Gday...

1860  -             The 'Sydney Morning Herald' reports that gold has been found at Lambing Flat, later the scene of Australia's largest anti-Chinese riots.

  The region surrounding present-day town of Young in the central southwest of New South Wales was first settled by pioneers seeking good grazing land for their stock. "Burrangong Station", owned by J.White, was the first station beyond Sydney and the Bathurst area to be included on a colonial map. Burrangong Station included a large area for sheltering ewes during lambing: this became known as Lambing Flat.

Towards the end of June 1870, a stockman camped at Lambing Flat noted how the countryside resembled the gold-bearing geography of established goldfields. Washing a few shovelfuls of dirt in a billy, he was rewarded with numerous gold flecks. The Lambing Flat goldfields were subsequently announced in the Sydney Morning Herald on 4 August 1860.

At the height of its popularity, the rich alluvial gold deposits attracted a population of around 20 000. While most of the diggers were from other parts of Australia, many migrants came from Europe and North America. Around 1000 miners were Chinese, and they soon became the target of violence from the white diggers. Due to unfounded suspicion and mistrust of the Chinese miners, within one year, Lambing Flat was to become infamous, not so much for the gold, but for being the scene of violent anti-Chinese riots.

1906  -             Central Railway Station in Sydney is opened.

The Sydney Railway Company, established for the purpose of constructing the first railway line in New South Wales, was incorporated in October 1849. The first railway line in the state opened in September 1855, and ran a distance of 22km from Sydney to Parramatta. Fifty-one years later, what is now the largest railway station in Australia opened in Sydney.

Sydneys Central Railway Station, at the southern end of the CBD, was built on land formerly occupied by the Devonshire St Cemetery after cemetery plots were exhumed and the remains relocated to other cemeteries. The land had also been used by a convent, a female refuge, police barracks and the Benevolent Society. The station was opened on 4 August 1906. The following day, the first train arrived at the new station - the Western Mail train, which arrived at 5:50am.

2000  -             The Queen Mother celebrates her centenary.

The Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite) was born on 4 August 1900. Later Queen Elizabeth, she was the Queen Consort of George VI of the United Kingdom from 1936 until his death in 1952. After her husband's death, she was known as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, in relation to her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II.

On 4 August 2000, the Queen Mother became the first member of Britain's Royal Family ever to reach her 100th birthday. She even received a hand-written telegram from Buckingham Palace congratulating her on reaching her centenary. The day was marked with celebrations throughout the United Kingdom: Scotland celebrated the occasion with the firing of a 21-gun salute from Edinburgh Castle and a special bagpipe rendition at Glamis Castle where the Queen Mother had spent much of her childhood. A 21-gun salute was also fired from Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland and from Cardiff City Hall in Wales.

1929  -             The first passenger train departs Adelaide on the Ghan railway line to Alice Springs.

Early settlements in central Australia were isolated by more than distance. Tracks were rough and unsuitable for standard coaches. For many years, outback sheep and cattle stations and other remote settlements such as mining outposts relied on camel trains to bring them necessary goods, supplies and news from settled areas. Not being native to Australia, camels were imported from India, and they required handlers to be brought from India, Afghanistan and Persia. They followed the route taken by explorer John McDouall Stuart, the first recorded European to successfully cross central Australia from south to north, and to return alive.

The concept of a railway line to replace the camel trains was proposed largely as a result of Stuart's exploration, which was instrumental in the building of the Overland Telegraph Line. The first sod marking the beginning of construction of the original Ghan track was turned at Port Augusta in 1878 by the then premier of South Australia, Mr William Jervois. The first section of the railway reached Government Gums in 1881. Government Gums is now known as Farina. The next stage of the line was extended to Marree in 1882, then Oodnadatta in 1891. Premier Jervois envisioned the line eventually reaching Darwin, something that he certainly did not see in his lifetime. It was several decades before the next stage of the railway was begun, in 1926. This was to be the section that would connect Oodnadatta to Alice Springs. It was finally completed in 1929.

The original Ghan train was called the Afghan Express, a name which was soon shortened to just "The Ghan". It was named The Ghan because it followed the tracks of the Afghan camel teams which used to make the trek across central Australia. The first train trip of the Ghan pulled out of Adelaide station on 4 August 1929, with 120 passengers on board. The train now travels through the centre of Australia, between the cities of Adelaide, in the south, and Darwin, in the north, a total journey of 2979 kilometres, as the section between Alice Springs and Darwin was completed in 2004.

2001  -             Adventurer Steve Fossett makes his fifth attempt to circumnavigate the world in a balloon, launching from Northam, Western Australia.

American adventurer Steve Fossett made a total of six attempts to fly around the world non-stop in a balloon, finally succeeding on his sixth attempt. His fifth bid began on 4 August 2001, at 7:06am, Western Australian time. Weather conditions were calm at the launch site in Northam, Western Australia. He had tried to launch from Kalgoorlie in June, but a freak gust of wind ripped the Solo Spirit's balloon envelope and damaged helium containers while it was being inflated.

His fifth attempt lasted thirteen days: On August 17, he was forced down by bad weather in Brazil. He had travelled 20,430 kilometres. 

Cheers - John