Gday...

1846  -             American inventor Elias Howe patents the sewing machine.

Elias Howe was born in Spencer, Massachusetts on 9 July 1819. After losing his job in a factory, he moved to Boston, where he was employed in a machinist's shop. This provided him with the opportunity to experiment with inventing a sewing machine. He successfully demonstrated his first sewing machine in 1846, and patented his lockstitch sewing machine on 10 September 1846 in New Hartford, Connecticut.

Howe faced a legal battle after Isaac Singer invented the up-and-down motion mechanism, and Allen Wilson developed a rotary hook shuttle, both filing for patents. After winning one suit, the three inventors pooled their patent rights in the Sewing Machine Combination. It was under this patent that the sewing machine was then successfully marketed.

1869  -             American Baptist minister, the Rev. E. Jonathan Scobie, invents the rickshaw in Yokohama.

Rickshaws are a commonly used means of transportation in Asia. Originally, a runner pulled a two-wheeled cart which could seat one or two people. Nowadays, rickshaws are either drawn by bicycle or engine-driven. The word "rickshaw" or "ricksha" comes from the Japanese word 'jinrikisha', which means "human-powered vehicle".

The first rickshaw was believed to have been invented and utilised on 10 September 1869 by an American Baptist minister, the Reverend E Jonathan Scobie, who needed to transport his invalid wife around the streets of Yokohama, Japan. However, there is some dispute as to the identity of the original inventor of the rickshaw. Some sources credit American blacksmith Albert Tolman with inventing the rickshaw around 1848 in Worcester, Massachusetts for a missionary. Still others say the rickshaw was designed by an American Baptist minister in 1888. Japanese sources often credit Izumi Yosuke, Suzuki Tokujiro, and Takayama Kosuke, who are said to have invented rickshaws in 1868, inspired by the horse carriages that had been introduced to the steets of Tokyo shortly beforehand.

1897  -             The world's first conviction for drunk driving occurs in London.

In 1831, Parliament in England passed the London Hackney Carriage Act, which made it a punishable offence for cab drivers to injure anyone or damage property as a result of having imbibed too much drink. The Licensing Act of 1872 extended the range of the previous legislation, making it an offence for anyone to be drunk while in charge of a carriage on the highway.

On 10 September 1897, a citizen by the name of George Smith became the first driver of a horseless carriage to be prosecuted under the new statute. After drinking two or three glasses of beer, Smith drove his electric cab up onto the footpath and ploughed into number 165, Bond Street, in London.

1906  -             The first Australian licence plates and drivers licence are issued.

The first petrol-driven car to be manufactured in Australia is believed to have been produced by Harry A Tarrant in 1897. After modifications and improvements, Tarrant produced a second vehicle in 1901, which he named the Tarrant. This was followed by a number of improved designs, including the first fully enclosed body made in Australia, and later models included locally designed and manufactured engines, gearboxes and rear axles. Other vehicles began to be imported from 1900, when a Benz No 1 Ideal arrived in Sydney. Australians gradually embraced the concept of the motor car and the horseless carriage gained in popularity.

The first motor car and driving licence were issued in Adelaide on 10 September 1906. The recipient was Dr William Arthur Hargreaves, a chemist and government analyst, born on 29 October 1866 at Ipswich, Queensland. Hargreaves had moved to South Australia in 1899. Always interested in fuel sources, Hargreaves studied the problem of alternative fuels during both world wars and drove his car on a mixture of molasses and petrol at the end of World War I.

Licence plates and drivers licences were introduced in Victoria and New South Wales in 1910.

Cheers - John

Thanks John.

Aussie Paul. 

Gday...

1863  -             Bushranger Captain Thunderbolt escapes from the supposedly escape-proof ****atoo Island gaol.

Bushranger Captain Thunderbolt was born Frederick Ward at Wilberforce near Windsor, NSW, in 1836. As an excellent horseman, his specialty was horse stealing. For this, he was sentenced in 1856 to ten years on ****atoo Island in Sydney Harbour. On 1 July 1860, Ward was released on a ticket-of-leave to work on a farm at Mudgee. While he was on ticket-of-leave, he returned to horse-stealing, and was again sentenced to ****atoo Island. Conditions in the gaol were harsh, and he endured solitary confinement a number of times. On the night of 11 September 1863, he and another inmate escaped from the supposedly escape-proof prison by swimming to the mainland.

After his escape, Ward embarked on a life of bushranging, under the name of Captain Thunderbolt. Much of his bushranging was done around the small NSW country town of Uralla. A rock originally known as "Split Rock" became known as "Thunderbolt's Rock". After a six-year reign as a "gentleman bushranger", Thunderbolt was shot dead by Constable Alexander Walker in May 1870.

1978  -             The coat of arms of the Northern Territory is granted by Queen Elizabeth II.

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, bordered by the states of Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia. From 1825 to 1863, the Northern Territory was part of New South Wales. In 1863, control of the Northern Territory was handed to South Australia. This was as a result of the successful 1862 expedition of John McDouall Stuart to find an overland route through the desert from Adelaide to the north. This route was subsequently utilised for the building of the Overland Telegraph line, which provided an important communications link between Australia and the rest of the world. On 1 January 1911, the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.

The coat of arms of the Northern Territory was granted by HM The Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II, on 11 September 1978. It is the only state or territory in Australia to incorporate all of the floral, animal and bird emblems, as well as reflecting the Territorys indigenous heritage. The coat of arms features a Wedgetailed Eagle holding an Aboriginal Tjurunga stone; two Red Kangaroos, one holding a Chiragra Spider Conch and the other holding a True Heart ****le; between them, the kangaroos are also holding a shield decorated with aboriginal motifs; a grassy sandy mound with two Sturts Desert Roses; and a female aboriginal figure.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1854  -             Australia's first steam train makes its maiden voyage in Melbourne.

Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria, Australia. Although it was established as a settlement in 1835 and the new township surveyed and named in 1837, Melbourne quickly grew to rival Sydney. The discovery in 1851 of the Victorian goldfields which were richer than those discovered in New South Wales spurred the city on to even greater wealth, and greater rivalry.

Victoria became the first Australian state to have a completed railway line. Although South Australia had begun operations of horse-drawn trains on 18 May 1854 between Goolwa and Port Elliot, mechanical railways were first established in Victoria in 1854, with work on the line commencing in March 1853. At first, trains were ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company of the United Kingdom, but shipping delays meant that the first trains had to be built locally. Robertson, Martin and Smith built Australia's first steam locomotive in ten weeks at a cost of £2700.

The first steam train in Australia, consisting of two first-class carriages and one second-class carriage, made its maiden voyage on 12 September 1854. It ran along the four kilometre track from Flinders Street to Sandridge, now Port Melbourne, a ten-minute journey. Aboard the first train were Lieutenant-Governor Sir Charles Hotham and Lady Hotham. Upon arriving at its destination at Station Pier, the train was met with gun-salutes by the warships HMS Electra and HMS Fantome

The following year, the locomotives ordered from the UK arrived, and were named Melbourne, Sandridge, Victoria and Yarra.

1892  -             Ambulance services commence in Queensland, the first such service anywhere in the world.

The Queensland Ambulance Service in its current form was established on 1 July 1991, with the amalgamation of 96 individual Queensland Ambulance Service Transport Brigades (QATB). However, Queenslands first ambulance service began operations almost a century earlier.

The need for an ambulance service in Queensland became apparent following an incident at the Brisbane Show in August of 1892. Stories vary, but the common element is that a rider fell from his horse and broke his leg at the showgrounds. The injury was either exacerbated when helpful bystanders assisted the rider, walking him from the field or, according to other accounts, when first aid personnel rushed onto the field and threw the man into a stretcher before bundling him off the field without due care for his condition. Witnessing the event was Military medic Seymour Warrian of the Army Medical Corps. Seeing how the victim should have been immobilised, Warrian canvassed support to form the new City Ambulance Transport Brigade, or CATB.

The first meeting of the brigade was held on 12 September 1892. Operations of Queenslands first ambulance station were initially conducted from the Brisbane Newspaper Company. Officers on night duty spent the night on rolls of newspaper on the floor rather than beds. Transportation of victims was limited to being on foot as, while there was a stretcher, there was no vehicle. As donations flowed in, more equipment was able to be purchased. After first aid kits were put together, one of the first major changes was a stretcher attached to a set of cart wheels, which could then be conveyed by two men at a running pace. Later, the first horse with harness for a cart was purchased.

Warrian's vision of a professional ambulance service was innovative and the service was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Soon other cities, both in Australia and around the world, followed suit.

1910  -             Alexander Langmuir, the man credited with saving thousands of lives through his work on epidemiology, is born.

Alexander Duncan Langmuir, born on 12 September 1910, is considered to be the father of infectious disease epidemiology. Epidemiology is the science of studying the causes, distribution, and control of disease in populations. Because it is the science of connecting disease or injury with a cause, it enables the possibility of eliminating that cause.

In 1949, Langmuir created and headed up the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) at the National Communicable Disease Center in Atlanta, now known as the Federal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. He has been credited with saving countless lives with his innovative research and analytical approach. His work contributed significantly to the virtual elimination of polio in the United States. Dr David Henderson, deputy of the assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services, led the World Health Organization's (WHO) program to eradicate smallpox. However, Henderson maintained that the real credit should have gone to Langmuir.

Langmuir died on November 22, 1993. His legacy lives on in the better quality of life enjoyed by millions throughout the world, thanks to his powerful contribution to the science of epidemiology.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1824  -             The first convict colony in what is now Queensland is founded at Redcliffe.

The city of Redcliffe is so named for its red cliff faces. The area was first recommended by Captain John Oxley as the site for a new convict settlement. However, Oxley cannot be truly credited with being the first white man to set foot in the area. In 1823, he set out to explore the Moreton Bay area, and it was there that he came across the stranded ticket-of-leave timber-cutter, Thomas Pamphlett, who together with his companion Finnegan had been living with the aborigines for seven months, after being shipwrecked off Moreton Island.

Oxley and Settlement Commandant Lieutenant Miller, together with a crew and 29 convicts, sailed on the 'Amity' from Sydney and arrived at Redcliffe on 13 September 1824 to found the new colony. The settlement was established at Humpybong, but abandoned less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away, to the Brisbane River. The name "Humpybong" was given by the local aborigines to describe the "dead huts" left behind, "humpy" being huts, and "bong" meaning "dead", or "lifeless". The name is still used today.

1861  -             Howitt's expedition to rescue missing explorers Burke and Wills arrives at the 'Dig' Tree.

Burke and Wills, with a huge party of men and supplies, departed Melbourne in August 1860 to cross Australia to the north coast and back. Burke, being impatient and anxious to complete the crossing as quickly as possible, split the expedition at Menindee. He moved on ahead to establish a depot at Cooper Creek. He left William Wright in command of the Menindee depot.

Splitting his party yet again at Cooper Creek, Burke chose to make a dash to the Gulf in the heat of Summer. He took with him Wills and two others, ex-seaman Charles Gray and former soldier John King. He left stockman William Brahe in charge with instructions that, should the small party not return in three months, Brahe was to return to Menindee. The trek to the Gulf and back took over four months, and during that time Gray died. A full day was spent in burying his body. When Burke returned to Cooper Creek, he discovered lettering freshly blazed on the coolibah tree at the depot, giving instructions to dig for the supplies Brahe had left. Thus the name 'Dig' Tree was spawned.

When Burke left the Dig tree to try to reach the police station at Mt Hopeless, 240km to the southwest, he failed to leave further messages emblazoned on the Dig tree. Thus, when Brahe and Wright returned to check the depot, they found no evidence of Burke's return. Believing Burke and Wills were lost, a rescue expedition was organised in Melbourne. Headed up by Alfred Howitt, the rescue party reached the Dig tree on 13 September 1861. Finding no sign of Burke and Wills, the men moved downstream. It was there that they found King, the only survivor, who was able to tell how Burke and Wills had died close by six weeks earlier.

1916  -             Roald Dahl, children's writer and author of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', is born.

Roald Dahl was born on 13 September 1916, in Llandaff, Wales. Dahl is known for his unique style of writing for children, which incorporates fantasy into the real world, and much of his writing was influenced by specific childhood experiences. His fondness for a particular candy shop formed the basis for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Being sent to boarding schools was also an unpleasant experience, which probably influenced the writing of "Matilda". The experience of being caned by his headmaster is reflected in "Matilda" and "Danny, the Champion of the World". The loss of his father when he was young can be seen in "James and the Giant Peach". Dahl died of leukaemia on 23 November 1990.

1982  -             A second inquest begins into the disappearance of baby Azaria Chamberlain at Ayers Rock in 1980.

Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock, is a huge monolith in central Australia. It has long been a popular tourist destination, but gained a new notoriety on the night of 17 August 1980, when two-month-old Azaria Chamberlain went missing from the nearby camping ground. When baby Azaria disappeared, her mother Lindy claimed that a dingo had stolen her baby. No trace of the child was ever found, although her bloodstained clothes were found a week later by another tourist. At the first inquest into her death, commencing in February 1981, it was found that the likely cause of Azaria's disappearance was a dingo attack.

Police and prosecutors, unhappy with this judgement, moved for a second inquest which began on 13 September 1981. This time, the new finding was made that Azaria had been killed with a pair of scissors and held by a small adult hand until she stopped bleeding. Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder on 29 October 1982, and her husband Michael was found guilty of being an accessory.

Lindy Chamberlain's acquittal came several years later when a British tourist fell to his death from the Rock. When his body was finally located 8 days later amid an area full of dingo lairs, Azaria Chamberlain's missing jacket was also found. New evidence was presented showing that the methods of testing previous evidence had been unreliable, and no conviction could be made on those grounds. Both Chamberlains were officially pardoned, Lindy was released, and eventually awarded AU$1.3 million in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1741  -             Handel finishes composing his Oratorio, "Messiah".

Georg Friedrich Handel was born on 23 February 1685, in Halle, Saxony. Already skilled on the harpsichord and organ at age 7, he began composing music when he was 9. During his composing career, he wrote around fifty operas, twenty-three oratorios, much church music and numerous outstanding instrumental pieces, such as the organ concerti, the Opus 6 Concerti Grossi, the Water Music, and the Fireworks Music.

Handel's best known work is probably the oratorio, "Messiah", written within a 24-day period, and completed on 14 September 1741. An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus, telling a sacred story without costumes, scenery, or acting. "Messiah" is the story of the prophecy of the coming Messiah as told in the old Testament, and the life and death of Jesus, set to texts from the King James Bible. Originally conceived as an Easter oratorio, it has become popular to perform it at Christmas, particularly as it culminates with the powerful "Hallelujah" chorus.

1849  -             Ivan Pavlov, discoverer of the conditioned or learned reflex, is born.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was born on 14 September 1849, in Ryazan, Russia. After studying medicine in Russia and Germany, he became a professor in pharmacology and physiology. Pavlov's famous work with dogs actually started as a study of digestion. It was while performing experiments on dogs to show how digestive secretions are regulated that he discovered they are influenced by the sensory stimuli of sight, smell and taste.

Further experimentation proved that other stimuli could produce the same response; for example, Pavlov began ringing a bell at the same time as any of the other three stimuli were introduced. Thus, the dogs soon connected the sound of the bell with the appearance of food, and began to salivate accordingly. In 1903 Pavlov published his results, calling this a "conditioned reflex", meaning it was learned, rather than innate, or instinctive. Although Pavlov won the 1904 Nobel Prize for his work on digestive physiology, he is better known today as an early influence on behavioural psychology.

1898  -             The Gideons Bible Association, responsible for placing Bibles in motel and hotel rooms around the world, begins.

A chance meeting between two Christians on 14 September 1898, began an association that has endured to this very day. The Central Hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin, USA, was crowded due to a lumbermen's convention being held, and the manager asked two strangers if they would mind sharing a room. In that shared room above the saloon, travelling salesmen John H Nicholson of Janesville, Wisconsin, and Samuel E Hill of Beloit, Wisconsin, discovered that they were both Christians. The two men prayed together, and discussed starting a Christian travelling mens association.

Nothing further came of the idea until the two met up again unexpectedly the following May. They were joined by a third man, William J Knights, on 1 July 1899, and founded the Gideons Bible Association, the primary purpose of which is personal evangelisation conducted by Christian business and professional men. The name comes from the Old Testament book of Judges, and refers to Gideon, who was willing to do whatever God asked of him. Today, the association has over 140,000 members in 175 countries, and distributes over 56 million Bibles and New Testaments every year.

The Hotel Boscobel, where the men met, is considered the Birthplace of the Gideon Bible and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1982  -             Princess Grace of Monaco dies after receiving severe injuries in a car crash.

Hollywood actress Grace Kelly was born on 12 November 1929. She had a lucrative acting career, and was best known for her roles in Alfred Hitch**** films. She met Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1955, while attending the Cannes film festival, and the two were married on 18 April 1956. She put aside her acting career to take up new duties as the Princess of Monaco.

On 13 September 1982, the Princess was driving near Monte Carlo when she suffered a minor stroke. Losing control, she crashed down an embankment, injuring both herself and her youngest daughter, Stephanie. Whilst Stephanie suffered a serious cervical fracture, Princess Grace did not regain consciousness at all, dying on September 14. She was given a full royal funeral at the Cathedral of St Nicholas in Monte Carlo.

2001  -             The announcement is made of the closure of Ansett Airlines, Australia.

Australia's national airline is Qantas. However, for nearly seven decades, there was a second major airline in Australia: Ansett Airlines.

Ansett Airways Pty Ltd was founded by Sir Reginald Myles "Reg" Ansett in 1935. The very first flight, a single engine Fokker Universal, departed Hamilton, Victoria bound for Melbourne, on 17 February 1936. In 1957, Ansett Airways became Ansett-ANA after taking over the private airline Australian National Airways (ANA), which had gone bankrupt. Further acquisitions of domestic airlines occurred in ensuing decades, and Ansett continued to operate very profitably, well into the latter years of the twentieth century.

In 1987, Ansett made its first international flights, expanding into New Zealand through its subsidiary Ansett New Zealand. Although Air New Zealand had previously become a 50% shareholder, it acquired full ownership of Ansett in February 2000. Unfortunately, the competition with QANTAS and other airlines, an ageing fleet and the constant grounding of aircraft for maintenance, together with a series of poor financial decisions meant that Ansett became more of a liability than an asset to Air New Zealand. The decision was made to place the airline into administration.

On 14 September 2001, the announcement was made that Air New Zealand had placed the Ansett group of companies into voluntary administration. Despite an attempt by the federal government to prop up Ansett via government guarantee, the last commercial flight, AN152 from Perth to Sydney, touched down just after 6am on 5 March 2002.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1846  -             Explorer Thomas Mitchell discovers and names the Barcoo River, near the present site of Blackall.

Major Thomas Mitchell was born in Craigend, Scotland, in 1792. He came to Australia after serving in the Army during the Napoleonic Wars, and took up the position of Surveyor-General of New South Wales. He undertook four expeditions into the NSW interior. His fourth and final expedition spanned 1845-46, and extended to what is now western Queensland.

Mitchell discovered and named numerous western Queensland rivers. On 15 September 1846, he discovered the Barcoo River, whilst other discoveries on this expedition include the Balonne, Culgoa and Belyando rivers, which mostly flowed south-west into the Darling. However, Mitchell originally named the Barcoo the Victoria River, believing that it flowed north into the Gulf of Carpentaria. His theory was proved incorrect when Edmund Kennedy explored the region the following year, following the Barcoo until it became part of Cooper Creek.

Although this area was not as rich as the land he had found in Victoria on his third expedition, it would prove to be excellent grazing country in the future. The town of Blackall, with its current population of a little less than 2000, grew out of the huge pastoral leases taken up in the area and is situated on the Barcoo River.

1870  -             Construction begins on Australia's Overland Telegraph Line, stretching across the continent from Adelaide to Darwin.

The Overland Telegraph Line was a major feat of engineering, which connected Australia to the rest of world via a single wire. The motivation for building the Overland Telegraph Line came from the fact that a submarine cable already reached from England to Java, and the British-Australian Telegraph Company was prepared to lay a submarine cable from Java to Darwin. It remained only to connect Darwin to the rest of Australia.

The line was to connect first with Adelaide, as Adelaide was the closest point linking to the major centres of Melbourne and Sydney. Thanks to the influence of Charles Todd, superintendent of telegraphs and government astronomer in South Australia, the South Australian government agreed to build the necessary 3200 kilometre overland telegraph line connecting Darwin with Port Augusta, north of Adelaide. The Line would closely follow the route charted by explorer John McDouall Stuart on his final expedition in 1862.

Begun on 15 September 1870, the Overland Telegraph Line was completed in 1872. It was an exceptional feat, carried out in searing heat through the Australian desert, and six men lost their lives during the construction. The northern and southern sections were joined on 22 August 1872, finally bringing Australia into telegraphic communication with the rest of the world.

1885  -             The largest elephant in captivity, Jumbo, is accidentally killed by a train.

 "Jumbo", born sometime in 1861, was an African bush elephant. After being transported from a Paris zoo to the London Zoo, where he was popular for giving rides, he was then sold to P.T.Barnum's circus in 1882, where his huge size made him a drawcard for the circus visitors.

Standing at around 3.25 metres in height, Jumbo was the largest known elephant in captivity, and his name has become synonymous with anything of extraordinary size. On 15 September 1885, the gentle giant Jumbo was killed by a train whilst crossing the tracks at a train marshalling yard in St Thomas, Ontario, Canada, while being loaded for transport with the circus.

Of unusual interest is the fact that, whilst stuffing the elephant for posterity, a taxidermist found within Jumbo's stomach an assortment of coins, key, rivets and even a London policeman's whistle.

1895  -             Celebrated American writer and humorist, Mark Twain, arrives in Australia on tour.

American writer Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on 30 November 1835. He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, and later worked as a licensed Mississippi river-boat pilot. Writing from a mixture of experience and imagination, the pseudonym 'Mark Twain' was spawned in 1863 when he signed a humorous travel account with that name. Twain is best known for stories such as "Tom Sawyer", "The Prince And The Pauper" and "Huckleberry Finn".

Twain arrived in Australia on a three-month lecture tour on 15 September 1895. He was fascinated by the unoccupied desert expanses of outback Australia which contrasted greatly with the populated, fertile inland areas of USA. He was captivated by the humble kookaburra, magpie, and Australian wildlife in general. He wrote extensively about his observations of Australian animals and birds, and was surprised by the problem of feral rabbits. In all, he was a man who, during his tour, displayed a keen interest to learn and explore, tempering his interest with his usual satirical comments.

2011  -             The discovery by Australian researchers of a previously unknown species of bottlenose dolphin is announced.

There are almost 40 species of dolphins worldwide. Bottlenose dolphins are the most common, and belong to the genus 'Tursiops'. Found in temperate and tropical seas all over the world, for many years it was believed there were only two species of bottlenose dolphins: the Common Bottlenose Dolphin and the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin.

On 15 September 2011, the discovery of a third species of bottlenose dolphin was announced. The new species of 'Tursiops australis' was named by Researcher Kate Charlton-Robb at Australia's Monash University after she determined unique features and differences between the dolphin and other bottlenose dolphins. Also known as the Burrunan dolphin, its common name was derived from an aboriginal word in the Boonwurrung, Woiwurrung and Taungurung languages referring to a large sea fish. The species name of 'australis' came from the Latin adjective 'southern', and refers to the Australian range of this bottlenose dolphin.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1770  -             Captain Cook becomes the first European to note the appearance of the Aurora Australis

Captain Cook, the first European to chart Australia's eastern coast, was hired in 1766 by the Royal Society to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun in mid-1769. Following this, Cook's next orders were to search the south Pacific for Terra Australis Incognita, the great southern continent. Cook came across New Zealand, which Abel Tasman had discovered in 1642, and spent some months there, charting the coastline. Nearly a year later, Cook set sail west for New Holland, which was later to become Australia.

Some time after beginning his journey up the eastern coast of the continent, Cook became the first European to note the appearance of the Aurora Australis. On 16 September 1770, Cook described a phenomenon which was similar in some ways to the Aurora Borealis, but different in other ways: they had "a dull reddish light" with other "rays of a brighter coloured light" passing between them, and "entirely without the trembling or vibratory motion" he had seen in the Aurora Borealis.

By this time, Cook was as far north as Timor, and the Aurora Australis is not usually seen at that latitude. However, considerable solar activity in September 1770 is believed to have contributed to the appearance of the phenomenon.

1847  -             Explorer Edmund Kennedy returns to his depot to find that Aborigines have ransacked his supplies.

Edmund Kennedy was born on 5 September 1818 on the Island of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. He arrived in Australia in 1840, and took up the position of Assistant-Surveyor of New South Wales. Kennedy accompanied Major Thomas Mitchell's 1845-46 expedition to the interior of Queensland, where he gained much experience in exploration.

In 1847, Mitchell appointed Kennedy to lead a second expedition to trace the course of the Barcoo River (originally named the Victoria River) in the hope that it would lead to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The expedition left on 13 March 1847, and followed the river north to Cooper Creek. This then flowed into the desert, proving it was not linked to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Never one to give up, Kennedy continued southwest, and discovered the Thomson River, on 20 August 1847. He returned to his depot on 16 September 1847, planning to continue north to the Gulf. However, he was dismayed to find that Aborigines had dug up the expedition's carefully buried provisions, and mixed 181kg of flour with clay. This prevented Kennedy from continuing his northward trek, and he was forced to return prematurely to Sydney.

1908  -             General Motors Corporation (GM) is founded in the USA.

General Motors Corporation (GM) was founded on 16 September 1908 when William C Durant consolidated several motor car companies, including Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac. In GM's early years, Durant bought out 30 other companies, including Chevrolet, Delco, the Fisher Body Company, and Frigidaire. By 1929, GM had surpassed Ford to become the leading American passenger-car manufacturer, and amassed manufacturing facilities and branch sales offices in countries around the world as far as Europe, Asia and Australia. By 1955, it was the first company in America to exceed over $1 billion in a single year.

1956  -             Australia's first television broadcast is made by TCN Channel 9 in Sydney.

In 1950, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced a gradual introduction of television in Australia, commencing with a launch of an ABC station. Three years later his government amended the 1948 Broadcasting Act to allow for commercial television licences.

Test transmissions commenced in Sydney and Melbourne in July 1956. At 7:00pm on 16 September 1956, Australia's first TV broadcast was made by TCN Channel 9 in Sydney. Bruce Gyngell introduced the broadcast with the words "Good evening, and welcome to television".

At the time, there were approximately 2,000 television sets in Sydney. The station was owned by Frank Packer, but it was his son Kerry who later saw and developed the potential of television as an informative media source. Packers TCN 9 launched approximately two months ahead of its nearest competitor, ABN 2. However, a regular broadcasting service was not provided until January of the following year, by GTV 9. GTV 9 had already been granted permission to use the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne for test transmissions, and officially opened with a regular broadcasting service on 19 January 1957.

1975  -             Papua New Guinea is granted full independence from Australia.

Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania, positioned to the north of Australia. Consisting of the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, as well as numerous offshore islands, it shares the island with the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. The country is renowned for being largely unexplored, with ancient tribes still occupying dense jungles in the rugged mountains, while it is also believed that undiscovered flora and fauna species lie in its interior.

The first known European incursions into the island began with the Dutch and Portuguese traders during the sixteenth century. The name 'Papua New Guinea' is a result of the country's unusual administrative history prior to Independence. 'Papua' comes from a Malay word, pepuah, used to describe the frizzy Melanesian hair, while 'New Guinea' is derived from 'Nueva Guinea', the name used by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez, who coined the term due to the physical similarities he noted in the people to those occupying the Guinea coast of Africa.

The northern half of the country fell to German control in 1884, and in 1899 the German imperial government assumed direct control of the territory. At this point, the territory was known as German New Guinea. In 1884, Britain had taken control of the southern half, annexing it completely in 1888. The southern half was known as British New Guinea. After the Papua Act of 1905, the British portion was renamed to Territory of Papua. During World War I, Australian troops began occupying the island to defend the British portion. Once the Treaty of Versailles came into effect following World War I, Australia was permitted to administer German New Guinea, while the British portion came to be regarded as an External Territory of the Australian Commonwealth, though in effect still a British possession. The two territories remained separate and distinct as 'Papua' and 'New Guinea'.

Following the New Guinea Campaign of World War II, the two territories were merged as 'Papua New Guinea'. Australia continued to administer the country until it was granted full independence on 16 September 1975. Since independence, the two countries have retained close ties.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1853  -             Australia's first paddlesteamer, the 'Lady Augusta', reaches Swan Hill on its maiden voyage from Goolwa.

In 1828-29, Captain Charles Sturt became the first explorer to follow the course of the Murray River down to its mouth at Lake Alexandrina in South Australia. In doing so, he opened up the possibilities for a new means of transporting goods and passengers through inland NSW to the southern coast.

In 1851, the South Australian Government offered 2,000 pounds reward to the first two steamships to reach the junction of the Murray and Darling Rivers. 31-year-old Scottish shipbuilder, Francis Cadell, had the 32m iron paddlesteamer, 'Lady Augusta', built in Sydney with 2x20hp steam engines. He departed Goolwa on 25 August 1853, travelling 2,200 km upstream, reaching Swan Hill on 17 September 1853. Cadell's competitor, William Randell, built his own 17m paddlesteamer 'Mary Ann' at Gumeracha and Mannum, with a single 8hp engine and a square boiler. Randell reached Swan Hill several hours behind Cadell, after the two had raced neck-and-neck most of the way.

Cadell went on to carry cargo mostly along the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers; the small Murray River town of Cadell in South Australia now bears his name. Randell plied his trade along the Murray-Darling system. The town of Mannum grew up around his boat-yards and docks at his Reedy Creek station.

1892  -             The Coolgardie, WA, gold rush begins.

The small town of Coolgardie lies about 570km east of Perth, Western Australia. The gold rush began when prospectors Arthur Bayley and William Ford found a rich reef of gold in 1892, which they named "Bayley's Reward". On 17 September 1892 they carried almost 16kg of gold into a bank in Southern Cross, 368km northeast of Perth. Thousands departed Southern Cross that very night, sparking a huge gold rush to Coolgardie.

Coolgardie grew rapidly, becoming the third largest town in the state after Perth and Fremantle. However, within a few years, nearby Kalgoorlie was attracting more interest, as the gold deposits were much larger. The population of Coolgardie dropped dramatically, falling to below 200 at one stage. Now the town stands as a monument to its gold rush days, with a steady population of around 1300.

1908  -             The first air fatality occurs when a plane being piloted by Orville Wright crashes, killing his passenger.

Orville and Wilbur Wright are credited with being the first to build a flying machine. After several years of building and selling airplanes, the Wright brothers had attracted interest from the army. As Orville Wright was demonstrating his airplane to Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge at Fort Meyer, Virginia, on 17 September 1908, the propeller cracked. The plane plummeted to the ground, injuring both men. Selfridge died shortly afterwards, whilst Wright suffered a fractured thigh and ribs, from which he later recovered.

2001  -             Today is Australian Citizenship Day, inaugurated in the twenty-first century.

Australian Citizenship Day was first celebrated in Australia on 17 September 2001. The date was chosen as 17 September was the day that the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 was renamed, in 1973, to the Australian Citizenship Act 1948.

Australian Citizenship Day is an opportunity for Australians to take pride in their citizenship and consider what it means to be Australian. Australians are encouraged to reflect on the history and changes that have shaped the nation, and on the individuals' roles in shaping the country's future. This is a time to uphold Australia's values of democracy and the concept of equality and a fair go, as well as equality and respect for each other. Common venues for Australian Citizenship Day include the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra, the Sydney Opera House, Government House in Tasmania and the Adelaide Zoo.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1797  -             Coal is officially discovered in New South Wales, Australia, providing the foundation for Newcastle.

Newcastle is the second largest city in New South Wales, Australia. It was not a settlement at the time when a group of convict escapees discovered the first-known coal deposits in 1791. The discovery was not made known, as the convicts sought obscurity rather than notoriety. It was a British soldier, Lieutenant John Shortland, who found a coal seam while looking for the escapees in 1797.

Shortland first found a river which had been overlooked by Captain Cook who had charted the eastern coast 27 years earlier. Shortland named this river the "Hunter", after Governor Hunter, but then discovered a rich seam of coal, on 18 September 1797. For some time after this, the river was known as the Coal River. Shortland took a sample of the coal back to Sydney. Within a year, worker on ships began collecting coal from the riverbanks and selling it in Sydney. The first export of local coal took place in 1799.

In order to have sufficient workers to mine the coal and cut timber, a convict camp for particularly hardened criminals was established in 1801. It was initially known as King's Town, after Governor King. From this settlement came the thriving city of Newcastle.

1895  -             Daniel Palmer, founder of chiropractic treatment, makes the first chiropractic adjustment on a patient.

Daniel David Palmer was born on 7 March 1845 near Toronto, Canada. His family moved to the United States when he was very young. Originally, he worked as a magnetic healer in Davenport, Iowa, but two patients who both presented with problems associated with spinal disorders changed his focus. Palmer corrected the spinal dislocation of the first patient, whose deafness immediately cleared up. This occurred on 18 September 1895. Palmer's second patient, who was suffering from heart disease, also improved after adjustment of a spinal dislocation which Palmer believed exerted pressure on the nerves leading to the heart.

From this, Palmer extrapolated the theory that decreased nerve flow could cause disease, and that misplaced spinal vertebrae could cause pressure on the nerves. Thus, he developed the theory of chiropractic treatment.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1783  -             The first hot-air balloon is tested - with a duck, a sheep and a rooster as its passengers.

Jacques Étienne Montgolfier was the French pioneer of the hot air balloon. Montgolfier was born on 6 January 1745. Together with his brother Joseph-Michel, he developed and tested the hot air balloon, progressing to untethered flights. On 19 September 1783, he tested the first balloon to carry passengers, using a duck, a sheep and a rooster as his subjects. The demonstration occurred in Paris and was witnessed by King Louis XVI. The rooster did not survive the landing.

The first manned, untethered balloon flight occurred on November 21 of that year, and carried two men.

1799  -             A huge ball blazing with white light is witnessed throughout England.

Unidentified Flying Objects are not restricted to the twentieth century and later. On 19 September 1799, all of England was apparently witness to a spectacular sight. The "Gentleman's Magazine" reported that at 8:30pm, a huge ball, blazing with a brilliant white light and the occasional red spark, was seen to pass from the northwest to the southeast. The phenomenon apparently moved quickly and silently, with a gentle "tremulous motion".

1839  -             Chocolate manufacturer George Cadbury is born.

George Cadbury was born on 19 September 1839. The son of a tea and coffee drinker, he was compelled at an early age to take over the business when both his parents suffered ill health. After 5 years, he and his older brother Richard developed the popular use of cocoa as a drink, sold as a powder so customers could add water or milk. Over time, the brothers improved the quality of the cocoa through developing a new cocoa bean processing technique.

George Cadbury was an employer who truly practised the tenet that if you look after your employees, they'll look after you. He built homes for his workers among attractive surroundings and gardens, was generous with time off, provided sporting and recreational facilities, provided health treatment and a retirement fund. This was a hugely progressive step from the workhouse conditions endured by many employees of the time.

1919  -             The Great Ocean Road project in Victoria is officially launched.

The Great Ocean Road is a scenic highway in southern Victoria which begins at Torquay and extends west for 243 km, ending at Allansford, just east of Warrnambool. Hailed as an engineering feat for its time, the road was built by around 3000 returned servicemen, or Diggers, following World War I.

The concept of such a road was first put forward as early as the 1870s. Settlers along the coast could only reach the larger communities inland via rough tracks over the Otway ranges, so calls were made for either a rail or road route connecting these otherwise isolated coastal settlements. Shortly after Geelong businessmen E H Lascelles and Walter Howard Smith proposed a road be built between Geelong and Lorne, the Country Roads Board (CRB) was formed in 1912. Following World War I, CRB chairman William Calder suggested that returned Diggers be gainfully employed on various road projects, including a road extending from Barwon Heads to Warrnambool. The plan was soundly approved by Mayor of Geelong, Howard Hitch****, who saw not only the value in such a road for tourism, but also as a permanent memorial to the many thousands of soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War.

The Great Ocean Road Trust was officially formed on 22 March 1918, and surveying began in August of that year. On 19 September 1919, the project to construct the Great Ocean Road was officially launched by the Premier of Victoria, Harry Lawson. Taking 13 years to complete, the road is regarded as a tremendous engineering feat for the 1920s. With the absence of any machinery at the time, it required back-breaking manual labour as the men had only shovels, picks and horse-drawn carts to hew out the rocky cliffside. The first section, extending from Lorne to the Eastern View section of the Great Ocean Road, was officially opened on 18 March 1922. The second official opening occurred on 27 April 1932, and this celebrated the extension of the road to Warrnambool.

Although modernised since its original construction, the Great Ocean Road continues to stand as the world's largest memorial to the soldiers of World War I.

1991  -             Otzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old Bronze Age hunter, is found.

Otzi the Iceman was discovered on 19 September 1991 by two German mountaineers. His frozen, preserved body was found at an altitude of 3,200m in the Alps on the Italian-Austrian border. Samples taken from his stomach indicated that his last meal consisted of meat, probably from an alpine goat, the bones of which were found nearby, wheat, plants and plums. Otzi was found alongside a copper axe, a knife, a bow made out of yew and 14 wooden arrows.

Otzi's probable cause of death was an arrowhead buried beneath his upper left shoulder. Because he has been so perfectly preserved, scientists have even been able to determine the position from which the arrow was fired, and the fact that it missed vital organs, but probably caused nerve damage and internal haemorrhaging.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1519  -             Ferdinand Magellan leaves Spain on his voyage around the world

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese sea explorer. Born in 1480, at age 12 he became a page to King John II and Queen Eleonora at the royal court at Lisbon. Here he was able to pursue his academic interest in astronomy and geography. He first went to sea when he was 20, and gained much seafaring experience over the next 10 years. He was the first to sail from Europe westwards to Asia, and the first European to sail the Pacific Ocean.

On 20 September 1519 Magellan set sail to circumnavigate the world. His fleet reached the Philippines a year and a half later. Whilst Magellan was well received by many of the people, he died on 27 April 1521, during a battle with an indigenous group. 18 members of his crew and one ship of the fleet returned to Spain in 1522, having completed Magellan's goal of circumnavigating the globe.

1853  -             Inventor Elisha Otis sells his first safety elevator equipment.

Elisha Graves Otis was born in Halifax, Vermont, USA, in 1811. In 1852, Otis developed the first modern passenger elevator. It used his invention of a safety device which prevented the car from falling if the cables broke. On 20 September 1853 he sold his first safety elevator equipment to Benjamin Newhouse in New York City who used it for moving freight.

The safety equipment was not demonstrated in public until 1854, after Otis had begun his elevator business. At the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York, Otis ascended in the elevator, and called for the cable to be cut with an axe. The elevator platform did not fall, but held, secured by a brake using toothed guiderails in the elevator shaft and a spring-loaded bar that automatically caught in the toothed rail of the elevator car if the cable failed. Today, the Otis Elevator Company is the worlds largest company in the manufacture and service of elevators, escalators, moving walks and people-moving equipment.

1954  -             The first Fortran computer program is run.

Fortran is a computer programming language. It was originally developed in the 1950s, primarily for technical and scientific applications. The name "Fortran" is short for "Formula Translation". In its early form, it allowed users to express their problems in commonly understood mathematical formulae. Fortran was developed by an IBM team lead by John Backus, and the first Fortran programme was run on 20 September 1954. Continued modifications through the years have allowed the programme to develop with technology, and it is still a usable language today.

1963  -             Scrivener Dam is completed in order to make Lake Burley Griffin, a central feature of Canberra, Australia's capital.

The competition to design Australia's new capital city, Canberra, was won in 1911 by American architect Walter Burley Griffin. After winning the competition to design Australia's national capital, he and his wife moved to Australia, where Griffin was appointed as the Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction.

As the Molonglo River flowed through the proposed site of Canberra, Burley Griffin's design included an artificial lake in the city's heart. The design allowed for a central circular basin, with irregularly shaped eastern and western lakes either side. Due to disputes with Australian authorities, Burley Griffin left Australia in 1920 with much of his vision for the city not yet realised. Thus, work on the lake only began in 1958 when engineers first began to investigate the hydrology and structural requirements needed to dam the Molonglo in order to construct the lake.

Excavation of the floodplain for the lake began in 1960. The dam to hold back the waters was named Scrivener Dam after Charles Scrivener, the man who surveyed several sites in New South Wales to select the site for the Australian Capital Territory and Canberra. The valves to complete Scrivener Dam were closed on 20 September 1963 by Interior Minister Gordon Freeth but, due to a drought, the lake only reached its planned level at the end of April the following year.

1975  -             13 miners are killed in the first of several mining accidents at Moura, Queensland.

The town of Moura is located in central Queensland, about 676 km north-west of Brisbane. The Kianga-Moura coalfields were developed in the early 1960s, and by 1968 the coalfields were the largest in Queensland, with coal being railed out to Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

Nicknamed 'The Coal and Cattle Centre of the Dawson Valley', Moura is a small town with a history of tragic accidents. The first of these occurred on 20 September 1975. 13 miners were killed in an explosion in a mineshaft near the town. An inquiry found that the explosion was caused by "a spontaneous combustion source which ignited inflammable gas and was propagated involving coal dust."

The second major mining accident occurred in the Moura Underground No 4 mine, on 16 July 1986. 12 miners, the youngest of whom was just 18 years old, were killed in this accident. A brass statue of a miner at the southern end of the town commemorates this disaster. Yet another 11 miners were killed on 7 August 1994, when an explosion occurred at the main BHP mine.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1522  -             The first edition of Martin Luther's German translation of the New Testament is published.

Martin Luther, born in 1483, was a German theologian and leader of the Reformation. The Reformation was a movement in Western Europe during the 16th century, which aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches. Luther himself was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic church for his attacks on the wealth and corruption of the papacy, and his belief that salvation would be granted on the basis of faith alone rather than by works.

In 1521, the same year in which he was excommunicated, Luther was summoned before the Diet of Worms. The Diet was a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire that occurred in Worms, Germany, from January to May in 1521. When an edict of the Diet called for Luther's seizure, his friends took him for safekeeping to Wartburg, the castle of Elector Frederick III of Saxony. It was here that Luther translated the New Testament into German. This was published on 21 September 1522. Luther also began translating the entire Bible, which took him 10 years to complete. Luther's extensive writing on church matters included the composition of hymns, liturgy, and two catechisms that are basic statements of the Lutheran church.

1741  -             A strange substance known as "Angel Hair" falls over Selborne, England.

Angel Hair is a fine substance so named because of its likeness to very fine hair. While there is no conclusive evidence on its formation or origin, it is commonly believed to be fine web strands left by migrating spiders.

On 21 September 1741, a thick fall of Angel Hair occurred over Selborne, England. The phenomenon was documented in "The Natural History of Selbourne (England)" by Gilbert White, where he described it as follows: "A shower of cobwebs falling from very elevated regions and continued without interruption until the end of the day. Most were not single filmy threads floating in the air in all directions, but perfect flakes or rags, between an inch and 5 or 6 long, which fell with a degree of velocity that they were considerably heavier than the atmosphere. On every side the observer looked might he behold a continual succession of fresh flakes falling into his sight, twinkling like stars as they turned their sides towards the sun. How far this wonderful shower extended would be difficult to say, but we know it reached Bradley, Selbourne and Alresford, the three who lie in a sort of triangle, the shortest of whose sides is about 8 miles in extent."

1872  -             Warburton departs Adelaide on his journey to explore central Australia from Alice Springs to Perth.

Peter Egerton Warburton was born on 15 August 1813, at Northwich, Cheshire. He joined the navy at the tender age of 12, initially serving as a midshipman on the HMS Windsor Castle. He then served for many years in India before retiring in 1853. He then came to Australia, whereupon he was appointed to command the Police Forces of the Colony of South Australia, an office he held until 1867. It was during this time that he developed his love of exploring.

Warburton undertook numerous smaller expeditions, but his goal was to complete the first crossing of the central Australian continent from east to west. In 1872, he was selected by Sir Thomas Elder, a Member of the Legislative Council to lead an expedition in an attempt to find a route from central Australia to Perth, and to report on what sort of country lay in between. On 21 September 1872, Warburton departed Adelaide with his son Richard, two white men with bush knowledge, two Afghan camel drivers and a black-tracker. His purpose was to attempt to find an overland route from Alice Springs to Perth and determine the nature of the country in between. Warburton's expedition departed Alice Springs on 15 April 1873.

The expedition was particularly hard-going. The men endured long periods of extreme heat with little water and survived only by killing the camels for their meat. After finally crossing the Great Sandy Desert, they arrived at the Oakover River, 800 miles north of Perth with Warburton strapped to one of the two remaining camels. Warburton received a grant of £1000 and his party received £500 from the South Australian parliament for the expedition.

1897  -             The famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" letter is published.

On 21 September 1897, an eight year old girl named Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the New York "Sun" newspaper, asking if Santa Claus was real, after her friends had told her he was not. One of the newspaper's editors, Francis Pharcellus Church, answered the letter in such a way that its timeless message has resounded down through the generations, becoming a much-loved Christmas message of hope. The reply was as follows:

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1831  -             The first drawing of a numbat is made, following the first recorded sighting.

The numbat is a small marsupial of Western Australia, and the faunal (animal) emblem of that state. It is distinctive for having red-brown fur with six or seven white stripes across its back, and a relatively long, bushy tail. As it feeds mostly on termites, it is sometimes referred to as the banded anteater. Unlike most marsupials, the numbat does not have a pouch for the young. The joeys cling to the mother's underbelly fur whilst attached to a teat. Numbats used to be widespread across the southern part of Australia, but European settlement caused the extinction of the eastern colonies. Always an elusive creature, the first time this marsupial was sighted and drawn was in 1831.

George Fletcher Moore was one of the early settlers in Western Australia. He was involved in several expeditions to explore the region, and on one occasion accompanied explorer Robert Dale in surveying and cutting a road from Guildford to the Avon Valley in the southwest. On 22 September 1831, after seeing a numbat for the first time, Moore drew and described the creature, including in his text that accompanied the drawing the following:

"... chase another of those little animals into a hollowed tree, succeed in getting it, suppose it to be an ant eater from the length of its tongue & other reasons - its colour is yellowish barred with black & white streaks across the hinder parts of its back - length about 12 inches."

1885  -             Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia from 1945-1949, is born.

Ben Chifley was born Joseph Benedict Chifley on 22 September 1885, in Bathurst, New South Wales. He was raised largely by his grandfather, and joined the railways at age 15. Moving up to the position of engine driver, he became one of the founders of the engine drivers' union, the AFULE, and was actively involved in the Australian Labor Party. In 1928, Chifley won the Bathurst-based seat of Macquarie in the House of Representatives, and in 1931 he became Minister for Defence, under Scullin. He lost his seat again shortly afterwards when the Scullin government fell, but regained it in 1940, becoming Treasurer in Curtin's government.

Curtin died in July 1945, and Chifley defeated Forde in the leadership ballot to become Prime Minister. He implemented necessary post-war economic controls, remaining Prime Minister until his defeat by Robert Menzies and the Liberal Party in 1949. Two years later, Chifley died of a heart attack.

1985  -             France admits to bombing the Greenpeace flagship, the 'Rainbow Warrior', in Auckland Harbour.

The Greenpeace flagship, the 'Rainbow Warrior', was named after a North American Indian legend, and launched in 1978. The ship arrived in New Zealand in July 1985 in preparation for leading a flotilla of boats to Mururoa Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to protest against French nuclear tests on the atoll.

Just before midnight on 10 July 1985, underwater charges which had been placed by frogmen on the hull of the Rainbow Warrior, exploded, sinking the vessel while it was in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand. One person was killed in the explosion, Portuguese photographer Fernando Periero. On 22 September 1985, Prime Minister of France Laurent Fabius admitted that the bombing had been carried out by 2 secret agents belonging to the French foreign intelligence agency, DGSC, or Directorate-General for External Security. This was despite a major cover-up operation in which the French Government denied its involvement.

Within months, the French defence minister Charles Hernu had resigned and New Zealand was paid $7m in compensation by the French Government. A new 'Rainbow Warrior' was launched in 1987.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1965  -             Lawyer and judge Roma Mitchell becomes the first female judge in Australia.

Roma Flinders Mitchell was born in Adelaide on 2 October 1913. She was educated at St Aloysius Convent College, Adelaide, and held ambitions from a young age to be a barrister. She excelled at Adelaide University, and her involvement in student politics led to her being a pioneer for women's rights when she was denied entrance to the Law Students' Society because she was a woman. This event led to the formation of the Women Law Students' Society.

Roma Mitchell was admitted to the Bar in 1934, and became a partner in the legal firm of Nelligan, Angas Parsons and Mitchell in 1935. She continued to excel in her career, an example of which was in 1940 when she was instrumental in assisting the drafting of the Guardianship of Infants Act, passed later that year by the South Australian Parliament.

On 23 September 1965, Mitchell was made a Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, the first Australian woman to achieve this position. Pioneering the Australian women's rights movement, Mitchell was also the first woman in Australia to be a Queens Counsel (1962) and a chancellor of an Australian university, being Chancellor of the University of Adelaide from 1983-1990. As Governor of South Australia from 1991-1996, she also became the first woman Governor of an Australian state. In 1982 Roma Mitchell became a Dame Commander of the British Empire.

1993  -             Sydney is announced as the venue for the 2000 Olympic Games.

Sydney launched its bid to host the 2000 Olympic Games in 1991. The main contender against Sydney was Beijing, and voting was close right up until the final decision. On 23 September 1993, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, announced from Monte Carlo that Sydney, Australia, would be the host for the Olympic Games in the year 2000.

Sydney won for its emphasis on safety for athletes and the fact that it was more environmentally conscious. Further, China was known for its human rights abuses, and while some IOC members hoped that a Beijing win might signal a movement towards adopting democratic values in China, in the end Australia's security and political stability won out.

2009  -             A huge dust storm blankets parts of eastern Australia.

On 23 September 2009, residents in Sydney discovered that, overnight, a huge dust storm had descended on their city. Deep red and orange dust-laden skies obscured major landmarks in the city as 16,000 tonnes of soil per hour travelled in from the west and spread through most of the state, borne by high winds of up to 100 kph. Flights were delayed, and ferry services on the Harbour were cancelled. Absenteeism increased dramatically, with an extra 27,000 people staying away from work, whilst construction unions shut down building sites after workers experienced eye irritations and respiratory problems. The NSW economy was estimated to be affected to tens of millions of dollars. Originating in South Australia and the Northern Territory, the dust storm reduced visibility to just 10 metres at Broken Hill in the state's far southwest.

Within a few hours, the winds turned, pushing the dust north to Queensland. Flights which had been diverted from Sydney were delayed at Brisbane airport. Although not as thick and intense as it was in Sydney, the dust created widespread respiratory problems, with medical centres reporting increased numbers of asthma and related breathing difficulties. The dust gradually made its way northwards up the coast.

The high winds were caused by a cold front coming in from the west, meeting the heatwave conditions which had preceded the dust storm. Deepening El Nino conditions contributed to the dust storm.

Cheers - John

Find out what's happened today in History here

Gday...

1493  -             Christopher Columbus departs on his second voyage to the "New World".

Christopher Columbus is believed to have been born circa 30 October 1451: there is some doubt as to his actual country and region of birth. Columbus was determined to pioneer a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. On 3 August 1492 Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Marýa, the Pinta, and the Niña. During his journeys, Columbus explored the West Indies, South America, and Central America. He became the first explorer and trader to cross the Atlantic Ocean and sight the land of the Americas, on 12 October 1492, under the flag of Castile, a former kingdom of modern day Spain. It is most probable that the land he first sighted was Watling Island in the Bahamas.

Columbus returned to Spain laden with gold and new discoveries from his travels, including the previously unknown tobacco plant and the pineapple fruit. The success of his first expedition prompted his commissioning for a second voyage to the New World, and he set out from Cýdiz on 24 September 1493. He explored Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and various smaller Caribbean islands, and further ensuing explorations yielded discoveries such as Venezuela. Through all this, Columbus believed that he was travelling to parts of Asia. He believed Hispaniola was Japan, and that the peaks of Cuba were the Himalayas of India.

1664  -             The Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam (New York) to England.

Henry Hudson was the discoverer of the Hudson River, Long Island, and the site of present-day New York. Because Hudson had been hired by the Dutch East India Company to find a quicker trade route to Asia, the Dutch later claimed the area and established a colony, naming it New Amsterdam. Peter Minuit of the Dutch West Indies Company bought the island in 1626 from the Manhattan Indians for $24 worth of merchandise.

New Amsterdam developed into the largest Dutch colonial settlement in North America. During the second Anglo-Dutch War between England and the United Netherlands, the colony was surrendered to the English on 24 September 1664, and renamed New York. When the Dutch retook control briefly in 1673, they renamed it "New Orange", but ceded it permanently to England after the signing of the Treaty of Westminster in 1674.

1928  -             The Coniston Massacre of Aborigines occurs at a cattle station in the Northern Territory.

The Coniston Massacre was the last known massacre of Australian Aborigines. Occurring at Coniston cattle station, Northern Territory, Australia, it was a revenge killing for the death of dingo hunter Frederick Brooks, who was believed to have been killed by Aborigines in August 1928. Constable William Murray, officer in charge at Barrow Creek, investigated and came to the conclusion that the killing had been done by members of the Warlpiri, Anmatyerre and Kaytetye people. There were no witnesses, and apparent inconsistencies in Murray's report were never questioned.

Murray took matters into his own hand. Over the next few days, up until 30 August, he shot 17 members of the Aboriginal tribes he believed were responsible, and claimed his actions were made in self-defence and that each tribal member he had killed was in possession of some item belonging to Brooks.

In the ensuing weeks, Murray again encountered several groups of Aborigines while investigating another non-fatal attack on a settler named Nugget Morton at Broadmeadows Station. Together with Morton, one other white man and an aboriginal boy, Murray embarked on a campaign of revenge, during which another 14 Aborigines were killed.

Murray was never punished for his actions. On the contrary, the Board of Enquiry members were selected to maximise damage-control. It was believed at the time that Murray's actions were appropriate for the circumstances. The Central Land Council organised the seventy-fifth anniversary of the massacre, commemorated near Yuendumu on 24 September 2003.

1936  -             Jim Henson, creator of the 'Muppets', is born.

Jim Henson was born James Maury Henson on 24 September 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi. His family moved to Maryland when he was a teenager, and it was there that he began creating puppets for a Saturday morning children's television show. In 1955, he created "Sam and Friends", a five-minute puppet show for WRC-TV, while attending the University of Maryland, College Park. "Sam and Friends" included an early version of Kermit the Frog, and the success of the segment led to a series of guest appearances on network talk and variety shows. In 1968, the Muppets began appearing on the children's show "Sesame Street" and from there, their fame grew to eventually include their own television show, and a number of films.

When Henson died of pneumonia on 16 May 1990, a memorial service for him was watched by millions of viewers around the world. The University of Maryland, College Park, honoured Henson with a permanent tribute on 24 September 2003. A special ceremony dedicated a life-sized statue of Henson conversing with one of his best-known creations, Kermit the Frog, on the college campus.

1960  -             'USS Enterprise', the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.

The USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the world's first nuclear aircraft carrier, powered by eight A2W reactors. The ship's keel was laid in 1958 and it was launched on 24 September 1960, at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. After being commissioned on 25 November 1961, Enterprise underwent a lengthy series of tests and training exercises. Flight operations commenced in January the following year, when an F8U Crusader became the first airplane to land on board the Enterprise's giant flight deck.

The name 'Enterprise' later came to be synonymous with pioneering vessels, both in real life and in the TV show 'Star trek'. The 'Enterprise' of Star Trek fame was named after the historical maritime vessels. The 'Enterprise' was also the name of the prototype space shuttle which preceded 'Challenger', 'Columbia' and 'Discovery'.

1985  -             A Chinese farmer finds an uncut diamond inside a chicken he is preparing for his meal.

Throughout history, unusual objects have often been found inside animals. There is the story of the fish vendor in a Cambridge market who found a rare book inside a fish he was cleaning in June 1626; there is also the case of the Siouz Indian woman who found a gold nugget inside a chicken she was cleaning, in 1985.

In that same year, on 24 September 1985, a Chinese farmer from Hunan was cleaning a chicken he had just killed for his evening meal. Within the chicken's gizzard, Yungzhong Li found a 1.18 carat uncut diamond. It is uncertain what the diamond's real value was, as Yungzhong Li was a poor peasant, and keen to sell the diamond for a good amount of money. However, he was given 300 pounds for the diamond, which was three times the amount he would have earned in one year.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1764  -             Fletcher Christian, the man who led the mutiny on the Bounty against Captain Bligh, is born.

Fletcher Christian was born in Cumberland, England, on 25 September 1764. He went to sea at the age of sixteen, and two years later he sailed aboard HMS Cambridge where he met William Bligh for the first time. Bligh, ten years older, had also started his seagoing career at the age of 16, quickly rising through the officer ranks. Bligh and Christian were very close during their early years together.

The 'HMS Bounty' sailed with a crew of 45 men from Spithead, England in December 1787 under Captain William Bligh, bound for Tahiti. Their mission was to collect breadfruit plants to be transplanted in the West Indies as cheap food for the slaves. After collecting those plants, Bounty was returning to England when, on the morning of 28 April 1789, Fletcher Christian and part of the crew mutinied, taking over the ship, and setting the Captain and 18 crew members adrift in the ships 23-foot launch. Captain Bligh sailed nearly 6000km back to England, arriving there on 14 March 1790, where he was initially court-martialled and ultimately acquitted. The mutineers took HMS Bounty back to Tahiti, and collected 6 Polynesian men and 12 women. They then continued on to Pitcairn Island, arriving there on 15 January 1790. After burning the ship they established a settlement and colony on Pitcairn Island that still exists.

Fletcher Christian was killed during a conflict between the Tahitian men and the mutineers which killed all the island men but one. By the time Captain Mayhew Folger of the American sealing ship 'Topaz' landed at Pitcairn Islands in 1808, only John Adams survived. Adams, by then a changed man after his conversion to Christianity, went on to become the respected leader on Pitcairn.

1862  -             Australian Prime Minister during WWI, Billy Hughes, is born.

William Morris Hughes was born on 25 September 1862. He was born in London but migrated to Australia in 1884. He joined the newly formed Labour Party in 1893. Hughes was elected to the first federal Parliament as Labor MP for West Sydney in 1901, and continued to develop his political career until he was elected as the Prime Minister in 1915.

Hughes was pro-conscription during WWI, and passionate about supporting England with troops. His war efforts earned him the nickname of the "Little Digger". Even after he was no longer Prime Minister, Hughes retained a seat in Parliament, with a political career which spanned 58 years. He was the last member of the original Australian Parliament elected in 1901 still in the Parliament when he died on 28 October 1952.

1876  -             The current state flag of Tasmania is adopted.

Tasmania began as a second colony in 1803, administered by the Governor of New South Wales. In June 1825, Van Diemen's Land, as it was then known, was separated administratively from New South Wales, and Hobart Town was declared the capital of the colony. The colony was officially renamed Tasmania, in honour of its discoverer Abel Tasman, in 1856.

In 1869, Queen Victoria proposed that each of the colonies in Australia adopt a flag, which should consist of a Union flag with the state badge in the centre. The first Tasmanian flag was adopted by proclamation of Tasmanian colonial Governor Sir Frederick Weld in November 1875, but as it included two badges - both a white cross and the Southern Cross - it was discarded within two weeks.

A year later, it was decided that the badge should consist of a red lion on a white disc. The new flag was adopted on 25 September 1876, and has remained virtually unchanged since then, with only a minor alteration to the lion.

1956  -             The world's first trans-Atlantic telephone cable system commences operations.

The Trans-Atlantic telephone system opened in 1927. Prior to 1956, however, telephone calls across the ocean had been transmitted via radio waves. Cables, which provided better signal quality, avoided atmospheric interference and presented greater capacity and security, were not used until the first Trans-Atlantic submarine cable commenced operations on 25 September 1956.

While the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable had been laid in 1858, modifications and technological advances had to be made for it to suit telephonic communications. These advances were not practical until the 1940s. The initial capacity of the cables was 36 calls at a time, costed at $12 for the first three minutes. In the first 24 hours of service, there were 588 London-US calls and 119 from London to Canada. The capacity of the cable was soon increased to 48 channels.

1957  -             Over 1000 US paratroopers are required to escort nine black students into a previously all-white school.

Civil rights for African-Americans was becoming a prominent issue in the 1950s. In 1954, the United States Supreme Court had granted African-Americans the right to an equal education. Early in September 1957, 9 black students were due to enrol in the previously segregated Little Rock Central High School. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, rallied 270 armed National Guardsmen to prevent the nine students from entering the school.

President Eisenhower deliberated with the governor and the mayor of Little Rock for many days. During this time, there were frequent scenes of racial hatred and prejudice shown by the white community in Little Rock, and fears grew that the tensions would escalate into violence. On 25 September 1957, Eisenhower was forced to send in 1,100 paratroopers to escort the students into the school. Eisenhower federalised the Arkansas National Guard, because as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he felt this was the only way to establish law and order. For the entire school year, the federalised National Guard remained as a peace-keeping force, and to protect the African-American students.

1957  -             The largest explosion in a second series of British atomic tests at Maralinga, South Australia, takes place.

Australia's relative remoteness from the major populated countries of the world made it a strategic location for testing of British atomic weapons in the 1950s. Initial tests were conducted at the Montebello islands, off north-west Western Australia. In 1953, Britain's first atomic test on the Australian mainland was carried out at Emu Field, in the Great Victoria Desert of South Australia, about 480 kilometres northwest of Woomera. Several years later, testing was moved to Maralinga, a remote area of South Australia, and the home of the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal group.

"Operation Buffalo" involved four open-air nuclear test explosions at Maralinga, commencing in September 1956, and continuing through to October 22. The next series of tests at Maralinga was codenamed "Operation Antler". These tests commenced in September 1957, with an explosion of one kiloton on 14 September. The second, much larger explosion took place on 25 September 1957, and yielded six kilotons. A third detonation took place from a balloon at a high altitude. Acid rain fallout was reported from as far away as Adelaide.

The tests at Maralinga left a legacy of radioactive contamination. Cleanup operations were insufficient to combat radiation poisoning among Australian servicemen and Aborigines who were at Maralinga during the tests. The site was formally handed back to the Maralinga people under the Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act in 1985. In 1994, the Australian Government made a compensation settlement of $13.5 million with Maralinga Tjarutja, in relation to the nuclear testing.

Cheers - John