Australian Explorers

Monday, August 21, 1820. :   Joseph Wild discovers the enigmatic Lake George, near Canberra.

Lake George, in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia, and about a half hour’s drive from the nation’s capital of Canberra, has a basin about 25km long and 10km wide. The Lake is unusual in that it is renowned for emptying and filling on a cyclic basis, and the fact that it is often the site of a mirage which makes it appear full when, in fact, it is empty. As it is a long, shallow lake (average depth of 1m) with a very small catchment, high evaporation rates and an ability for strong winds to blow the water back on itself explain the mysterious filling and drying episodes on both short term (hours) and long term (years) time scales that people have observed over the years. There is also a direct correlation between drought and the emptying of the lake.

Little-known Australian explorer Joseph Wild is credited with discovering Lake George on 21 August 1820. Wild was an ex-convict, sentenced on 21 August 1793 in Chester for shooting a rabbit on another’s property, and transported in 1797. He received a ticket-of-leave in 1810 and conditional pardon in January 1813. After being appointed first Constable of the Five Islands District, now Illawarra, in 1815, Wild undertook several expeditions into the interior of New South Wales with pastoralist Charles Throsby. Wild and Throsby were the first Europeans to explore the area that became the Australian Capital Territory.

The lake was named for King George III by European explorers. In the local indigenous language, its name was Werriwa, originally spelt Weereewa in the journals of the explorers who noted the name and its meaning of “bad water”. The lake is exceptionally salty; when it is full, the lake is one of the saltiest bodies of water in inland NSW.

Australian Explorers

Thursday, August 21, 1862. :   Explorer John McDouall Stuart suffers blindness from scurvy during his return journey from successfully crossing Australia.

John McDouall Stuart was a Scottish-born explorer who was determined to cross Australia from south to north. Stuart led a total of six expeditions into Australia’s interior, with five of them being attempts to be the first to cross the continent from south to north, commencing from Adelaide. He succeeded on his fifth attempt, reaching the northern waters at Chambers Bay in July 1862.

The return journey of 3,400km is considered one of the great survival stories of Australian exploration. While the crossing was successful, years of arduous expeditions had taken their toll on Stuart, and his health had deteriorated badly. The constant blinding glare from the desert sun combined with advanced scurvy to produce almost total blindness. On 21 August 1862, Stuart wrote, “I am now quite incapable of taking observations at night.” He could no longer ride, and was carried back 960 kilometres between two horses on a stretcher mounted between two long poles. He arrived, sick but triumphant, in Adelaide on 21 January 1863. He never fully recovered from the exertions of his journeys, and died only three and a half years later, truly a hero in the eyes of Australians.

Australian History

Sunday, August 21, 1842. :   Hobart Town, the main settlement in Van Diemen’s Land, is proclaimed a city.

Hobart is the capital city of Tasmania, Australia, and is the second oldest city in Australia, with Sydney being the oldest. It is Australia’s twelfth largest city. Hobart also serves as the home port for both Australian and French Antarctic operations.

The city began as a penal colony at Risdon Cove on the Derwent River in 1803 to offset British concerns over the presence of French explorers. A year later it was moved to its current location at Sullivan’s Cove. The name Hobart Town was adopted by the settlement in June 1804, after Lord Hobart the Colonial Secretary. The colony of Van Diemen’s Land was proclaimed a separate colony from New South Wales, with its own judicial establishment and Legislative Council, in December 1825. Hobart Town was proclaimed a city on 21 August 1842, and was renamed as Hobart in 1875.

Australian History

Tuesday, August 21, 1990. :   The announcement is made that the Australian 1 cent and 2 cent coins will be withdrawn from circulation.

Decimal currency was first introduced in Australia on 14 February 1966. Replacing pounds, shillings and pence, the new currency was made up of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins, and paper banknotes of $1, $2, $10 and $20 denominations, followed by the introduction of the $5 note in 1967. The education campaign to help the public make the transition featured a “Dollar Bill” cartoon character and jingles which were seen on billboards, television and radio advertisements. The Dollar Bill Decimal Currency Jingle, with lyrics written by Ted Roberts, was sung to the tune of “Click go the Shears”.

All coins had the Queen’s effigy on one side. On the reverse side, the one cent coin had a representation of a feather tailed glider, and the two cent coin showed a representation of a frilled lizard, both of which were designed and sculpted by Stuart Devlin. Composition of the two coins was 97% copper 2.5% zinc 0.5% tin.

On 21 August 1990, Federal Treasurer Paul Keating announced in his Budget Speech that the one and two cent coins would be withdrawn from circulation as of February 1992. The Press Release that accompanied the announcement stated “…1c and 2c coins will continue to be legal tender: they can still be used to purchase goods and can be deposited with financial institutions in the normal manner”. Inflation and the cost of minting of the coins were cited as reasons for their withdrawal.

World History

Thursday, August 21, 1986. :   A cloud of lethal volcanic gas kills over 1700 in Cameroon, West Africa.

Lake Nyos is a volcanic lake in the West African nation of Cameroon, about 1800m across and 208m deep. It was formed in a maar, a crater caused by the explosion which results when a lava flow interacts violently with groundwater. Lake Nyos is one of only three lakes in the world known to be saturated with carbon dioxide; the source of the gas is a magma chamber beneath the lake, which allows the gas to seep up through the lake bed.

On the night of 21 August 1986, a cloud of carbon dioxide escaped suddenly. Being heavier than the surrounding air, it sank to the ground and rolled in a wave several tens of metres deep across the surrounding countryside. The breathable air was displaced, suffocating around 1700 people and 3000 cattle within 20 km of the lake. Investigations have never determined what the catalyst was to the sudden outgassing.