Gough Whitlam (1916–2014) was Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 until his controversial dismissal in 1975 by Governor-General Sir John Kerr. Whitlam was first elected to Parliament in 1952 and became leader of the Labor Party in 1967. He won the 1972 election, forming the first Labor government since 1949. His government ended conscription, and introduced universal health care, free university education, and legal aid. With the Opposition-controlled Senate obstructing his agenda, Whitlam called a double dissolution election in 1974 and kept a majority in the House of Representatives. The Senate, still controlled by the Opposition, obstructed the passage of government funding bills in 1975. Whitlam refused to back down, arguing that his elected Government should not be held to ransom. The deadlock was broken on 11 November, when Kerr dismissed Whitlam and commissioned Opposition Leader Malcolm Fraser in his place. Labor lost the subsequent election in a landslide. Whitlam stepped down as Labor leader after losing the 1977 election, retired from Parliament in 1978 and later became Ambassador to UNESCO. His dismissal, and his government's legacy, remain a large part of Australian political discourse.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlam
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1605:
The arrest of Guy Fawkes (pictured), found during a search of the Palace of Westminster, foiled Robert Catesby's plot to destroy the House of Lords and all within it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot
1838:
The collapse of the Federal Republic of Central America began with Nicaragua seceding from the union. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Republic_of_Central_America
1967:
A train derailed near Hither Green maintenance depot in London, killing 49 people and injuring 78 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hither_Green_rail_crash
1984:
Morning Ireland, Ireland's highest rated radio programme, was broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 for the first time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Ireland
2009:
Major Nidal Malik Hasan of the United States Army went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Fort_Hood_shooting
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
unit: 1. An organized group comprising people and/or equipment. 2. (sciences) A standard measure of a quantity. 3. (commerce) An item which may be sold singly. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unit
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
T'his darkness will not last forever. There will some day come a Fifth of November — or another date, it doesn't matter — when fires will burn in a chain of brightness from Land's End to John O' Groats. The children will dance and leap about them as they did in the times before. They will take each other by the hand and watch the rockets breaking, and afterwards they will go home singing to the houses full of light… --P. L. Travers https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._L._Travers
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