June 5: On This Day in World History … briefly

755AD   English missionary Boniface, known as the Apostle of Germany, is murdered with 53 companions in Germany by unbelievers.

1783:     Astonished local government officials in Annonay, France, watched as a ‘hot air’ balloon made by brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier slowly rose 6 000ft (2 000m) into the air, where it remained suspended for a full ten minutes. The balloon, made of linen and paper, was ‘powered’ by an ingenious method whereby heat from a fire on the ground warmed the air inside the balloon, causing it to rise. The demonstration was a culmination of earlier experiments by the brothers, working both together and independently. Joseph-Michel, head of the Rives branch of the family paper-making business since 1770, devised an air pump for removing paper from moulds and, in November 1782, found a way of inflating a small silk container by suspending it over a fire. This was followed by a public demonstration with a larger, oblong-shaped silk balloon. The experiments continued, Joseph-Michel being joined by his younger brother, who ran the family’s Vidalon factory. The Academy of Sciences in Paris were extremely interested in the work of the Montgolfiers.

1806:     Louis Bonaparte is declared King of the Netherlands.

1826:     German composer Carl Maria von Weber (born William Sydney Porter) dies in London, where he was conducting his opera ‘Oberon’.

1910:     Death of American short-story writer O Henry.

1915:     French sculptor and draughtsman Henri Gaudier-Brzeska is killed in action in WWI aged 23.

1916:     The long and distinguished career of Herbert, Viscount Kitchener was abruptly brought to a halt when the SS Hampshire, carrying him on a mission to Russia, hit a German mine and sank off the Orkney Islands, north-east of the Scottish mainland. Born on June 24, 1850, near Listowel in County Kerry, Lord Kitchener held many prominent posts during his lifetime, among them commander-in-chief during the South African War, when, in one of the less savoury episodes of his career, he herded Boer women and children into concentration camps in his fight against guerrilla resistance. He will best be remembered for his lead in WWI, which he predicted would be a long, drawn-out war, to be decided by the ‘last million men’ that Britain could put into battle. He organised ‘Kitchener armies’ of volunteers trained to a professional standard and on a scale unseen in British history, since when the general public came to see him as a symbol of victory.

1963:     In a dramatic statement, British Secretary of State for War John Profumo admitted that he lied to the House of Commons about his association with model Christine Keeler. He resigned from his parliamentary seat and from his Cabinet position. ‘The Profumo Affair’, as it came to be known, rocked the nation and almost led to the downfall of the government. At the time of John Profumo’s liaison with Miss Keeler, she was allegedly also involved with Russian diplomat Captain Ivanov, a former naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy, a link which caused very serious security concerns.

1967:     War (six-day war) breaks out between Israel and the neighbouring countries of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

1968:     Doctors fought to save the life of 42-year old senator Robert Kennedy, who was shot in the head and shoulder just after midnight. The shooting took place at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where the senator had been making a speech after winning the California primary election in his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. He did not regain consciousness since being rushed to the hospital and hopes for his recovery quickly dwindled. Alleged gunman, a Jordanian Arab by the name of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested. The shooting comes five years after the assassination of Robert’s brother, President John Kennedy.

1972:     The Duke of Windsor, briefly King Edward VIII of England, was buried at Frogmore, Windsor.

1988:     Kay Cottee sails into Sydney harbour, becoming the first woman to sail solo around the world non-stop.

1989:     Solidarity beats the Communists in the first free Polish elections since World War I.

1990:     Iran demands that British author Salman Rushdie is handed over to British Muslims.

1991:     The Land Acts of 1913 and 1936, and the Group Areas Act of 1950 are nullified in South Africa.

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