Gday...

1786  -             The decision is made in England to colonise New South Wales with convicts from Britain's overcrowded gaols.

Conditions in England in the 18th century were tough: the industrial revolution had removed many people's opportunities to earn an honest wage as simpler tasks were replaced by machine labour. As unemployment rose, so did crime, especially the theft of basic necessities such as food and clothing. The British prison system was soon full to overflowing, and a new place had to be found to ship the prison inmates. The American colonies were no longer viable, following the American war of Independence. Following James Cook's voyage to the South Pacific in 1770, the previously uncharted continent of New Holland proved to be suitable. Cook had claimed the eastern half of the continent for England, naming it "New South Wales", and determined that a small bay in the south which he named "Botany Bay" would present the ideal conditions for a penal colony.

On 18 August 1786 the decision was made to send a colonisation party of convicts, military and civilian personnel to Botany Bay, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who was appointed Governor-designate. The First Fleet consisted of 775 convicts on board six transport ships, accompanied by officials, crew, marines and their families who together totalled 645. As well as the convict transports, there were two naval escorts and three storeships.

The First Fleet assembled in Portsmouth, England, and set sail on 13 May 1787. They arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. Phillip immediately determined that there was insufficient fresh water, an absence of usable timber, poor quality soil and no safe harbour at Botany Bay. Thus the fleet was moved to Port Jackson, arriving on 26 January 1788. Australia Day, celebrated annually on January 26, commemorates the landing of the First Fleet at Port Jackson, and the raising of the Union Jack to claim the land as belonging to England. 

1937  -             The Toyota Motor Company is founded.

The Toyota Motor Company, Ltd. is a Japanese automobile manufacturing company. It began as a division of the Toyota Automatic Loom Works and was founded on 18 August 1937. As a producer of a range of SUVs, one of its first export markets was exporting its Landcruiser model to Australia in the late 1950s. During the 1960s and 1970s Toyota underwent significant expansion, acquiring Hino Motors, Ltd., Nippondenso Company, Ltd., and the Daihatsu Motor Company Ltd. Toyota is currently Japan's largest automobile manufacturer.

1941  -             Hitler suspends his euthanasia program of the mentally ill and handicapped.

The T-4 Euthanasia program of the mentally ill and handicapped was another atrocity introduced by Hitler in Nazi Germany. It was established in 1939 for the purpose of maintaining the genetic purity of the German population by killing citizens who were physically deformed, disabled, handicapped, or suffering from mental illness. Selected victims were initially children, although later the programme was extended to include adults. They were executed by means of gassing, suffocation, injection, poisoning, starvation, or overdose of medication.

70,000 people had been exterminated by the time Hitler suspended the programme on 18 August 1941. The temporary halt was due to vocal protests from relatives of the victims, and churches. However, the programme was not terminated: it was merely carried out in greater secrecy. In all, about 200,000 people became victims of the T-4 Euthanasia programme before Hitler's attentions turned to the extermination of the Jewish people.

1964  -             South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games because of its apartheid policies.

Apartheid was an official policy of racial segregation under which the black majority was segregated, and was denied political, social and economic rights equal to those given to whites. It commenced in South Africa in 1948, and continued through to the early 1990s. South Africa's policy of apartheid led to the country being banned from participating in the Tokyo Olympics on 18 August 1964. The IOC would only overturn the ruling if South Africa renounced racial discrimination in sport, and removed the ban within its own country on competition between white and black athletes.

Initially, South Africa made a half-hearted attempt to compromise by including seven non-whites in their team of 62 Olympic hopefuls. However, the government was not prepared to make the required public announcement renouncing all racial discrimination in sport. The IOC therefore banned South Africa from competing in any Olympic Games until the country repealed all of its apartheid laws in 1991; this allowed South Africa to finally compete in the 1992 Barcelona games.

Cheers - John