When is an error not an error?

In the western USA wilderness, just off Route 160, stands the Four Corners Monument. It marks the spot where four states – Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona – meet. Tourists have been visiting the spot for more than one hundred years so that they can straddle the boundaries.


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There have been claims that the monument is actually two and a half miles (4km) too far west. The north-south boundary between the states is at 109 degrees 03 minutes West, and people apparently assumed that the intention was that it should be at exactly 109° W. This seems to have arisen because Congress determined that the north-south line should be at the 32nd meridian of longitude west of the meridian that runs through Washington DC, which is at 77° 03′.

Four Corners Monument
The Four Corners Monument marks the spot where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet

The US National Geodetic Survey (NGS) issued a statement in 2009 explaining why the Four Corners monument is in exactly the right place. The surveyor given the job of determining the boundaries in 1875 did get it slightly wrong – it’s actually about 1800 feet (548m) east of where it was intended to be – but, given the information and technology he had, the NGS is satisfied it’s in the right place.

What’s more, they say, “A basic tenet of boundary surveying is that once a monument has been established and accepted by the parties involved (in the case of the Four Corners monument, the parties were the four territories and the U.S. Congress), the location of the physical monument is the ultimate authority in delineating a boundary. Issues of legality trump scientific details, and the intended location of the point becomes secondary information. In surveying, monuments rule!”

More detail at Why the Four Corners Monument is in Exactly the Right Place

Weapon of Mass Destruction

It seems incredible – not to mention barbaric – but this weapon really did exist during the First World War. The huge 100m tongue of flame released by the Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector – named for its inventor – must have produced shock and horror whenever it was used. Imagine being trapped in a trench with a ball of fire heading towards you. It was fuelled by a mixture of kerosene and diesel, and burned everything it touched. It was only used a few times and was later banned.

In 2010 a team of archaeologists conducted a dig in France, and found pieces of one of the World War 1 flame projectors. The dig was documented by UK Channel 4’s Time Team, and a working replica of the weapon was built by British Royal Engineers.

The Time Team episode is available here if you’re in the UK. For everyone else, the episode is available on Youtube in four parts:
Part 1 (12 mins 37 secs)
Part 2 (13:45)
Part 3 (10:11)
Part 4 (10:19)

The replica flame projector can be seen in action from 3:00 in part 4. It’s a truly awesome sight. I’m glad sanity prevailed after the war and weapons like this were banned.

The War to End All Wars

It seems to be human nature to name events. The 1914-18 war in Europe ended up with the name The Great War because it was a conflict of almost apocalyptic proportions and the people of the time thought there would never be another like it. History proved that idea wrong, and the modern title World War 1 came into use.

Wars of any size are devastating to the people and places involved, and they cause untold heartbreak and trauma. The Great War was like no other previous conflict (and, due to more sophisticated weapons and strategies since developed, probably like no other since or in the future). It saw the introduction of new weapons or further development of existing ones, including poison gas, tanks, long-range guns, machine guns, grenades, and flame throwers. The Great War also marked the first use of aircraft in war. [1]

In 1985 I visited the war memorial in Goulburn, NSW. I was awestruck by a series of enlarged, framed photos of the destruction caused by the war in France and Belgium. Those photos affected me in a way no amount of reading could have, and they have stayed with me ever since. One day, about a year ago, I was thinking about those photos. I decided to do some research. The result was The Great War, a slide presentation about the war, concentrating on the devastation it caused. I sent it to family members and friends I thought would be interested, and received some appreciative comments.

You can download The Great War (a Microsoft PowerPoint file), or view it at slideshare.

[1] firstworldwar.com: Weapons of War, accessed 28 Dec 2011.
Wikipedia: Weapons of World War I, accessed 28 Dec 2011.

Eureka

Just over one hundred and fifty seven years ago one of the most important events in Australia’s history took place, yet it passed with barely a mention in the media, and it’s generally not given the attention that, say, the story of Ned Kelly is. I think the Eureka rebellion deserves to be remembered.

The location: Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Victoria. The time: the height of Australia’s Gold Rush era. The background: government oppression and harassment of hard-working, but mostly poor, diggers (miners).

The Eureka flag

We swear by the Southern Cross
to stand truly by each other and
fight to defend our rights and liberties

“Amen!”

Thus began Australia’s civil war, on November 30 1854. Well… actually, it wasn’t a civil war… and it wasn’t really the beginning, either.

Unrest had been building for a long time, and the raising of the flag (on a pole 24m high – the 3.2m x 2.6m flag must have been visible for miles around) and the miners’ oath marked the “we won’t take this any more” moment when the downtrodden took on the powers-that-be. The diggers marched to the Eureka gold lead where they built a rough wooden stockade and prepared to defend themselves. Things came to a head early in the morning on Sunday 3 December, when armed troops attacked the stockade. They overwhelmed the miners and the ensuing battle lasted only twenty minutes. By the time it was over twenty-two miners and five troopers were dead, the proud Eureka flag had been torn down by Trooper King and the tents inside the stockade had been destroyed.

There were several interesting twists to the story.

The thirteen miners charged over the rebellion were all acquitted later in court. A Gold Fields Commission was set up in the days following the battle. When it handed down its report in 1855 the government adopted all of its recommendations; all of the diggers’ demands were met. Peter Lalor, leader of the rebellion, avoided capture, and in 1855 became the first member of parliament for Ballarat. The only person imprisoned as a result of Eureka was the editor of the Ballarat Times, Henry Seekamp, who was found guilty of seditious libel.

In 1895 Trooper King’s widow loaned the flag to the Art Gallery of Ballarat on condition that she or her son could take it back at any time. The family has now formally given the flag to the gallery, where it’s on display. [1]

Is Eureka important? “The Eureka rebellion is considered by some historians to be the birthplace of Australian democracy. It is the only Australian example of armed rebellion leading to reform of unfair laws. The Southern Cross flag has been used as a symbol of protest by organisations and individuals at both ends of the political spectrum.” (Australia: Eureka Stockade, accessed 17 December 2011).

The Eureka story is covered well at these sites:

[1] Art Gallery of Ballarat: Unknown Makers Eureka Flag, accessed 17 December 2011.

Shackleton’s Hut

Ernest Shackleton led the 1907-1909 British Imperial Antarctic Expedition (also known as the Nimrod Expedition after the transport ship). At Cape Royds, at the McMurdo Sound end of Ross Island, the party built a hut, which has now been restored and its contents catalogued. The hut is not far from present-day Scott Base (NZ) and McMurdo Station (USA). Looking at photos of the interior and a plan of the hut, it seems incredible that fifteen men called it home. Only Shackleton had a separate room. They must have got to know each other very well.

In this video we see Antarctic Heritage Trust conservators at work. Although it’s over 100 years since the hut was built it looks like the occupants just stepped out for a while and will soon be back. It’s a fascinating glimpse into Antarctic exploration history.

For more information on the Nimrod Expedition, see