Grant Hackett On 29 July 2001, swimmer Grant Hackett set a world record in the 1500 metre freestyle at Fukuoka, Japan Grant George Hackett OAM was born on 9 May 1980 at Southport on the Gold Coast of Queensland. He is the son of a policeman and younger brother of a Surf Lifesaving champion. He attended Merrimac State High School. He is most … Continue reading On This Day in Australia: In 2001, Grant Hackett set a world record in the 1500 m freestyle
Tag: History
On This Day In Australia: In 1902, Indigenous Australian artist Albert Namatjira was born
Albert Namatjira Indigenous Australian artist Albert Namatjira was born near Alice Springs on 28 July 1902. Although not the first Aboriginal artist to work in a European style, Albert Namatjira is certainly the most famous. Ghost gums with luminous white trunks, palm-filled gorges and red mountain ranges turning purple at dusk are the hallmarks of … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1902, Indigenous Australian artist Albert Namatjira was born
On This Day In Australia: In 1999, fourteen Australians were killed in the Swiss canyoning disaster
Saxetbach Gorge Tragedy Memorial On 27 July 1999, an accident occurred in Switzerland's Saxetbach Gorge (a gorge close to the village of Saxeten) in which 21 young people from Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, and Switzerland died. Forty-eight people from two coach tour parties had elected an optional side event of canyoning. It was organized by Adventure World, a now defunct company … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1999, fourteen Australians were killed in the Swiss canyoning disaster
On This Day In Australia: In 1950, Australia announced they would send troops to the Korean War
Third Royal Australian Regiment Only five years after the end of the Second World War, Australia became involved in the Korean War. Personnel from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the Australian Regular Army (ARA) were committed soon after the war began and would serve for the next three years … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1950, Australia announced they would send troops to the Korean War
On This Day In Australia: In 1956, the film ‘A Town Like Alice’ premiered in Alice Springs
Premiere of A Town Like Alice The world premiere of the movie A Town Like Alice was held at the Alice Springs open-air Pioneer Theatre (at what is now the YHA) on 24 July 1956. Donning coats, scarves and blankets as protection from the chilly desert night, the ‘bush’ premiere was reportedly a relaxed occasion. … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1956, the film ‘A Town Like Alice’ premiered in Alice Springs
On This Day In Australia: In 1900, Neville Howse performed an act of heroism that earned him Australia’s first Victoria Cross
Sir Neville Howse On 24 July 1900, Neville Howse rescued a fallen ally under heavy fire during the Second Boer War, becoming the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Neville Howse was born on 26 October 1863 at Stogursey, Somerset, in England. He was educated at Fullard’s House School, Taunton, before studying medicine at … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1900, Neville Howse performed an act of heroism that earned him Australia’s first Victoria Cross
On This Day In Australia: In 1995, Bob Hawke married Blanche d’Alpuget
Bob Hawke marries Blanche d'Alpuget It was April 1970 when Blanche d’Alpuget first met Bob Hawke. They were at a party in Jakarta, where the writer was living with her husband, Antony Pratt. As she sat on a swinging chair, answering the then-ACTU president’s questions about the city, she felt a connection between them. It wasn’t … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1995, Bob Hawke married Blanche d’Alpuget
On This Day In Australia: In 1983, Dick Smith completed the first solo round the world helicopter flight
Dick Smith and His Helicopter On 22 July 1983, entrepreneur and founder of Australian Geographic Dick Smith completed his first solo around-the-world helicopter flight. The sojourn was also the first solo flight from the US to Australia by helicopter and the first solo helicopter flight across the Atlantic Ocean. For the ambitious journey, Dick flew his helicopter … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1983, Dick Smith completed the first solo round the world helicopter flight
On This Day In Australia: In 1991, the largest oil spill in Australian waters occurred
The Greek Oil Tanker Kirki On 21 July 1991, the Greek tanker Kirki spilled 17,280 tonnes of crude oil off the coast of Western Australia, the biggest oil spill in Australian waters. The Kirki was a 210-metre-long Greek-registered oil tanker which caught fire in the early morning of 21 July 1991, 30 km west of … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 1991, the largest oil spill in Australian waters occurred
February 8, 1983 – Dust storm hits Melbourne, Australia, turning day to night
The 1983 Melbourne dust storm was a meteorological phenomenon that occurred during the afternoon of 8 February 1983, throughout much of Victoria, Australia and affected the capital, Melbourne. In late 1982 and early 1983, the El Niño weather cycle had brought record drought to almost all of eastern Australia, with Victoria's Mallee and northern Wimmera severely affected. During the morning of Tuesday 8 February 1983, a strong but dry cold front began to … Continue reading February 8, 1983 – Dust storm hits Melbourne, Australia, turning day to night
February 8, 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded
After 19 years of imprisonment, Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in England for her complicity in a plot to murder Queen Elizabeth I. In 1542, while just six days old, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne upon the death of her father, King James V. Her mother sent her to be raised in … Continue reading February 8, 1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots was beheaded
February 7, 1992 – European Union treaty was signed
After suffering through centuries of bloody conflict, the nations of Western Europe finally united in the spirit of economic cooperation with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty of European Union. The treaty, signed by ministers of the European Community, called for greater economic integration, common foreign and security policies and cooperation between police and other … Continue reading February 7, 1992 – European Union treaty was signed
February 6, 1952 – King George VI died and Elizabeth II became queen
On February 6, 1952, after a long illness, King George VI of Great Britain and Northern Ireland died in his sleep at the royal estate at Sandringham. Princess Elizabeth, the oldest of the king’s two daughters and next in line to succeed him, was in Kenya at the time of her father’s death; she was … Continue reading February 6, 1952 – King George VI died and Elizabeth II became queen
February 5, 146 BCE – Punic Wars, between Rome and Carthage, came to an end
On February 5, 146 BCE, the Roman Republic finally triumphed over its nemesis, Carthage, after over a century of fighting. The victory and subsequent destruction of the city of Carthage marked the end of the Punic Wars and represented Rome's replacement of Carthage as the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean, a position it would hold for the next … Continue reading February 5, 146 BCE – Punic Wars, between Rome and Carthage, came to an end
February 4, 2004 – Facebook was launched
On February 4, 2004, a Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg launches The Facebook, a social media website he had built in order to connect Harvard students with one another. By the next day, over a thousand people had registered, and that was only the beginning. Now known simply as Facebook, the site quickly ballooned into one of … Continue reading February 4, 2004 – Facebook was launched
February 3, 1998 – US Marine jet severed ski-lift cable in Italy
On February 3, 1998, a U.S. Marine jet flying low over the town of Cavalese in the Italian Alps severed a ski-lift cable, sending a tram crashing to the ground and killing 20 people. Cavalese is located in the Dolomite Mountains, about 20 miles northeast of Trento, Italy. In 1976, 42 people there, including 15 … Continue reading February 3, 1998 – US Marine jet severed ski-lift cable in Italy
February 2, 1812 – Russians established Fort Ross in California
Staking a tenuous claim to the riches of the Far West, Russians established Fort Ross on the coast north of San Francisco. As a growing empire with a long Pacific coastline, Russia was in many ways well positioned to play a leading role in the settlement and development of the West. The Russians had begun … Continue reading February 2, 1812 – Russians established Fort Ross in California
February 1, 1979 – Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran
On February 1, 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran in triumph after 15 years of exile. The shah and his family had fled the country two weeks before, and jubilant Iranian revolutionaries were eager to establish a fundamentalist Islamic government under Khomeini’s leadership. Born around the turn of the century, Ruhollah Khomeini was the … Continue reading February 1, 1979 – Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran
January 31, 1968 – Nauru gained independence from Australia.
Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru (Nauruan: Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, 300 km (190 mi) to the east. It further lies northwest of Tuvalu, 1,300 km (810 mi) northeast of the Solomon Islands, east-northeast of Papua New Guinea, southeast of the Federated States of Micronesia and south of the Marshall Islands. With only a 21 km2 (8.1 sq mi) … Continue reading January 31, 1968 – Nauru gained independence from Australia.
January 31, 1950 – Truman announced development of H-bomb
On June 31, 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announced his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Five months earlier, the United States had lost its nuclear supremacy when the Soviet … Continue reading January 31, 1950 – Truman announced development of H-bomb
January 30, 1950 – Birth of Jack Newton, Australian golfer
Jack Newton OAM (born 30 January 1950) is an Australian former professional golfer. Newton was born in Cessnock, New South Wales. He was one of Australia's most successful golfers in the 1970s and early 1980s. He turned professional in 1971 and won his first professional tournament – the Dutch Open – in 1972. Newton notched up several victories over the next … Continue reading January 30, 1950 – Birth of Jack Newton, Australian golfer
January 30, 1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated
On January 30, 1948, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement, was assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu extremist. Born the son of an Indian official in 1869, Gandhi’s Vaishnava mother was deeply religious and early on exposed her son to Jainism, a morally rigorous Indian religion that … Continue reading January 30, 1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated
January 29, 2015 – Death of Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic
Colleen Margaretta McCullough AO (married name Robinson, previously Ion-Robinson; 1 June 1937 – 29 January 2015) was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and The Ladies of Missalonghi. McCullough was born in 1937 in Wellington, in the Central West region of New South Wales, to James and Laurie McCullough. Her father was of Irish descent and her mother was a … Continue reading January 29, 2015 – Death of Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist, author, and academic
January 29, 1977 – “Roots” premiered on television
January 29, 1977 saw the premiere of Roots, a groundbreaking television program. The eight-episode miniseries, which was broadcast over eight consecutive nights, follows a family from its origins in West Africa through generations of slavery and the end of the Civil War. Roots one of the most-watched television events in American history and a major moment in mainstream … Continue reading January 29, 1977 – “Roots” premiered on television
January 28, 1953 – Death of James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia
James Henry Scullin (18 September 1876 – 28 January 1953) was an Australian Labor Party politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Scullin led Labor to government at the 1929 election. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 transpired just two days after his swearing in, which would herald the beginning of the Great Depression in Australia. Scullin's administration would soon be overwhelmed by … Continue reading January 28, 1953 – Death of James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia
Craig Hill 