January 13
Australian History Friday, January 13, 1939. : 71 people die in Victoria in bushfires on ‘Black Friday’. Friday the thirteenth is considered by the superstitious to be a day associated with bad luck. Friday, 13 January 1939, was indeed a devastating day, when a firestorm swept across southern Victoria, killing 71. The state had already experienced a […]
January 08
Born on this day Tuesday, January 8, 1935. : Elvis Presley, King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, is born. Elvis Aaron Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, on 8 January 1935. He began learning the guitar at age 11, and often busked around the Lauderdale Courts public housing development, where he lived during his teen years. At age […]
January 15
Born on this day Tuesday, January 15, 1929. : Civil rights activist, Martin Luther King, is born. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on 15 January 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He became a Baptist minister, and African American civil rights activist. In his fight for civil rights, he organised and led marches for desegregation, fair hiring, the […]
January 02
Born on this day Friday, January 2, 1920. : Chemist and science-fiction writer, Isaac Asimov, is born. Isaac Asimov was born on 2 January 1920 in Petrovichi, USSR. When he was three years old, his family emigrated to America, settling in Brooklyn, New York. Asimov entered Columbia University at the age of 15 and studied biochemistry, later […]
January 01
AUSTRALIAN HISTORY Friday, January 1, 1915. : Four Australians are killed when two Turks attack a picnic train near Broken Hill. Each New Year’s Day in Australia, the Manchester Unity Lodge customarily held a picnic at Silverton, 25km northwest of Broken Hill in far western New South Wales. On 1 January 1915, at 10:00am, a […]
January 30
Born on this day Sunday, January 30, 1910. : British actor, David Niven, is born. James David Graham Niven was born on 30 January 1910 in London, England. After attending Stowe as a boy, Niven trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, which gave him the “officer and gentleman” bearing that became his trademark both on and […]
January 16
Australian Explorers Saturday, January 16, 1909. : Australian geologists Douglas Mawson and Edgeworth David become the first to reach the magnetic South Pole. The South Pole is the southernmost point on the Earth where the earth’s axis of rotation intersects the surface. The Magnetic South Pole is the point nearest the geographic South Pole where the field […]
January 03
Born on this day Sunday, January 3, 1892. : J.R.R.Tolkien, author of ‘Lord of the Rings’, is born. J.R.R.Tolkien was born John Ronald Reuel Tolkien on 3 January 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. At age three, Tolkien and his family travelled to England for an extended family visit, but his father died in South Africa before he […]
January 12
Born on this day Wednesday, January 12, 1876. : Jack London, author of “Call of the Wild”, is born. Jack London was born John Griffith Chaney on 12 January 1876 in San Francisco, California, USA. He had a colourful childhood, being thought to be the illegitimate son of astrologer William Chaney, who flatly denied his paternity. The […]
January 14
Born on this day Thursday, January 14, 1875. : German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician, Albert Schweitzer, is born. Albert Schweitzer was born on 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg, Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin département, France). He became a theologian, student of music, physician and medical missionary. As a renowned organist of his time, he sought to develop […]