Pour yourself something warm. May 4 is a date that carries both weight and wonder – a day for students who stood their ground, a Prime Minister who rewrote the rules, and a galaxy far, far away that chose this particular Tuesday to make itself at home in the calendar.
1882 — The boy from Yorkshire who conquered the ice
Douglas Mawson was born on this day in 1882 in Yorkshire, England, and brought to Australia as an infant. He went on to become one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of polar exploration – and arguably the greatest Australian scientist of the twentieth century. His most famous ordeal came in 1912-13, when one companion fell into a crevasse taking most of their food with him, and another died shortly after. Alone, 160 kilometres from base camp, with his skin peeling and hair falling out from suspected vitamin A poisoning, Mawson walked home. It took him 30 days. He arrived to find the relief ship had left hours earlier. He survived. He returned to Antarctica twice more. Australia’s claim to Antarctic territory owes much to his work, and the station at Mawson bears his name to this day.
1970 — Kent State: the war comes home
On May 4, 1970, US National Guard troops opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio. Four were killed. Nine wounded. The youngest was 19. For Australia – where more than 60,000 served in Vietnam and conscription had divided families for years – the news landed with particular force. Protests intensified here too. Some moments do not just record history. They change it.
1979 – An Iron Lady walks into Downing Street
Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first female Prime Minister on May 4, 1979, following a decisive Conservative victory. Whatever your view of her politics – and views remain passionate in both directions – she was a cultural earthquake. She held office for eleven years, the longest continuously serving Prime Minister since the early nineteenth century. There has never been anyone quite like her.
Also on this day: Star Wars Day. May the Fourth be with you. The pun is terrible. The affection behind it is real.
Some days carry history in layers. May 4 is one of them. Come back tomorrow for another spin through the calendar.