29 June 2014

Weltschmerz

[velt-shmerts]

noun German.

– sorrow that one feels and accepts as one’s necessary portion in life; sentimental pessimism.

Also, welt·schmerz.

Origin:

literally translates as world-pain

Today’s aphorism

‘One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans’.

– German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, 1888

On this day

29 June 67AD – death of Paul the Apostle (formerly Saul of Tarsus), one of the most influential and important figures of the Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to the mid-50s he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. He was both a Jew and a Roman citizen. As Saul of Tarsus he often persecuted Christians. He had an epiphany and renamed himself Paul, going on to write 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament. Born in 5AD.

29 June 1888 – birth of Joseph Theodore Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor, Australian gangster, earned money from sly-grog, two-up, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution, cocaine dealing. Died 27 October 1927 from a gunshot wound inflicted by ‘Snowy’ Cutmore.

29 June 1936 – birth of Eddie Mabo, campaigner for indigenous land rights in the Torres Strait. Successfully challenged the concept of ‘terra nullius‘ which was enshrined in federal law and meant ‘uninhabited land‘. The High Court ruled in favour of Eddie Mabo’s challenge and overturned terra nullius. The Mabo Decision resulted in legal recognition of indigenous rights to native land title. The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) awarded Eddie Mabo the Human Rights Medal in 1992, along with those who assisted in the case, Reverend Dave Passi, Sam Passi (deceased), James Rice (deceased), Celuia Mapo Salee (deceased) and Barbara Hocking. Died 21 January 1992.