MMNN memories galore. Seems like yesterday Dr L ...

Cheers Kai

yes, Dr L. My friend & I had travelled as far as Ankara, Turkey on that trip from UK. We were on our way back to London to work again & save for another trip the following year. I lived & worked in London for 2 yrs & I eventually married an englishman in 1966 & had 2 & 1/2 kids before we moved back here in 1969. We lived in Norfolk.

Friday July 30th 1979. Carless days introduced. On this day in 1979 carless days were introduced as the country tried desperately to save petrol.
Fuel was scarce as a result of the international fuel crisis.highlighting New Zealands dependence on imported fuel. Weekend restrictions on petrol sales had already been tried but failed to meet the savings target of 10% The carless day scheme required every car owner to nominate one day of the week when they wouldn,t use their vehicle. A sticker indicating their nominated day was to be displayed on windscreens and the penalty for driving on a carless day was a fine of up to $400,00 Exemptions were allowed on medical grounds and for certain occupations,including shift workers,Post Office employees and ministers of religion. Wednesday and Thursday were the most popular days,with 27% choosing Wednesday and 24% choosing Thursday. Each carless day was 22 hours long starting at 2am and running until midnight. The scheme was suspended for one month over Christmas New Year to allow people to take holidays. Carless days were easily the most unpopular of the petrol--saving measures and the most abusaed. Over 348,000 exemption stickers were issued which meant one in four registered cars had one undermining the scheme for a start. Around 1,680 people were prosecuted for failing to display a sticker and 3,138 for driving on a carless day. Carless days were finally suspended on May 13th 1980.

Mine was Monday. Usually pooped after the weekend and glad not to be able to go anywhere that day. Didn't last long did it!!!

World Day in history July 30th 1863.

Henry Ford was born near Dearborn Michigan in 1863 the son of Irish immigrants His family came from the townland of Madame Balinascarthy Henry was extremely proud of the fact that his fatheron one side and his mothers father on the other side were both Cork men. Henry Ford was only 30 when he produced his first petrol--driven car. He formed the FORD MOTOR COMPANY in 1903. He is my third cousin twice removed. And as my Aunt in Ireland said "There,s no money in it"

July 31st 1976. John Walker wins in Montreal.
On this day John Walker won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the MONTREAL OLYMPICS.
Walkers battle with Filbert Bayi at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games in 1974 had been one of the Games highlights.Walker had narrowly lost to Bayi in a world record time,and their rematch in Montreal was eagerly awaited. Unfortunately it wasn,t to be. The All Blacks were touring South Africa in 1976 and black African nations boycotted the Olympics in protest. In the absence of Bayi Walker started the race as favourite. His main opponents Ivo van Damme and Rick Wolhuter were both fast finishers as the strongest runner in the field Walker was expected to lead from the front and burn out his opponents.Instead he stayed back and didnt make his move until 300 metres out.No one could stay with him and he won the final sprint to the line.The result was the slowest Olympic 1500 metres since 1956 --but Walker was unconcerned. He had the gold medal and he said afterwards "No one will ever take it away from me" Ivo van Damme of Belgium came second and Paul Wellman of Germany was third. Injury forced John Walker to retire in 1992. As well as the Montreal Gold medal he won a bronze, and two silver medals at Commonwealth Games He was the first to run the mile in less than three minutes 50seconds and the first to run 100 sub--four minute miles.

great interesting facts, Dr L. Thanks. I am enjoying hearing them.

AUGUST 2ND 1983-- USS Texas arrives in Auckland.

On this day in 1983 the American cruiser USS TEXAS entered Auckland Harbour to face one of this countrys largest sea borne anti--nuclear protests. Escorted by three Royal NZ Navy Ships the Texas entered the Hauraki Gulf to find 40 protest boats waiting.While 50 police and navy boats managed to keep most of them at bay more than 100 boats had joined the protest fleet by the time the TEXAS had dropped anchor.One vessel--the sailing dory Mahatma Gandhi broke through the cordon sailing across her bows and banging against her hull. Other boats came close enough to throw paint bombs but the protesters failed to turn the boat away. The protesters were particularly incenced that the TEXAS would be in Auckland during the anniversary of the bombing of HIROSHIMA. 8 People were arrested four for wilful damage two for commonn assault one for assaulting a police officer and one for obstruction. The captain of the TEAS said protests were nothing new for him but that this one was the largest he had seen in 19 years of sailing nuclear ships. Between 1975 and 1984 a total of 39 American ships visited NZ seven of whom were nuclear powered and face similar protests. The Labour Government of 1984 banned all nuclear powered or nuclear -armed vessels from NZ Ports.

August 6th Jack Lovelock wins gold in Berlin. On this day in 1936 Jack Lovelock won New Zealands first track and field Olympic Gold Medal in Berlin. Although Lovelock had set a world record for the mile three years earlier he was considered an outsider before the race. What his competitors did not know was that he had been working towards the race for years. John Edward Lovelock was born on the West Coast near Reefton where his father was a battery mine superintendent. After his family moved to South Canterbury Jacks academic abilities saw him win three successive scolarships the first to Timaru Boys High the second to study medecine at Otago University and the third and most prestigious a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University.
At the Berlin Olympics in 1936 Hitlers so called showcase Olympics Lovelock won his gold medal and set a new world record for the 1500 metres in 3 minutes 47.8 seconds in front of a 120,000 crowd. Jack Lovelock was killed suddenly at the age of 39 when he fell apparently in front of a subway train in New York Although there is still mystery around that death.

August 7th 1991. Billy T. James dies.
On this day in 1991 Billy T James one of New Zealands best loved entertainers died. at age 42 years young.
Born William Taitoko James but always remembered as Billy T. After leaving school he began working as a commercial artist before being invited to join a cabaret group. the Maori Volcanos. He toured with them internationally before launching a successful solo career in Australia.In 1978 he returned to NZ. on holiday and decided to stay. Later that year he appeared as Dexter Fitzgibbon in the TV Series Radio Times. Two more series followed in 1979. and the highly successful Billy T James Show first appeared on our screens in 1981. Billys performance as Tainuia Kid a comic Maori/Mexican character was one of the standout performances of the local film CAME a Hot Friday in 1986. As well as winning hearts with his talent for self deprecating humour Billy T also won Entertainer of the Year 1981 and of the Decade 1985 and a Gofta for Best TV Entertainer/Best Supporting Actor 1986. He was awarded an MBE in 1986. Plagued by ill health Billy first had a quadruple bypass in November 1988 and became NZs 14th heart transplant Sadly he resisted all attempts to slow down his hectic schedule and died of heart failure. An accomplished singer and mimic with his trademark giggle and unforgetable characters such as the black singleted newsreader in "Te News" he is remembered with affection for his humorous approach to racial issues.

August 8th 1979 On this day in 1979 the Dunedin suburb of Abbotsford was hit by one of the worst landslides NZ had ever seen in an urban area.
Cracks began appearing in houses in Abbotsford as early as 1968 and in June 1979 the hillside slowly started moving.By the 6th August this situation was serious enough for several houses to be evacuated and a State of Emergency declared. Nobody was prepared for what happened at 907pm on Aug. 8th the steady subsidence suddenly became a landslide at the rate of one metre a minute. By the time it stopped the split in the hillside was 75 metres wide by 30 metres deep. Miraculously there were no injuries. The Earthquake and War Damages Commission paid out $1.7 million to the owners of 76 houses affected.

August 10th 1941 National Film Unit born. after producer Stanhope Andrews made a documentary entitled Country Lads from footage of NZ Troops leaving for the Middle East.Prime Minister Peter Fraser was impressed and using his emergency wartime powers establishes the National Film Unit with Stanhope Andrews in charge..