December 14
Australian History Monday, December 14, 1840. : Governor Gipps appoints the first Government Printer. In the first two decades of British settlement in Australia, all government notices were printed on a portable wooden and iron printing press that had come to New South Wales on the First Fleet in 1788. There were no experienced printers among the […]
December 21
Australian Explorers Thursday, December 21, 1837. : Eyre attempts the first overlanding venture from Sydney to South Australia. Edward John Eyre was born on 5 August 1815 in Hornsea, Yorkshire. After coming to Australia, he gained valuable bush skills whilst droving cattle overland from Sydney through to the Liverpool Plains, Molonglo and Port Phillip. He was keen […]
December 28
Australian History Wednesday, December 28, 1836. : The Proclamation announcing the creation of the colony of South Australia is read by its first Governor. Explorer Matthew Flinders was the first European to investigate the possibilities for settlement on South Australia’s coast, doing so in 1802. Following Captain Charles Sturt’s 1929 discovery that the mighty Murray River flowed […]
December 25
Australian History Monday, December 25, 1826. : British occupation of Western Australia begins. The area of Western Australia where Albany now stands was first discovered by George Vancouver in 1791. After being sent to explore the southern coastline of Australia, Vancouver first made landfall at Cape Leeuwin, then travelled southeast. On 28 September 1791, he discovered an […]
December 02
Australian Explorers Tuesday, December 2, 1823. : Oxley sights the entrance to the Brisbane River. John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was one of Australia’s early explorers. An experienced seaman who arrived in Australia in 1802, Oxley was appointed Surveyor-General in 1812, and immediately undertook a series of explorations inland from Sydney. In 1823, Oxley set sail from […]
December 27
Born on this day Friday, December 27, 1822. : Biologist and chemist, Louis Pasteur, is born. Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822 in Dole, Jura, France. Known as the founder of microbiology, he moved into this field when he discovered the role of bacteria in fermentation. His experiments with bacteria conclusively disproved the theory of […]
December 15
Australian History Saturday, December 15, 1810. : Governor Lachlan Macquarie introduces a building code into the New South Wales colony. Lachlan Macquarie was born on 31 January 1762 on the Isle of Mull in the Hebrides islands of Scotland. He joined the army at age 14 and gained experience in North America, India and Egypt. In 1808, […]
December 13
Australian History Monday, December 13, 1802. : Charles Robbins successfully dissuades the French from making a claim on Van Diemen’s land (now Tasmania). Tasmania was first discovered by Abel Tasman on 24 November 1642. Tasman discovered the previously unknown island on his voyage past the “Great South Land”, or “New Holland”, as the Dutch called Australia. He […]
December 29
Born on this day Monday, December 29, 1800. : Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanised rubber, is born. Charles Goodyear was born on 29 December 1800. Goodyear became famous for accidentally discovering the process of vulcanisation of rubber when he dropped some rubber mixed with sulphur on a hot stove. Vulcanisation, or curing, of rubber is a chemical […]
December 07
Australian Explorers Sunday, December 7, 1800. : James Grant discovers and names Portland Bay and Cape Otway on the southern coast. James Grant was a young lieutenant sent out on a survey voyage of the southern coast of Australia during the continent’s early colonial years. Grant was given orders to take possession in the King’s name of […]