Gday...

1674  -     Preacher and hymn writer, Isaac Watts, is born.

"When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride."

Thus begins one of Christianity's greatest hymns, which, though written in the eighteenth century, is as pertinent now as it was 300 years ago. The writer of this hymn, Isaac Watts, was born in Southampton, England, on 17 July 1674. Watts did not just believe his faith: he lived it. He refused to accept funds for his education if it meant conforming to the man-made rules and regulations of the Church of England. His own father had twice been imprisoned for refusing to conform to that church's beliefs. Watts worked towards his education with no external help, and became a preacher. He gave his first sermon on his birthday, 17 July 1698, at Mark Lane in London. In 1707, Watts published his "Hymns and Spiritual Songs" which included "Joy to the World." These hymns are Watts' main legacy to Christendom.

1799  -     Matthew Flinders first sights and names Red Cliff Point, now Redcliffe, in Queensland. 

The city of Redcliffe is so named for its red cliff faces. The first known European to visit the area was Matthew Flinders who, on 17 July 1799, landed and named Red Cliff Point. The area was first recommended by Captain John Oxley as the site for a new convict settlement. In 1823, he set out to explore the Moreton Bay area, and it was there that he came across the stranded ticket-of-leave timber-cutter, Thomas Pamphlett, who together with his companion Finnegan had been living with the aborigines for seven months, after being shipwrecked off Moreton Island.

Oxley and Settlement Commandant Lieutenant Miller, together with a crew and 29 convicts, sailed on the 'Amity' from Sydney and arrived at Redcliffe in September 1824 to found the new colony. 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. The name "Humpybong" was given by the local aborigines to describe the "dead huts" left behind, "humpy" being huts, and "bong" meaning "dead", or "lifeless". The name is still used for one of the regions on the Redcliffe Peninsula today.

1900  -     Sydney completes its Bubonic Plague Cleansing Operations. 

Through the centuries, Bubonic Plague has been one of the most-feared scourges of countries around the world. Australia, too, suffered a severe outbreak in the early part of the 20th century. It began in January 1900 when 33-year-old Arthur Payne showed symptoms of Bubonic plague as a result of coming into contact with the disease at Central Wharf where he worked as a carter. Within eight months, 303 people had contracted the plague, and 103 of them had died.

Cleansing operations began in Sydney on 24 March. Extensive washing, liming, disinfecting and burning of property was undertaken, while buildings classified as slums were demolished in an attempt to rid the city of the rats spreading the disease. More than 44 000 rats were burned by rat-catchers. Wharves and docks were also cleared of silt, debris and sewerage.

The Cleansing Operations finished on 17 July 1900. However, ships continued to bring the disease to Australia, and between 1900 and 1925, there were twelve major outbreaks of Bubonic plague, with Sydney bearing the brunt of the disease. In all, 1371 cases were reported, along with 535 deaths certainly far fewer than the deaths reported in some countries.

1918  -     Czar Nicholas II of Russia, his wife, children and several servants are executed during the Russian Revolution.

Czar Nicholas II, full name Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, was the last crowned Emperor of Russia. He ruled from 1894 until he was forced to abdicate in 1917 amidst civil war. A year later, on 17 July 1918, he and his wife, together with their five children, the family doctor and three attendants, were taken to the cellar of a house in Yekatarinburg. They were told to line up for a family portrait, but instead a detachment of Bolsheviks led by Yakov Yurovsky burst in and began firing, killing the family and servants.

Attempts were made to hide the evidence of the bodies, disposing of them down a mine-shaft. As rumours of what had happened began to surface, Yurovsky removed the bodies and buried most of them in a sealed and concealed pit. It was not until the 1970s that geologists found some of the remains, and the 1990s that bodies of the Romanovs were located, exhumed, and formally identified.

1976  -     25 African countries boycott the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Montreal. [

On 17 July 1976, at the opening ceremony of the Montreal Olympics, 25 African countries withdrew their teams. The boycott was due to long-standing tensions over South Africa's refusal to condemn the policy of apartheid. South Africa had been banned from the Olympics since 1964, but the boycotting countries protested at New Zealand's continued sporting links with South Africa. The International Olympic Committee refused to ban New Zealand, whose rugby team was touring South Africa at the time, so the boycotting nations took it upon themselves to make a stand.

Cheers - John