Gday...

1770  -             Forby Sutherland becomes the first Englishman to be buried on Australian soil.

Forby Sutherland was a Scottish seaman who was with James Cook during his exploration of Australia's eastern coast. Cook sailed into Botany Bay on 29 April 1770, where he went ashore, as he and his scientists, seamen and marines explored and mapped the region. During the brief time that Cook sojourned in Botany Bay, Sutherland, who was ill with tuberculosis, died. He was buried on a southern beach in Botany Bay on 1 May 1770; Cook named a nearby headland Point Sutherland in his memory.

Sutherland was the first known Englishman to be buried on Australian soil. However, he is not believed to be the first European. Wrecks of Dutch trading ships were common on the western coast of the continent during the 1600s. There is considerable evidence that numerous survivors of these shipwrecks established unrecorded settlements: it is here that the first Europeans would have been buried.

1839  -             Eyre departs Adelaide to explore country to the north.

Edward John Eyre was born on 5 August 1815 in Hornsea, Yorkshire. After coming to Australia, he gained valuable bush skills whilst droving cattle overland from Sydney through to the Liverpool Plains, Molonglo and Port Phillip. He was keen to open new stock routes through the country, and aimed to be the first to overland cattle from Sydney to the fledgling colony of South Australia. Whilst unsuccessful in this aim, he was able to lay claim to being the first to overland sheep to the colony.

On 1 May 1839, Eyre departed Adelaide to explore countryside to the north. He discovered excellent countryside just north of Adelaide and rich, alluvial soil around today's Hutt River. It was on this journey that he discovered and named Mount Remarkable. Eyre finally arrived at the head of Spencer Gulf on 15 May 1839, where he discovered and named Depot Creek.

1891  -             Australia's first May Day marches are held in support of the shearers' strike in Barcaldine.

During the 19th century, shearers in Australia endured meagre wages and poor working conditions. This led to the formation of the Australian Shearers Union which, by 1890, had tens of thousands of members. Early in 1891, Manager Charles Fairbain of Logan Downs Station near Clermont, Queensland, required that shearers sign the Pastoralists Association contract of free labour before commencing work. This was an attempt to reduce union influence.

On 5 January 1891 the shearers refused to work unless the station agreed to their unions terms. This marked the beginning of many months of union shearers around Australia downing their tools and going on strike. Tensions escalated as striking shearers formed armed camps outside of towns, and mounted troopers protected non-union labour and arrested strike leaders. Shearers retaliated by burning woolsheds and crops, and committing other acts of sabotage and harassment. On 1 May 1891, Australia's first May Day processions and marches were held in Barcaldine and Ipswich, Queensland, on behalf of the shearers. The Barcaldine march involved over 1300 demonstrators, several hundred of them on horseback. They carried banners of the Australian Labor Federation, the Shearers' and Carriers' Unions, a 'Young Australia' flag and the Eureka flag.

Soon after this, the violent suppression of the strike action forced shearers to give in. The strike, however, highlighted the need for a political party to represent the rights of the union workers; thus was ultimately born the Australian Labor Party.

1934  -             Australian actor, John Meillon, is born.

John Meillon was born in Mosman, Sydney, Australia, on 1 May 1934. He began his acting career at age eleven in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's radio serial "Stumpy". He made his first stage appearance the following year, then joined the Shakespeare Touring Company when he was sixteen. He furthered his acting experience working in England from 1959 to 1965.

Meillon appeared in many Australian movies during his career, and in 1976 he won the AFI Award for Best Actor for his role of 'Casey' in the film The Fourth Wish. He performed in various Australian series through the years, such as A Country Practice, Homicide, The Outsiders, Matlock Police, Division 4 and Skippy, and took on bit parts in several dozen other shows. Meillon is best known for his role as Walter Reilly in the films Crocodile Dundee and Crocodile Dundee II. He also voiced the 'Victoria Bitter' beer commercials until he died on 11 August 1989.

2011  -             Osama Bin Laden, leader of Islamic militant group al-Qaeda, is killed.

Osama Bin Laden was the leader of the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda which claimed responsibility for the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11 September 2001. In this attack, American Airlines Flight 11 which had been hijacked at 8:25am, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Centre, while at 9:03am, United Airlines Flight 175, which was hijacked within minutes of the first plane, was flown into the south tower. The impact of each plane and subsequent explosions killed hundreds immediately and trapped many more people on higher floors. At 9:40am, a third hijacked airliner, American Airlines Flight 77, was flown into the side of the Pentagon in Washington, killing 64 passengers and 125 military personnel and civilians. A fourth hijacked aeroplane crashed into a field near Pittsburgh, killing the 45 on board after its suicide flight was thwarted by civilian heroes on board the plane. Its intended target was unknown. Over three thousand people were killed in the terrorist attacks that day in September.

On the day following these attacks, US President George Bush declared that the USA would use all of its resources to wage a war on terrorism. Initially, the war on terror began as British and American forces staged an air bombardment of Afghanistan, where the perpetrator of the terror attacks, Osama bin Laden, was thought to be hiding. The regime in Afghanistan quickly fell: Bin Laden, however, remained at large.

The mission to kill Bin Laden gained momentum with the receipt of new intelligence regarding the al-Qaeda leader's whereabouts in August 2010. He was believed to be residing in a compound at Abbottabad, some 50 km northeast of Islamabad, Pakistan. A Security Operation was mobilised, and the final decision to proceed with a strike was made at 8:20am on Friday, 29 April, in the White House's Diplomatic Room. On 1 May 2011, US President Barack Obama authorised a helicopter-based strike on the compound. Soon afterwards, the announcement was made that Bin Laden had been killed, and that the US was in custody of his body. The announcement was greeted by loud cheering and celebrations in the US, along with the sobering awareness that the war on terror was not yet over.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1611  -             The first copy of the King James Bible is printed.

The King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible authorised by the Church of England. Although it is one of the oldest existing translations of the Bible still in popular use, it was not the first such English translation. The first was the 'Great Bible', commissioned by the Church of England during King Henry VIII's reign. The problem with this version was that much of the Old Testament was translated from the Latin Vulgate, rather than from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. It was followed by a second attempt, the Bishop's Bible of 1568, the translation for which was led by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury. Again, there were inconsistencies in the translation. This text was revised in 1572, and the revised text formed the foundation for the Authorised King James version of the following century.

The project to complete an English translation was begun in 1604, largely in response to the concerns of the Puritans, a faction within the Church of England, regarding the earlier translations. In January of that year, King James I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference to address the need to develop a common English Bible which was consistent in its translation, and which reflected the beliefs of the Church of England. 47 scholars were involved in the translation of texts.

The Bible was completed by 1611, and first published on 2 May 1611 by printer Robert Barker. The original title was "THE HOLY BIBLE, Containing the Old Testament, AND THE NEW: Newly Translated out of the Original tongues: & with the former Translations diligently compared and revised, by his Majesties special Commandment". In 1651, English philosopher Thomas Hobbs referred to the version as "the English Translation made in the beginning of the Reign of King James". By around 1814, it had begun to be popularly known as the "King James' Version" or the "King James Version", and by 1855, it was known without the possessive apostrophe, as "King James Version".

1829  -             The city of Fremantle, Western Australia, is founded as Captain Fremantle hoists the Union Jack.

The city of Fremantle lies just south of Perth, at the mouth of the Swan River. Dutch captain Willem de Vlamingh named the Swan River in 1697 because of the black swans he saw in abundance there. As the first city in Western Australia, Fremantle is steeped in rich and fascinating history. In 1829, Captain Charles Fremantle was sent to take formal possession of the remainder of New Holland which had not already been claimed for Britain under the territory of New South Wales. On 2 May 1829, Captain Fremantle raised the Union Jack on the south head of the Swan River, thus claiming the territory for Britain. The colony of Western Australia was proclaimed on 8 June 1829, and two months later, Perth was also founded.

1933  -             The Loch Ness Monster is formally introduced to the world.

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. However, the Loch Ness Monster really only came to prominence in the modern world when a newspaper report about it was published on 2 May 1933. On this date, Scottish newspaper, the "Inverness Courier", ran an article called "A Strange Spectacle on Loch Ness" that described how a Mr and Mrs John Mackay had encountered an enormous whale-like creature in the loch near Aldourie Castle, "rolling and plunging on the surface". London papers picked up the story, sending reporters to Scotland, and the legend was born.

1942  -             The Japanese launch an invasion force from Rabaul, intending to capture Port Moresby, and precipitating the Battle of the Coral Sea.

During World War II, in late 1941 the Japanese began their conquest of the Pacific region, hoping to take control from the Indian/Burmese border, south through Malaya, across the islands of Indonesia to New Guinea, northwest to the Gilbert Islands and north to the Kuril Islands off the Japanese coast. This would leave Australia wide open for invasion, although that was not the intention of Japan at the time. Singapore and the Malay Peninsula, which had been defended by British Empire Forces, fell in a 70 day campaign that began in December 1941.

Late in January 1942, Japanese forces landed in Rabaul, quickly taking control, dragging Papua New Guinea into the war, and bringing the threat of Japanese invasion of Australia even closer. The first of over 100 Japanese bombings of the Australian mainland began in February, and on 8 March, the Japanese invaded the New Guinean mainland, capturing Lae and Salamaua.

Knowing that Britain was engaged in fighting Germany in the northern hemisphere, Australian Prime Minister John Curtin sought help from the United States to defend the Pacific. Knowing this, Japan sought to cut Australia off from American support by capturing the Pacific islands of Fiji, the New Hebrides, Samoa and the Solomons, and completing their conquest of Papua New Guinea.

On 2 May 1942, the Japanese launched an invasion fleet to Port Moresby from Rabaul. The Japanese sought to cut off Australia from US support by taking control of the main port on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. Thus began the Battle of the Coral Sea. Although a bitter campaign, it was a successful one. Repelled by the American forces, the Japanese then sought to invade Port Moresby from the northern coast, over the rugged Owen Stanley Range via the Kokoda Trail, which linked to the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. With much assistance from the Papua New Guinean natives, dubbed "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels", the Australian and the US troops turned back the Japanese forces, which then retreated to bases at Buna, Gona and Sanananda. Here, the Japanese were eventually defeated in a hard-fought campaign which lasted through December 1942 to 23 January 1943 - one year after the Japanese first landed at Rabaul.

1969  -             British ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth 2, departs on her maiden voyage.

The Queen Elizabeth 2, or "the QE2", was the flagship of the Cunard Line from 1969 until she was succeeded by RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the RMS Queen Mary 2, she travelled throughout the world, but now operates as a cruise liner sailing out of Southampton, England. The QE2 is 294 m long, with a top speed of 32.5 knots, or 60 km/h, and is one of the largest and fastest passenger vessels afloat. The ship is smaller than her predecessor RMS Queen Elizabeth and her successor Queen Mary 2, in order to allow her to pass through the Panama Canal. The QE2 can carry approximately 1,700 passengers and 1,015 crew members.

Launched during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the "2" in the ship's name is to distinguish her from the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. As Roman numerals are always used for Monarchs, an Arabic number was thus used for the ship. The QE2 departed on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City on 2 May 1969.

2008  -             The longest bridge in the world, the 36 km Hangzhou Bay Bridge, opens.

The longest bridge in the world is currently the 36km-long Hangzhou Bay Bridge across the East China Sea. The record-breaking bridge, which opened on 2 May 2008, is an S-shaped stayed-cable bridge with six lanes in both directions. The bridge includes a service centre and large roundabout in the middle of it with a visitors' centre for day trippers. Flashing lights of different colours are placed at regular intervals, to keep drivers alert.

The bridge serves a strong economic function. It has shortened the journey time from the port of Ningbo to the economic centre of Shanghai by 120 kilometres, which equates to several hours of travel, stimulating further regional growth. It is also the final link in the motorway which connects Beijing and the north to the booming eastern and southern seaboard, including wealthy Hong Kong and Shenzen.

Construction of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge began on 8 June 2003, and finished on 26 June 2007. The longest sea-crossing bridge in the world, it cost 11.8 billion yuan, or US$1.70 billion, but is expected to last 100 years.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1654  -             The first toll bridge in America opens: humans cross free but animals have to pay.

The first toll bridge in America was opened on 3 May 1654 at Newbury River in Massachusetts by licensee Richard Thorley. Called "Thorlay's Bridge", it was built over the Parker River and opened the road for travel from Boston, Ipswich and Salem. Humans were free to cross the bridge, but there was a charge for animals. The bridge has undergone subtle name changes over the years, and is now known as Thurlow's Bridge.

1804  -             The war between white settlers and Tasmanian Aborigines begins with the "Battle of Risdon".

For many years, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) was throught to be part of the mainland of Australia. In January 1799 Bass and Flinders completed their circumnavigation of Tasmania, proving it to be an island. As an island, Tasmania enjoyed the uniqueness of its own fauna and flora, and its own indigenous peoples, but all of these were severely disrupted by the arrival of Europeans.

Van Diemen's Land was settled as a separate colony in 1803. 3 May 1804 marks the first of the major hostilities between whites and Aborigines which ultimately led to the decimation of pure-blooded Tasmanian Aborigines. What became known as The Battle of Risdon began when a large group of about 300 aboriginal men on a kangaroo hunt inadvertently wandered into the British settlement. Thinking they were being attacked, the soldiers fired upon the party, killing three of the hunters.

Debate has continued over the number of hunters actually killed. While early accounts said that two or three were killed, later the figure was expanded to fifty, and then upwards to 100.         

1840  -             New Zealand is officially declared a British Colony.

The Treaty of Waitangi effectively signalled the founding of New Zealand by white settlers, and made New Zealand a British colony. The Treaty was signed on 6 February 1840 by over 500 Mori chiefs of New Zealand and the British Governor William Hobson, representing the British Government. It was intended to protect Mori land interests in exchange for recognition of British sovereignty. The Mori agreed to hand over ownership of their land to Queen Victoria, and in return were to retain the right to occupy their land as long as they wished, and to be protected in so doing.

With the signing of the Treaty, Governor Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand, and the colony of New Zealand was formally proclaimed on 3 May 1840. This resulted in a great increase in the number of British migrants coming to New Zealand. However, since that date, major issues concerning the original translation of the treaty from English to Mori have resulted in the terms of the Treaty being in dispute. The Treaty subsequently remains the topic of much controversy and political debate.

1851  -             California's first known gang, the Sydney Ducks, are blamed for post-earthquake fires and looting in San Francisco.

During the convict era, between 1788 and the end of transportation in 1868, over 174,000 men, woman and children were sent to Australia. Once pardoned or given a ticket-of-leave, many ex-convicts chose to remain in Australia. However, prospects were sometimes grim for those who chose to stay, some finding it impossible to earn a respectable living with the stigma of their convict past hanging over them. Nor could they return to their families in England, for the same reasons. Thus, when the goldrush began in California in 1848, many ex-convicts made their way to San Francisco.

With the population explosion in southern California, crime became rampant, particularly as many immigrants failed to find their fortune in gold and resorted to crime in order to survive. Criminals began to congregate in San Francisco, east of modern day Chinatown, forming gangs. Among the most notorious were those dominated by Australians, ticket of leave and escaped convicts. By 1849, so many were gathering on the Barbary Coast that it was commonly called 'Sydney Town', populated by gangs such as the 'Sydney Ducks' and 'Sydney Coves'. The Sydney Ducks were California's first known gang.

On 3 May 1851, the Sydney Ducks were blamed for a fire which broke out following a severe earthquake on May 1. Looting was rife, and blame centred on the Australians when a man recognised as a Sydney-Towner was seen running from a paint shop shortly before it exploded in flames. The area remained notorious for its vicious crimes until Sydney Duck member John Jenkins was lynched by vigilantes on 10 June 1851. Following his hanging, the population of Sydney Town dropped significantly as many Australians fled the area.

1947  -             The new post-war Japanese Constitution comes into effect.

The first modern constitution of Japan was the Constitution of the Empire of Japan of 1889, known as the Imperial or Meiji Constitution. It provided for a form of constitutional monarchy based on the Prussian model, in which the Emperor of Japan was an active ruler and wielded considerable political power, but shared this with an elected diet. However, it did not allow for freedom of speech, thought or religion.

Following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, Allied leaders Winston Churchill, Harry S Truman, and Joseph Stalin issued the Potsdam Declaration, which defined the major goals of the post-surrender Allied occupation. Allied forces would not withdraw until Japan agreed to enact a modern, progressive constitution, and the Allies could see evidence of that constitution in place. The constitution, which went into effect on 3 May 1947, granted universal suffrage, stripped Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power, stipulated a bill of rights, abolished peerage, and outlawed Japan's right to make war. The constitution and the reforms contained therein were largely overseen by US General Douglas MacArthur, who remained in the American Embassy in Japan for five and a half years, thus ensuring Japan remained firmly in the American sphere of influence.

1978  -             The first ever spam email is sent.

Since the advent of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, email and the Internet have revolutionised modern life. With the good has come the bad, and this includes unwanted spam.

The first known email spam message was sent out by Gary Thuerk, a marketer for the Digital Equipment Corporation. On 3 May 1978, Thuerk sent out a marketing email on the DECSYSTEM-20 family of computers to 400 of the 2600 people on ARPAnet. Although the governing authorities responded quickly, denouncing such unwarranted marketing, the interest shown by a few of the recipients was sufficient for the concept to be attempted again - and thus was born spam.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1842  -             The colony of the Moreton Bay District is declared a free settlement.

The colony of the Moreton Bay District was founded in 1824 when explorer John Oxley arrived at Redcliffe with a crew and 29 convicts. 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. Another convict settlement was established under the command of Captain Patrick Logan. On 10 September 1825, the settlement was given the name of Brisbane, but it was still part of the New South Wales territory. The area was opened up for free settlement in 1838, and in 1839, there were calls to cease transportation to Moreton Bay. On 4 May 1842, Moreton Bay was declared a free settlement.

In 1859, Queen Victoria signed Letters Patent, which declared that Queensland was now a separate colony from New South Wales. On 6 June 1859, the former Moreton Bay District was granted separation from New South Wales, and given the name of Queensland, with Brisbane as its capital city. June 6th is celebrated every year as Queensland Day, the day which marks the birth of Queensland as a self-governing colony. On 1 January 1901, Queensland became one of the six founding States of the Commonwealth of Australia.

1852  -             The Second Gold Escort arrives in Adelaide, returning wealth from the Victorian goldfields to the colony of South Australia.

The discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria in 1851 was a great boon to those states, but a disaster for South Australia. Very little payable gold had been found in South Australia, and hopeful prospectors were leaving the colony in droves to seek their fortune. By the end of 1851, around 15,000 men had left South Australia, leaving few to work the mines at Kapunda and Burra. The result was the temporary closure of the mines, and an economic recession for South Australia.

Alexander Tolmer was an English immigrant who had arrived in South Australia in 1840. With his military background, he had been appointed by Governor Gawler to be Sub-Inspector of Police, a position in which he had demonstrated skills in organisation and discipline. In 1852, he was appointed Commissioner of Police and Police Magistrate. In this capacity, he proposed that the gold found by South Australians should be returned to the colony rather than sold in Victoria. Tolmer also proposed that he be the one to bring the gold back to South Australia under escort men. His proposal was accepted and the government passed Assay Bullion Act, which authorised the establishment of an assay office and smelting facilities.

Tolmer's first escort to the Mt Alexander goldfields resulted in the return of £21,000 worth of gold to the South Australian colony in a journey which took eleven days each way. The success of the first escort prompted Tolmer to organise a second expedition, implementing some improvements such as better accommodation and facilities along the route such as changing stations and hay for the horses. He even proposed the establishment of a town near the border, which later became Bordertown. The second Gold Escort returned to Adelaide on 4 May 1852 with 19,235 ounces of gold valued at £70,000' This was almost four times the amount consigned by the first escort, and collected by around three times as many diggers.

In all, there were eighteen gold escorts between Mt Alexander and Adelaide, with the final escort completing its journey in December 1853. It is estimated that uo to £2,000,000 worth of money and gold was returned from South Australian diggers to Adelaide via the escorts.

1864  -             The first trout eggs introduced to Australia begin to hatch.

The term "trout" covers a number of species of freshwater and sal****er fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Trout are much sought after for fishing and eating, but where they have been introduced, they have created a threat to native species.

Trout were first introduced to Australia in 1864. On 21 January of that year, the clipper 'Norfolk' departed England with 90,000 Salmon eggs and 2,700 Brown trout eggs, arriving in Melbourne on 15 April 1864. Eighty percent of the eggs had survived the journey, so they were then transported to Tasmania, to the site of Salmon Ponds Hatchery (established in 1862), the first salmon and trout hatchery in the Southern Hemisphere, at the Plenty River. This site was selected for the hatchery, as the Plenty River had suitably cold water and fed into the Derwent, which would allow the young fish a clear passage to the sea. The first trout hatched on 4 May 1864, and the salmon hatched the following day. These fish became the base stock for streams and lakes in Australia and New Zealand.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, trout had been introduced to virtually all water catchments capable of supporting them in Australia. Several other native species have suffered a decline as a result of introducing the trout, in particular the Barred Galaxias and Mountain Galaxias, as well as the Spotted tree frog. Today in Tasmania, trout are now the only fish species in many waters.

1897  -             The first ocean-going steamer berths at the newly constructed Fremantle Harbour.

Fremantle Harbour is the largest and most important port in Western Australia. Situated on the mouth of the Swan River in the southwest of the state, it was the brainchild of Irish engineer CY O'Connor, who was offered the position of engineer-in-chief by the Western Australian Premier, John Forrest, in 1891.

O'Connor's grand plan for a safe inner harbour in the mouth of the Swan River met with great opposition as being impractical. A significant rocky bar obstructed the entrance, and the prevailing belief of the locals was that sand movement would cause continual silting. OConnor studied the data carefully and determined that the sand travel could easily be managed by dredging, then constructing two breakwaters to prevent silting at the entrance from recurring. He proposed blasting the reef and deepening the river mouth. Costs would be high, but Premier John Forrest shared OConnors long-term vision, and pushed the plans through Parliament.

The inauguration ceremony of the harbour works occurred in November 1892, and construction took five years. Lady Forrest, wife of the Premier, opened the new harbour in 1897. On 4 May 1897, the first ocean-going steamer, 'Sultan', berthed at South Quay, which was later renamed Victoria Quay after the death of Queen Victoria in 1901.

For his work, O'Connor was awarded the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. In 1912, a statue of O'Connor was erected near the harbour. Fremantle Harbour still stands today and remains the most important harbour in Western Australia - without the silting problem predicted by OConnors critics.

1970  -             Four students at Kent State University, Ohio, USA, are killed by members of the Ohio National Guard.

On 25 April 1970, USA President Richard Nixon, who had been elected on his promise to bring the Vietnam War to an end, launched an invasion of Cambodia. The previous November had seen the exposure of the My Lai massacre, the massacre by US soldiers of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, and this had caused widespread outrage around the world, leading to reduced public support for the war. Since the war had appeared to be winding down throughout 1969, a new invasion into Cambodia angered many people who felt it only exacerbated the conflict. Further, students around the country feared the new "lottery draft", and it was believed that to expand the conflict into another country would increase their risk of being drafted.

From the beginning of May, students at Kent State university began a protest which was gatecrashed by drunken bikies. Over a period of several days, the protests degenerated into riots as more people joined the vandalism. The Ohio National Guard was sent in to dispel the crowds, but conditions worsened. By May 3rd, there were nearly a thousand National Guardsmen on campus to control the students.

On Monday, 4 May 1970, a protest was scheduled to be held at noon. Despite the protest beginning peacefully, the National Guard chose to disperse the crowd, fearing that disturbances would ensue. As the Guard fired tear gas into the crowd, they were taunted by students throwing rocks and advancing on the Guard. Cornered, the Guard fired a volley of shots into the crowd, killing four and wounding nine. Two of the four students killed had participated in the protest, but the other two were simply walking from one class to the next. A nationwide student strike followed, in which over 4 million students protested and over 900 American colleges and universities closed. From 1970 to 1979, lawsuits continued to be filed by families of the victims who were hoping to place blame on Governor Rhodes and the Ohio National Guard. Trials were held on both the federal and state level but all ended in acquittals or were dismissed.

1979  -             Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain's first woman Prime Minister.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born on 13 October 1925 in the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, eastern England. She was to become one of the dominant political figures during the 1980s after she became Britain's first female Prime Minister on 4 May 1979. An Oxford-educated chemist and lawyer, she led the Conservatives to a 44-seat majority. Mrs Thatcher's election campaign promised income tax cuts, reduction in public expenditure, and strategies to make it easier for people to buy their own homes and curb the power of the unions.

Thatcher remained in power for 11 years, implementing tax policy reforms, some of which were successful, and some which were not. Her poll-tax policy of 1990 resulted in protests and rioting in English cities, and largely led to her downfall. Her poll tax, together with her opposition to further British integration into the European Community alienated some members of her own party and in November 1990, she failed to received a majority in the Conservative Party's annual vote for selection of a leader. Thatcher resigned in November 1990.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1865  -             Australian bushranger Ben Hall is shot dead by police.

Ben Hall was born on 29 April or 9 May 1837 in Maitland, in the Hunter Valley of NSW. Both his parents had been convicted for minor stealing offences and transported to New South Wales, where they met and married, moving to the Hunter Valley after receiving their tickets of leave. As an adult, Hall became a successful grazier, and it is unknown why he turned to bushranging. However, after being falsely accused and arrested for robbery, then acquitted, he returned to his property to find his stock missing. This may have engendered disillusionment with the 'straight' life.

Hall teamed up with bushranger Frank Gardiner in 1862. On 15 June 1862 Gardiner led a gang of ten, including Hall, to rob the gold escort coach near Eugowra of more than 14000 pounds in gold and banknotes. In another incident, Hall and his gang bailed up Robinson's Hotel in Canowindra and held all the people of the town captive for three days. The prisoners were well treated and entertained, though the local constabulary was locked in his own cell. When the prisoners were freed the gang paid the hotelier and gave the townspeople expenses, thereby achieving the gang's aim of ingratiating themselves in the public eye whilst lampooning the police.

Hall's bushranging career soured after the gang killed a police sergeant during a robbery, and he was declared an outlaw. Michael Connolly, who had previously given Hall assistance and protection, betrayed him to the police for a substantial reward. At dawn on 5 May 1865, Ben Hall was ambushed and shot by eight police. He was buried in the NSW town of Forbes.

1894  -             The Australian slang term 'fair dinkum' appears in print for the first time.

"Fair dinkum" is an Australian slang term meaning honest, genuine or real. The derivation dinky-di means a native-born Australian or "the real thing". The word "dinkum" had appeared by itself in print, in the novel "Robbery Under Arms" by Australian writer Rolf Boldrewood, when it was published in 1888. However, the term "fair dinkum", giving the term an extra quality of incredulity, appeared in print for the first time in the magazine 'The Bulletin' on 5 May 1894. The Bulletin was immensely influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I.

It has been suggested that the word dinkum was a dialect word from Lincolnshire and Derbyshire in England, where it meant "hard work" or "fair work"; this was also the original meaning in Australian English.

1906  -             The first electric tram in Melbourne, Australia, begins operating.

A tram is a rail-borne vehicle, lighter than a train, for the transport of passengers. Some of Australia's cities ran extensive tram networks in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The city of Melbourne, the second-largest city in Australia, boasts the third largest tram network in the world, consisting of 245 kilometres of track, 500 trams, and 1770 tram stops. In 1885 the Melbourne Tramway and Omnibus Company began operating Melbourne's first cable tram line. The first service ran from Spencer St/Flinders St, to Hawthorn Bridge. As the city grew, the technical limits of the cable tram system became apparent, and electric trams were developed and implemented. The first electric tram in Melbourne began operating on 5 May 1906, and ran between St Kilda and Brighton.

Trams still run extensively in Melbourne, as its wide streets and geometric street pattern makes trams more practicable than in other cities. In Adelaide, capital of South Australia, one tramline operates, originating from the city centre and terminating at Glenelg, and some trams still run in the old goldrush city of Bendigo in rural Victoria.

1941  -             Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who had been ousted during the invasion of Italy, returns to 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. 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 World War II and the defeat of Italy, that he was returned to power. He returned to Addis Ababa from exile in Britain on 5 May 1941, after Ethiopia was liberated by British forces.

1945  -             Six people are killed in the only deaths caused by Japanese bombs on the American mainland in World War II.

The bombing attack by the Japanese on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in 1941 is one of the best-known and most tragic incidents in World War II. What is less known are the Japanese attempts to bomb the North American mainland using fire balloons, and the success of one such weapon.

The fire balloon, or Fu-Go, was a weapon developed by Japan during the Second World War, which made use of a hydrogen balloon carrying a bomb and incendiary devices. Around 9300 fire balloons were launched by Japan between November 1944 and April 1945, with the intention of them being carried east by the jet stream over the Pacific Ocean to Canada and mainland USA. Around 340 of these made their way to North America, with some of them causing minor damage: only one of them caused any deaths.

On 5 May 1945, Sunday school teacher Elyse Mitchell, who was pregnant, her Minister husband and five of her young teenage students were on their way to a picnic, driving along a mountainous road near Klamath Falls in eastern Oregon. They stopped when Mrs Mitchell felt sick, and she and the students walked some distance from the car. A short time later, just as Mrs Mitchell called her husband to see what the group had found, there was a tremendous explosion. All six in the group were killed.

This was the only incident of Japanese bombing on the American mainland which resulted in casualties. These were also the only combat deaths from any cause on the US mainland to date.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1875  -             Giles departs on his final expedition, crossing the western deserts twice.

Ernest Giles emigrated to Australia in 1850 and was employed at various cattle and sheep stations, allowing him to develop good bush skills. He made several expeditions in the Australian desert. The first, lasting four months, commenced in August 1872 and resulted in discoveries such as Palm Valley, Gosse's Bluff, Lake Amadeus, and the first sighting of Mount Olga.

Giles's next expedition departed in August 1873. On this expedition, Giles was able to approach closer to the Olgas, but his attempts to continue further west were thwarted by interminable sand, dust, biting ants, Aboriginal attack and lack of water. The loss of one of Giles's companions, Gibson, in April 1874 ended this second expedition, and the party arrived back at Charlotte Waters in July.

Giles was determined to explore the unknown country south of where Warburton and Forrest had explored, reaching Perth in the attempt. On 13 March 1875, Giles departed from Fowlers Bay, heading north first before crossing the western deserts. Although a short expedition, it was a difficult one, initially marked by severe water shortages until the discovery of permanent water holes.

Giles's fourth expedition departed from the homestead of his sponsor Thomas Elder at Beltana on 6 May 1875. On this journey, Giles was supplied with camels. From Ooldea on the northeastern edge of the Nullarbor Plain, he travelled west through the Great Victoria Desert, reaching Perth with no loss of life among his party. He then promptly turned around, re-crossing the desert back to the Overland Telegraph Line. Although he did not find good land, his main claim to fame was being the first to make the main western crossing from both directions.

1937  -             The airship Hindenburg catches fire as it attempts to dock in New Jersey, USA, killing 36.

The rigid airship, also known as a zeppelin or dirigible, is a self-propelled, steered aircraft with lighter-than-air gas to provide lift, and a gondola to accommodate passengers, crew, and cargo. In the early days of airships, the primary lifting gas was hydrogen; however, hydrogen is flammable when mixed with air. After the 1950s, helium was used in all countries except the United States because it was safer. The USA continued to use hydrogen because it was cheaper and more readily available, and provided greater lift - this was despite the Hindenburg tragedy.

The Hindenburg was a brand-new, all-duralumin design and, together with its sister ship the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II, was one of the largest aircraft ever built, at 245.06 m long and 41.15 m in diameter. It was longer than three Boeing 747s placed end-to-end. The Hindenburg was originally intended to be filled with helium, but a United States military embargo on helium forced the Germans to modify the design of the ship to use highly flammable hydrogen as the lift gas. The Germans had considerable experience with using hydrogen and implemented necessary safety measures to pre-empt an accident. Their safety record was impressive.

However, on 6 May 1937, the German zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg was approaching a mooring mast at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey when it caught fire. The flames first appeared near the tail and, within 37 seconds, completely engulfed the ship. Of the 97 people on board, 35 were killed, as well as one of the ground crew. Various theories have been put forward regarding the cause of the blaze. Sabotage has been virtually ruled out. More likely theories suggest that the fire was started by a spark caused by static build-up, or that one of the many high-tension bracing wires within the structure of the airship may have snapped and punctured the fabric of one or more of the internal gas cells.

1954  -             British athlete Roger Bannister breaks the four-minute mile.

The four minute mile, in athletics, is the running of a mile (1609 metres) in under four minutes. It was once thought to be impossible but has now been achieved by many male athletes, although the four minute mile has not yet been broken by any female athletes.

On 6 May 1954 Roger Bannister, a 25-year-old British medical student, became the first to break the four minute mile in recorded history, at 3 minutes 59.4 seconds, at the Iffley Road track in Oxford. Six weeks later, John Landy, an Australian, followed suit with 3:58, breaking Bannister's record. To date, the mile record is held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj, who set a time of 3 minutes 43.13 seconds in Rome in 1999.

1994  -             The Channel Tunnel is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand.

The Channel tunnel is a rail tunnel, 50 kilometres in length, of which 39 km lie beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover, connecting Cheriton in Kent, England and Coquelles near Calais in northern France. A journey through the tunnel lasts about 20 minutes. The concept of such a tunnel linking Britain and France had been under discussion for centuries, but it was only seriously realised in 1957 when le Tunnel sous la Manche Study Group was formed. Following the group's report in 1960, the project to construct the Tunnel was launched in 1973, but financial problems in 1975 halted progress beyond a 250m test tunnel.

In 1984, a joint United Kingdom and French government request for proposals to build a privately funded link brought forth four submissions, one of which closely resembled the 1973 route. The Fixed Link Treaty was signed by the British and French governments on 12 February 1986, and ratified in 1987. It took 15,000 workers over seven years to dig the tunnel, with tunnelling operations carried out simultaneously from both ends. On 1 December 1990, workers bored through the final wall of rock to join the two halves of the Channel Tunnel.

The Channel Tunnel, or Chunnel as it is sometimes known, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and French President François Mitterrand on 6 May 1994, in a ceremony held in Calais. The American Society of Civil Engineers has declared the tunnel to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1815  -             Following completion of the first road over the Blue Mountains, Governor Macquarie names Bathurst.

In May 1813, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains, finding rich farming land in the Hartley region. However, further exploration was needed so the colony could expand beyond the Great Dividing Range. George Evans was the Deputy Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and keen to progress beyond the discoveries made by Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth. Leaving Sydney with a party of five men on 19 November 1813, Evans soon reached a mountain which he named Mt Blaxland, which was the termination of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth's explorations. He continued on through the countryside, eventually reaching the site of present-day Bathurst.

Upon Evans's return to Sydney, he recommended building a road which would follow the ridge track determined by Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth. Shortly after this, William Cox was commissioned to build the road to Bathurst, using convict labour. The original Great Western Highway covered 161 km and incorporated twelve bridges. Following completion of the road, Macquarie travelled along "Cox's Pass", taking eleven days to reach Bathurst. The Union Jack was raised and the town of Bathurst named on 7 May 1815.

1840  -             Composer Tchaikovsky is born.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, also Anglicised as Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, was born in Kamsko-Votkinsk, Russia, on 7 May 1840. His musical talent became apparent while he was still very young, and at age 21 he entered the St Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied composition with Anton Rubinstein. Tchaikovsky wrote 11 operas, four concertos, six symphonies, a great number of songs and short piano pieces, three ballets, three string quartets, suites and symphonic poems, and numerous other works. Possibly his best known works include his Symphonie Pathétique, three ballets - The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty - and the 1812 Overture, which utilises a real cannon to bring the music to a final climax.

1915  -             British ship, the Lusitania, is sunk by a German submarine, resulting in the loss of 1,198 lives.

The RMS Lusitania, launched in 1906, was an ocean liner of the British Cunard Steamship Lines. Together with its sister ship, the Mauretania, it was built to compete with the fast German liners of the time. Her maiden voyage was from Liverpool, England, to New York City, NY, on 7 September 1907.

On 7 May 1915, six days after departing from New York, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat whilst making its 202nd crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The torpedo caused a second explosion in the ship, believed at the time to have been caused by dust residue from the remainder of the ship's 6,000 tons of coal fuel. The Germans claimed it was caused by munitions being secretly carried on board. The Allies denied the ship was carrying munitions, although British documents later showed that it was. Another theory is that the sudden force of cold sea water pouring onto the hot steam boilers caused a massive explosion. Regardless of the cause, the Lusitania sank 15 kilometres off the coast of Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, in just 20 minutes, with a loss of 1,198 lives.

1942  -             The Battle of the Coral sea begins.

During World War II, in late 1941 the Japanese began their conquest of the Pacific region, hoping to take control from the Indian/Burmese border, south through Malaya, across the islands of Indonesia to New Guinea, northwest to the Gilbert Islands and north to the Kuril Islands off the Japanese coast. This would leave Australia wide open for invasion, although that was not the intention of Japan at the time. Singapore and the Malay Peninsula, which had been defended by British Empire Forces, fell in a 70 day campaign that began in December 1941.

Late in January 1942, Japanese forces landed in Rabaul, quickly taking control, dragging Papua New Guinea into the war, and bringing the threat of Japanese invasion of Australia even closer. The first of over 100 Japanese bombings of the Australian mainland began in February, and on 8 March, the Japanese invaded the New Guinean mainland, capturing Lae and Salamaua.

Australian Prime Minister John Curtin sought help from the United States to defend the Pacific. Knowing this, Japan sought to cut Australia off from American support by capturing the Pacific islands of Fiji, the New Hebrides, Samoa and the Solomons, and completing their conquest of Papua New Guinea. Early in May 1942, the Japanese launched an invasion fleet to Port Moresby from Rabaul, seeking to cut off Australia from US support by taking control of the main port on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea. Thus began the Battle of the Coral Sea.

The Battle of the Coral Sea officially began on 7 March 1942 and continued through to the following day. It has been described as a decisive naval battle which quite probably saved Australia. It was fought entirely between aircraft carriers. Two US carriers, 'Yorketown' and 'Lexington', were hit and the 'Lexington' was lost, along with over 500 Americans. No Australians were lost from the Royal Australian Navy. The damage to two major Japanese carriers meant that these carriers were unable to be deployed in the crucial Battle of Midway later on. The Japanese regarded the Battle of the Coral Sea as a tactical victory, but it was the first time Japanese forces had faced defeat of any description. The Battle of the Coral Sea was a strategic turning point for the Allies in the Pacific, and helped to turn the tide of World War II in the Allies' favour.

2008  -             The Black Opal is named as the NSW gemstone emblem.

Opal is a precious stone which shows a variety of iridescent colours from reds, pinks and purples to yellows, greens and blues. The brilliant colours are produced by the diffraction of light through microscopic spheres within the opal which split the white light into all the colours of the spectrum. Along with diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire, opal is one of the most valuable of gemstones.

Opal was adopted as the state gemstone of South Australia in 1985, while in 1993 it was officially made Australias national gemstone. Opal was first discovered in Australia in 1849 near Angaston, South Australia, by German geologist Johannes Menge. Australia now produces around 97% of the world's opal. It is mined in just three states of Australia. There are significant fields in South Australia, with around 80% of the Earth's total production being mined at Coober Pedy, Mintabie and Andamooka in the central north of the state. The opal fields in the Quilpie-Yowah region and Winton in western Queensland produce Boulder Opal, the second most rare and valuable form of opal. The third opal-producing state in Australia is New South Wales, where the rare Black Opal is found. Black Opal is the most valuable form of opal found in only two places in the world: Mexico and Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, with the latter producing a superior form of Black Opal. As a result, the Black Opal was named the state gemstone for New South Wales on 7 May 2008.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1838  -             Eyre's first overlanding venture is threatened as he discovers the Loddon River is almost dry.

Edward John Eyre was born on 5 August 1815 in Hornsea, Yorkshire. After coming to Australia, he gained valuable bush skills whilst droving cattle overland from Sydney through to the Liverpool Plains, Molonglo and Port Phillip. He was keen to open new stock routes through the country, and aimed to be the first to overland cattle from Sydney to the fledgling colony of South Australia.

On 21 December 1837, Eyre departed from Limestone Plains where Canberra now stands, with one thousand sheep and six hundred cattle. His route took him first to Melbourne where he replenished his supplies, then he hoped to head directly west to Adelaide, thus avoiding returning along the better-known route of the Murray River. Conditions were difficult, with the countryside in the grip of late summer drought, and he was beaten back by the impenetrable mallee country of western Victoria. Reports from Mitchell, who had travelled through the area in 1836, indicated that the Loddon River was a good source of fresh water; however, on 8 May 1838, Eyre's expedition was threatened when he arrived at the Loddon to find that it was practically dry.

Eyre was forced to retrace his steps to the Murray River. The overlanding venture ended up covering close to 2,500 kilometres and took nearly seven months. Because of his unsuccessful short-cut, Eyre was not the first to overland cattle to South Australia: he was beaten by drovers Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney.

1861  -             Brahe and Wright reach Cooper Creek to check whether Burke and Wills have found the cache of supplies beneath 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, leaving 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 with Wills, Gray and King. He left stockman William Brahe in charge with instructions that if the party did 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 away, he failed to leave further messages emblazoned on the Dig tree indicating that his party had returned and were now making for Mt Hopeless. On 8 May 1861, Brahe and Wright returned to check the depot, but they found no evidence of Burke's return, and saw no need to dig up the cache beneath the tree. Had they done so, they would have found evidence of Burke and Wills' return. Believing the explorers were lost, a rescue expedition was organised in Melbourne. Headed up by Alfred Howitt, the rescue party reached the Dig tree in early 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 six weeks earlier.

1876  -             Truganini, believed to be the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine, dies.

As an island isolated from mainland Australia, Tasmania enjoyed the uniqueness of its own fauna and flora, and its own indigenous peoples. All of these were severely disrupted by the arrival of Europeans. Van Diemen's Land was settled as a separate colony in 1803. In May 1804, the first of the major hostilities between whites and Aborigines occurred, paving the way for the decimation of pure-blooded Tasmanian Aborigines. The "Battle of Risdon" happened when a large group of about 300 aboriginal men on a kangaroo hunt inadvertently wandered into the British settlement. Thinking they were being attacked, the soldiers fired upon the party, killing three of the hunters.

Hostilities between Europeans and Tasmanian Aborigines escalated in the following decades. Due to increased tensions between the Aborigines and white settlers, the government initially offered bounties for the capture of Aboriginal adults and children. The next plan was to implement 'the Black Line', using military forces to round up Aborigines on Eaglehawk Peninsula. Following this rather costly fiasco, several hundred Aborigines were then relocated to Flinders Island. Conditions on Flinders Island were not what was promised to the aboriginal people, and many of them succumbed to disease and starvation. The remaining Aborigines were returned to Tasmania in 1856.

Among those to return to the Tasmanian mainland was Trugernanner, also known as Truganini. Truganini was symbolic of all the injustices done to the Tasmanian Aborigines. Born around the year 1812 on Bruny Island, she was the daughter of Mangana, Chief of the Bruny Island people. While she was still in her teens, her mother was killed by whalers, her first fiance killed while saving her from being kidnapped, and her sisters abducted and taken to Kangaroo Island, South Australia, where they were either sold as slaves, or killed. Truganini died on 8 May 1876, the last known member of the "Palawa" race. Although she begged to be buried, and not to be cut up, her skeleton was later dug up and placed on display in a museum. This last victim of British genocide only received her dying wish for dignity when her bones were removed from the museum, cremated, and scattered in the water around her homeland, in 1976, a century after her death.

When the Australian government announced the death of Truganini, the intention was to indicate an end to what was perceived as a "native problem" in Tasmania. However, Truganini was outlived by several other aboriginal women who had been relocated to Kangaroo Island or Flinders Island. There are still thousands of descendants of the Tasmanian Aborigines alive today.

1901  -             The Federal Labor Party is formed with John Christian Watson as its leader.

The Australian Labor Party is one of the major political parties in Australia. It has its roots in the labour movement that arose from unrest amongst labourers, particularly shearers in Australia who endured meagre wages and poor working conditions in the late 19th century. This led to the formation of the Australian Shearers Union which, by 1890, had tens of thousands of members. Early in 1891, in an attempt to reduce union influence, Charles Fairbain, Manager of Logan Downs Station near Clermont, Queensland, required that shearers sign the Pastoralists Association contract of free labour before commencing work. The situation came to a head when the shearers refused to work unless the station agreed to their unions terms. This marked the beginning of many months of union shearers striking around Australia, and when the strike action was violently suppressed, it highlighted the need for a political party to represent the rights of the union workers.

Labour parties sponsored by the trade union movement were established in the colonies in an attempt to elicit sympathy from politicians elected to colonial parliaments. The labour movement in Australia, represented by the various parties in different Australian colonies, came together as a federal political party just before the first sitting of the Australian Parliament following federation in 1901. On 8 May 1901, the Federal Labor Party, later the Australian Labor Party, was formed with John Christian Chris Watson as its leader. In 1904, Watson became Australia's first Labor Prime Minister.

1902  -             Mt Pelee, Martinique, erupts, burying the city of St Pierre and leaving just two survivors.

Mount Pelée is an active volcano on the northern tip of the French "overseas département" of Martinique in the Caribbean. Previously thought to be dormant, Mount Pelée began to erupt on 25 April 1902, emitting a large cloud containing rocks and ashes from its top. Over the next fortnight, the volcano continued to rumble and belch volcanic ash. At 7:52am on 8 May 1902, it erupted with a massive and devastating explosion.

A pyroclastic cloud consisting of superheated steam and volcanic gases and dust travelled down the mountain to the city of St Pierre, some four kilometres away. Covering the entire city, it instantly ignited everything combustible with which it came in contact. This was followed by a half-hour downpour of muddy rain mixed with ashes. Of the population of between 28,000 and 30,000, there were only two survivors: a prisoner held in an underground cell in the town's jail, later pardoned, and a man who lived at the edge of the city.

Mount Pelée continued to erupt and cause further devastation into the following year. On 20 May 1902, another eruption similar to the first one in both type and force obliterated what was left of St Pierre, and on 30 August 1902, about 2,000 people are believed to have died when a lava flow struck the village of Morne Rouge.

1945  -             Today marks VE Day (Victory in Europe), when Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies is announced.

World War II was fought from 1939 to 1945 and centred around Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, the United States, China, and other allies ultimately defeating Germany, Italy, and Japan. It began as a conflict between Germany and the combined forces of France and Great Britain. To date, it caused the greatest loss of life and material destruction of any war in history: in all, twenty-five million military personnel and thirty million civilians were killed through its duration.

On 7 May 1945, after six years of war, Germany signed an unconditional surrender to the Allies. Germany's collapse had come after the Western and Russian armies met at Torgau in Saxony in late April, and after Hitler's death amid the ruins of Berlin, which fell to the Russians. Germany's surrender was ratified at Berlin on 8 May 1945, which came to be known as VE Day (Victory in Europe). On that day, British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, officially announced the end of the war with Germany.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1901  -             The Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V, opens the first Commonwealth Parliament in Australia.

Prior to 1901, Australia was made up of six self-governing colonies; New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania. These colonies were ultimately under British rule from the time the First Fleet landed, in 1788, until 1901. Numerous politicians and influential Australians through the years had pushed for federation of the colonies, and self-government. After not being accepted by the states the first time, the amended Commonwealth Constitution was given Royal Assent on 9 July 1900.

On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed. Australia's first Governor-General, John Hope, made the proclamation at Centennial Park in Sydney. Australia's first Prime Minister was Edmund Barton. The first Australian Federal Parliament, held in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne which was the only building large enough to house the 14,000 guests, was opened by the Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V, on 9 May 1901.

1927  -             The Australian Federal Parliament moves from Melbourne to Parliament House in Canberra.

Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, had been rivals since before the goldrush days. It was therefore decided that the nation's capital should be situated between the two cities. 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."

The first Australian Parliament following Federation of the states met on 9 May 1901 in the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne. From 1901 to 1927, Parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne, which it borrowed from the parliament of the state of Victoria, which in turn sat in the Exhibition Building. The foundation for the city of Canberra was laid down on 12 March 1913. Construction of Parliament House, which was only ever intended to be temporary, began in August 1923 and the building was ready for occupancy in May 1927. On 9 May 1927, Parliament moved to the new national capital at Canberra, where it met in what is now called Old Parliament House. The building cost about 600,000 pounds and was officially opened by the Duke of York, later King George VI, accompanied by Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce. Intended to be temporary, this building actually housed the Parliament until 1988.

1978  -             The body of kidnapped and murdered former Italian Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, is found in a parked car.

Aldo Moro, born 23 September 1916, was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers. He served as Prime Minister from 1963 to 1968, and again from 1974 to 1976. One of the most important leaders of Democrazia Cristiana, or DC (in English the Christian Democrats), Moro was considered an intellectual and an exceptional mediator, especially in the internal life of his party, promoting cooperation between Italy's disparate political parties.

On 16 March 1978, Moro was kidnapped by militant members of the Red Brigades, a left-wing terrorist group formed in 1970 with the sole aim of overthrowing capitalist Italy by violent means. Moro's five police bodyguards were killed when he was kidnapped at gunpoint from a car near a cafe in full view of rush-hour witnesses, whilst being driven to a session of the house of representatives.

The Red Brigades proposed to exchange Moro's life for the freedom of 13 Red imprisoned Red Brigades terrorists. However, the government immediately took a hardline position on terrorist requests, that the "State must not bend". Moro was held at a secret location in Rome and permitted to send letters to his family and fellow politicians, begging the government to negotiate with his captors. There has been some conjecture since then that the letters contained cryptic messages for his family and colleagues.

Moro was executed at gunpoint around 9 May 1978, and his body found in the boot of a car in Via Caetani in central Rome. Most of their leading members of the red Brigades were captured and imprisoned by the mid-1980s.

1988  -             Australia's new Parliament House is opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

Australia's old Parliament House, which was officially opened on 9 May 1927, was only ever intended to be a temporary residence for Parliament to sit. However, it served Australian Parliament for the next sixty years, as the cost of building a new Parliament House was prohibitive, and no Australian government wanted to be seen as wasting money on such a venture. By the 1960s, old Parliament House was too cramped and crowded, especially when expected to accommodate guests. At times, a building designed to house 300 people was expected to cope with over 4,000.

After a protracted battle over whether to put the new House on the same site as the old one, behind it on Capital Hill, or by the lake shore which was where the original designer of Canberra, Walter Burley Griffin, had intended it to be, the Fraser Government in 1978 decided to proceed with a new building on Capital Hill. Construction began in 1981, and the House was intended to be ready by January 1988, the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia. Ten thousand Australians were involved in the construction of the new Parliament House. The actual building area, which took up 7.5 hectares of a 32 hectare site, was the largest construction site in the Southern Hemisphere during the 1980s. It was expected to cost A$220 million. Neither deadline nor budget were met.

The building was finally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988, the anniversary of the opening of both the first Federal Parliament in Melbourne (9 May 1901), and of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra (9 May 1927). The final cost was over $1,000 million, making Parliament House the most expensive building in Australian history.

2006  -             After being trapped underground for fourteen nights, Tasmanian miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb finally walk free.

Beaconsfield is a small town in the northeast of Tasmania, Australia, about 39 km north west of Launceston on the West Tamar Highway. The district was first settled in 1805 and became a centre for limestone quarrying. The mining of limestone led to the discovery of gold in 1869 which caused the area to boom immensely, and by 1881 Beaconsfield was known as the richest gold town in Tasmania.

On the evening of Anzac Day, 25 April 2006, a small earthquake caused a rock fall in the mine. Eleven miners came out safely, but three remained trapped in the shaft about 1 kilometre below the ground. On the morning of the 27 April the body of 44-year-old Larry Knight was found in the shaft. On the evening of the 30 April 2006, the other two miners were discovered to be alive, after being trapped in the mine for five days. Their survival was claimed as nothing less than a miracle. They were protected by the 1.2m square cage they were in at the time, and which was where they spent most of their following fourteen days. Brant Webb, 37, and Todd Russell, 35, survived by drinking mineralised water that dripped from the rocks throughout the mine. The family of Larry Knight put aside their grief to share the jubilation of the rest of the town.

The operation to rescue the trapped miners was a long and difficult one, as numerous obstacles were faced. The men were sustained by food, water, medicines and other vital goods sent down to them through piping sent through a smaller tunnel drilled through the rock. Paul Featherstone, instrumental in the rescue of Thredbo survivor Stuart Diver, also played a vital role in this rescue. Webb and Russell were finally freed at 4:47am on Tuesday, 9 May 2006, the same day selected for Larry Knight's funeral. A bell at Beaconsfield's Uniting Church, which had not been rung since the announcement of the end of WWII, pealed in celebration as the news broke, and residents immediately started to converge on the mine site. The men did not surface for another hour, as they were initially taken by 4WD to the mine's "crib room", a room the size of a cafeteria, about 700 metres below the ground, for recovery and health checks. The cage lift brought the men to the surface just before 6:00am.

In another sad twist, long-time Australian television personality, reporter Richard Carlton who was with channel 9's "60 minutes", collapsed and died after a press conference held at the site, just two days before the men were freed. Carlton threw the Beaconsfield mine situation and its apparent dangers into the spotlight during the press conference. His final story for 60 Minutes - an investigation into the Beaconsfield disaster - ran just hours after his death.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1899  -             Singer, dancer and actor Fred Astaire is born.

Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz in Nebraska on 10 May 1899. Astaire's mother took him to New York for professional dance training in 1906, with the intent to train him for a career in vaudeville. A Paramount Pictures screen test report on Astaire read simply: "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Also dances." Astaire went on to become a film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor.

Astaire was awarded an honorary Oscar for his "unique artistry and his contributions to the techniques of musical pictures" in 1948. He won nine Emmys for a series of TV specials in the 1950s and 60s and in 1978, he was among the first recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievement. He was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1981 by the American Film Institute. Physically active right into old age, Astaire died from pneumonia on 22 June 1987.

1908  -             The first Mothers' Day is celebrated.

The concept of Mothers' Day (now usually known as Mother's Day) is believed to have had its origins in an idea by a young Appalachian homemaker, Anna Jarvis, who from 1858 had attempted to improve sanitation through what she called Mothers' Work Days. She organised women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and in 1868 she began work to reconcile Union and Confederate neighbours.

Jarvis's ideas influenced suffragette Julia Ward Howe to call for Pacifism and Disarmament by mothers. Ward Howe proclaimed the first Mothers' Day in Boston in 1870, calling for it to be celebrated annually from 1872. Commonly, early activities involved groups of mothers meeting, whose common factor was that their sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War. Julia Ward Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mothers' Day for Peace.

Anna Jarvis' daughter, also named Anna Jarvis, was influenced by both her own mother's work, and the work of Julia Ward Howe. After her mother died, the younger Anna Jarvis started her own crusade to found a memorial day for women. The first Mothers' Day was celebrated as a memorial to mothers in Grafton, West Virginia, on 10 May 1908, in the church where the elder Anna Jarvis had taught Sunday School. After this, the custom caught on, spreading eventually to 45 states (and later other nations). Finally the holiday was declared officially by states beginning in 1912, and on 9 May 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother's Day.

Although Mothers' Day is celebrated by most countries on the second Sunday in May, much of South America, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates uphold the tradition on May 10th annually. Various other countries honour their mothers at other set dates through the year.

1940  -             Germany invades Holland and Belgium, whilst Winston Churchill is elected Prime Minister in Britain.

World War II, fought from 1939 to 1945, originated as a conflict between Germany and the combined forces of France and Great Britain, and eventually included most of the nations of the world. The war in Europe was largely caused by the rise of totalitarian regimes in Germany and Italy. In Germany, Adolf Hitler had become Chancellor in 1933, and immediately set out to regain the power lost with the Treaty of Versaille following World War I. The Treaty had required that Germany claim full responsibility for causing the war and that it substantially reduce its military. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria followed by Czechoslovakia; it then invaded Poland in September 1939.

On 10 May 1940, Germany began its Western offensive with the radio code word "Danzig," launching its "Sichelschnitt", an invasion of Belgium and Holland. British and French Allied forces attempted to stop the German offensive on the ground, while 2,500 German aircraft bombed airfields in Belgium, Holland, France, and Luxembourg, and 16,000 German troops parachuted into Rotterdam, Leiden, and The Hague.

Ironically, it was also on 10 May 1940 that Britain's great wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was elected. Churchill served as Prime Minister of Britain from 1940-45, entirely during WWII. His powerful oratory and refusal to make peace with Hitler were instrumental in rallying and maintaining British resistance to Germany. This was particularly so during the first two years of the war and the onslaught of the Blitz by the German Luftwaffe, which was aimed at crushing British morale. Initially, with Europe falling around it, Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany, but Churchill promised his country and the world that the British people would "never surrender".

1994  -             Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black President.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918. Rolihlahla Mandela was seven years old when he became the first member of his family to attend school: it was there that he was given the English name "Nelson" by a Methodist teacher. In his university days, Mandela became a political activist against the white minority government's denial of political, social, and economic rights to South Africa's black majority. He became a prominent anti-apartheid activist of the country, and was involved in underground resistance activities. Although interred in jail from 1962 to 1990 for his resistance activities, including sabotage, Mandela continued to fight for the rights of the South African blacks.

Mandela was eventually freed, thanks to sustained campaigning by the African National Congress, and subsequent international pressure. He and State President F W de Klerk shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. The following year, Mandela was elected to the Presidency of South Africa, the first black to achieve this position. He was inaugurated into this position on 10 May 1994. Mandela retired in 1999 but maintained a high international profile as an advocate for a variety of social and human rights organisations until his death in 2013.       

Cheers - John

1908......I have never really been a big Mothers or Fathers day fan.

I never needed to have a day put a side to tell my Mother, or wife for that matter that I loved them. I always told them I loved and appreciated them and did things for both whenever possible.

I did never work out why, when I bought flowers home for my wife why she would ask, "what have you done this time?" 

Gday...

1811  -             The original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng Bunker, are born.

Chang Bunker and Eng Bunker were the twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term Siamese twins, or conjoined twins. They were born on 11 May 1811 in Siam now Thailand, in the province of Samutsongkram. The Bunkers were joined at the sternum by a small piece of cartilage, and it has since been determined that they could have easily been separated, even with the limited surgical techniques of that time. Their livers were fused but independently complete.

In 1829, they were discovered in Siam by British merchant Robert Hunter and exhibited as a curiosity during a world tour. After their contract was fulfilled, they went into business for themselves. In 1839, while visiting Wilkesboro, North Carolina with P T Barnum, the twins were attracted to the town and settled there, becoming naturalised United States citizens, and adopting the surname of Bunker. On 13 April 1843 they married two sisters: Chang to Adelaide Yates and Eng to Sarah Anne Yates. Chang and his wife had ten children; Eng and his wife had twelve. The twins both died on 17 January 1874.

1813  -             Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth set out to cross the Blue Mountains in Australia's first major exploration venture.

When the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales in 1788, all efforts concentrated on developing farmland and a food supply to support the convict colony. Free settlers also began to arrive, lured by the promise of a better life in the new, young country. This placed considerable strain on New South Wales's resources, and farmers began to see the need for expansion beyond the Blue Mountains, which had provided an impassable barrier to the west. Many attempts were made to find a path through the Blue Mountains, but their attempts had all focused on following the rivers, which invariably ended up against sheer cliff faces or mazes of impassable gorges.

Gregory Blaxland was a wealthy grazier who had come to Australia in 1806. He stood to gain much by finding a route to new grasslands. Blaxland approached Governor Macquarie about funding an expedition to cross the Blue Mountains. Though Macquarie found Blaxland to be troublesome and discontented, and felt he should be growing grain to feed the colony, he granted approval for the expedition. Blaxland took along two other men: William Lawson, who had arrived in Sydney as an ensign with the New South Wales Corps in 1800, and was a landholder and magistrate with surveying experience; and William Wentworth, the first Australian-born explorer, being the son of a convict mother and an Irish father, a surgeon who had been convicted of highway robbery. Wentworth was to become one of the leading figures of early colonial New South Wales.

Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth departed South Creek, Sydney Cove, on 11 May 1813 with four servants, five dogs and four horses. The route they traversed is essentially still the one used by travellers today. On 31 May they reached Mount Blaxland from where they could see the plains to the west. Beyond the mountains the explorers found a great expanse of open country, which they surveyed. Their exploration was significant for opening up the grazing lands of inland New South Wales.

1926  -             Australian actor Frank Thring, famous for his role as Pontius Pilate in the epic movie Ben Hur, is born.

Actor, Theatre manager and Theatre and TV critic Francis William Thring Jr was born on 11 May 1926 in Australia. Son of the Australian movie director Frank Thring Sr, Frank Jr began his stage career in 1945, at age 19. He became actor-manager of his own repertory theatre, the Arrow, in Melbourne but soon afterwards left for London. It was whilst acting on the London stage that he was spotted by Kirk Douglas, who encouraged him to try for roles in Hollywood. Thring is best known for his role in the Hollywood movie epic "Ben Hur", in which he played Pontius Pilate, dropping the handkerchief to start the famous chariot race. Thring was later cast as Herod Antipas in The King of Kings, and played such Biblical characters with authority and condescension. He played in many more movies, both in America and Australia, but he maintained his base in Australia throughout his career. Thring died on 19 December 1994.

1995  -             Scientists confirm an outbreak of the Ebola virus in Africa.

Ebola is an extremely contagious filovirus - a destructive virus that can be fatal - which causes an acute, highly fatal haemorrhagic fever, that is high fever and massive internal bleeding. It is spread both by airborn particles, and through contact with bodily fluids or secretions of people who have been infected. It kills over 80% of the people it infects. Its incubation period varies from 2 to 21 days and it can kill within 10 days of the onset of symptoms. First discovered in 1976, there is no vaccine and no cure. Treatment consists of balancing the patient's fluids and electrolytes, maintaining their oxygen level and blood pressure, and treating them for any complicating infections.

On 11 May 1995, scientists confirmed that an outbreak of Ebola had occurred in the city of Kikwit, Zaire. The outbreak killed about 50, including three Italian nuns who had cared for victims. Further outbreaks have occurred in Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1995 and 2003, Gabon in 1994, 1995 and 1996, Uganda in 2000, and Sudan again in 2004. A new species was identified from a single human case in Côte d'Ivoire in 1994, Ivory Coast ebolavirus (ICEBOV). In 2003, 120 people died in Etoumbi, Republic of Congo, which has been the site of four recent outbreaks, including one in May 2005.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1856  -             A victory march is held in Victoria following the introduction of the eight hour working day.

Labour Day is a public holiday in all states and territories of Australia, although it is not celebrated on the same day in all states. Labour Day and May Day marches in Australia are commonly associated with the great Shearers' Strike of 1891, but the history of Labour Day actually goes back to several decades earlier.

Through the mid to late 1800s, the working day for many Australian workers was very long, with some employees working up to 12 hours a day, six days a week. The Eureka Stockade of 1854 opened the way for the power of the people to change laws. On 21 April 1856, University of Melbourne stonemasons marched to Parliament House to protest in favour of an eight-hour working day. Negotiations were successful, and Victoria became the first state in Australia to welcome an eight-hour day. To celebrate, a victory march was held on 12 May 1856, and in subsequent years.

That same year, New South Wales also recognised the eight-hour day, followed by Queensland in 1858, South Australia in 1873 and Tasmania in 1874.

1924  -             British comedian Tony Han**** is born.

Anthony John Han**** was born on 12 May 1924 in Birmingham, England. He was raised in Bournemouth where his mother and stepfather ran a small hotel, The Durlston Court, now renamed The Quality Hotel. In 1942 he joined the RAF Regiment, and after a failed audition for ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) ended up with The Ralph Reader Gang Show. Following the war he received regular radio work in shows such as Workers' Playtime and Variety Bandbox. In 1951 he gained a part in Educating Archie, where he played the tutor and foil to a ventriloquist's dummy. This brought him wider recognition and a catchphrase used frequently in the show; 'flippin' kids'. In 1954 he was given his own BBC radio show: Han****'s Half Hour. Developing also into a television series, Han****'s Half Hour lasted for five years and over a hundred episodes, featuring Sid James, Bill Kerr, Kenneth Williams, Moira Lister and Hattie Jacques.

Han**** was highly self-critical and doubted his own ability. He searched for meaning in the works of philosophers, classic novels and political books. In the later years of his career, his self-absorption led to self destructiveness, most evident in his alcoholism. Han**** went to Australia in March 1968 and on 24 June 1968 he committed suicide in Sydney. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Han**** was voted the twelfth greatest comedian by fellow comics and comedy insiders.

1937  -             King George VI, father of Princess Elizabeth, now Queen Elizabeth II, is crowned.

King George VI of England was born Albert Frederick Arthur George Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on 14 December 1895 at Sandringham, Norfolk, England. He was the great-grandson of Queen Victoria and the second son of King George V. He was born with the family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, which became the British Royal Family's name when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, son of Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha in 1840. King George V replaced the German-sounding title with that of Windsor during the First World War. Albert was created Duke of York in 1920. The Duke became King George VI when his elder brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated on 10 December 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. George VI was formally crowned on 12 May 1937, and reigned from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. He suffered a coronary thrombosis, a fatal blood clot in his heart. It was later revealed that he had also been suffering from lung cancer.

The King was survived by his wife Elizabeth, whom he married in 1923, and his two daughters, Princess Elizabeth, who then became Queen at the age of 25, and Princess Margaret, four years younger.

1949  -             The Soviet Union lifts its 11-month blockade on West Berlin.

The Berlin blockade was one of the first major crises of the Cold War. It began on 24 June 1948, when the Soviet Union blocked Western railroad and street access to West Berlin. The Western sectors of Berlin were also isolated from the city power grid, depriving the inhabitants of domestic and industrial electricity supplies. It was an attempt to stop the division of Germany into communist and free states. By forcing a land and water blockade of Berlin, the Soviet Union expected the Allies would abandon West Berlin.

On 25 June 1948 "Operation Vittles" commenced, to supply food and other necessary goods to the isolated West Berliners. This became known as the Berlin Airlift. The aircraft were supplied and flown by the United States, United Kingdom and France, but pilots and crew also came from Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand in order to assist the supply of Berlin. Ultimately 278,228 flights were made and 2,326,406 tons of food and supplies were delivered to Berlin. The Soviet Union lifted the blockade on 12 May 1949 (although theoretically, the blockade ended at 23:59 on 11 May 1949), but the airlift operation continued right through to September of that year. East and West Germany were established as separate republics that month.  

Cheers - John

Gday...

1787  -             The First Fleet of convicts departs Portsmouth, England, bound for Botany Bay.

Conditions in England in the 18th century were tough: the industrial revolution had removed many people's opportunities to earn an honest wage as simpler tasks were replaced by machine labour. As unemployment rose, so did crime, especially the theft of basic necessities such as food and clothing. The British prison system was soon full to overflowing, and a new place had to be found to ship the prison inmates. The American colonies were no longer viable, following the American war of Independence. Following Captain Cook's voyage to the South Pacific, the previously uncharted continent of New Holland proved to be suitable.

On 18 August 1786 the decision was made to send a colonisation party of convicts, military and civilian personnel to Botany Bay, New South Wales, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who was appointed Governor-designate. The First Fleet consisted of 775 convicts on board six transport ships, accompanied by officials, crew, marines and their families who together totalled 645. As well as the convict transports, there were two naval escorts and three storeships.

The First Fleet assembled in Portsmouth, England, and set sail on 13 May 1787. They 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. Australia Day, celebrated annually on January 26, commemorates the landing of the First Fleet at Port Jackson, and the raising of the Union Jack to claim the land as belonging to England.

Governor Phillip was a practical man who suggested that convicts with experience in farming, building and crafts be included in the First Fleet, but his proposal had been rejected. He 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.

1792  -             The first confirmed sighting of the elusive Tasmanian Tiger is made.

The Tasmanian tiger, known also by its paleontological nickname of Thylacine, was a carnivorous marsupial of Australia. It was once believed to roam the entire Australian mainland, as well as parts of New Guinea. Its disappearance from the mainland is believed to have been due to increased competition for food which resulted from the introduction of the dingo by the Aborigines. The Thylacine was up to 110cm in length, with a strong, stiff tail that was half the length of its body again. At its shoulder, it stood about 60cm tall. The Thylacine had tawny grey-brown fur, and around 16 black or brown stripes on its back, mainly at the tail end.

The first evidence of the existence of such a creature came when Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, which he named Van Diemen's Land, in 1642. Upon the shores of the island, one of Tasman's crewman, F.Jacobszoon, described seeing "footprints not ill-resembling the claws of a [tyger]".

French exploration provided confirmation of the Tasmanian tiger when French naturalist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière, who was on Rear Admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux's expedition to "New Holland", made what is considered to be the first definitive sighting of the Tasmanian tiger, on 13 May 1792.

The last known Thylaicne died in the Hobart Zoo on 7 September 1936, a victim of exposure and starvation caused by lack of understanding of the animal's needs. Since then, there have been numerous sightings of the Thylacine, but none have been confirmed.

1981  -             An attempt is made to assassinate Pope John Paul II.

Pope John Paul was elected to the papacy on the third ballot of the 1978 Papal Conclave, but the popular man who came to be known as the "Smiling Pope" died after just 33 days in office. Pope John Paul was succeeded on 16 October 1978, by Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland, who took the name of Pope John Paul II in deference to his predecessor. At just 58 years old, the new Pope also became the youngest pope to be elected in the twentieth century.

As Pope, John Paul II's reign was marked by his untiring ecumenical approach to accommodate other Christian sects as well as to forge a better understanding with the Islamic world, without compromising his own Catholic stance. A major theme of his papacy was also his fight for freedom of religion in the Communist bloc and during his term as Pope, he was significant for his contribution to the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. On 13 May 1981, the Pope was shot and seriously wounded while passing through St Peter's Square in Rome in an open car. The Pope was rushed by ambulance to Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he underwent surgery as the bullet had entered his abdomen, narrowly missing vital organs.

The would-be assassin was 23-year-old escaped Turkish murderer Mehmet Ali Agca. Bystanders quickly overcame Agca and detained him until police arrived. Four days later, the Pope offered forgiveness from his hospital bed. Agca was sentenced to life imprisonment, and it remains uncertain what his motive was for the attempted assassination.

1984  -             The Australian $1 banknote is replaced with a $1 coin.

Decimal currency was first introduced in Australia on 14 February 1966. The new Australian dollar replaced the Australian pound, which was different to the Pound Sterling, and introduced a decimal system. Australian Prime Minister at the time, Robert Menzies, a devout monarchist, wished to name the currency "the Royal", and other names such as "the Austral" were also proposed. Menzies's influence meant that the name "Royal" prevailed, and trial designs were prepared and printed by the printing works of the Reserve Bank of Australia. The name "Royal" proved unpopular, and it was later shelved in favour of "Dollar".

The Australian $1 banknote was replaced by a coin on 13 May 1984. The original standard coin depicts five kangaroos, but the one dollar coin is also used to carry commemorative designs. Such commemorative designs include the International Year of Peace in 1986, Australia's bicentenary in 1988, the 1992 Barcelona Games, Landcare Australia in 1993, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in 1997, International year of older persons in 1999 and the International Year of Volunteers in 2001.

Cheers - John

Gday...

(have been wandering outback NSW no coverage )

1855  -             Australia's first branch of the Royal Mint (London) commences operations in Sydney.

Australia relied on currency sent from England during the first decades of its establishment as a British colony. Both the NSW Legislative Council and Victorias Legislative Council petitioned Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1851 and 1852 respectively to establish a branch of the Royal Mint (London). NSW was successful, and a branch of the Royal Mint began operations in Sydney on 14 May 1855. It was not until Victoria's extensive growth and wealth ensuing from the goldfields that another petition was successful. The Melbourne branch of the Royal Mint commenced operations on 12 June 1872.

With the planned introduction of decimal currency in the 1960s, the Commonwealth Government decided to establish a Mint in Canberra. This new Mint would supersede the London branches of the Royal Mint in Sydney and Melbourne. As it was commissioned to produce Australias decimal coinage, the Royal Australian Mint was therefore the first mint in Australia not to be a branch of the Royal Mint, London. The Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, was officially opened by His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, on 22 February 1965.

1943  -             Australian Hospital Ship Centaur is sunk by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine.

he Centaur, an Australian Hospital Ship, had been built for the Ocean Steamship Company in Greenock, Scotland, in 1924, as a passenger ship and was converted in early 1943 for use as a hospital ship. It sailed unescorted from Sydney on 12 May 1943, well illuminated and marked as a hospital ship. Two days later, on 14 May 1943, when the Centaur was about 80km east north-east of Brisbane, it was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine, an act considered to be a war crime. The ship was hit in the fuel tank, burst into flames and sank within three minutes.

The 332 people on board included 75 Merchant Navy crew, 65 ship's Australian Army medical staff including 12 nurses, and 192 members of the Army's 2/12th Field Ambulance that was to establish various medical units. There were 64 survivors, who clung to rafts for around 35 hours until they were rescued by the United States Navy ship USS Mugford. The survivors were initially located by an Avro Anson from 71 Squadron RAAF based at Lowood Airfield in the Brisbane Valley.

A memorial to the Centaur is situated at Point Danger, Coolangatta, Queensland. It consists of a monumental stone topped with a cairn, surrounded by a tiled moat with memorial plaques explaining the commemoration. The memorial is in turn surrounded by a park with a boardwalk, overlooking the sea, that has plaques for other ships lost during World War II, including both Merchant and Royal Australian Navy ships. The memorial was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the sinking, 14 May 1993, by Minister for Veteran's Affairs, Senator the Honourable John Faulkner. Apart from Australian survivors and local dignitaries, a contingent of the USS Mugford crew travelled from the USA for the event.

Another memorial to the Centaur is situated at Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It is one of many features along a memorial walkway, stretching from Caloundra Head to Shelly Beach, which honours all Australian men and women who served in war. The walkway contains 1500 plaque sites, many of which already contain memorial plaques for individuals who were victims of the Centaur, ex-Prisoners of War, or servicemen and women who served in Vietnam, the Middle East, Korea and other campaigns.

1948  -             The State of Israel is proclaimed.

On 2 November 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour submitted a declaration of intent to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This letter, to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, became known as the Balfour Declaration, and stated that the British government supported Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. Some of the motivation for the Declaration came from Britain's hopes to increase Jewish support for the Allied effort in World War I.

The Balfour Declaration was unpopular among Arabs in Palestine, who feared that their own rights would be subjugated with the creation of a Jewish homeland. Increased tension between Jews and Arabs during the post-war period caused delays in the enacting of the Balfour Declaration. However, after the atrocities to the Jewish people during the Holocaust in WWII, the Zionist cause gained much support from the international community, resulting in the creation of the State of Israel on 14 May 1948. The State of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv by Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion, who became Israel's first Premier.

1973  -             Skylab I is launched.

Skylab was the first space station the United States launched into orbit. Launched on 14 May 1973, it was designed to test various aspects of human endurance in space by having teams of astronauts living in Skylab for up to 84 days at a time. Each Skylab mission set a record for the duration of time astronauts spent in space.

In all, the space station orbited Earth 2,476 times during the 171 days and 13 hours of its occupation during the three manned Skylab missions. Astronauts performed ten spacewalks totalling 42 hours 16 minutes. Skylab logged about 2,000 hours of scientific and medical experiments, including eight solar experiments. Skylab had been in orbit for six years when it made its descent on 11 July 1979, with many chunks of hot debris falling across southern Western Australia. Most of the pieces were found on a 160km wide strip of land between the Perth-Adelaide highway and the Indian Pacific railway line.

Cheers - John

Gday...

1900  -             Women win the vote in Western Australia.

Australia was one of the world's leading countries in regard to women's rights. Women in South Australia gained the right to vote in 1894, and voted for the first time in the election of 1896, becoming just the fourth place in the world where women gained the vote. Four years later, Western Australia became the second colony in Australia to grant women the right to vote.

The Western Australian parliament passed the Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899, which included a bill for women's suffrage on 15 December 1899, but the bill required Royal Assent from Queen Victoria. On 15 May 1900, assent was received through an Order-in-Council, and Western Australian women won the right to vote in state elections.

1928  -             The Aerial Medical Service, later the Flying Doctor Service, is established at Cloncurry, Queensland.

Australia's Flying Doctor Service began with the vision of Reverend John Flynn. John Flynn was born on 25 November 1880, in the gold rush town of Moliagul, about 202 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. Flynn's first posting as a Presbyterian minister was to Beltana, a tiny, remote settlement 500 kilometres north of Adelaide. After writing a report for his church superiors on the difficulties of ministering to such a widely scattered population, he was appointed as the first Superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, the bush department of the Presbyterian Church, in 1912. Flynn served in the AIM at a time when only two doctors served an area of 300,000 sq kms in Western Australia and 1,500,000 sq kms in the Northern Territory. Realising the need for better medical care for the people of the outback, he established numerous bush hospitals and hostels.

By 1917, Flynn envisaged that new technology such as radio and the aeroplane could assist in providing a more effective medical service. His speculations attracted the attention of an Australian pilot serving in World War I, Clifford Peel, who wrote to Flynn, outlining the capabilities and costs of then-available planes. Flynn turned his considerable fund-raising talents to the task of establishing a flying medical service. Thanks to a large bequest from long-time supporter HV McKay, Flynn's vision became a reality. On 15 May 1928, the Australian Inland Mission Aerial Medical Service was established at Cloncurry, in western Queensland. The first flight was two days later.

In order to facilitate communication for such a service, Flynn collaborated with Alfred Traeger who developed the pedal radio, a lighter, more compact radio for communication, the size and cost of which made it more readily available to residents of the outback. The pedal radio eliminated the need for electricity, which was available in very few areas of the outback in the 1920s. In this way, Flynn married the advantages of both radio and aeroplanes to provide a "Mantle of Safety" for the outback. Initially conceived as a one-year experiment, Flynn's vision has continued successfully through the years, providing a valuable medical service to people in remote areas.

In 1942 the service was renamed the Flying Doctor Service. Queen Elizabeth II approved the prefix "Royal" in 1955 following her visit to Australia, and the service became the Royal Flying Doctor Service, or RFDS.

1957  -             Britain drops its first Hydrogen bomb, near Malden Island in the Pacific Ocean.

Malden Island is a low, arid, uninhabited island in the central Pacific Ocean, about 39 km² in area. It is located 446 km south of the equator. The nearest inhabited place is Tongareva (Penhryn Island), 450 km to the southwest. The nearest airport is on Kiritimati, 675 km to the northwest.

Britain's thermo-nuclear weapons programme was started in December 1954 to develop the megaton hydrogen bomb. Operation Grapple was the name of the exercise leading to the detonation of the first British hydrogen bomb on 15 May 1957. The very first fusion device was dropped from Vickers Valiant XD818, piloted by Kenneth Hubbard, over Malden Island. The bomb weighed around 4,545 kg. Code-named Green Granite or Short Granite, it was a combination fission-fusion device with a Red Beard primary and a lithium deuteride secondary. The expected yield was around 1 megaton. It was released from a height of almost 13 km and yielded just 300 kilotons. The relatively low yield prompted a redesign of the hydrogen bomb, and to cover up the disappointing yield, a large fission bomb, code-named Orange Herald, was dropped on 31 May 1957. It yielded 700 kilotons and its purpose was to persuade observers that the United Kingdom had an effective thermo-nuclear weapon. Later tests were more successful.

1974  -             Sixteen teenagers die after being held hostage by Palestinians at an Israeli school.

The Ma'alot massacre was a school massacre in Ma'alot, Israel by Palestinian members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It occurred on 15 May 1974, the 26th anniversary of Israeli independence. Palestinian members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a faction affiliated with the PLO, first attacked a van bringing Arab women home from work, killing two women and wounding one. They then entered the town of Ma'alot, a community in northern Israel, and killed a family in their apartment.

The Palestinians then stormed "Netiv Meir", an elementary school in Ma'alot, killing a security guard. They took a group of about ninety 14-16 year olds hostage, presenting their demands to the Government to release 23 Arab and three other political prisoners by 6:00pm the next day. The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, met in an emergency session, and by 3:00 p.m. a decision was reached to negotiate, but the DFLP members refused a request for more time. At 5:45 pm, a unit of the elite Sayeret Matkal special forces group stormed the building. They managed to kill all the hostage takers, but not before the Palestinians had used guns and explosives to kill some of their hostages. A total of 26 Israelis, including sixteen teenagers, were killed and more than 60 people were wounded in what became known as the Ma'alot Massacre.

2010  -             16 year old Jessica Watson sails into Sydney after becoming the youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world.

Jessica Watson, born on 18 May 1993 on Queensland's Gold Coast, is an Australian sailor. She and her three siblings all took sailing lessons as children, and for five years, the entire family lived on a 16 metre cabin cruiser. During this time, the children were home-schooled, and the young Jessica was exposed to Jesse Martin's book "Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit". Hearing the book read to her, 12-year-old Jessica developed the ambition to sail around the world.

Planning for the journey began early in 2008, and Jessica's intention to circumnavigate the globe solo on an eight-month voyage of 23,000 nautical miles was officially announced in May 2009. In order to fulfil the criteria of sailing non-stop and unassisted, no-one else was permitted to give her anything during the journey, and she was not permitted to moor to any port or other boat. She was allowed to receive advice via radio communication.

The sailing vessel was a 10.23m Sparkman & Stephens S&S 34, named "Ella's Pink Lady". Jessica departed Sydney on 18 October 2009. Her circumnavigation route took her east past New Zealand, Fiji, Kiribati, Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and South East Cape. Part of the definition for circumnavigation set out by the International Sailing Federation's WSSRC stated that the equator must be crossed. Whilst Jessica did cross the equator near Kiritimati, her voyage ultimately fell short of the WSSRC requirement of an orthodromic distance of 21,600 nmi, and so her journey was thus ineligible to claim world record status for round-the-world journeys. Nonetheless, it was recognised that, when Jessica Watson sailed back into Sydney at 1:53pm on 15 May 2010, she had become the youngest person to make such a journey non-stop and unassisted, completing her voyage three days before her 17th birthday. 

Cheers - John

Gday...

583  -   Today is the feast day of Brendan the Navigator, one of the early Irish monastic saints.

Brendan the Navigator was born in Ciarraight Luachra, in County Kerry, Ireland, in 484 AD. He was baptised at Tubrid, near Ardfert, by Bishop Erc. As he grew to manhood, he continued to study under Erc, and was ordained a priest in 512. Between the years 512 and 530 St. Brendan built monastic cells at Ardfert, and, at the foot of Brandon Hill, Shanakeel Seana Cill, usually translated as "the old church" also called Baalynevinoorach . From here, he set out on his famous seven years voyage for the Land of Delight, or the Garden of Eden.

There is some speculation that during this epic voyage, Brendan reached the Americas; if this is the case, he was one of the first European visitors to the New World, preceding Christopher Columbus by at least nine centuries. Columbus relied on the legends told of St Brendan as part of his argument that it was indeed possible to travel to Asia by crossing the Atlantic.

May 16 is celebrated as the feast day of Brendan the Navigator. Though his exact date of death is unknown, the traditional date of his death is regarded as 16 May 583.

1770  -             Marie Antoinette marries Louis Auguste, who later becomes King Louis XVI of France.

Marie Antoinette was born in Vienna on 2 November 1755, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and his wife Empress Maria Theresa. When a new peace treaty was signed between Austria and France, it was hoped that a royal marriage would seal the peace. At age fourteen, Marie Antoinette was chosen to marry the dauphin in France, who later became King Louis XVI of France. They married on 16 May 1770.

Marie Antoinette embraced the lavish lifestyle with enthusiasm. She had little regard for the poor and struggling peasants, and spent money frivolously. For her attitude, she became the symbol of the people's hatred for the old regime during the French Revolution. When the French Revolution began, Marie Antionette supported the old regime. When the National Convention established the French Republic in 1792, Marie Antoinette and the king were imprisoned. Antoinette was beheaded on 16 October 1793.

1891  -             Henry Lawson's iconic poem, "Freedom On the Wallaby", is published for the first time.

The phrase "on the wallaby track" is an Australian term which has come to epitomise the freedom of being "on the road" with no ties and no specific, predetermined destination in mind. However, its meaning was originally somewhat different.

The term comes from a poem written by Henry Lawson in 1891 in response to the government's use of soldiers to end the Australian Shearers' Strike which occurred in Queensland earlier that year. Entitled "Freedom on the Wallaby", the poem was first published by William Lane on 16 May 1891 in the Brisbane newspaper 'The Worker'.

When "Freedom on the Wallaby" was read out in the Queensland Legislative Council two months later, there were calls for Lawson to be charged with sedition. Not only did the poem mentioned lines such as "fly a rebel flag" and "sing a rebel song", it was a clear statement against the use of force to overthrow the shearers' protests.

1943  -             The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in which the Jews mounted a concerted resistance against the Nazis, ends.

Soon after the Germans occupied Poland in WWII, Nazi troops forced Warsaw's almost 500,000 Jewish citizens into an 840 acre "ghetto" surrounded by barbed wire. Thousands of Jews were killed by disease or starvation prior to July 1942, and in the 52 days before 12 September 1942, about 300,000 Ghetto residents were sent to the Treblinka concentration camp, where they were exterminated. The Jewish underground movement was established in response to these atrocities.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was a Jewish armed resistance against Nazi Germany attempts to liquidate the remains of the Warsaw Ghetto in occupied Poland during World War II. It was initiated on 18 January 1943, when the first instance of armed resistance occurred against the Germans as they proceeded to begin the second wave of expulsion of the Jews. The Jewish fighters were successful in halting the expulsion after four days, and the OB and ZW resistance organisations took control of the Ghetto, building dozens of fighting posts and operating against Jewish collaborators.

The final battle started on the eve of the Jewish Passover, 19 April 1943, as Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler announced that the ghetto was to be cleared out in honour of Hitler's birthday the following day. Jewish partisans shot and threw grenades at German and allied patrols from alleyways, sewers, house windows, and even burning buildings. The Nazis responded by shelling the houses block by block and rounding up or killing any Jew they could capture. Significant resistance ended on April 23, and the uprising ended on 16 May 1943.

During the fighting approximately 7,000 Jewish residents of the concentration camp ghetto were killed. 6,000 more were burnt alive or gassed in bunkers. The remaining 50,000 people were sent to German death camps, mostly to Treblinka. Approximately 300 Germans and collaborators were killed in the fighting.

1990  -             Jim Henson, creator of the 'Muppets', dies.

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.

Cheers - John

May 15, 2010.......Her book was a great read Rocky. As was Jessie Martins book. He did a similar thing before her.

May 16, 2010.......A sad day really. The characters he created plus new ones have never been the same really. Elmo was my favourite.

Mmmmm, should I admit that   

Sort of on topic but sort of off topic. I am reading about Steve Jobs and his world of the Mac and i products at the momment. Something I didn't know was he was part of "Pixar" another animation company and very successful movies made by them and A big Disney competitor. 

See, told ya it was a bit both ways mate. 

Hello rockylizard

Re May 14th 1973 - Skylab I is launched

I missed seeing the re-entry by that....much
The local news advised that if its re-entry could be seen in the Kalgoorlie area, it would be not long after midnight.
After waiting up, and deciding that it must have re-entered prior to reaching Australia, I retired to bed.

Shortly after, I heard a whoosh, and the bedroom was briefly lit up
By the time I got up, and ran outside, there was no sign of it

Those who saw it, said that it resembled a double decker bus, all lit up

That might have been Dr Who, Tony.

Edit........Ooooops, that's a phone box. Oh well. He caught a bus that night :)