Gday...

1824  -     The RSPCA is founded in England.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. Since its founding in 1824, it has inspired the creation of similar, but independent, organisations in other countries, including the Scottish SPCA, RSPCA Australia and the ASPCA in the USA.

The first anti-cruelty bill was introduced by Richard Martin MP, who would later earn the nickname of 'Humanity Dick', leader of a group of twenty-two reformers. Also leading the group were William Wilberforce MP, who was already famous for his efforts to abolish slavery in the British Empire, and the Reverend Arthur Broome. The Act was passed in Parliament on 22 July 1822 and was against cruelty to farm animals, particularly cattle. The group assembled at the "Old Slaughters" Coffee House in London to create a society with the will and authority to enforce the new law. The SPCA, the first animal welfare society in any country was thus founded on 16 June 1824, and was subsequently granted its royal status by Queen Victoria in 1840. 

1840  -     New Zealand becomes a dependency of New South Wales. 

The first Englishman to explore New Zealand was James Cook, who charted and circumnavigated the North and South Islands late in 1769. In November, Cook claimed New Zealand for Great Britain, raising the British flag at Mercury Bay, on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. This signalled the start of British occupation of the islands which had previously been occupied by the Maori.

On 15 June 1839, letters patent were issued in London extending the boundaries of New South Wales to include any territory which is or may be acquired in sovereignty by Her Majesty ... within that group of Islands in the Pacific Ocean, commonly called New Zealand. Also in 1839, the British government appointed William Hobson as consul to New Zealand. Prior to Hobson leaving Sydney for New Zealand, Sir George Gipps, then Governor of New South Wales, issued a proclamation declaring that the boundaries of New South Wales were extended to include "such territory in New Zealand as might be acquired in sovereignty".

New Zealand officially became a dependency of New South Wales when the Legislative Council passed an Act extending to New Zealand the laws of New South Wales, on 16 June 1840. The Council also established customs duties and courts of justice for New Zealand. This arrangement, intended as a temporary measure, lasted just a few months. In November 1840, New Zealand became a separate colony.

1845  -     Explorer Ludwig Leichhardt discovers and names the Mitchell River in north Queensland.

Ludwig Leichhardt was born in Prussia and studied in Germany. He was a passionate botanist who had an interest in exploration, although he lacked necessary bush survival skills. In October 1844, he left from Jimbour on the Darling Downs, Queensland, on an expedition to find a new route to Port Essington, near Darwin.

On his journey, Leichhardt discovered and named numerous rivers through the northern gulf country. Unlike other explorers of his time, however, he did not name his discoveries after politicians in the hopes of currying favour with them. Leichhardt chose to honour those whose work he admired, or who had offered practical financial support and sponsorship for his expedition. He named the Mitchell River on 16 June 1845 after the explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell, who had opened up so much of the Victorian pastureland.

1869  -     Captain Charles Sturt, one of Australia's great explorers, dies.

Captain Charles Sturt was born in India in 1795. He came to Australia in 1827, and soon after undertook to solve the mystery of where the inland rivers of New South Wales flowed. Because they appeared to flow towards the centre of the continent, the belief was held that they emptied into an inland sea. Drawing on the skills of experienced bushman and explorer Hamilton Hume, Sturt first traced the Macquarie River as far as the Darling, which he named after Governor Darling.

Pleased with Sturt's discoveries, Governor Darling sent Sturt to trace the course of the Murrumbidgee River, and to see whether it joined to the Darling. On this expedition, Sturt discovered that the Murrumbidgee River flowed into the Murray (previously named the Hume), as did the Darling. By following the Murray in a collapsible whaleboat, Sturt found that it flowed to the southern ocean, emptying out at Lake Alexandrina on the south coast. The expedition was valuable for opening up Australia's inland waterways to the transportation of people and goods.

Sturt led further expeditions into Australia's interior to determine conclusively whether there was an inland sea, but found only the desert and harsh conditions, completely unsuitable for settlement. In 1851, Sturt returned to England, where he died on 16 June 1869. He is commemorated by the City of Charles Sturt and suburb of Sturt in Adelaide, Charles Sturt University in regional New South Wales, and the Sturt Highway from Wagga Wagga to Adelaide.

1903  -     Henry Ford founds the Ford Motor Company.

Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, was born on 30 July 1863 in Michigan, USA. In 1896, Ford invented the Quadricycle, the first "horseless carriage" that he produced. Its popularity helped fund and launch Ford's business, and the new Ford Motor Company was founded 7 years later, on 16 June 1903. The first Ford, the Model A, was sold in Detroit a few months later. It was Ford's first attempt to develop a reliable, inexpensive car for the average American market.

Ford's real success came with the introduction in 1908 of the Model T Ford, also known as the Tin Lizzie. Ford managed to retain the car as affordable for everyone by employing new and revolutionary mass production methods, with completely interchangeable parts. When first introduced, the Model T cost only $850 and it is commonly believed they were available only in black. In actuality, black was not an introductory colour. Early cars were available in green, red, blue and grey; later, after 1913, they were available only in black. Although only 11 cars were produced in the first month, by 1914 the assembly process had become so streamlined that it took only 93 minutes to assemble a car. Improved assembly line technique and volume brought the price of the Model T down to about $300 by the 1920s. This spelled the beginning of the Ford success story. 

1963  -     The Soviets launch the first woman into space.

Post World War II, the Soviet Union embarked upon a massive programme, enshrouded in secrecy, to launch the first human beings into space. The programme grew out of the Soviet's perceived need to modernise its defence by building rockets, nuclear weapons, and instruments to resist attack of any potential enemy. Global delivery capabilities of developed rockets soon opened exploration of the space era.

The first man in space was Yuri Gagarin, launched in Vostok 3KA-2, or Vostok 1, on 12 April 1961. Soviet authorities did not expect him to survive the descent back through Earth's atmosphere, so in-flight, he was promoted from Senior Lieutenant to Major. Gagarin did survive, and he became an instant, worldwide celebrity, touring widely to promote the Soviet achievement.

Lieutenant Valentina Tereshkova, born 6 March 1937, became the first woman in space. She was the fifth Russian cosmonaut to go into the Earth's orbit when her spaceship Vostok VI was launched on 16 June 1963. She completed 49 orbits of the Earth in two days, 22 hours and fifty minutes. Even though there were plans for further female flights, it was 19 years before the second woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, flew into space.

Cheers - John