The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1907.
APRIL'S ANNIVERSARIES. A certain epigramist has pxettil; &aid "The editor keeps the world' daybook, tlie historian its ledger.' $he historian of both to-day and th future will no doubt feel himself greatl; beholden to the keepers of ike world' daybook for abundant facts, cvei though, doubtless, a good deal of mat ter valueless to the .historian may hav< to be sifted into a form suitable for hi page-. It is interesting to examhn the world's ledger occasionally, if oni: to take a backward glance in search o B_.niv-rsarie_ of famous men anc events. The present year ie not not able for centenaries of events of vita moment, but every year teems witl historical "milestones" well wortl acting* and _o every month has it quota. The brightest anniversary o: the year is that of the centenary o: the abolition, of the slave trade. Marci 25, 1807, was the date of the passing of the Act, but the question had beer before the"British Parliament frequent ly before this, and for two day* ii 'April, 1791, it was hotly debated. Or April 3, 1798, Wilberforoe moved agair for abolition of the abomination, anc bis motion was lost by 88 votes to 83 For eiglt years more the fight wat prolonged, and though in 1806 Lore Gwamlle 'and Mr Fox failed to pas: the Bill, in 1807 the great cause war triumphant. Eighty-five yeans later on April 2, 1892, regulations for th< mippreseion of the slave trade wen ratified by the Powers'. April' 2 wa< also tihe dat. of the death ii 1865 of Richard Obbden, the great po litical -co_icfl___t. April 3 ie the anni rersary of the birth in 1783 of Washington Irving, the American author and on April 4 the gentle spirit oi OHver Gold_r_ith, author of "Th< Vicar of Wakefield," took farewell o earth. Of no institution in the Empire are Britons justly prouder thar a. the British Museum. Though it ha: now reached dimensions never antici pated when, it was founded, and thong] its treasures of literature, art and na fcuar. are of untold value, the mueeun had, comparatively speaking, a smal beginning. On April .5, 1753, Parlia ment voted £20,000 to the daughter of Sir Hans Sloan© in payment for hi library and collection of the produc tions of nature and art, which had cos _dm £50,000. This was the foun dation of the institution. Tak ing only the more prominen •vents as .they suggest themselves h looking down the calendar we find tha V L'Entente Cordiale " between En§ land and France was signed on Apri 8, 1904, and that General Booth, of th Salvation Army, was born on April 10 1829. On April 11, 1861, the Civil Wa: in the United States opened. It wae oi April 15 of the latter year that Wilke Booth shot President Lincoln in Ford' ffheatre, Washington^ and Booth wa Idmself shot on April 26 of the sam year. On April 12, 1782, Admiral Rod aey defeated the French fleet bound t jattaok Jamaica. Tlie capture •. o .ftfagdala by Sir R. Napier on. April 1 .Was the chief feature of the Abyssinia] iirar of 1868. April 16 is the annivei lary of the battle of Culloden, in whid idefeat the sun of the Stuart dynast; pet for ever. It was only last year tha jfche newspapers teemed with account ff the earthquake at San Francisco jirhich occurred on April 18. April 1: Ab Primrose Day, the anniversary of th __ath in 1881 of Lord Beaconsfield CJharles Darwin, one of the scientists o last century, died the following yearoi April 20, and we have lately been la Renting the de,ath of Baroness Burdet Ooutts, who was born on. April 21, 1814 impeachment of Warren Hasting •nded in his acquittal on April 22, 1795 •aid Shakespeare died in 1616 on S George's Day, April 23. Von Moltke' death occurred on April 24, IS9I, &n* tkat of William Cowper, the poet, oi 'April 25, 1800. Krupp, the founder o ihe great ordnance factory of Geiinany lied on April 26, 1877. On April 2 Afte order of St Miohael and St Georg .fTas instituted, and April 28, 1789, wa Che date of the mutiny of the Bounty On April 30, 1789," George Washingto] iwas; chosen first President of the TJnitei States.
The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1907.
Star (Christchurch), Issue 8902, 13 April 1907, Page 4
Log in