Almanac
The Age
Monday February 16, 2004
February 16 ``How does it work in here?" asks President Richard Nixon, right, of his aide Alexander Butterfield about 8am in 1971, the first morning the secret, voice-activated taping system was used in the Oval Office. Judged by the quality of the first of 3700 hours recorded, the system didn't work well at all but, despite buzzing and humming, Mr Nixon can be heard to say: ``The purpose of this is to have the whole thing in the file for a potential leak." ``Yes, sir," replies Butterfield, who then answers Nixon's queries about who was aware of its existence. But when he also tells the Senate Watergate Committee two years later, the tapes provide the evidence to end Nixon's presidency.
February 17 The first episode of Prisoner, set in the fictional Wentworth women's prison, went to air on Australian television in 1979 and saw Bea crush Lynn's hand in a steam press. The popular show ran here until 1986 and even managed to achieve a cult following in Britain.
February 18 As part of Nazi Germany's new Total War policy, in 1943 sweetshops, luxury restaurants and nightclubs are closed, professional sport is stopped and fashion magazines are banned.
February 19 French composer and singer Charles Trenet, whose most famous song La Mer remains a classic of 20th-century popular song, with more than 4000 versions recorded in many languages, died in 2001 at the age of 87 near Paris, where he gave his final performance in 1999.
February 20 When Auckland's fourth and final 110-kilovolt cable failed in 1998, the fallout on this city of a million inhabitants was catastrophic, leaving not only high-rise residents stranded in elevators, but hospital patients waiting on operating tables for emergency generators to kick in.
February 21 Japanese and American ships met in a confrontation at Pearl Harbor, not in 1941, but in 1893, following a revolt by US citizens against the increasing migration of Japanese to the Hawaiian Islands. To protect the interests of Japanese citizens, the Japanese Government sent the cruiser Naniwa under the command of Captain H. Togo, who was to become Japan's naval hero in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05.
February 22 While fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, above, had bowled a 160.2 km/h delivery against New Zealand in Lahore in 2002 the International Cricket Board had refused to recognise it because the speed gun was not officially sanctioned. But on this day in 2003 he became the first bowler to officially clock 100 miles per hour in international cricket when, bowling only his second over in Pakistan's group A match against England at Newlands, he warmed up with a 98.43 mph (158.4 km/h) delivery and gradually built up speed to finish the maiden over with 100.23 mph (161.3 km/h). Despite setting the record, Akhtar was still unhappy for ``at the end of that day I bowled very badly and I gave away so many runs", the world's fastest bowler said after finishing with 1-63 off nine overs.
© 2004 The Age
Share This