The first day of spring, Jeremy Cordeaux noted on this Garage edition of the Court of Public Opinion, is also a date heavy with history, and light with a few good stories. From the outbreak of the Second World War to the discovery of the Titanic and the birth of a Bee Gee, the first of September had plenty to offer.
The War Begins
The gravest entry came first. On 1 September 1939, the Second World War began as Germany invaded Poland by attacking the free city of Danzig. In what Jeremy called the scoop of the century, the Telegraph journalist Clare Hollingworth became the first to report the outbreak of the war.
The same day brought two darker footnotes: Adolf Hitler’s order for the extermination of the mentally ill, and Switzerland’s declaration of neutrality, which, Jeremy observed, it maintained for the entire war and has guarded carefully ever since. Who could blame them, he added, in this crazy world.
Finding The Titanic
History’s mysteries featured too. On this day in 1985, a US-French expedition located the wreckage of the Titanic off Newfoundland, resting on the seabed after more than seventy years lost. And in 1715, King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years, the longest of any major European monarch, longer even, Jeremy noted, than Queen Elizabeth II.
The Songwriters And The Stars
The date is rich with music and film. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees was born on the Isle of Man in 1946, and Jeremy shared a personal memory: as a young door-to-door photographer, he had once photographed the newly arrived Gibb family, with baby Andy in his arms. Hal David, the lyricist behind so many Bacharach classics, from Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head to Do You Know the Way to San Jose, also belongs to this day.
Hollywood is here as well. In 1954, Paramount released Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, a good movie, in Jeremy’s estimation. And the actor Dean Jones, of The Love Bug and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, died in 2015.
Aircraft, Anthems And Anniversaries
The ledger ran on. In 1911 the aviator Anthony Fokker famously flew his aircraft in spins around the tower of the Grote Kerk in Haarlem, in the Netherlands. In 1951, Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed the ANZUS mutual defence treaty, an agreement Jeremy wondered aloud had ever truly been put to the test.
Closer to home, he marked two local milestones: Adelaide’s Rundle Mall turning 50 on this very day, and Paul Simon’s landmark album Graceland reaching 40 years. From the outbreak of a world war to a shopping precinct’s birthday, it was, in Jeremy’s hands, another reminder that a single date can hold the whole sweep of human experience, the tragic, the triumphant and the everyday alike.
Listen To The Full Episode
Catch the complete Garage edition of The Court of Public Opinion, recorded live around the dining room table.
Watch The Full Episode
The Court of Public Opinion streams live every Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (ACST), right here at jeremycordeaux.com. Download the podcast anytime on your favourite podcast app, and join the conversation with your calls and comments.
