Confused about the massive ship stuck diagonally across the Suez Canal? Here's what you need to know. Wendy James never saw the Bombing of Darwin, but for her and others, the pain lingers. Eighty-six-year-old Wendy James will never forget seeing the newspaper headline "Darwin bombed", even though she was just six at the time.
Weeks earlier, she had waved goodbye to her father Stan Secrett on Stokes Hill Wharf, one of 2,000 women and children who were evacuated from the then-remote Top End military outpost after the outbreak of World War II. "We were left in a terrible state. We didn't know if dad had been killed. Guarding the memory of 16 Mile Camp's role in WWII defence of Darwin. Almost 80 years after the bombing of Darwin, the plan to defend the city and fall back for fear of a Japanese land invasion still teaches valuable lessons.
Key points: 16 Mile was a defensive position to slow or stop a Japanese land invasion of DarwinAustralian and American soldiers were stationed there for three monthsThe site is now a popular suburban bushwalking site with intact enforcements After Japanese planes attacked Darwin in a World War II raid on February 19, 1942, resulting in an estimated 235 deaths, surviving Australian and American soldiers were sent to build a stone fortress on a hot, bush ridge and anxiously wait for the enemy to come to them.
It is thought more than 1,000 Australian and American soldiers were stationed at the 16 Mile Camp — a defensive position 19 kilometres east-south-east of Darwin — in what is now the suburb of Johnston. The heritage-listed fortress is still intact and a valuable community asset. Frank Zappa documentary explores the man inside the myth and the demons that drove him. It's 1991 and controversial American musician Frank Zappa is standing in front of a capacity crowd in Prague's Sports Hall.
In the wake of the Cold War ending and Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, he's been invited to the Czech Republic to play a concert. Before a note is played, standing front of stage he offers this advice to his audience and the country. "I'm sure you already know it but this is just the beginning of your new future… and as you confront the changes your country will face, please try and keep your country unique. "Don't change it to something else — keep it unique.
" Coming from an artist considered by many to be a freak amongst freaks, it seemed strange advice to tell them to preserve their history, even as they threw off the yoke of Soviet tyranny. Irish prime minister to make formal apology over deaths of 9,000 children at Catholic-run care homes. An inquiry has found thousands of infants died in Irish homes for unmarried mothers and their offspring run by the Catholic Church from the 1920s to the 1990s, an "appalling" mortality rate that reflected brutal living conditions.
Key points: An investigation has found thousands of young children died in homes for unmarried mothers and babies across IrelandThe homes had mortality rates for children five times those born to married parentsIrish PM Micheál Martin will apologise to survivors in parliament later this week The report, which covered 18 so-called Mother and Baby Homes where young pregnant women were hidden from society for decades, is the latest in a series of government-commissioned papers that have laid bare some of the Catholic Church's darkest chapters. Around 9,000 children died in all, Tuesday's report found — a mortality rate of 15 per cent. How one little Pekingese dog came to symbolise British imperialism's big messy legacy. Beijing's Old Summer Palace burns as British soldiers seek retribution.
They're seeking reward too — looting silks, vases, paintings … and something else. A dog. A dog that is destined to swap this palace for another. Queen Victoria is about to get a new pet. Twenty years ago 9/11 changed everything for the West and now China's rise and COVID-19 are part of the story. "Our youths love death as you love life".
That was the chilling message Osama Bin Laden sent to the West when he "declared war" in 1996. His followers, he said, would fight "as long as they live" until Americans were expelled from the "Holy Lands", "defeated and humiliated". Five years later on September 11, 2001, Bin Laden launched his most audacious assault when hijacked planes hit the Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Centre and the Pentagon building in Washington DC. Nearly 3,000 people were killed in what remains the deadliest terrorist attack in history.
Almost 20 years on, there is still so much to understand about this event that changed our world. Flip flop: the un-Australian history of the rubber thong. The shoe known in Australia as a "thong" is one of the oldest styles of footwear in the world.
Worn with small variations across Egypt, Rome, Greece, sub-Saharan Africa, India, China, Korea, Japan and some Latin American cultures, the shoe was designed to protect the sole while keeping the top of the foot cool. Australians have long embraced this practical but liberating shoe — but history shows we can't really claim to it as our own. Geishas, workers, soldiers Japan is often cited as the pivotal influence, perhaps because the culture features not only the thong's closest ancestor (the flat-soled zori, traditionally made from straw) but also the chunky geta sandal, famously worn by geisha for centuries in an effort to keep trailing kimono hems out of the mud.
The biggest events from 2020, before and after, as seen by satellites - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Updated 21 minutes agoSat 26 Dec 2020, 10:30pm The year just gone will be remembered as one filled with particularly dire news. 2020 featured incredible upheaval around the world thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its fill of natural and man-made disasters.
Through it all, the scale of the disruption and destruction was captured from the sky by Maxar Technologies, a US space tech company that specialises in Earth observation. Here are the best before-and-after photos as seen by Maxar's satellites. Australia, US and refugee camps ravaged by fire. Coronavirus is the biggest event of 2020, but it's not the story of the year. How quickly we forget that 2020 began with the threat of war.
When Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani was killed in a targeted US drone strike in Iraq on January 3, the world truly did hold its breath. Within hours the Iranians were threatening to retaliate and American forces were put on high alert. What is Boxing Day about and does it have anything to do with boxes? What do you know about Boxing Day, other than the fact it's a public holiday, and a good time to get a bargain?
Have you ever wondered where the name comes from, or what the day has meant over the centuries? As it turns out, the exact roots are unknown. Dick, Kerr Ladies attracted 53,000 fans on Boxing Day 100 years ago. A year later, they were banned. The year is 1920. It's Boxing Day and Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool is packed to the rafters with 53,000 supporters. As many as 14,000 fans have been left outside, unable to get into the ground. However, this capacity crowd is not there to see the male players of two-time First Division and 1906 FA Cup champions, Everton. Instead, they have come to catch a glimpse of an amateur women's team, albeit arguably the best women's team of all time, Dick, Kerr Ladies.
There is so much to learn about China and these books are a good start. If I asked you, what was the bloodiest civil war in history, what would you answer? The American Civil War comes immediately to mind but it isn't even close. As many as 750,000 Americans died between 1861 and 1865 in the conflict between northern and southern states. But a decade earlier, a civil war in China left between 20 and 30 million people dead. The Taiping Rebellion ranks among the worst conflicts in human history. Yet why is it that we remember Abraham Lincoln or Robert E Lee or Ulysses S Grant and not Hong Xiuquan? His is a fascinating story, a Chinese peasant who believed he was the blood brother of Jesus Christ, who wielded two large swords that he called "demon slaying" swords: the demons were the members of the Qing Dynasty that ruled China. Holden's finest vehicles, old and new, on display for the first time - ABC News.
Some of the most radically designed, oldest and finest vehicles from Holden's historic collection are now on display at the National Motor Museum. The National Motor museum, located in the small town of Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills, features more than 350 vehicles of all shapes and sizes, including buses, motorbikes and cars. Stan Grant, Stephen Dziedzic and Bang Xiao answer your questions about the Australia-China relationship - ABC News. China's rise exposes the 'myth' of the liberal global order - ABC News.
Why do we hear so much about the liberal global order, when the truth is, it never existed? It was never a global order and it was not liberal. The phrase itself is a modern invention coming into vogue really only in recent decades, yet it is presented as holy writ. In the past few weeks, this mythical order has been invoked as a means of dealing with a disruptive, authoritarian China. Australia's top diplomat, Frances Adamson, has said we need to reinforce a resilient, flexible and open system that can sustain peace in a more complex and competitive geopolitical era. The British stole Benin's bronzes. It's a theft that still hurts - ABC News. Victor Ehikhamenor stands in a London museum. Holocaust survivor Eva Temple was months old when she was sent to a concentration camp - ABC News.
In horrific conditions at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where Anne Frank died, a baby girl managed to survive, clinging to life in her grandmother's protective arms. Key points: Eva Temple's remarkable survival story is among those featured at a new museumAs a baby, she was sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration campHow her grandmother managed to keep her alive remains a mystery to her. Annie Ransley's brother, husband and son all went to World War One. Only one returned. Updated about 3 hours agoFri 24 Apr 2020, 10:59pm. Coronavirus toilet paper stockpiling frenzy ignores our long history without the soft stuff. Posted about an hour agoSat 14 Mar 2020, 9:30pm. The history of time capsules has a dark side linked to eugenics. But their future is brighter. Updated about an hour agoSat 29 Feb 2020, 11:30pm. Holden cars were built for Australia and the EJ, Kingswood and Commodore were part of our national psyche.
Analysis Updated 12 minutes agoTue 18 Feb 2020, 2:04am. Australia's Afghan cameleers' forgotten history revived by their living relatives. Updated about an hour agoSat 1 Feb 2020, 11:29pm More than 120 years ago, thousands of camel drivers from Afghanistan and the provinces of Pakistan and India left their homes and families for the unknown shores of Australia. Wearing turbans and carrying their Korans, the men were known as cameleers, Afghans or Ghans. Key points: Barrister collects judges' and lawyers' wigs to preserve the stories of legal history. Updated about 2 hours agoSat 1 Feb 2020, 10:39pm.
How London typist Minnie Berrington became one of Australia's first female opal miners. Posted 26 minutes agoFri 24 Jan 2020, 10:59pm Minnie Berrington, a typist from London, became one of Australia's first female opal miners — at Andamooka, in South Australia's outback. Key points: Where did the urban legend of the dangerous Australian drop bear come from? Posted about 2 hours agoFri 17 Jan 2020, 11:09pm When Scottish journalist Debi Edward bravely held a dangerous native "drop bear" during the bushfire crisis on Kangaroo Island this week, it highlighted the true spirit of Australian larrikinism. How op shops shed their stigma and won the hearts of hip, eco-conscious consumers. Unseen footage of Ronald Ryan, Australia's last man hanged, reveals divided opinions on capital punishment.
Middleton has the quirkiest pub in a one-horse outback town you've probably never heard of - ABC Rural - ABC News. The world is hooked on Australian coffee culture. This is how it got so good. Johnno Johnstone, the deep-sea diver who walked 43km of the Bass Strait seabed. Frank Rusconi, the gifted stonemason behind Gundagai's famed Dog on the Tuckerbox.
Victoria's regional general stores face challenges of shrinking populations. Vannak Prum was sold 'like an animal' into modern slavery. This is his story - RN. A plaque may be all that is left of Bondi Beach post office under redevelopment plans, residents claim. The gold squad has been hunting thieves for 100 years — and business is booming. Brisbane's Old Museum still a stunning monument to Ekka's colourful history - Curious Brisbane. Frank Rusconi, the gifted stonemason behind Gundagai's famed Dog on the Tuckerbox. From polite persuasion to radical activism — the birth of the modern environment movement. Port Arthur's Separate Prison punished convicts with psychological torture. The day Grafton's water fluoridation fight descended into bloodshed. These three lessons from history could help us understand our digital future.
The slow death of the Australian icon that is the corner store (or milk bar, or deli) Alan Turing, famous WWII codebreaker, to appear on Bank of England's 50-pound note. How the Apollo 11 Moon landing was achieved with the vital help of Carnarvon Tracking Station. The collector, the toys and the story of post-war Australian identity. Australia's last millet broom factory tries to resist sweeping changes in consumer culture. Vatican opens tombs to solve missing person case, finds two more mysteries instead. David Bowie's Space Oddity is 50 years old but it still holds a cutting message. What fallen civilisations can teach us about avoiding our own 'social catastrophe'
Macksville railway station opened 100 years after flu outbreak derailed the 1919 plans. Push to save iconic Tonganmain woolshed in NSW Riverina - ABC Rural - ABC News. 'Ordinary' Port Elliot house marked for demolition prompts protest from locals. Sydney Metro construction unearths 160-year-old grave of Joseph Thompson. Victorian High Country's iconic Mount Buffalo Chalet still waiting for long-overdue makeover. Martin Scorsese and Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue film contains a hidden message. Dartmoor residents angry with Victoria Police over 'theft' of heritage-listed police station. Wesley Place restoration bringing best out of stained-glass, stone conservators.
Tasmania was once (figuratively) split in two, could it happen again? The Handmaid's Tale isn't completely fiction. Forced pregnancy happened under the Khmer Rouge. Goulburn's early convict histories illuminated by historic 1828 census. 170-year-old hair from plaster in Tasmania's convict buildings to shed light on colonial Australia's horses. Burn marks add to hexafoil mystery of Tasmania's shamanic past. Grand colonial banks given new lives as museums, homes and guesthouses after regional branches close. The Black Knight, the Iron Maiden and a Pacific island forever changed by phosphate mining. Broome's ties to dolphin hunting town of Taiji have 'pearler' of a backstory - Curious Kimberley. Miss Westralia: How a girl from the bush became Australia's first beauty queen.
Artefacts salvaged from Ned Kelly's last stand at Glenrowan to be reunited after more than a century. Unmarked graves found at Lake Condah cemetery using ground-penetrating radar. Morwell Power Station stacks fall in demolition that changes the Latrobe Valley skyline forever. Digging up Broken Hill's mining and union history which tells of life and death underground. Olympic water polo's bloody history and its ties to Darwin rekindled by mystery parcel. Shipwrecked at Brewarrina: Drought reveals historic Wandering Jew paddle steamer. Elsie's death on a rubbish tip was shameful. Her story reveals a gritty history buried under Melbourne's Docklands - RN. What are Hobart's most famous ghost stories? - Curious Hobart. The Red Flag riots unfolded in Brisbane 100 years ago. Experts see similar 'mobilised hatred' today - RN. The Nazis shut down the Bauhaus, but the school's legacy lived on in the Third Reich - RN.
The true story behind the photo of Malcolm Fraser in bed. Sydney news: Iconic pool crumbling and may close, Michael Daley aborts mission. Did an elite Melbourne private school give Australia the word 'bogan'? Owsley Stanley's acid trips helped define the sound of the 1960s, but his recordings are just as important. Convict past explored and myths busted in all-star musical Vandemonian Lags. Bob Marley, Johnny Rotten and the story of the Punky Reggae Party - RN. Photography pioneer John Beattie shared Tasmania's wild places with the world. Equal pay was won by sausage factories 50 years ago, but it didn't close the gender gap. Pioneering ABC pop music show Six O'Clock Rock marks 60th anniversary.
Homophobia and rising Islamic intolerance push Indonesia's intersex bissu priests to the brink. Landscape painter John Glover's Patterdale property restored using clues from his artwork. The secret missions of Australia's early spies - RN. NBN blamed for ruining heritage-listed footpaths in inner Sydney. Is there a Tasmanian way of speaking? - Curious Hobart. Public backlash to closure of Fremantle rail line in 1979 still among biggest in WA history. Mystery of locked room in Darwin's former Reserve Bank building set to be solved. Viral Peppa Pig video highlights China's deep social divide ahead of Chinese New Year. Forgotten railway tunnel on track for heritage protection after locals get up head of steam. Bungaree was the first Australian to circumnavigate the continent, but he's less well known than Matthew Flinders. Wives debate the merits of education for married women on 1960s show Women's World. Queenslander homes are quintessentially Australian, but their design owes much to Asia - RN.
Reconciliation remains elusive as Cambodia marks 40 years since fall of the Khmer Rouge. Christmas cards could prove valuable in time so don't be so quick to throw them out.