1848 Coogoon (Queensland), History: German explorer and naturalist Ludwig Leichhardt and his party were seen for the last time loading provisions at McPherson’s Station before they disappeared in the quest to reach the Swan River in West Australia. He had earlier traversed the Atherton Tableland to Arnham Land, as shown on the map below. The one-time Little Rome where we shop was named for Ludi in 1871.
1860 St Joseph (MO), History: the first Pony Express mail left for Sacramento, a ten day journey of 1800 miles. Its rivals took three week to three months for the same trip by wagon. In 1861 riders, including Buffalo Bill Cody, delivered Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address to California in eight days. The enterprise yielded to the telegraph and went out of business within two years and entered into legend.
1913 Manchester, Politics: Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to (another) three years jail. She was a recidivist. In 1926 she ran as a Conservative candidate for parliament, in part moved by anti-communism. Less has changed than one might think when reading her words below.
1917 Petrograd, History: Vladimir Lenin arrived at the Finland Station from exile in Switzerland having traveled through Germany in a sealed train to prevent the contagion of communism from escaping, to avoid the Tsar’s secret police, and finally to undermine Russian morale. We went by this station during our Russian tour.
1976 Mururoa Atoll, History: France continued nuclear testing. Kaboom! After years of protests the tests went underground. Then there was the Rainbow Warrior.
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