On Thursday, October 3rd, the book of history records, among other things:
1369: The last reigning Countess of Tyrol from the Meinhardin family, Margarete Maultasch, dies in Vienna. She had contractually transferred her ruling rights to Duke Rudolf IV (“the founder”) of Habsburg.
1904: In Gibeon in German Southwest Africa, the Hottentot leader Hendrik Witbooi declares war on the colonial power. He died in battle against German troops in 1905.
1914: The German cinema technician Oskar Meßter receives permission from the city of Berlin to show war newsreels.
1924: Under military pressure from the Wahhabis, the Hashemite Grand Sherif of Mecca and King of the Hejaz, Hussein, renounces the dignity of “King of the Arabs” and the title of caliph that the Ottoman sultans had held. Republican Türkiye had abolished the caliphate. (In Islam, the caliph is the “successor” of the Prophet Mohammed in ruling over all believers).
1929: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (SHS), which emerged after the First World War, is renamed “Yugoslavia”. With a centralized administrative reform (breaking up of the historical units and dividing the country into nine “banates”), dissolution of parliament, ban on parties and strict censorship, a “royal dictatorship” was established under Alexander I from the Serbian Karađorđević dynasty.
1944: The Germans declare the Greek capital Athens an open city, and a British vanguard lands in Piraeus.
1949: The new main train station in Linz opens.
1954: In the final act of the London Conference, the Federal Republic of Germany was officially invited to join NATO.
1964: An escape tunnel is being completed in Berlin through which 57 East Berliners can escape to the West by October 5th.
1974: Brazilian soccer star Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) ends his career.
1974: The political farce “We Don’t Pay” by Dario Fo premieres in Milan. The piece promotes illegal spontaneous actions as a new form of resistance: women become thieves out of anger over price increases.
1979: The Czechoslovakian writer Pavel Kohout is refused re-entry into the CSSR after a stay in Austria.
1989: A US-backed coup attempt against General Manuel Noriega fails in Panama.
1994: Social Democratic Party candidate Fernando Cardoso wins Brazil’s presidential election.
1994: Opening of the “Wiener Filmhaus”. It is located in a former factory on Spittelberg.
1999: In the National Council elections, the FPÖ overtook the ÖVP by 415 votes and became the second strongest political force behind the SPÖ. (The People’s Party had announced that it would go into opposition in such a case). The Social Democrats under Chancellor Viktor Klima received 65 parliamentary mandates, the FPÖ and ÖVP 52 each and the Greens 14. The Liberal Forum failed to return to the National Council.
1999: In a mysterious traffic accident in Serbia, opposition politician Drašković is injured and four people are killed. Drašković speaks of an assassination attempt.
2004: Pope John Paul II carries out five beatifications in Rome, including that of the last Austrian emperor, Charles I. The beatification was not without controversy because of Charles’ political role in the First World War. The Vatican sets October 21st as a day of remembrance.
2004: Change of power in Slovenia: The Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) led by opposition leader Janez Janša surprisingly wins the parliamentary elections and causes a shift to the right in parliament.
2009: In the second attempt, the Irish voted with a clear majority – around 67 percent – for the EU reform treaty, which had failed in the first referendum in June 2008.
2014: Defense Minister Gerald Klug (SPÖ) presents his austerity package for the armed forces. Accordingly, 13 barracks are to be closed and the military bands are to be reduced from nine to four. Greater savings are also planned for heavy weapons.
Birthdays: Harry Graf v. Arnim, German diplomat, opponent of Bismarck (1824-1881); Carl V. Ossietzky, German journalist and pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize 1935 (1889-1938); Charles J. Pedersen, US chemist; Nobel Prize 1987 (1904-1989); Roy Horn, US-German tamer and magician; (“Siegfried & Roy”) (1944); Gwen Stefani, US pop musician (1969).
Days of death: Margarete Maultasch, Countess of Tyrol (1318-1369); Hans Makart, Eastern painter (1840-1884); Gustav Stresemann, German politician; Nobel Peace Prize winner 1926 (1878-1929); Heinz Rühmann, German actor (1902-1994); Akio Morita, Japan. industrial manager; 1946 founding of “Sony” together with Masaru Ibuka (1921-1999); Reinhard Mohn, former head of the Bertelsmann media group (1921-2009); Janet Leigh, American actress (1927-2004); Peer Augustinski, German actor (1940-2014).
Name days: Ewald, Gerhard, Theresia, Uda, Udo, Candider, Niketius, Maria Josefa R., Adalgott, Gerd.
