1227 The Spanish Christians drove the Muslim Moors out of Sevilla after a two-year siege. Been there. Those oranges perfume the air.
1644 John Milton published ‘Areopagitica,’ a polemical pamphlet advocating the freedom of the press at a time when there was none. Read some Milton but not this. Maybe I should.
1903 Enrico Caruso made his American debut in Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto.’ Heard some recordings of ‘God’s voice,’ as Puccini said. Caruso in costume is pictured below.
1923 2SB Radio in Sydney went on the air for the Australian wireless broadcast from Philip Street. SB = Sydney Broadcasters. It broadcast Saint-Saens ‘Le Cygne.’ Still going but has become ABC 702. N.B. that wireless includes plenty of wires then as now.
1955 Great Britain transferred responsibility for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to Australia which with Christmas Island today constitute Australian Indian Ocean Territories closer to Sri Lanka and Indonesia than Canberra.
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