Independence Day, Chad (1960)

De Hostos's Birthday, Puerto Rico (1839)

Meitlisunntig Festival, Switzerland; Woman in Villmergen War (1712) ( Sunday closest)

Prithvi Jayanti (National Unity Day), Nepal

Republic Day, Albania (1946)

Kagami-Biraki (Rice Cakes Festival), Japan

Independence Resistance Day, Morocco

1503 Francesco Mazzuoli Parmigiano, Italian painter

1755 or 1757 Alexander Hamilton (d. July 12, 1804), American politician, statesman, journalist, lawyer, and soldier, killed by Aaron Burr in a duel

Hamilton and the Levi Weeks case

1807 Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University, New York 

1815 Sir John Alexander, first prime minister of Canada

1839 Eugenio María de Hostos (El Ciudadano de las Americas [The Citizen of the Americas]; d. August 11, 1903), Puerto Rican educator, philosopher and independence advocate

1842 William James, US philosopher. He said that a woman asked him once why he did not believe in orthodox Christianity: "I believe what I can. I would believe it all if I could."

"By the end of his life, James had become world-famous as a philosopher and psychologist. In both fields, he functioned more as an originator of new thought than as a founder of dogmatic schools. His pragmatic philosophy was further developed by the American philosopher John Dewey and others; later studies in physics by Albert Einstein made the theories of interrelations advanced by James appear prophetic."   Source

The Philosophy of William James

1866 Richard Denis Meagher (d. September 17, 1931), notorious lawyer and politician in New South Wales, Australia, and Lord Mayor of Sydney, 1916-17. He became Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Meagher was a law partner with the equally outrageous Paddy Crick (William Patrick Crick).

Meagher once (about 1898) fought a duel with John Norton, the notorious fellow politician and reprobate editor of Truth, outside the 137 King Street tea rooms of prominent and respect Sydney identity Quong Tart, after Norton attacked Meagher in his newspaper. Meagher ambushed Norton and flogged him from behind with a horsewhip. Norton cried out in pain, chased Meagher around the corner into Pitt Street and, at the entrance to the Imperial Arcade, took cover behind a lamp post, took out a revolver and fired several shots. No one was injured, though Norton's pride might have been as he was fined five pounds for discharging a firearm in a public place.

The following exchange between Meagher and Norton took place at the Central Police Court before a magistrate:

Norton (roaring with laughter): You brothel-kept assassin.
Meagher: You –– hound. You ought to be made to crawl out on your hands and knees.
Norton: I never got my living in a brothel.
Meagher: You scaly scurvy contemptible viper.
Norton: I never kept the door of a brothel or pulled the corks.
Meagher: I will deal with you presently. I have something here (waving a sheet of foolscap). I'll show you up, you hound. (Great excitement).
Norton: You skunk. You show me up!
Meagher: You're a skunk. You're just as sick in body as you are in mind. (Hisses).
Norton: Here's Mr. Levien ready to state the truth and bowl you out in more damnable lies, you triple-tongued liar.
Meagher: I've something here (holding up foolscap) for you, you skunk, you scaly scrofulous bit of carrion, you can't grow eyebrows, you wretched creature. (Sensation, and people crowd the legal table).
Norton: Ha! Ha! Ha! Look at the Dean perjurer and assassin, the triple-tongued liar, look at his receding forehead – the champion criminal.
Meagher: (inaudible). (The audience exhibits great impatience).
Norton: Look at his prognathous jaw, his criminal lower lip, his retreating chin and gorilla mind, ha! ha! ha!
Meagher: What about the case in Newtown. I have it here. The girl's name is ––
Norton: You vile perjurer; you can't bluff me.
Meagher: And you can't bluff me, you –– bit of carrion.
Norton: You're a beautiful bludger from a brothel to brag about dignity and decency.

(Pearl, 1958)

Meagher was one of Cyril Pearl's celebrated 'Wild Men of Sydney' (Pearl, Cyril, Wild Men of Sydney, Universal Books, Melbourne, 1958).

"... Richard Denis Meagher, a solicitor who continued to hold his seat long after he had been struck off the rolls for malpractice. Meagher in fact rose to the Speakership ... Norton, Crick and Meagher rampaged through Parliament in a crazy troika, sometimes entertaining the gallery, all too often disgusting those of their fellow members who still sought decorum and dignity in the legislature. Their noisome progress was charted by John Norton himself, for like the worst kind of sensation seeking journalist nothing was alien to the columns of Truth." Source: Travers, Robert, Australian Mandarin: The life and times of Quong Tart, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, NSW, Australia, 1981

Parliamentary Service

Qualifications, occupations and interests

"Lawyer (solicitor). Educated at St Stanislaus College at Bathurst and St Aloysius College at Sydney and University of Sydney. Articled to J.A.B Cahill in 1883. Assigned to W.P Crick in 1887; Admitted as a solicitor in 1889; in partnership with Crick from 1892; became a land agent and was readmitted to practise as a solicitor after being struck off. Trustee of Public Library of New South Wales from 1916 until 1931; Director of Prince Alfred Hospital from 1916 until 1918; Member of Metropolitan Water Board from 1906 until 1910; active in charitable and war work. Assistant Secretary to the Paddington Protection League and delegate to National Protection Convention in Sydney, 1897. Member of Universal Service League 1915. Visited United States of America in 1924.

Honours Received
"Knight Commander of St Gregory (Papal Knight).

Local Government Activity
"Alderman of the Sydney City Council for Phillip Ward, 14 October 1901 - 1 December 1918; and for Flinders Ward 2 December 1918 - 30 November 1921. Member of the Parliamentary and By-Laws Committee 1903; the Health and By-Laws Committee 1902, 1904 - 1905, 1907 - 1912 and 1919 - 1921; the Electric Lighting Committee 1902, 1905 - 1906, 1909 - 1915 and 1918 - 1920; the Staff and Labour Committee 1902 - 1903; the Finance Committee 1902 - 1903, 1903 - 1912 and 1914 - 1915; the Works Committee 1902, 1904 - 1912 and 1919 - 1921; the Fruit and Vegetable Markets Committee 1907; the Street Signs Committee 1908; the Queen Victoria Market Building Committee 1910 - 1911; and the Electricity Supply Committee 1921. Lord Mayor 1916 - 1917 (first Labor Lord Mayor).

Additional Information
"Richard Meagher was born on 11 January 1866 at Bathurst in New South Wales. He married Alice Osmond on 28 January 1891; they had no children. Elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Sydney-Phillip in July 1895, he resigned in October when he was charged with conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice for the manner in which he handled the murder trial of George Dean. His conviction was quashed but he was struck off the Roll of Solicitors in 1896. In the 1898 General Elections he stood for and won the seat of the Tweed, holding it until it was abolished in 1904. He then became the Member for Phillip between 1907 until his defeat in 1917. He was Chairman of Committees between 1910 and 1913 and was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in 1913. He took an avid interest in the local community, fulfilling his civic duties as an alderman on the Sydney City Council between 1901 and 1920. In 1916 he became the first Labor Lord Mayor of Sydney. As an alderman, Meagher campaigned for the demolition of the inner city slum areas and was responsible for the construction of better housing for workers. An academically accomplished man, Meagher possessed a flamboyant manner of speaking, using classical references to colour his speech. Considered an authority on procedural traditions and the Standing Orders, his decisions were regarded highly and later Speakers quoted from them frequently. He was appointed a Member of the Legislative Council in 1917, but resigned in 1920 to contest Sydney at the General Election. He lost but polled well. After being re-admitted as a solicitor by a special Act of Parliament in 1920 he established the law firm of Meagher, Sproule and Co. He died on 17 September 1931 at Lewisham, Sydney."   Source: NSW Parliament

"To be smashed at all times was considered a badge of honour in the 1890s. When a Presbyterian MP lamented that 'Parliament contained some notorious drunken blackguards and licentious brutes' he drew a swift response from one William Crick, MP [qv – PW], who bragged that he had been 'a confirmed boozer' since the age of 16.

"'It may be,' he bellowed, 'that the honourable member for Newtown – a human mullet – has poured into his carcass as much grog as would make any other man drunk. But it may be that he has not the necessary mental structure to be affected by alcohol. But suppose that he never did taste strong drink – and he looks foolish enough never to have done so. What great virtue is there in that?'

"Adolphus George Taylor [qv – PW], member for Mudgee, was suspended by Toby Tosspot [common nickname of Sir Edmund Barton, first Prime Minister of Australia – PW] for claiming that no fewer than 35 members of the House were sloshed at one sitting. Soon afterwards he was again suspended for drunkenly alleging that the government was voting £100,000 for the NSW military simply to create a branch of the public service wherein to park 'incapable loafers who had not brains enough to be put even in the Department of Lands'.

"He wasn't expelled for being drunk but for 'persistently and wilfully obstructing the business of the House'.

"Fisticuffs in and around the chamber were commonplace, and the source of a great deal of public amusement. But it was Norton [John Norton – PW], member for Fitzroy – a blackmailing drunkard who made a fortune raking muck in his Truth newspaper – who best embodied the spirit, and the spirits, of the time.

"Having occupied his seat in the House for only three weeks, in a state of near-constant intoxication, he capped off the last evening of the session by relieving himself on the floor of the Legislative Assembly.

"This was considered a bit much even in those days – he was dragged screaming from the House, smashing a glass door on the way out, but the self-appointed 'champion of the people' suffered no electoral harm. He was easily re-elected at the general election soon after."   Source

Richard Meagher, Paddy Crick, Justice Sir William Windeyer and the Lemon Syrup Case

Lawson & Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson    More

1885 Alice Paul, American strategist for the militant wing of the suffrage movement and author of the Equal Rights Amendment, also known as the Lucretia Mott amendment. The National Women's Party proposed the amendment in 1923 as a means of ending discrimination on the basis of gender. The ERA passed both houses of Congress fifty years later when a new generation of feminists took up the cause. However, three-fourths of the states failed to ratify the amendment by the 1982 deadline.

1885 John Curtin, Australia's 11^th Prime Minister

1887 Aldo Leopold (d. April 21, 1948) American naturalist and author (A Sand County Almanac), a major influence on conservation worldwide and often credited as the founding father of wildlife ecology

Excepts from Leopold's writings    More

1903 Alan Paton (d. 1988), South African author. Founder and president of the Liberal Party (1953 - '68), which opposed apartheid and offered a non-racial alternative. The party was outlawed in 1968.

1906 Albert Hofmann (d. April 29, 2008), Swiss chemist; best known for his discovery of the psychic effects of the hallucinogen and psychedelic entheogen, LSD, on April 16, 1943, while examining the pharmaceutical qualities of Ergot derivatives.

In October 2006, the centenarian was named one of the Daily Telegraph's '100 Living Geniuses'.

See Bicycle Day, April 19. 'The Bicycle Ride' on that page is a whimsical depiction of Dr Albert Hofmann's discovery of LSD

Psychedelic image of Hofmann

1926 Sidney Baillieu Myer, Melbourne businessman, deputy chairman of the Myer chain of department stores and Coles-Myer Ltd. Son of Sidney Baerski Myer.

Phew!! Have a rest before the big This day in history section

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January

6 Orthodox Christmas
7 Nordic Festival (Montana, USA)
8 Bubble Bath Day
8 Secret Pal Day
8 Elvis "The King's" Birthday
8 Eat Something Raw Day
8 Postal Day
9 Clean Off Your Desk Day
9 Dance Day
9 Coming-Of-Age Day
9 Stepfathers' Day
9 Apricot Day
11 Thank You Cards
11 Make Your Dreams Come True Day
11 Step In A Puddle And Splash Your Friend Day
11 Tattoo Pride Day
12 Roller Skating Day
12 Make Your Mark Day
12 Rubber Band Veteran Day
12 Family Communications Day
12 Pharmacists' Day
13 Accordion Day
13 Door-To-Door Salespeople Day
13 Blame Someone Else Day
14 Makar Sankranti
14 Pongal
14 Dress Up Your Pet Day
14 Assembly Line Worker's Day
14 Oatmeal Festival (Colorado, USA)
15 Strawberry Ice Cream Day
15 World Religion Day
Mid-Jan Martin Luther King, Jr Day, USA
16 Nothing Day
Mid-Jan Robert E Lee Day (Alabama, USA)
16 Appreciate a Dragon Day
16 Elementary School Teachers Day
17 Ditch Your New Year's Resolution Day
17 St Anthony's Day
17 Ben Franklin Day
18 Thesaurus Day
18 Metric System Day
19 Whisper "I Love You" Day
19 Popcorn Day
19 Penguin Awareness Day
19 Brew A Potion Day

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69 CE Servius Sulpicius Galba (Roman Emperor from June 68 CE to January 15, 69), aged 71, was murdered in the Forum in 69 CE. Otho acceded to the empire the same day. Galba was born on December 24, 3 BCE.

314 Death of St Miltiades, pope.

532 Nika riots in Constantinople.

705 Death of Pope John VI.

1055 Death of Constantine IX Monomachos (b. c. 1000), emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

1158 Vladislav II became King of Bohemia.

1569 The first state lottery was held in England.

England's first lottery
Held at the west door of St Paul's Cathedral, England's first lottery continued day and night until May 6. Forty thousand lots or shares were sold at ten shillings each; the object was to raise funds for the reparation of harbours and other public works.

Lotteries were known in Italy before this. They continued to be used by the English government as a source of revenue until 1826, except for a short time during reign of Queen Anne.

1571 Austrian nobility was granted freedom of religion.

1693 Eruption of Mt Etna, Sicily.

1759 In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first American life insurance company was incorporated.

1770 The first shipment of rhubarb was sent to the United States from London. Benjamin Franklin sent the plant to a friend, John Bartram in Philadelphia.

 

 

1783 London's River Thames froze over and a 'Frost Fair' was held on the frozen river. It has been said that 3,000,000 people attended. Frost fairs, like the unusual weather patterns that allowed them, were a rare occurrence in London, but history records the few times they happened. 

Between 1550 and 1850, Britons endured what may be called the 'Little Ice Age', as the world was then about one degree cooler than the average for the 20^th Century. The River Thames froze over 14 times in this period, becoming the location for Frost Fair festivities. Fairs were held in 1564, 1608, 1634, 1715, 1739, 1789, and the last in 1814. In 1715 - '16, the Thames froze so solid that a spring tide lifted the ice 13 feet (about 4 metres) without interrupting the fair.

The Public Advertiser declared on January 5, 1789: "This booth to let, the present possessor of the premises is Mr Frost. His affairs, however, not being on a permanent footing, a dissolution or bankruptcy may soon be expected and a final settlement of the whole entrusted to Mr Thaw."

One fair in the winter of 1683-'84 was immortalized in a number of contemporary etchings and paintings, and there are pictorial records of other Frost Fairs. Sadly (though not for those who earned their living by navigation), the replacement of the old London Bridge in 1831 meant that the Thames flowed faster and no longer froze sufficiently to enable these huge public events. Rising temperatures, too, helped put an end to the practice by 1814.

"1783-84 The frost lasted eighty-nine days. It commenced in December, continued through January and February, and in March there was snow, and cold cutting winds. We gather from the Gentleman's Magazine that it was general. In the February number it is reported: 'From different parts of the country we have accounts of more persons having been found dead in the roads, and others
dug out of the snow, than ever was known in any one year in the memory of man.' On January 6th, 'Thames not quite frozen over, but navigation stopped by ice.' The frost from the 10th to 20th February was extremely severe. The Thames frozen and traffic crossed in several places.

"On the fifth bell of Tadcaster peal is recorded: 'It is remarkable that these bells were moulded in the great frost, 1783. C. and R. Dalton, Founders, York.'

"1784 In the Gentleman's Magazine for February the following appears: 'From 10th December, 1783, to this day it has been 63 days' frost ; of these it snowed nineteen, and twelve days' thaw, whereof it rained nine. Had the frost continued at 13 degrees as on the 31st December during the night, it would have frozen over the Thames in twenty-four hours.'"
William Andrews, Famous Frosts and Frost Fairs in Great Britain: Chronicled from the Earliest to the Present Time, London, 1887

Search other frost fairs in the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days

Frost Fair of 1739-40    More

 

1787 German-born English astronomer and composer William Herschel discovered Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus.

1804 The Sussex Examiner reported that English poet and mystic William Blake was tried on charges of sedition for having insulted one of the King's soldiers and having said "Damn the king and damn his soldiers".

1843 Death of Francis Scott Key (b. 1779), American lawyer who composed 'The Star-Spangled Banner'.