Australian Explorers
Friday, April 24, 1846. : Major Mitchell discovers the Maranoa River.
Major Thomas Mitchell was born in Craigend, Scotland, in 1792. He came to Australia after serving in the Army during the Napoleonic Wars, and took up the position of Surveyor-General of New South Wales. He undertook four separate expeditions into the NSW interior.
Mitchell departed on his fourth and final expedition on 16 December 1845, in search of a great river that he believed must flow from southern Queensland to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He left from Orange in central New South Wales, and headed into what is now western Queensland. As he crossed today’s border of Queensland, he discovered the Maranoa River on 24 April 1846. The river, which was almost dry in the aftermath of summer, was named after an Aboriginal word meaning ‘human hand’. It was on this journey that Mitchell also discovered and named the Balonne, Culgoa, Barcoo and Belyando rivers, which mostly flowed south-west into the Darling. Although this area was not as rich as the land he had found in Victoria on his third expedition, it would prove to be excellent grazing country in the future.
Australian History
Tuesday, April 24, 1804. : The first cemetery is established in the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania, Australia.
The first European explorer to report the existence of what is now called Tasmania was Dutch seaman Abel Janszoon Tasman, of the Dutch East India Company. In November 1642, he discovered a previously unknown island on his voyage past the “Great South Land”, or “New Holland”, as the Dutch called Australia. He named it “Antony Van Diemen’s Land” in honour of the High Magistrate, or Governor-General of Batavia.
Hobart is the capital city of Tasmania, Australia, and is the second oldest city in Australia, with Sydney being the oldest. The city began as a penal colony at Risdon Cove on the Derwent River in Van Diemen’s Land in 1803 to offset British concerns over the presence of French explorers. On 24 April 1804, the first cemetery was established on Van Diemen’s Land. Named St David’s Cemetery, it has since been transformed into St David’s Park.
World History
Tuesday, April 24, 1066. : Halley’s comet first appears to the English.
Halley’s Comet, officially designated 1P/Halley, is from the Kuiper belt and visits the inner solar system in a 76-year orbit. Its nucleus is potato-shaped, with dimensions around 8 by 8 by 16 kilometres. Its surface is composed largely of carbon, and other elements include water, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, other hydrocarbons, iron, and sodium.
Halley’s comet was first observed on 24 April 1066 by both the English and the Normans who were preparing to invade England. At the time it was seen as an ill omen, a view that was confirmed when, later that year, Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings. The comet was observed at regular intervals in the ensuing centuries, although it was not confirmed as the same comet until Edmond Halley observed the comet in 1682. Halley theorised on the possibility that, based on previous sightings, the same comet reappeared every 75-76 years. Halley calculated that it would next appear in 1757, which was close, although it was first sighted on 25 December 1758 by Johann Georg Palitzsch, a German farmer and amateur astronomer. The delay was caused by the attraction of Jupiter and Saturn, and was in fact computed by a team of three French mathematicians, Alexis Clairault, Joseph Lalande, and Nicole-Reine Lepaute, prior to its return.
Following Halley’s calculations, earlier visits of comets were noted in historical records. Chinese astronomers observed the comet’s appearance in 240 BC and possibly as early as 2467 BC. Halley’s Comet reappeared in 1835, 1910 and 1986. It is due to return next in 2061.
World History
Thursday, April 24, 1980. : An attempt by US troops to rescue 52 hostages in Iran ends in disaster.
On 1 November 1979 the new leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, urged his people to demonstrate against United States and Israeli interests. On 4 November 1979, militant Iranian students seized the US embassy in Tehran, taking 66 people captive. The Ayatollah then took over the hostage situation and agreed to release non-US captives, and female and minority Americans, claiming these groups were among the people oppressed by the US government. 52 hostages remained at the mercy of the Iranian government for the next 444 days.
US President at the time, Jimmy Carter, was unable to resolve the hostage crisis diplomatically. Following his failure, he initiated a rescue attempt, Operation Eagle Claw, on 24 April 1980. A group of C-130 transport airplanes rendezvoused with nine RH-53 helicopters at an airstrip in the Great Salt Desert of Eastern Iran, near Tabas. Two helicopters broke down in a sandstorm and a third one was damaged on landing. The mission was aborted, but as the aircraft took off again one helicopter clipped a C-130 and crashed. Eight US servicemen were killed and several more injured.
The crisis came to an end 270 days later, soon after Carter lost the November 1980 presidential election to Ronald Reagan. Thanks to the assistance of intermediaries such as Algerian diplomat Abdulkarim Ghuraib, the hostages were formally released into US custody on 20 January 1981.
World History
Tuesday, April 24, 1990. : The Hubble Space Telescope is delivered to outer space.
The Hubble Space Telescope was, for its time, the largest and most sophisticated telescope for studying the expanse of outer space. Named after American astronomer Edward Hubble and initially funded in the 1970s, it was launched with the Space Shuttle ‘Discovery’ on 24 April 1990.
The Hubble Space Telescope suffered setbacks in its early days of implementation. Following its launch, scientists determined that the main mirror had been ground incorrectly, and this limited its capabilities considerably. Full and high-quality function was restored after a servicing mission in 1993. During its time in space, the Hubble has provided exceptional photographs of supernovas, distant galaxies, star clusters and black holes – enough to whet man’s appetite for further space exploration.
The successor to the Hubble is the Webb Telescope, with a planned launch of 2014. Unlike the Hubble, the Webb will be able to detect and observe phenomena in infrared radiation, enabling man to see even deeper into outer space.