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God bless you.
Last words of Edmund Burke, English political writer, who died on July 9, 1797

I have no language to express the emotions of my heart. The shock is so sudden and unexpected; I am overwhelmed.
Millard Fillmore, American president, on his hearing of the death of President Zachary Taylor, who died on July 9, 1850

Stationary waves in the earth mean something more than mere telegraphy without wires to any distance. They will enable us to attain many important specific results impossible otherwise. For instance, by their use we may produce at will, from a sending-station, an electrical effect in any particular region of the globe; we may determine the relative position or course of a moving object such as a vessel at sea, the distance traversed by the same, or its speed; or we may send over the earth a wave of electricity traveling at any rate we desire, from the pace of a turtle up to lightning speed.
Nikola Tesla, Serb-American inventor, born on July 9, 1856; Century magazine

Ere many generations pass, our machinery will be driven by a power obtainable at any point in the universe. This idea is not novel. We find it in the delightful myth of Antheus, who derives power from the earth; we find it among the subtle speculations of one of your splendid mathematicians. Throughout space there is energy. Is this energy static or kinetic? If static our hopes are in vain; if kinetic - and this we know it is, for certain - then it is a mere question of time when men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheelwork of nature.
Nikola Tesla; address to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1891

Nikola Tesla reads a book in his Colorado Springs, Colorado laboratory on December 31, 1899, while several million volts light up the lab. The image was in fact created using trick photography, with Tesla's image superimposed.

Highly recommended:
Folklore of World Holidays
by Margaret Read MacDonald

Nikola Tesla: A Spark of Genius

Nikola Tesla Journey To Mars

Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla

Empires of Light : Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse ...

Tesla: Man Out of Time

The Lost Journals of Nikola Tesla

The Elements of Ritual

The Spiral Dance
By Starhawk
20th Anniversary Edition

The Rule of Four

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Fasti
Roman calendar lore, by Ovid

Holiday Symbols

Life in a Medieval Village

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By Benjamin Franklin

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Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft

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One Big Union

The Penguin Henry Lawson

Australia: Literature and History CD-ROM

Children of the Bush

Along the Faultlines: Sex, Race and Nation in Australian Women's Writing 1880s - 1930s

Hell and After : Four Early English Language Poets of Australia (Mary Gilmore, Lesbia Harford et al)

Feast day of the Martyrs of Gorkum (Gorcum)

Nineteen Roman Catholic martyrs were burned, beaten, hanged and mutilated by Protestant Calvinists on this day in 1572 at Gorkum, Holland.

Festival of the Ludi Apollinares, ancient Rome (Jul 6 - 13)

Dog Days, ancient Rome (Jul 3 - Aug 11)  

Vitulatio, or Day of Joy, Roman Empire (Jul 8 - 9)

Egyptian day (dies egypticus, dies ægypticus or dies mala), unlucky day in Medieval Europe. ("But, notwithstanding, I will trust the Lord" was the associated saying.)

Feast day of St Agigulf

Feast day of Ss Anatolia and Audax
Saints associated with St Victoria, and a serpent.

Feast day of St Antonino Fantosati

Feast day of St Augustine Tchao

Feast day of St Ephrem of Edessa, doctor and confessor

Feast day of St Everild (Everildis), virgin, of England
(March sowthistle, Sonchus palustris, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint.)

Feast day of St Francesco Fogolla

Feast day of St Godfrey of Duynen

Feast day of St Godfrey of Merville

Feast day of St Golvinus

Feast day of St James Lacop

Feast day of St Jane Scopelli

Feast day of St Jerome of Werden

Feast day of St John of Cologne

Feast day of St John of Osterwick

Feast day of St Mary Hermina Grivot

Feast day of St Mary of Jesus Crucified

Feast day of St Nicholas Pieck

Feast day of Our Lady of Peace
Our Lady of Peace or Queen of Peace is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Church. She is represented in art holding a dove and an olive branch, symbols of peace. Her official memorial feast is celebrated on January 24 each year in Hawaii and some churches in the United States. Elsewhere, the memorial feast is celebrated on July 9.

Our Lady of Peace is the patroness of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary religious order, founded by Peter Coudrin in Paris during the French Revolution.

Feast day of St Paulina of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus (Paulina do Coração Agonizante de Jesus; Amabile Lucia Visintainer)
A religious Italian-Brazilian, officially proclaimed saint on May 19, 2002, by Pope John Paul II. She was the first Brazilian citizen to be canonized.

More    And more

Feast day of St Peter Van Asche (Peter of Asche)

Feast day of St Veronica Giuliani  

St Veronica Giuliani had stigmata (plural of stigma), which are wounds that were, according to the Bible, inflicted on Jesus Christ during his crucifixion.

"Feast Day of St Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727), for eleven years an abbess of a convent in Umbria, Italy. At the age of 33, on Good Friday, she saw a vision of Christ nailed to the cross and developed full stigmata when rays went from his wounds to her hands, feet and sides. She suffered from wounds alternately healing and bleeding; a spear puncture on her side constantly bled. She drew a picture of her heart wounds which were verified at her death, as was the extraordinary degree of bending of one shoulder blade."   Source  

" … at age 37, she received the stigmata in hands, feet, and side during a long period of ecstasy on April 5, 1697. Medical treatment was given, but the wounds did not heal. Her journal records experience.

"In her journal she tells of the rays of light that came from Jesus' wounds and became small flames of fire, four in the form of great pointed nails, the fifth a spear-head of gleaming gold. She writes, 'I felt a fearful agony of pain, but with the pain I clearly saw and was conscious that I was wholly transformed into God. When I had been thus wounded, in my heart, in my hands and feet, the rays of light gleaming with a new radiance shot back to the Crucifix, and illuminated the gashed side, the hands and feet of Him who was hanging there. Thus My Lord and My God espoused me, and gave me in charge to His Most Holy Mother for ever and ever, and bade my Guardian Angel watch over me, for He was jealous of His honor, and then thus He spoke to me: "I am Thine, I give Myself wholly unto thee. Ask whatsoever thou wilt, it shall be granted thee." I made reply: "Beloved, only one thing I ask, never to be separated from Thee." And then in a twinkling all vanished away.'

"Roused, she found the wounds aching and blood and water pouring from her side. She did not want the wounds to be seen, but they were visible until 1700, because Jesus promised her that the marks would only last three years. Thereafter, only her side bled."   Source

List of Roman Catholic stigmatists

Click for Eastern Orthodox liturgical days    Shop saints

Hakata Yamagasa, Japan (Jul 1 - 15)

Gion Matsuri, Kyoto, Japan (all of July)

Running of the Bulls, Pamplona, Spain (Jul 6 - 14)

La Fête de la Jeunesse (Feast day of Youth), Morocco

NAIDOC Week, Australia (c. Jul 4 - 11)

Independence Day, Argentina (1816)

Constitution Day, Palau

Lobster Carnival, Pictou, Nova Scotia (Jul 8 - 11) (2004)

On which day of the week were you born? Find out here

1764 Ann Radcliffe (d. February 7, 1823), English author  (The Mysteries of Udolpho), pioneer of the gothic novel

1819 Elias Howe (d. 1867), American inventor of the sewing machine

1856 Tesla: almost-forgotten genius

Nikola Tesla (d. January 7, 1943), the Serb-American electrical engineer, inventor of the alternating current (AC) motor, was born on this day at Smiljan, Lika, "at the stroke of midnight" with lightning striking during a summer storm. The midwife commented, "He'll be a child of the storm," to which his mother replied, "No, of light."

He was a great genius whose luck was not as great as his abilities, and for many years his name was almost completely lost to public knowledge.

The unit of magnetic flux in the metric system is the 'tesla', as another unit is the 'faraday'. His Tesla Coil supplies the high voltage for the computer monitor you are looking at. The electricity for your computer comes from a Tesla design AC generator, is sent through a Tesla transformer, and gets to your house through 3-phase Tesla power. The electric power of Niagara was harnessed through his inventions.

During Tesla's lifetime, the US Patent Office recorded 111 utility patents, one reissued patent, two utility patent corrections and one utility patent disclaimer. US patent number 613,809 described the first device anywhere for wireless remote control. "You do not see there a wireless torpedo," he angrily corrected a newspaper reporter, "you see there the first of a race of robots, mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race."

"When wireless is fully applied the earth will be converted into a huge brain, capable of response in every one of its parts," Tesla told Morgan.

Tesla's plan for an international wireless communications system was funded for a time by the squillionaire, JP Morgan, but Morgan prematurely lost faith in the inventor and pulled the plug on the money bin – perhaps one of the worst financial decisions of the 20^th century. Tesla had to abandon his ambitious project forever. The newspapers called it, "Tesla's million dollar folly." Humiliated and defeated, Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown.

By 1890 Nikola Tesla was generating fields that would light up, without any wires, phosphorescent tubes across his laboratory. Yet for all this, his name was forgotten for decades, until recently when at long last the public has come to know of one of history's great geniuses.

The brilliant inventor who had been so far ahead of his time died penniless on January 7, 1943 in New York City at the age of 86. Nikola Tesla was living in the dilapidated Hotel New Yorker in a room that he shared with a flock of pigeons, which he considered his only friends (he had been friends with Mark Twain, now long dead). The great inventor's ashes are now stored in a golden sphere at the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.

It has been suggested that Tesla might have been responsible for the Tunguska Event of June 30, 1908 (more).

"Even today, many texts still credit Marconi with the invention of radio, despite the Supreme Court decision which overruled the Marconi patent, awarding it to Tesla. In many parts of this country, people still refer to the electric utility as the 'Edison Company', even though they use the Tesla-Westinghouse alternating current system, NOT Edison's direct current. At the Niagra Falls power generating station, a small statue of Tesla is purposely left unilluminated at night. It has been said that Tesla is the Forgotten Father of Technology. Tesla himself once commented '... The present is theirs. (skeptics of the day) The future, for which I really worked, is mine.'"    Source

 

Serbian poetry

"Another anecdote about the inventor is told by the Reverend Stijacic. On his first trip to America as a young writer for the Serbian Federation, Stijacic had been surprised to find in the Chicago Public Library, a book of poems, the author of which was the popular Serbian poet, Zmaj-Jovan. The translator was Nikola Tesla. Later, when Stijacic was taken by Dr. Rado to meet the inventor in his offices on the twentieth floor of the Metropolitan Tower, he said, 'Mr. Tesla, I did not know that you were interested in poetry.'

"A look of wry amusement shone in the inventor's eyes. 'There are many of us Serbs who sing,' he said, 'but there is nobody to listen to us.'"

Adopted from "Tesla: man out of time", by Margaret Cheney, 1981   Source

A bronze statue of Nikola Tesla at Niagara Falls was produced some time in the mid 70's to honor Tesla and the work he did for Westinghouse in building the turbines which converted the power of the Falls into electricity. The original statue is in front of the Electrical Engineering building of the University of Belgrade in Belgrade, Serbia.  

"Cyberspace as described by William Gibson in Neuromancer  (1984) was prefigured in Nikola Tesla's 1901 plan for a world system of totally interconnected, planetary communications. He believed he could engineer a globe unified by the universal regulation of time and fully traversed by flows of language, images, and money-all reduced to an undifferentiated flux of electrical energy."
Source

 

Mark Twain at the lab of his long-time friend, Nikola Tesla

Biography    Tesla coils    Tesla's patents    Tesla Museum, Belgrade

The influence of Vedic philosophy on Nikola Tesla's understanding of free energy

Restoration of Tesla's lab    Tesla at Wikipedia    More

Mark Twain's 'War Prayer', in the Scriptorium

1900 Ida Ehre (d. 1989), actress

1901 Dame Barbara Cartland (d. 2000), British author of more than 550 books, mostly novels of romantic love set in the 19^th Century. She was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for writing 26 books in 1983. Cartland was step-grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

1916 Edward Heath, British prime minister, 1970 - 74

1925 Peter Ludwig (d. 1996), entrepreneur and art collector

1927 Susan Cabot, actress

1927 Ed Ames, actor

1929 King Hassan II of Morocco (d. 1999)

1932 Donald Rumsfeld, 21^st Secretary of Defense of the United States, 2001, one of the principle architects of the illegal invasion of Iraq.

'Rummy' is seen here being greeted by Saddam Hussein on December 20, 1983. In a lengthy report in the Washington Post (December 30, 2002) based on analyzing thousands of pages of declassified government documents and interviews with former policy-makers, it was asserted that "US intelligence and logistical support played a crucial role in shoring up Iraqi defences" following this meeting.

Rummy wins foot in mouth award

December 2, 2003 - 10:48AM

"US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld has won this year's Foot in Mouth award with a spectacular piece of gobbledegook.

"His dubious achievement is courtesy of the Plain English Campaign, a British pressure group that lobbies for government, consumer and other public information to be presented in clear, straightforward language.

"Judges felt Rumsfeld was speaking as clear as mud when he uttered the following at a press briefing:

"'Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.'

"Rumsfeld faced tough competition for his Foot in Mouth, including actor-turned-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said: 'I think that gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.' 

"The Foot in Mouth award is to be presented at a ceremony in London tomorrow, along with seven Golden Bulls for corporate gobbledygook and laurels for good use of English by government, civil servants and the media.
Source

Myths of the War on Terrorism and Iraq    The Saddam in Rumsfeld's closet

'Rumsfeld's Disease' (Aspartame)    The Saddam in Rumsfeld's Closet, Jeremy Scahill

Rummy's North Korea Connection    Tanker Inquiry Finds Rumsfeld's Attention Was Elsewhere

Donald Rumsfeld: a Machiavellian Artist in Power    More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

1937 David Hockney, British artist (Pop art)

1938 Brian Dennehy, actor

1942 Richard Roundtree, actor

1943 Jon Casper, US astronaut

1946 Bon Scott (d. 1980), Scottish-born singer in Australian hard rock band AC/DC

1947 OJ Simpson (Orenthal James Simpson), football player and film actor

List of people famous enough to be known unambiguously by their initials

1952 John Tesh, composer

1956 Tom Hanks, actor

1956 Marc Almond, singer

1958 Jimmy Smits, actor

1965 Frank Bello, bassist in the Anthrax rock band

More

1971 Marc Andreessen, software developer – co-author of Mosaic and cofounder of Netscape

1976 Fred Savage, actor (Boy Meets World)

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July

7 Chocolate Day
7 Macaroni Day
7 Tanabata
7 Father And Daughter Take A Walk Together
8 Ice Cream Sundae Day
8 Be A Kid Day
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8 Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Omelette Day
9 Rock N' Roll Day
9 Sugar Cookie Day
9 Barn Day
9 Martyrdom Of The Báb
10 Teddy Bears' Picnic Day
10 Intern Appreciation Day
11 Cheer Up Day
11 Swimming Pool Day
11 Blueberry Muffin Day
12 Simplicity Day
13 International Puzzle Day
13 Beans And Franks Day
14 French Fries Day
14 Bastille Day
14 Pick Blueberries Day
14 Pandemonium Day
15 Cow Appreciation Day
15 I Love Horses Day
15 Respect Canada Day
15 Shark Awareness Day
15 No-Hitter Day
16 Ice Cream Cone Day
16 Talk To A Telemarketer Day
17 Peach Ice Cream Day
18 Chrysanthemum Day
18 Dental Awareness Day
18 Wiener Day
19 Bloomer Day
20 Moon Day
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24 Public Opinion Day
24 Coffee Day
25 St James Day
26 Groovy Chicken Day
26 Aunt And Uncles' Day
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270 BCE According to CA Trypanis, the deification of' Arsinoe II (316 - 270 BCE), sister and second wife of Ptolemy II of Egypt (Philadelphus; 309 - 246 BCE), would have been initiated on this day.

455 Roman military commander Avitus was proclaimed emperor of the western Roman Empire.

552 The first day of the "era of Armenia", according to 19^th-Century scholars.

695 18-Rabbit became high King of Copan (Maya).

Deities of many cultures in the Book of Days

 

1357 5:31 am, Saturday: Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor assisted laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.

How do we know the precise time? Because the palindromic number 135797531, carved on the Old Town bridge tower, was chosen by the royal astrologers and numerologists as the best time for starting the bridge construction.

 

 

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1540 Henry VIII of England annulled his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.

1749 The naval settlement of Halifax, Nova Scotia was founded as Britain's answer to Louisbourg.

1755 French and Indian War: Braddock Expedition – British troops and colonial militiamen were ambushed and suffered a devastating defeat to French and Indian forces. During the battle, British General Edward Braddock was mortally wounded. Colonel George Washington survived.

 

1787 England: A certain Dr. Elliott, "described in the journals of the day as 'one of the literati,' fired two pistols, apparently, at a lady and gentleman, while walking in Prince's Street, London. Neither, however, was injured, though both were very much frightened, and the lady's dress was singed by the closeness of the explosion. Elliott was arrested, committed to Newgate, and, a few days after, tried for an attempted murder, but acquitted on the technical point, that there was no proof of the pistols having been loaded with ball.

"Unforeseeing this decision, Elliott's friends had set up a plea of insanity, and among other witnesses in support thereof, Dr. Simmons, of St. Luke's hospital for lunatics, was examined. This gentleman, whose long and extensive experience in cases of insanity, gave great weight to his evidence, testified that he had been intimately acquainted with Dr. Elliott for more than ten years, and fully believed him to be insane. On being further pressed by the recorder to adduce any particular instance of Elliott's insanity, the witness stated that he had lately received a letter from the prisoner on the light of the celestial bodies, which indisputably proved his aberration of mind. The letter, which had been intended by the prisoner to have been laid before the Royal Society, was then produced and read in court. The part more particularly depended upon by the witness as a proof of the insanity of the writer, was an assertion that the sun is not a body of fire, as alleged by astronomers, 'but its light proceeds from a dense and universal aurora, which may afford ample light to the inhabitants of the surface (of the sun) beneath, and yet be at such a distance aloft as not to annoy them.' The recorder objected to this being proof of insanity, saying that if an extravagant hypothesis were to be considered a proof of lunacy, many learned and perfectly sane astronomers might be stigmatised as madmen.

"Though the defence of insanity was not received, Elliott, as already observed, was acquitted on a legal point, but the unfortunate man died in prison, of self-inflicted starvation, on the 22nd of July, having resolutely refused to take any food during the thirteen days which intervened between his arrest and death."   Source

Robert Chambers, who wrote the above item, adds in his idiosyncratic and scientifically wacky way: "The story in itself is little more than a common newspaper report of an Old Bailey trial; but as Elliott's idea respecting the sun is that held by the first astronomers of the present day, we are afforded a curious instance of a not very generally recognised fact—namely, that the madness of one century may be the wisdom of its successor; while it is not improbable that the converse of the proposition may be equally as certain, so that a great deal of what we consider wisdom now, may be condemned as rank folly 'a hundred years hence.'"

Robert Chambers, (Ed.), The Book of Days: A miscellany of popular antiquities in connection with the calendar, etc, W & R Chambers, London, 1881 (1879 Edition is online and 1869 edition here with CD-ROM available; See also The English Year: A Personal Selection from Chambers's Book of Days)

1789 In Versailles, the National Constituent Assembly was formed by the French National Assembly and began preparations for a French constitution.

1790 Russo-Swedish War: Second Battle of Svensksund – In the Baltic Sea, the Swedish navy captured one third of the Russian fleet.

1793 The Act Against Slavery was passed in Upper Canada and importation of slaves into Lower Canada was prohibited.

1797 British statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke (Philosophical Inquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful) died, aged 68, and was buried in the little church in Beaconsfield. Just a year before, he assessed himself candidly: "I possessed not one of the qualities, nor cultivated one of the arts, that recommend men to the favour and protection of the great."

"The death of President Taylor was commemorated by a funeral procession. The military and fire companies, Masonic and Odd-Fellows' Lodges, a variety of benevolent and other associations, the clergy, officers of the army and navy, consuls and representatives of foreign governments, the councils and various municipal and State officers, a great number of private citizens, and a large company of Chinese residents, took part in the imposing ceremonies. Hon. John B. Weller acted as Grand Marshal. The procession moved through the streets to Portsmouth Square, where an appropriate prayer was made by Rev. Augustus Fitch, and an eloquent eulogy pronounced by Hon. Elcan Heydenfeldt. On the following day the Chinese, who henceforward took considerable interest in public affairs, where any ceremony of a festival or imposing nature was concerned, presented the mayor with the following document, written in Chinese characters:—

"'San Francisco, August 30th, 1850.
"'To HON. JOHN W. GEARY, Mayor of the City of San Francisco:—

"'SIR:—The 'China Boys' wish to thank you for the kind mark of attention you bestowed upon them in extending to them an invitation to join with the citizens of San Francisco in doing honor to the memory of the late President of the United States, General Zachary Taylor. The China Boys feel proud of the distinction you have shown them, and will always endeavor to merit your good opinion and the good opinion of the citizens of their adopted country. The China Boys are fully sensible of the great loss this country has sustained in the death of its chieftain and ruler, and mourn with you in sorrow. Strangers as they are among you, they kindly appreciate the many kindnesses received at your hands, and again beg leave, with grateful hearts, to thank you.

"'AS-SING,
"'A-HE,
"'In behalf of the China Boys.'"   Source

1815 Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de Benevente became Prime Minister of France.

1816 Argentina declared independence from Spain.

1850 The Báb, founder of the Bábi Faith, the predecessor of the Bahá'í Faith, was executed in Tabriz, Persia (now Iran). The Báb ('The Gate'; b. 1819), was the title assumed by Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad. His most prominent follower, Bahá'u'lláh, later claimed to be the Promised One whose coming the Báb foretold. Bahá'u'lláh is considered to be the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, and the Báb is frequently referred to as its herald.

"On May 23, 1844, in Shiraz, Persia, a young man known as the Báb announced the imminent appearance of the Messenger of God awaited by all the peoples of the world. The title Báb means 'the Gate.' Although Himself the bearer of an independent revelation from God, the Báb declared that His purpose was to prepare mankind for this advent.

"Swift and savage persecution at the hands of the dominant Muslim clergy followed this announcement. The Báb was arrested, beaten, imprisoned, and finally on July 9, 1850 was executed in the public square of the city of Tabriz. Some 20,000 of His followers perished in a series of massacres throughout Persia. Today, the majestic building with the golden dome, overlooking the Bay of Haifa, Israel, and set amidst beautiful gardens, is the Shrine where the Báb's earthly remains are entombed."   Source

1850 Twelfth USA President Zachary Taylor (b. 1784) died after eating too many frozen strawberries (or cherries) at Fourth of July ceremonies at the Washington Monument. On June 18, 1991, in Louisville, USA, his body was exhumed in to test how he died as there had long been rumours that he was poisoned. Taylor opposed the extension of slavery into newly admitted states, so some conspiracy theorists have speculated he was murdered by pro-slavery forces. Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory concluded that he had not, though they only tested for arsenic. Millard Fillmore became the 13^th President of the United States.

1856 Death of Amedeo Avogadro, chemist.  

 

"I am back from up the country—very sorry that I went—"

1892 The Bulletin Debate: In The Bulletin, Australian poet Henry Lawson (pictured) opened the Lawson/Paterson debate with a poem that decried the country. It was called 'Borderland',  later re-titled 'Up the Country' when it was republished in Lawson's 1896 edition of In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses.

Two weeks later, Andrew 'Banjo' Paterson retaliated with 'In Defence of the Bush', and soon all around Australia readers were waiting for the next instalment in the popular magazine. Bulletin publisher-editor JF Archibald ran the poetic joust for several months, with other 'Bully' regulars such as John LeGay Brereton, Edward Dyson, Bulletin literary editor AG Stephens and Joseph Furphy joining in, but brought it to an abrupt close, either when he finally realised it had started with collusion between Lawson and Paterson, or because the contest had become vicious and personal, with both of the main protagonists seeming to have forgotten the original purpose.

By this stage, the two poets were satirizing each other's poetic style to great effect, but the poverty-stricken Lawson (who had been born in a tent or hut on the goldfields) did not have the cushioning of Paterson's patrician lifestyle and would have been particularly stung by Banjo's mockery, particularly of his addiction to alcohol.

Lawson was one of the few who knew the identity of 'The Banjo' at this stage. Paterson later said that the contest was Lawson's idea, to raise a few pounds. Henry Lawson fared better in the debate, but posterity has probably awarded the 'win' to Banjo, as the city lawyer-poet presented a rosier view of the bush. Note that Lawson had never been 'way out west' at this stage, and had not recently been very far out in the country at all.

Henry Lawson, who is generally believed to have suffered from bipolar disorder and was never emotionally strong, harboured resentment over Paterson's poetic sarcasm for years. On June 28, 1896, in Truth magazine (a scandal rag) was published, anonymously, Lawson's 'The Man from Waterloo', a parody of Paterson's successful 'Man from Ironbark' which had appeared in The Bulletin as far back as December 17, 1892. Lawson had to wait this long for publication, which he was able to achieve in the rush of popularity of Paterson's first volume of verse, The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses, which made a sensation. Lawson did not claim authorship of his poem until four years later, including it in Verses Popular and Humorous. Roderick (Roderick, Colin, Henry Lawson: a life, Angus and Robertson. Sydney, 1991) says that a full twenty years passed and Lawson still showed hurt when he wrote 'In the Height of Fashion'.

"I was right, and Banjo wrong"

Shortly after the Battle of the Bards, Archibald, who was taking a paternal interest in Lawson, concerned by Lawson's drinking and also the fact that much of what the poet and author was writing was about the down-and-out masses of Sydney's poor areas, asked writer Edwin Brady (Lawson's steadfast friend for decades) why Lawson wasn't writing more bush material. "Why doesn't he go back to the bush?" the Bulletin editor asked. "No money" replied Brady. At this, Archibald decided to send Lawson to Bourke, and it was from this sojourn of just a few intense months in the far west of New South Wales that most of Lawson's lasting rural tales are derived.

By September 21, 25-year-old Henry Lawson was out west, financed with five pounds and a one-way railway ticket. He wrote to his Aunt Emma: "The bush between Bathurst and here is horrible. I was right, and Banjo wrong."

"With 'In Answer to Banjo and Otherwise', Lawson replied to Paterson's previous poem with a similar vein of caustic wit. He suggested that Banjo, in his bush wanderings had 'travelled like a gent', and was content to experience the advantages of city life while writing in glowing terms of the wonders of the bush. The poem was later retitled 'The City Bushman'.

"Lawson then followed this poem with another on 10 September, the 'Grog-an'-Grumble Steeplechase', which was a parody of Banjo's 'Open Steeplechase'. Other poets and parodists continued the rhyme for a time, while Lawson and Paterson took a back seat to the proceedings.

"Paterson retaliated with 'An Answer to Various Bards' on October 1. Again, the poem was an attack on Lawson, referring to him as 'the sad and soulful poet with a graveyard of his own' and including thinly-veiled references to Lawson's sometimes excessive drinking habits with the references to 'beer', 'pubs' and 'bars'.

"By the time Paterson's last poem was published, Lawson was in the far western New South Wales town of Bourke. His passage there had been financed by J. F. Archibald of the Bulletin, and, in his own words, Lawson confirmed: 'Towards the end of '92 I got £5 and a railway ticket from the Bulletin and went to Bourke. Painted, picked up in a shearing shed and swagged it for six months ...'" 
Source: Background to Henry Lawson: A Stranger on the Darling

Lawson & Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson

Louisa and Henry Lawson – they drove each other crazy!    Vale The Bully

The Wilson's Almanac Louisa and Henry Lawson Chronology

 

1893 Australia: Ten thousand people assembled at Sydney's Domain to farewell the New Australia Utopian emigrants, who sailed for South America on July 16 (qv), rather late due to delays imposed by the Emigration Office.

As he was overwrought from all his efforts, William Lane, the group's leader, was not present at the afternoon in the Domain, which also served to welcome some strike leaders from Broken Hill who had been released from prison, and to express solidarity with striking members of the Seamen's Union.

The meeting was chaired by Chilean-born Chris Watson, President of the Trades and Labor Council and later Australia's first prime minister, and addressed by 21-year-old William Holman, later Premier of New South Wales. Holman's brother Charles, 20, was one of the emigrants. William Holman moved the farewell resolution.

Meanwhile, one of those who later emigrated to New Australia, Larry Petrie, was making preparations to dynamite another ship eighteen days later, the SS Aramac off the Queensland coast, near Moreton Bay. Ernie Lane, William Lane's brother, was one who he told in advance that he intended to blow up a non-union ship.

Much more on Wm Lane, New Australia and Cosme, in the Book of Days   Mary Gilmore

Australian labor history in documents    A short history of the Australian labor movement

Letters of Mary Gilmore    Mary Gilmore: Verse for Children   Selected Poems by Mary Gilmore

Lawson & Co: associations with Henry and Louisa Lawson    The Notes of New Australia

 

1893 USA: Chicago surgeon Dr Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery.

1896 William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold speech, denouncing supporters of the gold standard. Bryan went on to win the party's nomination.

1900 Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom gave royal assent to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, creating the Commonwealth of Australia, thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government. Australian Federation took place on January 1, 1901. Much to the chagrin of many Australians, the Constitution of Australia is still a possession of the Crown and is kept in the Public Records Office in London, with the people of Australia still only having a copy.

However, since Australia is now a fully independent state, the text of the Constitution is now regarded as being fully separated from the text in the original Act. Only the Australian people can amend the Constitution, by referendum. Even if the United Kingdom Parliament were to repeal the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, it would have no effect on Australia.

Full text (htm file). From SCALEplus    See also Republicanism in Australia

1914 Australia: Adela Pankhurst, the English suffragette, gave a talk in Sydney at the Repertory Theatre, Grosvenor Street.

A world chronology of women's suffrage    US chronology    Louisa Lawson, Australian suffragette

1918 Great Train Wreck of 1918: In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collided with an outbound express, killing 101.

1925 In Dublin, 22-year-old Oonagh Keogh became the first female member of a stock exchange.

1942 Holocaust: Anne Frank's family went into hiding in an attic above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.

1943 World War II: Operation Husky – Allied forces performed an amphibious invasion of Sicily.

1944 World War II: British and Canadian forces captured Caen.

1945 A forest fire broke out in the Tillamook Burn, Oregon, USA, the third fire in that area since 1933.

1951 American crime writer Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon; The Thin Man) was jailed for contempt of court, for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

1955 Lord Bertrand Russell and eight others called for the abolition of war.

1957 A coup attempt by Soviet prime minister Georgi Malenkov failed and Nikita Khrushchev retained his post as first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.

1960 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened the United States with rockets if American forces attempted to  oust the communist government of Cuba.

1962 Bob Dylan recorded 'Blowin' in the Wind'. It was released on his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Dylan originally wrote and performed a two-verse version of the song; his first public performance of it, at Gerdes Folk City on April 16, 1962, was recorded and circulates among Dylan collectors. In 1999 'Blowin' In The Wind' was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame. In 2004, this song was Number 14 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Wilson's Almanac Book of Days hip list    Lyrics

1968 Official opening of Hayward Gallery on London's South Bank.

1977 Elvis Costello quit his day job as a computer operator  at a cosmetic factory.

1979 Sandinista revolutionaries overthrew the Nicaraguan government of General Anastasio Somoza.

1984 UK: The roof in the south transept of 700-year-old York Minster Cathedral was destroyed by fire after being struck by lightning. Restoration work was completed in 1988.

Historic York Minster engulfed by flames

1991 The International Human Rights Federation cited human rights violations committed by police and military personnel during Oka crisis in Quebec.

1995 The Grateful Dead played their last concert, at Soldier Field, Chicago, USA. Jerry Garcia, the Dead's lead guitarist and leading light, died the following month.

1997 Mike Tyson's boxing license was suspended for at least a year and he was fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield's ear in a televised match.

1999 Days of student protests began after Iranian police and hardliners attacked a student dormitory of University of Tehran.

2002 The African Union was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first chairman was Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

2004 The International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's planned barrier in the West Bank barrier violated international law.

2004 A Senate Intelligence Committee report said that the CIA had provided unfounded assessments of the threat posed by Iraq. It was these assessments that the Bush administration relied on to justify illegally invading Iraq.

2004 After José Manuel Durão Barroso's appointment to the European Commission, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio announced that he would invite the second-in-line leader of PSD, Pedro Santana Lopes to form government.

 

Tomorrow: Nekkid lady on a horse

 

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