The Ngo Dinh Diem presidential visit to Australia from 2 to 9 September 1957 was an official visit by the first President of the Republic of Vietnam. It was part of a year of traveling for Diem, who made official visits to the United States and other anti-communist countries. As with his American trip, Diem was warmly and lavishly received during the height of the Cold War, garnering bipartisan praise from both the Liberal Party of Australia of Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the opposition Australian Labor Party. He was universally extolled by the media, which praised him for what they perceived to be a successful, charismatic, democratic and righteous rule in South Vietnam, overlooking his authoritarianism, election fraud and other corrupt practices. Diem's visit was a highmark in relations between Australia and South Vietnam. Over time, Diem became unpopular with his foreign allies, who began to criticise his autocratic style and religious bias. By the time of his assassination, he had little support. Australia later sent troops to support South Vietnam in the anti-communist fight, but the bipartisanship evaporated during the mid-1960s as the ALP began to sympathise with North Vietnam and opposition to the war grew. The ALP later withdrew support for and refused to accept refugees from South Vietnam after winning office, but on the return of the centre-right Liberal-National coalition to power in 1975, Vietnamese refugees were allowed to resettle in Australia in large numbers.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngo_Dinh_Diem_presidential_visit_to_Australia

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1095:

At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade, declaring holy war against the Muslims who had occupied the Holy Land and were attacking the Eastern Roman Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Clermont

1868:

American Indian Wars: George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry defeated Chief Black Kettle and the Cheyenne Indians on the Washita River near present-day Cheyenne, Oklahoma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Washita_River

1895:

Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, setting aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after his death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel

1978:

San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by supervisor Dan White. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone-Milk_assassinations

1999:

The Labour Party defeated the governing National Party in the New Zealand general election, making the Labour Party's Helen Clark the first female to win the office of Prime Minister at an election. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Clark

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

wallflower (n): 1. Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the genus Erysimum with bright yellow to red flowers. 2. A person who is socially awkward, especially one who does not dance at a party due to shyness http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wallflower

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there. --Bruce Lee http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee