Canberra Day is a public holiday in the ACT, on the second Monday of March each year.
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It commemorates Canberra's official founding in 1913.
As part of the celebrations, The Canberra Times reported that a former Canberra High School pupil, Commander Robert Spencer, a "rough diamond", the youngest commander in the Royal Australian Navy, returned to his old school, on this day 35 years ago.
He arrived in a Squirrel helicopter as the captain of the frigate HMAS Canberra.
His arrival was greeted by 500 teachers and students at the school. Commander Spencer was born in Canberra and graduated from the school in 1963.
He was the first naval officer to graduate from the ANU with a Bachelor of Science degree while on full-time duty.
In December 1985, he was appointed to command HMAS Canberra. He said he had been "a bit of a rough diamond" while at school yet it had set the path for him to make a good career in the Navy.
He had circled the world three times and served in Britain and the United States.
Two students from the school, Mathew Greehill, 15, of Macquarie, and Bette Liu, 12, of Cook were given a ride over Canberra in the RAN helicopter.
See https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/118106968
