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.               

1840  -     New Zealand is officially declared a British Colony.

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. 

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