The Countdown - or rather the count UP.

The Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. on the night of April 14, 1912 and sunk just over two-and-a-half hours later.

Greetings Woopert - my grandad was a steward on the Titanic and he had a boot thrown at him when he knocked on a cabin door to try and get passengers to the lifeboat deck - he was in charge of a lifeboat and subsequently survived - already been to Sydney and back left at 6 back at 9.30 HC's eye all good the only damage is my bank account - ah well - yes we have been sniffing around Mr Ings although I think it will take an offer to good to refuse to get Burnley to let him go - overcast day here and mid twenties ideal for a walk but stuff that two days up at 5 I need a kip ATB

 

Australia in 1914 was a young nation, its colonies having federated little more than a decade earlier. Its almost 5 million people were spread across the country in the handful of developing cities and in the bush. With a culture firmly rooted in the traditions of the British Empire, Australia was still strongly tied to the mother country for trade and defence.
Many Australians followed news from abroad with interest as relations between the major European powers worsened during mid-1914. When Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August, Australia quickly pledged its support for Britain. As Andrew Fisher said shortly before he was elected prime minister, “Australians will stand beside our own to help and defend her to the last man and the last shilling.”

Greetings Woopert - its bloody well raining Hurrah off to pick the ute up then home to put my feet up - two early mornings have left me limp - and last night was a four hour sponsorship meeting where various sporting bodies come with submissions for sponsorship we give out about 80 thousand in sponsorship which we have to do its determined by the percentage profit of our poker machine returns so indirectly its a tax - so be it - ATB

 

"Ireland is too great to be unconnected with us, and too near us to be dependant on a foreign state, and too little to be independent." C.T. Grenville to the Duke of Rutland, December 3, 1784 This statement sums up the attitude of Great Britain toward Ireland from the twelfth century to the twentieth.
The passage of the National Service Act in January 1916 which threatened conscription in Ireland was one of the causes of the Easter Rising. The 1916 Rising represented the first major demonstration of force since the United Irishmen Rising of 1798. The insurrections of 1803, 1848 and 1867 had been small in comparison.

Gooday Woopert - Sunny but windy day - ute safely tucked up in the garage - wife gone back to work - darts finished till 9th January but I still need to go to the club for a reason I will think of before she gets home - two weeks today its boxing day - blimey - have a goodun' ATB

 

The German Spring Offensive was launched on March 21, 1918 toward the western fringes of Cambrai. The attack started with heavy bombardment and shelling of the Allied lines. Over a million shells were fired in a matter of five hours. The German infantry then launched an attack with surprising speed. Highly skilled soldiers stormed the Allied lines. Their speed was due to the fact that, unlike in earlier attacks, they moved with very few arms and supplies. Over 21,000 BEF soldiers were taken prisoner. The British Fifth Army withdrew beyond the Somme region.

Hi Woopert - fine sunny windy day - first of the Chrissy partys tonight we have to go as a Christmas movie theme so I'm going as Bad Santa complete with a full Santa suit with wellies mistletoe tied around my waste (kiss under the mistletoe) and a Sir Les Patterson appendage tied to my leg ( sit on Santas knee and tell me what you want for Christmas) should be interesting - hope for a win for you and us although the irony would be a Mr Ings scoring the winner - what will be will be ATB

 

Prohibition began on January 16, 1920, when the Eighteenth Amendment went into effect. Federal Prohibition agents (police) were given the task of enforcing the law.
Even though the sale of alcohol was illegal, alcoholic drinks were still widely available at "speakeasies" and other underground drinking establishments. More and more speakeasies were created with every year that passed. As fast as the police closed down one venue, more would spring up in its place. Many people also kept private bars to serve their guests. Large quantities of alcohol were smuggled in from Canada, overland and via the Great Lakes.

Greetings Woopert - fine sunny day 30 degrees - Sir Les went down well but no dribbling - awkward moment when a girl about 2 thought I was the real Santa and obviously not seeing Sir Les down Santa's pants and not understanding the mistletoe hanging from my waist I brought it to happiness when I asked her what she wanted for Chrissy and when she said she didn't know I promised to bring her something nice and as her Dad led her away I whispered "no pressure" he smiled so all was well - SB3 ominously quiet with our losses I wonder what is in store - ATB

 

King Tut's unbroken seal 1922 - The seal was actually a seal to the King Tut’s fifth shrine. The king was buried in a series of four sarcophagi, which were in turn kept inside a series of five shrines. The seal is to the fifth shrine, so technically not a room at all. This unbroken seal stayed 3,245 years untouched. The late discovery of Tut’s tomb resulted from the fact that it was covered by debris from that of Ramesses IV which was located directly above its entrance. While the outermost shrine of the youthful pharaoh had been opened not once but twice in ancient times, the doors of the second of the huge shrines of gilded wood containing the royal sarcophagus still carried the necropolis seal which indicated the pharaoh’s mummy was untouched and intact.

Gooday Woopert - Overcast morning which sums up the mood over here today after yesterdays siege - a lot of lives affected for a very long time after that - they walk amongst us that's the worry - sorry about your cold - nice hot toddy and a water bottle and a sympathetic word helps not "don't breathe all over me" it will pass and you should be right for Christmas ATB

 

15 November 1923 - The value of the German Papiermark falls to 4.2×1012 mark to the United States dollar causing the German government to issue the Rentenmark as a replacement for the Papiermark to alleviate the hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic.

 

The 1924 Olympics had been scheduled for Amsterdam, but in his final act as IOC President Pierre de Coubertin transferred the Games to Paris (despite the misgivings of many). He wanted to give his native France a chance to redeem itself after the many difficulties of the Paris 1900 Games. To everyone’s pleasure, it did.

 

The first waterproof watch 1926
In 1926, the creation by Rolex of the first waterproof and dustproof wristwatch marked a major step forward. Given the name “Oyster”, this watch featured a hermetically sealed case which provided optimal protection for the movement.

Hey Woopert - glad you enjoyed the little video - although with our departure in the cup I shudder to think of SB3's next post - 12 degrees in winter blimey deckchairs out - nice and sunny here today with people trying to get over the siege but what happened in Pakistan I mean what is it all about killing randomly and children to boot makes our cup loss very very insignificant in the scheme of things - ATB

 

1928 Olympics St. Moritz
Sonja Henie of Norway was only 11 years old in 1924 when she participated in her first Olympics and finished last in women's figure skating. Three years later, she won the world championship at age 14 and the year after that was Olympic champion at 15.
Henie would go on to win two more gold medals, a record that her coach, men's champion Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden, set in 1928 with his third straight victory in the Winter Games.

Hey Woopert - sunny day warm and humid - well lucky you whole week off to enjoy the festivities but now might be a timely reminder to tell you that I will be away on a NewZealand cruise from Jan 11 till the 25th so the weekend of the 11th I can do but the other 2 ie 18th and 25th hopefully you will be able to do ? Don't take queries you may get to heart just give them both barrels - just back from the specialist and my dad has less than 2 years his white cell blood count is accelerating rapidly - bit of a dampner but we are going to make every day a good one for him - ATB

 

Apr 5th 1930 - England out for 849 v WI Kingston, Sandham out for 325 those were the days
Sep 24th 1930- Portsmouth beats Brooklyn in 1st NFL game played under floodlights - not a lot of people know that

Evening Woopert - done deal will send you a private thanks for that - we leave Sydney on the 11th Jan and its a 2 day cruise to Milford Sound on the SW corner of the South Island than its around the bottom of the South Island and 9 ports up the east coast Christchurch
Dunedin Wellington Tauranga etc finishing up at the Bay of Islands after leaving Auckland then 2 days back to Sydney - should be fun - off to a funeral this morning President of the RSL (Returned Servicemen League) at the club dropped down dead whilst shaving - wont be going to the wake as I have a curry night to go to with the lads so will save myself for that plus I think wakes are for family and close friends - hope the cold is on its way out ATB

 

17th October 1931 American gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion in Chicago.