Happy birthday to me !!!!

Fifty four years ago I entered this world. 1958 was an interesting year for more than my birth.

I thought I’d share some of those events with you.

Oh and I share this day with another blogger…JOn KEnna…check out his blog and wish him a great day too !!!

But first – just because it is my birthday and I can…

• Edmund Hillary’s Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third overland journey to the South Pole, and the first to use powered vehicles.
• Ruth Carol Taylor is the first African American woman hired as a flight attendant. Hired by Mohawk Airlines, her career lasts only six months, due to another discriminatory barrier – the airline’s ban on married flight attendants.
• A British Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition team led by Sir Vivian Fuchs completes the first overland crossing of the Antarctic, using snowcat caterpillar tractors and dogsled teams, in 99 days, via the South Pole.
• Castro’s revolutionary army begins its attacks on Havana
• The Beatles, then The Quarrymen, pay 17 shillings and 6 pence to have their first recording session where they record That’ll Be The Day by Buddy Holly and In Spite Of All The Danger by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
• Australian athlete Herb Elliott clips almost three seconds off the world record for the mile run at Santry Stadium, Dublin, recording a time of 3 minutes 54.5 seconds.
• The Bossa nova is born in Rio de Janeiro, with João Gilberto’s recording of Chega de Saudade.
• Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) is inaugurated in the UK by the Queen, when she dials a call from Bristol to Edinburgh and speaks to the Lord Provost.
• These were invented in 1958 – The Microchip, the Computer Modem and the Remote Control.
• Elvis Presley was inducted in to the Army.
• The Broadway musical “My Fair Lady” opens in London, with Rex Harrison as Professor Higgins, and Julie Andrews playing Eliza Doolittle
• The Wham-O company introduces the Hula Hoop; over 100 million are sold.
• Visa and American Express cards are introduced
• The first Grammy is awarded to the song Volare
• The first Pizza Hut is opened

He sings too !!!!!

Well known people born in 1958.

• Gary Oldman
• Michelle Pfeiffer
• Tim Burton
• Viggo Mortensen
• Kevin Bacon
• Sharon Stone
• Jamie Lee Curtis
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Kevin Sorbo (I loved the series Hercules which was filmed here in New Zealand)
• Michael Jackson
• Prince
• Kate Bush
• Michael Flatley
• Madonna (born on the very same day as moi)

I just had to share The Boys in this one…

Because I was born in Australia here are some things that happened that year in Australia

• Qantas Airways introduces a round-the-world air service from Australia to London.
• The Royal Australian Naval College is moved back to Jervis Bay Territory from Flinders Naval Depot in Victoria.
• Harold Macmillan visits Australia, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to do so while in office.
• Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visits Australia for the second time.
• The Cahill Expressway in Sydney opens, the first true freeway in Australia.
• A cyclone destroys most of the town of Bowen in Queensland.
• 15 April – Monash University is founded in Melbourne, Victoria.
• 11 May – Construction of Australia’s largest man-made lake, Lake Eucumbene on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains, is completed.
• The last tram service runs in Perth.
• The ANZAC Day Act 1958 receives Royal Assent, making ANZAC Day (25 April) a national public holiday in Australia.
• The wreckage of the Australian National Airways Avro 10 aircraft, VH-UMF Southern Cloud, is found. The aircraft had been missing since 1931
• A federal election is held. The Liberal-Country coalition led by Robert Menzies defeats H. V. Evatt’s Australian Labor Party with 74 seats to 45 in the House of Representatives, a majority unprecedented since Federation, gained from preferences from the Democratic Labor Party.

What was happening in New Zealand that same year.

• 26 June: ‘Black Budget’, raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and petrol, passed by second Labour government.
• United States base for Operation Deep Freeze is established at Christchurch Airport.
• 29 September: Emergency 1-1-1 number for fire, police and ambulance introduced; initially only in Masterton and Carterton.
• Population – 2,316,000

Buckshot thought I should share this with you from her time travel adventures with The Boys !!!

Some famous New Zealanders were born.

• John Bracewell, cricket player and coach..
• Neil Finn, singer, songwriter.
• Dennis May, karate master.
• Jeff Crowe, cricketer.
• Mitch Shirra, motorcycle speedway rider.
• Martin Snedden, cricketer and sports administrator.
• Barry Cooper, cricketer
• Daryl Crimp, writer, illustrator and cartoonist.
• A J Hackett, extreme sports entrepreneur.
• Pio Terei, actor, singer and comedian.
• Jools and Lynda Topp (the Top Twins)

I have also decided to share some things with you about me to celebrate this day.

1. My favourite movie at the moment is THOR. Not only do I adore the guy who plays THOR – Chris Hemsworth…c’mon people that line in the movie where he enters the pet shop and demands a horse is hysterical. It is just a great fun movie. Yet it also has so many other wonderful moments. Family drama, a boy learning the lessons he needs to to be a man, a sweet love story, THOR has all of these. If you haven’t seen it – do.
2. I won a hamper recently and it thrilled me. It is filled with yummy jams and relishes !!
3. In 2000 I broke my back for the first time. I fell through the floor of my house landing backwards on to my deck. What followed were the most difficult four years of my life. That is how long it took to get the operation I needed to repair it. In the meantime there were days when I could not walk the few metres from my bed to the toilet and had to wait for my daughter to come home from school to get me there. It was humiliating.
4. I have really been in love four times in my life. I have at times thought I was in love but I now realise that they were just infatuations.
5. I do not believe that I will ever remarry. It could happen but I feel it is unlikely as the cats and the dog would have to approve and that is a long shot believe me.
6. I have weird big toes so I have been told. They look like tennis bats apparently. They do look funny but that is because the nails have never recovered from climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro where I damaged them.
7. I am a terrible sports person. I look funny and never manage to hit the ball when trying to play tennis. I can only just swim to save my life, an ice skating attempt had my ex hysterical and squash saw me end up with tennis elbow. I played netball three times when I was younger. The first time I ended up with a lump on my head, the second time I got knocked out, the third time I sprained my ankle. So now I watch.
8. I have twice flown a small plane. Both times the instructors told me I was a natural, and both times they actually let me land the plane myself. I still hope to one day get my pilots license and own my own plane.
9. I also had a helicopter flying lesson once. It scared the crap out of me. Seriously I was so scared trying to control that thing that I farted from fear. Silently, but in a small space it was instantly noticeable. I never ever want to try that again.
10. I love kissing. I think there is something sooooo intimate about it. I would rather kiss than anything else and can spend hours doing just that. Kissing is a forgotten art form. There is something so amazing about kissing when it is done well. And truthfully – I am a GREAT kisser.

And for all of you from me…thanks for visiting !!!!