Born on this day
Saturday, April 25, 1874. : Marconi, inventor of the wireless telegraph, is born.
Guglielmo Marconi was born in Bologna, Italy, on 25 April 1874. Marconi is best known for the development of a wireless telegraphy system, which came to be known as “radio”. Marconi demonstrated the transmission and reception of Morse Code based radio signals over a distance of 2 or more kilometres (and up to 6 kilometres) on Salisbury Plain in England in 1896. He made the first wireless transmission across a body of water on 13 May 1897 from Lavernock Point, South Wales to Flat Holm Island. He also received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal on 12 December 1901 at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland (now in Canada) using a 400-foot kite-supported antenna for reception. This was significant in that, prior to this transmission, it was believed that a radio signal could only be transmitted in the line of sight.
Marconi was awarded a British patent for radio communication, specifically “Improvements in transmitting electrical impulses and signals and in apparatus there-for” on 2 July 1897, and this was followed by the US patent on 13 July 1897. Marconi was awarded the 1909 Nobel prize in physics. After Marconi died on 20 July 1937, radio stations throughout the world observed two minutes of radio silence in tribute.
Australian History
Tuesday, April 25, 1809. : Australia’s first postmaster is appointed.
In the early years of settlement in Australia, there was no official postal service. The earliest postal service was carried out by boat along the Parramatta River, with the cost of private mail at two pence per letter. Deliveries were irregular but, as sending letters was a luxury largely restricted to officers and their families, improving the service was not a high priority. Of concern, however, was the fact that mail arriving by ship was being obtained by people fraudulently. An honest postmaster was needed to oversee mail arrivals and prevent this from happening.
Australia’s first postmaster was Isaac Nichols. Nichols had arrived with the Second Fleet on the Admiral Barrington in October 1791 after being found guilty of stealing and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. However, he was found to be a diligent worker, greatly trusted by Governor Hunter. Although accused of receiving stolen goods in New South Wales in 1799, his innocence was upheld by Hunter, who believed evidence had been planted against him. He ordered the suspension of Nichols’s fourteen-year sentence, but it was not until Philip Gidley King’s government that Nichols was awarded a free pardon, in January 1802. An enterprising man, he bought several properties and even established a shipyard, becoming quite prosperous. In 1809, Nichols was first appointed superintendent of public works and assistant to the Naval Officer. One month later, the same month that Governor Macquarie arrived in New South Wales, Nichols was appointed the colony’s first postmaster on 25 April 1809. Nichol retained this position until he died in 1819.
Australian History
Tuesday, April 25, 1815. : Governor Macquarie departs Sydney to inspect the colony’s first western highway and the land west of the Blue Mountains.
The crossing of the Blue Mountains in May 1813 was a boon to the young colony of New South Wales. Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth found rich farming land in the Hartley region, and opened the way for further expansion beyond the Great Dividing Range. After George Evans, the Deputy Surveyor-General of New South Wales, surveyed beyond the discoveries and reached the site of present-day Bathurst, he recommended building a road which would follow the ridge track determined by the three successful explorers.
William Cox, the man commissioned to build the road to Bathurst, had come to the colony in 1800. He briefly endured allegations of misappropriating funds, for which he had to return to England, but after being cleared of all charges, he returned to Australia in 1811. He resigned his commission, devoting himself to civilian affairs. He was appointed principal magistrate at the Hawkesbury, and also became responsible for erecting numerous government buildings such as gaols and schools. In 1814, Cox was commissioned by Governor Lachlan Macquarie to build the first westward road over the Blue Mountains.
The convict-built Great Western Highway covered 161 km and included twelve bridges. Following completion of the road, Macquarie set out to inspect the road and the land beyond the Blue Mountains. Accompanied by his wife and a party of about 50 people, he departed Sydney on 25 April 1815. The party included William Cox; Surveyor-General John Oxley; artist John William Lewin who painted and sketched a visual record of the expedition; and Major Henry Antill, who made written observations.
Australian History
Saturday, April 25, 1896. : South Australian women become the first in Australia to vote in an election.
Women in South Australia gained the right to vote in 1894, and voted for the first time in the election of 1896. It is generally recognised that this right occurred with the passing of a Bill on 18 December 1894. However, a letter from the Attorney-General advising Governor Kintore that Royal Assent would be required to enact the Bill, is dated 21 December 1894. The Bill was enacted when Queen Victoria gave Royal Assent on 2 February 1895. The first election after women gained the right to vote was the Legislative Council election of 25 April 1896, for which women enrolled quickly and in considerable numbers.
South Australia was the first colony in Australia and only the fourth place in the world where women gained the vote. The issue of women voting had been discussed since the 1860s, but gained momentum following the formation of the Women’s Suffrage League at Gawler Place in 1888. Between 1885 and 1894, six Bills were introduced into Parliament but not passed. The final, successful Bill was passed in 1894, but initially included a clause preventing women from becoming members of Parliament. Ironically, the clause was removed thanks to the efforts of Ebenezer Ward, an outspoken opponent of women’s suffrage. It seems that Ward hoped the inclusion of women in Parliament would be seen as so ridiculous that the whole Bill would be voted out. The change was accepted, however, allowing the women of South Australia to gain complete parliamentary equality with men.
Australian History
Sunday, April 25, 1915. : ANZAC troops land at Gallipoli during World War I.
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Every year Australians and New Zealanders celebrate ANZAC Day to commemorate the troops landing on 25 April 1915 at Gallipoli on the Turkish Aegean coast. Because of a navigational error, the ANZACs came ashore about a mile north of the intended landing point. Instead of facing the expected beach and gentle slope they found themselves at the bottom of steep cliffs, offering the few Turkish defenders an ideal defensive position. Of the 1500 men who waded ashore that first day, 755 remained in active service at the end of the day. The remainder were killed or wounded. Establishing a foothold, the ANZACs found an advance to be impossible. After eight months of stalemate, the Allies withdrew from the peninsula, leaving about 8700 dead amongst the troops.
From 1916 onwards, in both Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC services were held on or about April 25, mainly organised by returned servicemen and school children in cooperation with local authorities. ANZAC Day was gazetted as a public holiday in New Zealand in 1921. In Australia, it was decided at the 1921 state premiers conference that ANZAC Day be observed on April 25 each year. Initially, it was not observed uniformly in all the states.
In Australia and New Zealand, ANZAC Day commemoration features solemn “dawn services”, a tradition started in Albany, Western Australia on 25 April 1923, and now held at war memorials around both countries. Marches by veterans from all past wars are held in capital cities and towns nationwide. This is usually followed by social gatherings of veterans, hosted either in a pub or in an RSL Club, often including a traditional Australian gambling game called “two-up”, which was an extremely popular past-time with ANZAC soldiers. Although the last ANZAC veteran, Alec Campbell, died in May 2002, the tradition lives on as Australia and New Zealand choose to remember the sacrifice of their young men during WWI.
World History
Tuesday, April 25, 1719. : Daniel Defoe’s novel “Robinson Crusoe” is first published.
Robinson Crusoe is a novel written by Daniel Defoe and first published on 25 April 1719. The full title of the novel is:
The Life and strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, where-in all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pyrates. Written by Himself
“Robinson Crusoe” is about the fictitious character of an English castaway who has to survive for 28 years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela before being rescued, on 19 December 1686. The story is unique in that it is written in autobiographical style, seeming to give an account of actual events. This style of writing was not common in the 18th century.
“Robinson Crusoe” is believed to have been based on the true story of Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, who lived for four years on the remote Pacific island of Más a Tierra, although in 1966 its name was changed to Robinson Crusoe Island.
World History
Monday, April 25, 1859. : Work commences on the construction of the Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean and Red seas.
The Egyptian pharaohs were the first to conceive the idea of linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. During the Pharaonic age, a canal was dug linking the two seas, but neglect through the centuries saw it gradually filled in again. It was not until November 1854 that French engineer Ferdinand De-lesseps managed to sign a concession with the Egyptian government to dig the Suez Canal, establishing an international company for its management. Work commenced on the construction of the canal on 25 April 1859, and continued for ten years.
Over 2.4 million Egyptian workers were involved in the digging of the canal; over 125,000 lost their lives during the construction. The Suez Canal was opened for navigation on 17 November 1869. Currently, it transports around 14% of the total world trade, 26% of oil exports and 41% of the total goods and cargo destined for ports in the Arab Gulf. Prior to its construction, shipping was required to go south of the Cape of Good Hope.