Gday...

1824  -             Explorers Hume and Hovell set out to explore between Sydney and Western Port.

Hamilton Hume was an Australian-born settler with excellent bush skills. He was interested in exploring south of the known Sydney area in order to open up new areas of land, but could not gain Government support for his proposed venture. William Hovell was an English immigrant with little bush experience, a former ship's captain who was keen to assist Hume's expedition financially, and accompany him. The expedition was set up, and Hume and Hovell departed Hume's father's farm at Appin, southwest of Sydney, on 3 October 1824.

Although the two men argued for most of their journey, and even for many years after their return, the expedition was successful in many ways. Hume and Hovell were the first to discover the "Hume River", though it was later renamed by Sturt as the Murray River. They were the first white men to see the Australian Alps. Much good grazing and pasture land was also found.

There was one major mistake, however. Hovell, as navigator, managed to incorrectly calculate their position when they thought they had reached Westernport on the southern coast. They were in fact at Corio Bay in Port Phillip, where the city of Geelong now stands. As a result of their reports of excellent farmland when they returned to Sydney, a party was sent to settle the Westernport area in 1826, only to find poor water and soil quality. The Port Philip settlement was abandoned, and not resumed for another ten years. Nonetheless, Hume and Hovell's expedition still opened up vast tracts of valuable land.

1916  -             Inventor of the portable defibrillator, James F Pantridge, is born.

James Francis "Frank" Pantridge was born on 3 October 1916, in Hillsborough, Ireland. He was educated at Queen's University in Belfast, graduating in medicine in 1939, and became a physician and cardiologist. He served in the British Army during WWII, became a prisoner of war and spent much time working on the infamous Burma railway. After the war, he returned to a life of academia, and studied further under cardiologist F N Wilson.

After returning to Northern Ireland in 1950, he was appointed as cardiac consultant to the Royal Victoria Hospital and professor at Queen's University, where he established a specialist cardiology unit. Together with his colleague Dr John Geddes, he introduced modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for the early treatment of heart attack. Further study led Frank Pantridge to the realisation that death occurred within the first hour for 60% of pre-middle-aged males who died from heart attack, and of these, 90% suffered ventricular fibrillation. To facilitate the earliest possible treatment, Pantridge equipped an ambulance with a portable defibrillator. It achieved a 50% long-term patient survival rate. The first automated external defibrillators (AEDs) became available in 1979, and have since contributed significantly to improved chances of survival from heart attack.

1935  -             Italian troops invade the African nation of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia).

In 1934, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was still one of the few independent states in a European-dominated Africa. Countries such as Britain and France had conquered smaller nations in the "Scramble for Africa" the previous century. In 1896, Italy had attempted to expand in eastern Africa by adding Abyssinia to her conquests (which included Eritrea and Somaliland), but the Italians were heavily defeated by the Abyssinians at the Battle of Adowa. Italy bided her time.

In 1928, Italy signed a treaty of friendship with Abyssinian leader Haile Selassie, but Italy was already secretly planning to invade the African nation. In December 1934, a dispute at the Wal Wal oasis along the border between Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland gave Italian dictator Benito Mussolini an excuse to respond with aggression. Italian troops stationed in Somaliland and Eritrea were instructed to attack Abyssinia, and the invasion occurred on 3 October 1935. Overwhelmed by the use of tanks and mustard gas, the Abyssinians stood little chance. The capital, Addis Ababa, fell in May 1936 and Haile Selassie was removed from the throne and replaced by the king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel.

Selassie's request for European help was largely ignored. It was not until after World War II, and the defeat of Italy, that he was returned to power.

1935  -             The Australian/New Zealand dessert, the pavlova, is named after ballerina Anna Pavlova.

The pavlova is a traditional Australian dessert consisting of a base made of a meringue crust topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits such as kiwi fruit, passionfruit and strawberries.

There is some dispute as to whether the pavlova was actually created in Australia or New Zealand. The Australian legend states that the pavlova was created by Herbert Sachse, the chef of the Hotel Esplanade in Perth, Western Australia, on 3 October 1935. It is said to have been given the name "Pavlova" by Harry Naire from the Perth hotel, in honour of the visiting Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. Naire is alleged to have stated that the built up sides of the dessert reminded him of a tutu.

New Zealand may have a greater claim to the pavlova, however. Recipes for pavlova appeared in a magazine and a cookery book from 1929 and 1933, whilst extra notes from a biographer state that it was invented in 1926 after Anna Pavlova's visit. What is clear is that, while the dessert may have been invented in New Zealand, it was undisputedly named in Australia.

1953  -             Britain tests its first atomic bomb at a group of uninhabited islands off Western Australia.

The Montebello islands are a group of islands about 140 kilometres off the Pilbara coast of North West Australia. As well as the two main islands, Hermite Island and Trimouille Island, there are about 170 other islands in the archipelago, of which another 30 or so are named. Prior to World War II, much pearl fishing was conducted off the islands.

On 3 October 1952, the Montebello islands became the site for testing of the first British atomic bomb. "Operation Hurricane" was conducted 350 metres off the coast of Trimouille Island for the purpose of testing the effects of a bomb smuggled inside a ship - a great concern at the time. The plutonium implosion bomb was exploded inside the hull of HMS Plym, a 1,370-ton River class frigate, which was anchored in 12 m of water. The resulting explosion left a saucer-shaped crater on the seabed 6 metres deep and 300 metres across.

1990  -             West Germany and East Germany are reunified for the first time since 1949.

Following Germany's defeat in World War II, Germany was split into two separately controlled countries. West Germany, also known as the Federal Republic of Germany, was proclaimed on 23 May 1949 with Bonn as its capital. As a liberal parliamentary republic and part of NATO, the country maintained good relations with the Western Allies. East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic, was proclaimed in East Berlin on 7 October 1949. It adopted a socialist republic, and remained allied with the communist powers, being occupied by Soviet forces. The Berlin Wall, which divided the original capital of Germany into east and west-controlled sectors, was constructed in 1961.

The Soviet powers began to dwindle in the late 1980s, and the Communist Party in East Germany began to lose its grip on power. In 1989 the Berlin Wall started to crumble, and was completely dismantled shortly afterwards. On 18 March 1990, the first and only free elections in the history of the GDR were held, producing a government whose major mandate was to negotiate an end to itself and its state. The German "Einigungsvertrag" (Unification Treaty) was signed on 31 August 1990 by representatives of West Germany and East Germany. German reunification took place on 3 October 1990, when the areas of the former German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany, were incorporated into The Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1797  -             The first flock of Spanish Merinos, upon which Australia's wool industry was founded, arrive in Sydney.

In the early years of settlement, the colony of New South Wales struggled to achieve self-sufficiency. The convicts were not skilled in farming, and unwilling to work hard in the intense heat and humidity of Australia. British farming methods, seeds and implements were unsuitable for use in the different climate and soil, and the colony faced near-starvation in its first two years. An industry suited to Australia's harsh conditions needed to be established.

John Macarthur arrived in New South Wales in 1790. In 1793, Macarthur was given a land grant of 100 acres which he cleared and improved, assisted by convict labour. After receiving another land grant, he and his wife Elizabeth worked hard to improve and develop the land, eventually planting 120 acres of wheat, and numerous fruits and vegetables.

On 4 October 1797, the first flock of Spanish merino sheep arrived in Australia. They had been bought in South Africa by British officers Henry Waterhouse and William Kent, who then sold some of them to the Macarthurs. The Spanish Merino was a hardy sheep which was tolerant of Australia's extreme conditions. Unlike other settlers, Macarthur did not try to cross-breed the sheep with other breeds, which only resulted in sheep with coarse wool of a lower quality. By 1803, the Macarthur flock numbered over 4000. The Macarthurs had improved the bloodline and strength of the flock by purchasing merinos from flocks in different regions, thus limiting inter-breeding of similar bloodlines. For this reason, John Macarthur is often regarded as the founder of the wool industry in Australia.

1883  -             The Orient Express commences its first run.

The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train, the route for which has changed considerably in modern times. The first run of The Orient Express was on 4 October 1883. The train travelled from Paris to Giurgiu in Romania, via Munich and Vienna. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse in Bulgaria to pick up another train to Varna. From here they completed their journey to Istanbul by ferry.

The Orient Express reached the height of its popularity in the 1930s, when three parallel services ran. These included the Orient Express, the Simplon Orient Express, which took a more southerly route via Milan, Venice and Trieste, and also the Arlberg Orient Express, which ran via Zurich and Innsbruck to Budapest, with sleeper cars running onwards from there to Bucharest and Athens.

1931  -             The comic strip "Dick Tracy" makes its debut.

The comic strip "Dick Tracy" revolves around the investigations of a character by the same name, Dick Tracy. Tracy is an exceptionally intelligent police detective, classic in his 1930s attire, and forced to match his wits against a variety of strange-looking and unmitigatingly evil villains. These criminals invariably have names to match their grotesquely deformed features. Such characters include "Flattop" Jones and the Nazi spy Pruneface.

"Dick Tracy" was originally created by cartoonist Chester Gould, and made its debut on 4 October 1931. Gould drew Dick Tracy up until 1977 when he retired, but his work was continued by Max Allan Collins and longtime Gould assistant Rick Fletcher, who in turn was succeeded by editorial cartoonist Dick Locher. The modern strips have incorporated new villains keeping up with modern technology, such as the video pirate named Splitscreen.

Dick Tracy is easily one of the world's longest-running comic strips. It enjoyed a fourteen-year run as a radio serial, and has formed the basis for a number of television programmes, feature films, and a major 1990 film starring Warren Beatty.

1935  -             The Hornibrook Highway, Australia's longest road bridge for many decades, is opened, allowing access to the Redcliffe Peninsula.

The city of Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, was the site of the first European settlement in Moreton Bay. 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. Abandoned as a convict colony less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away to the Brisbane River, it was eventually reclaimed by free settlers, becoming a popular seaside resort in the 1880s. Originally, day trippers would travel to the Redcliffe Peninsula by steamer, whilst those planning for a longer stay would travel the inland route from Brisbane, via Petrie.

The area's increasing popularity necessitated the building of a bridge across the mouth of the Pine River at Hayes Inlet, which separates the Brisbane suburb of Brighton from Redcliffe. On 4 October 1935, the 2.8km two-lane Hornibrook Highway was opened, reducing Redcliffe's isolation. Still Australia's longest road bridge, it has a single central arch where the channel of the river runs, allowing for fishing craft to pass underneath. Deterioration of the bridge through the years necessitated the building of a new bridge, and a replacement three lane bridge, the Houghton Highway, was opened in 1979. The Hornibrook Highway was, for many years, used only for pedestrians and cyclists. Until it was dismantled in 2011, it remained a popular fishing spot.

On 11 July 2010, yet another new road bridge was opened, 30 metres east of the Houghton Highway. The 'Ted Smout Memorial Bridge', built 4 metres higher than the Houghton, features 3 traffic lanes and a pedestrian and cycle path, as well as a fishing platform near the Pine River channel.

The Hornibrook Highway lost its status as Australia's longest road bridge in 2013, with the opening of a new bridge over the Macleay River in New South Wales.

1957  -             The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

The year 1957 saw the beginning of the "Space Age", and the beginning of the "Space Race" between the USA and the USSR. The Soviet Union became the first to launch an artificial satellite into orbit around the Earth, on 4 October 1957. The Sputnik spacecraft, meaning 'companion' or 'fellow traveller', weighed 83kg and was about the size of a basketball. It orbited the Earth approximately every 98 minutes at a speed of 32,000km per hour, 800km above the earth. Sputnik was launched from Kazakhstan, and stayed in orbit for three months, plunging to Earth on 4 January 1958.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1862  -             Australia's first zoo opens in Melbourne.

Australia has a large number of zoos. Many of these are to show exotic animals from around the world; many others have the purpose of helping to provide a sanctuary for Australia's own endangered and threatened native species.

The first zoo in Australia was Melbourne Zoo, which opened on 6 October 1862. Modelled after the London Zoo, it featured formal Victorian-era gardens and just a few specimens of monkeys, as well as a limited display of native animals. The zoo began to change in character with the appointment of Albert le Souef as Director in 1870. He began to acquire a wider variety of exotic animals such as black bears, lions and tigers. As the zoo gained in popularity, the gardens were extended, more animals added and, in 1881, an entry fee introduced. Once elephants were added to the displays, elephant rides were even offered to the patrons.

The modern Melbourne Zoo has come a long way since the early years. Animals are housed in more natural settings where they are seen less as 'showpieces', and features unique to their native habitat are incorporated into the display. The grounds feature an extensive Australian native animal display area.

1890  -             Jacob Schweppe demonstrates his process for manufacturing the world's first artificially carbonated mineral water.

Jean Jacob Schweppe was born in 1740 in Witzenhausen, Germany. Although Schweppe was a jeweller, he had an interest in science, and his experiments led him to try infusing water with carbon dioxide. In 1783, he invented an efficient system for the manufacture of carbonated mineral water. Initially he gave away the carbonated water for free, but as it gained popularity he began charging for the privilege.

Schweppe then sought a way in which to keep the bubbles in the water. This led to the development of a bottle that could retain the carbonation, thus starting the Schweppes soft drink business. The Schweppes company was founded in London in 1789. On 6 October 1890, Schweppe demonstrated for the first time his process for manufacturing carbonated water.

1898  -             Catherine "Kate" Kelly, sister of bushranger Ned Kelly, goes missing.

Ned Kelly had five sisters, two half-sisters, two brothers and one half-brother. His sisters were Maggie, who was born in 1857, three years after Ned, and Catherine, variously nicknamed Kate or Kittie, who was born in 1863. In addition, there were Mary, who died as a baby, Anne and Grace. Ned Kelly's two brothers were Daniel, who joined Ned in the Kelly gang, and James. Sometime after Ned Kelly's father died, his mother remarried, and bore another two daughters, Ellen and Alice and a son, John, also known as Jack.

Kate Kelly was perhaps the best known of Ned Kelly's siblings. Legend claims that she was the fiancee of Aaron Sherritt, notorious for betraying the Kelly gang to the police, and being shot for his trouble. Kate also had another admirer, Alexander Fitzpatrick, who attempted to ingratiate himself into the Kelly family. After making unwelcome advances towards young Kate, he was attacked by Ned's mother, beaten by one brother and allegedly shot by Ned, although the doctor who attended Fitzpatrick did not confirm a gunshot wound. The event resulted in Ned's mother being arrested, and the brothers being hunted further by police. Kate was a central catalyst to these circumstances.

After helping hold the family together following the arrest of their mother, at the age of 25, Kate married William Henry Foster of Forbes. She was a skilled and respected horsewoman, and perpetuated the family line by bearing six children, three of whom survived to adulthood.

Kate's colourful life ended tragically when she was just 35 years old. Some two years after her sister Maggie died, Kate went missing, on 6 October 1898. Eight days passed before her body was located in a lagoon at Condobolin Road near Forbes. Initial indications were that she died of drowning, but the magisterial inquiry that was held into her death on 15 October did not indicate how or why this could have occurred. Kate's death certificate stated there was no evidence, but family and friends believed her depression following Maggie's death contributed to her own death.

1914  -             Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer who led the Kon-Tiki expedition, is born.

Thor Heyerdahl, born on 6 October 1914 in Larvik, Norway was an anthropologist and marine biologist who developed an interest in the origins of settlement in the islands of the south Pacific. In 1947, he proposed an expedition to prove that people from South America could have settled Polynesia in the south Pacific before European exploration made any impact in the area. He and a crew of 5 sailed on the Kon-Tiki, a simple balsawood raft made in a design similar to that used by South American natives. Heyerdahl sailed the Kon-Tiki for 101 days over a distance of nearly 7,000km across the Pacific Ocean before crashing into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on 7 August 1947.

Heyerdahl believed this proved his theory of the origins of the south Pacific peoples, and the subsequent documentary he produced received wide acclaim. However, more recent research and DNA testing has shown that the natives of the area bear more similarities to the people of southeast Asia than to the people of South America.

1962  -             Joseph Charles, California's famous "waving man", begins his waving ritual which would continue for 30 years.

Joseph Charles was an unassuming employee of the Oakland Naval Supply Centre who brought joy to complete strangers through his ritual of waving to them, often with a cheery greeting. Charles began his routine on the morning of 6 October 1962 when a neighbour waved to him, and he reciprocated. Returning the wave the next day began an institution that extended to friends and strangers as they passed by, and lasted thirty years.

Every morning until October 1992, a period of thirty years, Charles waved from his front yard on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr Way and Oregon St in Berkeley, California. He donned bright yellow gloves for his waving, and called out cheery greetings, such as "Have a good day!"

Charles died a decade after he stopped waving, on 14 March 2002. At his funeral, which was attended by over 200 people, he was honoured by mourners waving at his casket as it left McGee Avenue Baptist Church. Mayor Shirley Dean encouraged others to continue Charles's legacy of bringing joy by showing kindness and goodwill to all in such a simple but effective way.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1769  -             Explorer James Cook first sets foot on New Zealand.

Captain James Cook was not the first to discover New Zealand, as he was preceded by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. He was, however, the first to circumnavigate the coastline when he was sent to observe the transit of Venus across the sun from the vantage point of Tahiti. The transit of Venus occurs when the planet Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, and its unlit side can be seen as a small black circle moving across the face of the Sun. Transits of Venus occur in pairs, eight years apart, approximately once every 120 years. Cook's ship, the 'Endeavour', departed England, on 25 August 1768. Cook reached Tahiti in time for his crew and scientists to set up their instrumentation necessary to observe and report on the transit, which occurred on 3 June 1769.

After observing the transit of Venus, Cook went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. It was shortly after observing the transit of Venus that Cook came across New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. Early in October 1769, a 12-year-old cabin boy named Nicholas Young first sighted New Zealand, and two days later the 'Endeavour' anchored in Poverty Bay, which Cook originally named as Endeavour Bay. The next day, 9 October 1769, Cook and two botanists, Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, went ashore at the future site of Gisborne.

Cook went on to spend some months in New Zealand, charting the coastline. His initial encounters with the people of New Zealand was marred by incidents which resulted in the deaths of several Mori, but he was later able to establish friendly trading relations with them.

1799  -             The 'HMS Lutine' is wrecked, killing 270, and spawning a legend of Lost Gold.

The 'HMS Lutine' was a warship at a time when tensions were high between the Dutch and the British, and there was constant fear of invasion and plundering from either side. The Lutine was commissioned by a group of London merchants, concerned with the unsettling conditions in Europe, to ship a cargo of between half a million and £2 million in gold and silver to the European continent. On the night of 9 October 1799, exceptionally rough weather caused the ship to crash on a sandbank off the Dutch coast, and 269 lives were lost.

Despite many attempts, the valuable cargo of the Lutine has never been recovered. It was insured by Lloyd's of London underwriters who took an enormous loss and paid the claim in full. In 1858, the bell of the Lutine was recovered and installed at Lloyd's of London, where it is now rung for ceremonial occasions and before important announcements.

1803  -             Lieutenant - Governor Collins arrives on Australia's southern coast to establish a new settlement.

Long before John Batman made his treaty with the Aborigines to lease land at Port Phillip for a new settlement, the British Government instructed Lieutenant-Governor David Collins to establish a settlement on the southern coast. At that stage, the area was still part of New South Wales. The expedition included two ships, 308 convicts, 51 marines, 17 free settlers, 12 civil officers, and a missionary and his wife. On 9 October 1803 Collins and his expedition landed at the site where Sorrento now stands on the Mornington Peninsula, naming it Port King. The Governor of New South Wales at the time, King, was unaware of the expedition or of the British Government's orders.

The settlement was not a success, as fresh water was in short supply. The local timber was unsuitable for many uses, and the treacherous entrance to Port Phillip Bay made the site unusable as a whaling base. Hearing of better land and timber in Van Diemen's Land, Collins moved most of the settlement across Bass Strait. Unimpressed with Lieutenant Bowen's choice of a site at Risdon Cove, Collins established Hobart on the Derwent River early in 1804.

1908  -             The Yass-Canberra area is named as the site for the new Federal Capital Territory of Australia.

On 1 January 1901, federation of the six colonies in Australia was achieved and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. With the establishment of a new nation came the need to build a federal capital. It was decided that the national capital would not be one of the existing state capitals, in order to prevent rivalry between the cities. It would, however, be positioned between Australias two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne. Section 125 of the Constitution of Australia provided that:

"The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.

Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any payment therefore. The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meets at the seat of Government."

Numerous sites were evaluated by members of Parliament. The site for the national capital could not be on the coast, as this could cause it to be susceptible to enemy bombardment. The necessity for a naval port was satisfied by the acquisition of federal land at Jervis Bay. The climate needed to be bracing, to ensure clear minds for political decision-making. There could be no established urban development or industry already, and access to sufficient water was a necessity. It needed to be in an elevated position, preferably surrounded by picturesque mountains.

Locations raised for consideration were Albury, Armidale, Bathurst, Bombala, Dalgety, Delegate, Goulburn, Lake George, Lyndhurst, Orange, Queanbeyan, Tumut, Wagga Wagga and Yass. Bombala was the choice selected by a ballot in the House of Representatives in 1903. Following a change of government in 1904, Dalgety was named as the site of Australias future Federal Capital Territory. When the government changed again in 1905, the question of the most suitable site was resurrected yet again, and in 1906, the choice was narrowed down to Dalgety, Yass-Canberra and Lake George. Another ballot was held on 9 October 1908, and the Yass-Canberra site won by six votes. The territory was defined as a triangle, with Yass in the top corner, the Murrumbidgee River forming the western border and Lake George being in the east. The land was formally transferred from New South Wales in January 1911.

1940  -             Singer, songwriter and former member of "The Beatles", John Lennon, is born. [more]

John Lennon was born John Winston Lennon on 9 October 1940. His father walked out on his mother when Lennon was very young, leading his mother to hand the young Lennon over to her sister to care for. Lennon lived with his Aunt Mimi at Mendips throughout his childhood and adolescence, though his mother taught him to play the banjo, retaining an interest in her son's life until she was killed in an accident in 1958.

Lennon was a non-conformist who dropped out of school to devote his time to developing his musical talents. He joined up with Paul McCartney and George Harrison to form a band, taking the name "Johnny and the Moondogs", followed by "The Silver Beetles", which was later shortened to "The Beatles". Lennon is considered to be one of the most influential singer-songwriter-musicians of the 20th century, profoundly affecting the direction of rock 'n' roll music.

Lennon was assassinated by a deranged fan on 8 December 1980, as he and his wife Yoko Ono returned to their apartment in New York city.

1957  -             The final major British atomic bomb test is condu

Gday...

1586  -             The trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, begins.

Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart, was born on 8 December 1542, daughter of Mary de Guise of France and James V of Scotland. When her father died on December 14, the baby Mary became Queen of Scotland but James Hamilton, Duke of Arran, served as regent for Mary. Mary's mother wished to cement an alliance with France, so arranged a betrothal for the young Mary with France's dauphin, Francois. At age 6, Mary was then sent to France to be groomed for her future role as Queen of France, which she took up in 1559.

As the granddaughter of Margaret Tudor, the older sister of Henry VIII of England, Mary Stuart was considered to be the rightful heir to the English throne. This was over Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, whose marriage was not recognised by many Catholics in England because Henry had unlawfully divorced Catherine of Aragon. Mary Stuart, in their eyes, was the rightful heir of Mary I of England, Henry VIII's daughter by his first wife.

Francois died on 5 December 1560, and Mary's mother-in-law, Catherine de Medici, became regent for his brother Charles IX. Mary Stuart then returned to Scotland to rule as Queen, but did not recognise Elizabeth's right to rule in England. Years of plotting and controversy followed as Mary tried to assert her right to the throne, with many conspirators on either side of Mary or Elizabeth being killed as they obstructed the way of the other. Ultimately, the attempt to place Mary on the Scottish throne resulted in her trial, which commenced on 11 October 1586. Mary Queen of Scots was executed on 8 February 1587, on suspicion of having been involved in a plot to murder Elizabeth.

1738  -             Captain Arthur Phillip, first Governor of New South Wales, is born.

Arthur Phillip was born in London on 11 October 1738. He joined the Royal Navy when he was fifteen, and alternately earned a living as a navy officer and as a farmer. In October 1786, Phillip was appointed Governor-designate of the proposed British penal colony of New South Wales. He was a practical man who suggested that convicts with experience in farming, building and crafts be included in the First Fleet, but his proposal was rejected. The First Fleet left Portsmouth, England, on 13 May 1787, and arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. Phillip immediately determined that there was insufficient fresh water, an absence of usable timber, poor quality soil and no safe harbour at Botany Bay. Thus the fleet was moved to Port Jackson, arriving on 26 January 1788.

Phillip faced many obstacles in his attempts to establish the new colony. British farming methods, seeds and implements were unsuitable for use in the different climate and soil, and the colony faced near-starvation in its first two years. Phillip also worked to improve understanding with the local Aborigines. The colony finally succeeded in developing a solid foundation, agriculturally and economically, thanks to the perseverance of Captain Arthur Phillip.

Poor health forced Phillip to return to England in 1792. He resigned his commission soon after arriving back in England, and died on 31 August 1814.

1896  -             Lawrence Wells makes the fateful decision to split his exploration party, leading to the deaths of two men.

Very little of Australia was left unexplored by the late 1800s, but the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia remained an unconquered frontier. In 1896, Albert Calvert, a London-based gold-mining engineer with interests in Western Australia, sponsored an expedition to fill in the unexplored blanks on the map and hopefully, find some likely gold-bearing country into the bargain. The Royal Geographical Society of South Australia was asked to organise the Calvert Scientific Exploring Expedition, financed by Calvert. The expedition's leader was surveyor Lawrence Wells, and accompanying him was surveyor Charles Wells, his cousin, an Adelaide mineralogist by the name of George Jones, a cook and a camel driver.

In October 1896, the party camped at a small permanent waterhole south-east of Lake George, which they named Separation Well. Here, on 11 October 1896, Lawrence Wells made the fateful decision to split the party into two groups. Charles Wells and Jones set off on a bearing of 290 degrees to survey lands for 144 kilometres north-west, before turning north-north-east to rejoin the main party at Joanna Spring, located and mapped by explorer Warburton in 1873. When Lawrence Wells' party reached Joanna Spring on 29 October, there was no sign of the other party. Unable to even locate the spring, the leader made for the Fitzroy River, where he raised the alarm regarding the missing explorers via the Fitzroy Crossing Telegraph Station.

Four search parties were dispatched, covering over five thousand kilometres, with no success. Aborigines plundered the bodies of all clothing and other items, and when some of these items were located in the Aborigines' possession, the Aborigines led the searchers to where the bodies lay. On 27 May 1897 the bodies of Wells and Jones were recovered by the white search party, perfectly preserved by the intense heat, just 22km from Joanna Spring. The mummified bodies were sewn in sheets and taken to Derby, where they were shipped to Adelaide and given a State funeral on 18 July 1897.

1906  -             The Coat of Arms of New South Wales is granted by Royal Warrant.

Each of the states of Australia has its own unique symbols and emblems. By the time Federation occurred in 1901, Queensland and South Australia had already adopted a coat of arms. In 1905, the Colonial Office suggested the state of New South Wales apply for a coat of arms to be granted. NSW Premier Joseph Carruthers commissioned NSW Government Printer, William Applegate Gullick, to make several designs, drawing upon symbols already used in the state seal. The final design was conferred by Royal warrant of Edward VII on 11 October 1906.

1987  -             A huge sonar exploration of Loch Ness in Scotland fails to find any sign of the Loch Ness monster.

Loch Ness, or Loch Nis in Gaelic, is a large, deep freshwater lake in the Scottish Highlands, which extends for about 37 km southwest of Inverness. It is the second largest loch (lake) in Scotland, with a surface area of 56.4 km2, but is the largest in volume. It is 226 m deep at its deepest point.

For centuries, witnesses have reported sighting a large monster with a long neck in Loch Ness, Scotland. Famous photographs have been proven to be hoaxes, but still the myth of the monster has persisted. On 11 October 1987, "Operation Deepscan", a major sonar exploration of the Loch, was undertaken by a team of 20 cruisers. High-tech sonar equipment bounced sound waves to the bottom of the lake, electronically recording any contacts. Three sonar contacts showed up as crescent shaped marks, but the results of the sonar test did not indicate there was anything unusual on the bottom of Loch Ness.

Cheers - John