Gday...

1862  -     John McDouall Stuart discovers the Katherine River.

John McDouall Stuart was a Scottish-born explorer who was determined to cross Australia from south to north. Stuart led a total of six expeditions into Australia's interior, with five of them being attempts to be the first to cross the continent from south to north, commencing from Adelaide. He succeeded on his fifth attempt, reaching the northern waters at Chambers Bay in July 1862.

There were unofficial reports that John McKinlay of South Australia and William Landsborough of Queensland had each crossed Australia from south to north whilst independently searching for the missing Burke and Wills party; however, Stuart was officially the first person to successfully cross the Australian continent from south to north, and return alive.

On his fifth and final attempt, he discovered rich pasture land in the Northern Territory, together with the rivers leading into the northern waters. On 8 July 1862, he named the Katherine River after the daughter of wealthy landowner James Chambers, who helped to finance Stuart's expeditions.

1881  -     The ice cream sundae is invented in Wisconsin, US, to satisfy a customer who is denied flavoured soda water because it is a Sunday.

Edward Berner owned a drug store and ice-cream parlour in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. On Sunday, 8 July 1881, a customer by the name of George Hallauer came in and asked for an ice-cream soda. Being a Sunday, Berner was not permitted to sell flavoured soda water, which was considered "scandalous". Berner satisfied the customer by placing ice cream in a dish and pouring over the chocolate syrup usually reserved for ice cream sodas. It was named "sundae" after the day on which it was invented.

Although several US cities stake their claim as the place where the sundae was invented, the Wisconsin State Historical Society recognises Two Rivers as the birthplace of the sundae. In 1973, the society erected an historical marker in Two Rivers Central Memorial Park. The marker reads:

ICE CREAM SUNDAE - In 1881, George Hallauer asked Edward C. Berner, the owner of a soda fountain at 1404 - 15th Street, to top a dish of ice cream with chocolate sauce, hitherto used only for ice cream sodas. The concoction cost a nickel and soon became very popular, but was sold only on Sundays. One day a ten year old girl insisted she have a dish of ice cream "with that stuff on top," saying they could "pretend it was Sunday." After that, the confection was sold every day in many flavors. It lost its Sunday only association, to be called ICE CREAM SUNDAE when a glassware salesman placed an order with his company for the long canoe-shaped dishes in which it was served, as "Sundae dishes."  

1886  -     It rains snails near Redruth in Cornwall, England.

It is not unusual to hear stories of creatures falling from the sky: it has been known for frogs, fish, snakes and even turtles trapped in ice to fall from the sky during showers which may occur inland, many kilometres from the coast. Because huge updrafts within a storm or tornado can measure up to and over 150kph, small creatures (and sometimes larger ones) can by caught in the updraft, especially as it passes over well-populated habitats such as creeks and ponds.

During a heavy thunderstorm on 8 July 1886 near Redruth, Cornwall, snails rained down so thickly that they could be collected by the hatful. Thousands of snails fell during the storm, and it was noted that the snails were of a type not previosuly seen in the district. Sceptics later stated that it was probable the snails did not fall in the storm but, being of a usually-hidden land species, came out in their droves during the flooding rain.

1904  -     Sydney's electricity supply is officially switched on. 

The development of electric lighting is regarded as a major milestone in history. Inventors began experimenting with electric lighting from the early 1800s, but it was not until the 1870s that English physicist Sir Joseph Swan produced the first electric light bulb. Thomas Alva Edison then perfected the design and demonstrated the first durable and commercially practical incandescent lamp in 1879. Electric lightbulbs were far more practical, efficient and useful than previous forms of lighting, including outdoor arc lamps which produced intense heat as well as fumes, and for that reason could not be used indoors.

Thanks to the efforts of Governor Richard Bourke, Sydney first received street lighting in the 1830s. It was also the site of the first public demonstration of electric lighting in New South Wales. On 11 June 1863, the city of Sydney was lit up to honour the occasion of the wedding of the Prince of Wales. However, it was only in 1878 that electric lighting was used regularly in Sydney; this involved the use of arc lamps to allow work on the Exhibition Garden Palace in the Botanical Gardens to be completed in time for the International Exhibition the government wished to host.

The first electric light plants were imported into Sydney in 1882. Although inefficient at first, improvements were gradually made, and the government gradually deployed electric lighting in its buildings, and to the homes of individuals. By 1896, the government sought advice from Edison, Swan and various other experts, and subsequently planned ahead to legislate for the eventual establishment of The Municipal Council of Sydney's Electricity Undertaking. On 8 July 1904, the Electricity Undertaking's supply system was officially switched on. At 5:00pm on this day, Sydney's Lord Mayor Samuel E Lees started the steam to fire up the engine and generators, while his wife, the Lady Mayoress, switched on the actual electric current with a special gold presentation key.

1947  -     The Roswell Army Air Field announces it has recovered a "flying disk".

Roswell is a city in southeast New Mexico, USA. It is a centre for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It has also become known for what is now called the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.

In early July 1947, an unusual object was reported to have crashed about 120 kilometres northwest of Roswell on a ranch, leaving a large field of debris. The local air base at Roswell investigated after the rancher first reported it to Roswell authorities on July 6. On 8 July 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) announced it had recovered a "flying disk". A few hours after the initial "flying disk" press release, US Army Air Force officials recanted, stated that it was not a UFO, but a weather balloon. When the question of what crashed was revived in the early 1980s, the "Roswell Incident" became a focus of conspiracy theorists and UFO investigators.

Cheers - John