5 years ago today, the residents of Bougainville, an autonomous region in Papua New Guinea, voted in a 98% majority for independence of their small island region. Unlike the Tigray independence movement in Ethiopia which just a few months later sparked a terrible civil war, the government of Papua New Guinea described the result as “credible,” to their eternal credit. The referendum was non-binding, so independence has yet to be fully negotiated, but it carried three important global consequences for good. READ about those consequences and the future of this island micro-state… (2019)nnnn
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- Max Born, a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics and won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics for his “statistical interpretation of the wave function,” was born (1882)
- The seminal film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn, was released, sparking conversation about latent racism within even liberal households in America (1967)
- More than 150 countries united under the Kyoto Protocol agreeing to take steps to control greenhouse gas emissions (1997)
- Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams became the first Irish Republican Army ally to meet a British leader in 76 years, talking with Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997)
- China joined the World Trade Organization (2001)
- Tango Day is celebrated in Buenos Aires, Argentina
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nOn this day in 1931, the Statute of Westminster was signed, granting total legislative, executive, and judicial independence to the Commonwealth realms of Canada, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, Australia, Newfoundland, and the Union of South Africa. It created free nations across hundreds of millions of square miles, and was often adopted as principal amendments to each nation’s constitution.nn
nn”No Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement of this Act shall extend, or be deemed to extend, to a Dominion as part of the law of that Dominion, unless it is expressly declared in that Act that that Dominion has requested, and consented to, the enactment thereof,” the statute reads.nn”No law and no provision of any law made after the commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a Dominion shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it is repugnant to the Law of England, or to the provisions of any existing or future Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom,” it continues.nnSome commonwealths adopted the statute as is, while others chose to adopt only certain sections. The Irish Free State believed that the Irish Free State Constitution Act of 1922 already entitled the Irish government to all the powers contained within the Statute of Westminster, and therefore ignored it.nnIn Canada, today is commemorated as Statute of Westminster Day. It’s mandated that, on 11 December, the Royal Union Flag (as the Union Jack is called by law in Canada) is to be flown at properties owned by the federal Crown, where the requisite second flag pole is available. (1931)nn78 years ago today, UNICEF was established by the United Nations as an Emergency Fund to provide food, clothing, and health care to the children affected by famine and disease in Europe after World War II.nnUNICEF went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 for being an organization that provides safety for the world’s most vulnerable citizens. So far, their on-the-ground teams have improved health and education and protected children in more than 191 countries.nn
nnShe nearly drowned as a 3-year-old and it took her 7 years to overcome her fear of water. At age 18, she began training in Synchronized Swimming and in 1988 became the first Canadian woman to win 2 gold medals at one Olympiad.nnAnd, on this day in 1983, Catholic John Paul II made a “historic religious breakthrough” when he became the first pope to speak at a Lutheran church—and called for healing the 462-year-old dispute between the two Christian denominations.nn
nnThe Virginia planter, politician, and neighbor to George Washington, refused to sign the U.S. Constitution as a delegate to the Convention. His objections influenced lawmakers, like fellow Virginian James Madison, to write, and later include, a Bill of Rights.nnMason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights which served as a model for the federal version, which is why he is known as the Father of the US Bill of Rights. It was ratified in 1791, a year before Mason died. Many clauses in the US Constitution also bear George Mason’s stamp, though he is mostly obscure to most Americans. (1725)nnHappy 93rd Birthday to Rita Moreno, the acclaimed Puerto Rican-born singer, dancer, and actress. nn
