The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis culminated on 11 November when Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whitlam (pictured, left) of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) as prime minister and appointed Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser (pictured, right) as caretaker. The Whitlam Government had been rocked by scandals and political miscalculations. In October the Opposition blocked bills in the Senate financing the government, and urged Kerr to dismiss Whitlam unless he agreed to call an election for the House of Representatives. On 11 November, Whitlam intended to call a half-Senate election instead, but when he met with Kerr to seek his approval, Kerr dismissed him as prime minister. Before the ALP parliamentarians knew what had happened, Fraser and his allies secured passage of the appropriation bills and Kerr dissolved Parliament. Fraser and his government were returned with a large majority in elections the following month. Widely vilified by ALP supporters for his actions, Kerr resigned early as governor-general and lived much of his remaining life abroad.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional_crisis

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1202:

The first major action of the Fourth Crusade and the first attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders, the Siege of Zara, began in Zadar, Croatia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Zara

1775:

The United States Marine Corps was founded as the Continental Marines by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress during the American Revolutionary War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps

1940:

A magnitude 7.7 ML earthquake struck the Vrancea region of Romania, the country's strongest earthquake in the 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Vrancea_earthquake

1945:

Indonesian National Revolution: Following the killing of the British officer Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby a few weeks prior, British forces began their retaliation by attacking Surabaya, Indonesia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Surabaya

1975:

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, sank in Lake Superior with the loss of 29 lives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Edmund_Fitzgerald

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

birdsmouth: (carpentry) A notch cut into the underside of a rafter to ensure that it does not move when resting on the wall plate running across the top of a wall; a similar notch in other components. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/birdsmouth

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Everybody has a secret world inside of them. All of the people of the world, I mean everybody. No matter how dull and boring they are on the outside, inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds. Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands maybe.   --The Sandman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Sandman#A_Game_of_You