Gday...

1770  -     The first European sighting of a kangaroo is recorded.

The kangaroo is a native Australian marsupial, of which there are over 60 species. The kangaroo family includes wallabies, tree kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, rat-kangaroos and the quokka, all of which are classifed as macropods. Because the larger species - the Red and Grey Kangaroos - are plentiful throughout the continent, the kangaroo has long been regarded as symbolic of Australia.

Even though James Cook was not the first European to discover Australia, he and his crew were the first known Europeans to sight the kangaroo. As Cook sailed up the east coast of the continent, mapping the coastline, his ship, the "Endeavour" struck the Great Barrier Reef and nearly sank. The Endeavour was eventually brought for repairs into the harbour formed by the Endeavour River. Landing on 10 June 1770, Cook and his crew spent almost two months repairing the ship, allowing botanist Sir Joseph Banks ample time to study the flora and fauna of the area.

On 14 July 1770, a crewman shot a strange looking, unknown animal. The creature was brought back to the camp site for examination, and the skin eventually taken back to England. The word "kangaroo" is believed to have come from the Aboriginal word gangurru, a Guugu Yimidhirr word referring to the Grey Kangaroo. The word was recorded by Sir Joseph Banks as "kangaru" or "kanguroo" (sources vary). It is not true that the word means "I don't understand"; this is a popular myth often applied to various other Aboriginal-based Australian words.

1814  -     The book in which Matthew Flinders proposes the name of Terra Australis for the southern continent, is published.

Matthew Flinders was an English sea explorer known for his exploration around Australia. He added significantly to the knowledge of the coastline, and his meticulous observations and calculations enabled him to produce accurate maps. As well as being the first to circumnavigate Australia, Flinders, together with Bass, was the first to prove that Van Diemen's Land, or Tasmania, was an island and not connected to the mainland.

Australia was previously named New Holland by the Dutch sea explorers, and after James Cook claimed the continent for England in 1770, the entire eastern half became known as New South Wales. Some years after his exploration, Flinders wrote an account of his voyages just after his return to England. "A Voyage to Terra Australis" was published on 18 July 1814, ironically just one day before Flinders died. It was in this account that Flinders proposed the name "Terra Australis" be adopted for the southern continent. This became "Australia", the name officially adopted in 1824.

1850  -     The first public demonstration of ice made by refrigeration is staged at Apalachicola, Florida, USA, by Dr John Gorrie. [more]

Dr John Gorrie was a physician, scientist, inventor, and humanitarian who lived in the first half of the nineteenth century. He experimented with reducing the fever of patients by cooling sickrooms, using ice suspended from the ceiling in a basin. The problem was that the ice had to be shipped in from the northern lakes of North America. In 1945, Gorrie's interests turned more to the artificial production of ice.

The first public demonstration of ice made by refrigeration in the US occurred during a dinner at the Mansion House, Apalachicola, Florida, on 14 July 1850. Gorrie produced blocks of ice the size of bricks. He installed his system in the U.S. Marine Hospital in Apalachicola. He obtained the first mechanical freezer patent on 6 May 1851.

1900  -     Australia's first Governor-General is appointed.

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.

The office of Governor-General was created to be the representative of Britain's ruling monarch, who remained Australia's head of state. The functions and roles of the Governor-General include appointing ministers and judges, dissolving Parliament, giving Royal Assent to legislation, issuing writs for elections and bestowing honours. These actions are implemented under the authority of the Australian Constitution and carried out in the name of the ruling monarch.

Australia's first Governor-General was appointed on 14 July 1900. He was the previous Victorian Governor, John Adrian Louis Hope, the 7th Earl of Hopetoun. 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. Hope's first act was to appoint the inaugural Prime Minister, Edmund Barton.

1965  -     The spacecraft 'Mariner 4' collects the first close-up photographs of another planet as it passes by Mars. 

Between 1962 and 1973, Nasa designed and built 10 spacecraft named Mariner for the purpose of visiting Venus, Mars and Mercury for the first time. Mariner 3 was launched on 5 November 1964, but technical problems prevented it reaching Mars. Mariner 4 was launched three weeks later, on 28 November 1964, and flew past Mars on 14 July 1965, 215 million kilometres away from earth and 16,900 kilometres from Mars.

The first close-up photograph of Mars consisted of 8.3 dots per second of varying degrees of darkness. The transmission lasted for 8.5 hours and depicted the regions on Mars known as Cebrenia, Arcadia, and Amazonis. The Mariner 4 also carried instruments for studying cosmic dust, solar plasma, radiation, cosmic rays and magnetic fields. 

2001  -     British tourist Peter Falconio goes missing, presumed murdered, in the Australian outback. 

Peter Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees were on a backpacking holiday in Australia when Falconio disappeared, on 14 July 2001. Falconio, then 28, was driving at night in a Volkswagen Campervan along an isolated stretch of the Stuart highway, north of Alice Springs. The tourists were flagged down by a man in a covered utility, who said he had seen sparks coming from the vans exhaust. When Falconio walked to the rear of the vehicle with the other motorist, Lees heard a gunshot. The man then returned without Falconio, tied Lees with electrical cabling and tape, and forced her into his own vehicle. Somehow, Lees managed to escape, fleeing into the bushland and hiding, whilst the gunman and his dog searched for her.

After some time, the gunman departed, and Lees then staggered out onto the road to wave down a passing truck, escaping to safety at Barrow Creek. No trace of Falconio was ever found, although a large amount of his blood was found where the VW had been abandoned. In 2004, 46-year-old Bradley Murdoch was charged with the murder of Falconio, and the unlawful assault and deprivation of liberty of Joanne Lees.

Cheers - John