an accident in a war. A truly awful thing, but it had no malice behind it. Whereas the demolition of the Babri Masjid set off a chain of events in which people intended to harm others simply because they had a difference of belief. There was more malice, more ignorance, more hatred and more to lament in the whole sorry story of this demolition and the reactions to it than in the accidental explosion.
Hmmm.
Maybe I should do these the other way around tomorrow, so as not to end on a downbeat note...
So I figured I'd join in, but with my own. Every day, I'm going to pull up the Wikipedia page for that day of the month and pick what I think are the best and worst thing on the list.
December 6th
There's some strong competition for the best thing to happen on the 6th December.
In 1768, the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica was published. To expand people's knowledge is a good thing, surely.
In 1897 London licensed taxicabs. This is remarkably provincial of me as a Londoner, but I also think that this is an example of regulation improving service - London wouldn't be the same without black cabs and their driver's knowledge.
But really, the highlight of today has to be from 1865 - Georgia ratified the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal in the USA. It was an important step the long (and continuing) road to equality, and I think it's easily the best anniversary of the day.
A neutral item of note - the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in London today in 1921, providing the framework for an independent Ireland. Sadly, this is neutral because it's done as much harm as good, simply because extremists couldn't accept the compromise.
There are plenty of commiserations for today, sadly.
On 6th December 1941 the UK declared war on Finland, as a political expedient to keep Russia as an ally.
Two IRA actions began or occurred on this day - a hostage taking which thankfully ended with no bloodshed, and a disco bombing that resulted in 17 dead and over 30 seriously injured.
The Yugoslavian National Army shelled the city of Dubrovnik, resulting in 19 dead and 60 wounded.
A very strong candidate for the lowlight was the Halifax explosion, with 1,950 dead and 9,000 injured. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever, and a tragedy of the first world war which has sadly become forgotten with time.
But the lowlight of today's horrors has to be the demolition of the Babri Masjid mosque in India. This sparked months of rioting between Hindu and Muslim, which are ultimately reckoned to have claimed over 1,500 lives. That certainly gave me pause, and if I could magically remove one thing from the list today then that (and its causes and effects) would be it.
Why choose the demolition of the Babri Masjid as the lowlight rather than the Halifax explosion? Especially when more died or were injured in the Halifax explosion?
Well, the explosion was an accident in a war. A truly awful thing, but it had no malice behind it. Whereas the demolition of the Babri Masjid set off a chain of events in which people intended to harm others simply because they had a difference of belief. There was more malice, more ignorance, more hatred and more to lament in the whole sorry story of this demolition and the reactions to it than in the accidental explosion.
Hmmm.
Maybe I should do these the other way around tomorrow, so as not to end on a downbeat note...