Morning of the Battle of Agincourt, 25th October 1415.
The Battle of Agincourt, part of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France and both kingdoms’ allies, was fought on the 25th of October, 1415, and resulted in an English victory.
This painting depicting the beginning of the battle was created by Sir John Gilbert in 1884.
The iconic Battle of Amiens, later to be known as the opening chapter of the Hundred Days Offensive that ended the First World War, took place from the 8th to the 12th of August, 1918.
This painting, by Australian official war artist Will Longstaff, is titled 8th August, 1918. It shows a column of German prisoners of war heading in one direction, while horse-drawn artillery heads in the other.
The painting can be found in the collection of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
The first-known dated work by Leonardo da Vinci is from the 5th of August, 1473. The drawing – Landscape drawing for Santa Maria della Neve – was created during da Vinci’s time in Italy’s Arno valley in Tuscany.
Today the pen and ink work is located in the world-famous Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Smoko time with the AWLA
Inspired by Britain’s Women’s Land Army, the Australian Women’s Land Army was created on the 27th of July, 1942. The organisation was formed to combat shortages in the farming industry as the Second World War intensified.
Though Australia had been fighting in the war since 1939, once Japan entered the conflict in 1941, threatening the Pacific, many Australian men were drafted into the army, leaving shortages at home.
Field Officer Mrs Mellor ties a papier-mâché cow used in milking demonstrations to the back of her car in Melbourne. 1944.
Women who joined the AWLA took over men’s jobs in the agricultural sector. In order to be eligible for the work women were required to be between eighteen and fifty, and to be either of British origin or to be from a member of the Allied nations.
Women were paid significantly less than men for the same work.
The AWLA was disbanded on the 31st of December, 1945.
This painting depicts Napoleon making his way through the Russian Empire. He is seen here in the town of Beshankovichy, in modern-day Belarus, on the 24th of July, 1812.
The coronation of George IV of the United Kingdom, the flamboyant and infamous son of “Mad” King George, took place on the 19th of July, 1821.
The Coronation as painted by watercolourist James Stephanoff.
The new King had served as Prince Regent through the final years of the Napoleonic Wars as his father’s health had continued to decline, a period that was marked by great excess and frivolity amongst the upper classes.
The Coronation Procession winds its way through a park in London.
Though he married, George IV and his wife, Caroline, intensely disliked each other, and she was barred from attending the ceremonies.
Their only child, the Princess Charlotte, had died in childbirth in 1817, which eventually paved the way for the long reign of Queen Victoria.
Today Canberra becomes the first place in Australia to host a public holiday for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Reconciliation Day replaces the Family and Community Day holiday, which replaced the Melbourne Cup holiday before that.
