July 01
Australian Explorers Friday, July 1, 1836. : Australian explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell discovers the Loddon River in Victoria. 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 was a talented poet, […]
July 07
Born on this day Friday, July 7, 1826. : Sir Charles Todd, a crucial figure in securing the construction of Australia Overland Telegraph Line, is born. Charles Todd was born on 7 July 1826 in London, England. He came to Adelaide with his wife Alice, after whom Alice Springs is named, on 5 November 1855. He was […]
July 16
Australian History Saturday, July 16, 1825. : The western border of New South Wales is extended to offset French and Dutch interests in Australia’s north coast. James Cook is remembered for being the first explorer to recognise the potential of Australia. In August 1770, he claimed part of the continent that was known as “New Holland” for […]
July 19
Australian Explorers Friday, July 19, 1799. : Matthew Flinders becomes the first known European to land on Coochiemudlo Island in Moreton Bay. Coochiemudlo Island is a small island in Moreton Bay in Queensland. It lies about one kilometre off Victoria Point in Redland City, just south of Brisbane, and is home to about 700 people. The name […]
July 20
Born on this day Thursday, July 20, 1797. : Polish explorer Strzelecki, who first climbed and named Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain, is born. Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, born 20 July 1797, was a Polish explorer and skilled geologist who emigrated to London following the national uprising against tsarist Russia in 1830. In 1839 he arrived […]
July 26
Born on this day Monday, July 26, 1790. : Early Australian explorer, William Charles Wentworth, is born on a convict ship travelling to Australia. William Charles Wentworth was born on 26 July 1790 on the ‘Surprize’, a ship in the Second Fleet transporting convicts to Australia. His mother, Catherine Crowley, had been sentenced to seven years’ transportation […]
July 23
Born on this day Friday, July 23, 1773. : Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, the man after whom the Australian city of Brisbane is named, is born. Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane was born in Scotland on 23 July 1773. He was educated in astronomy and mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. From 1793 to 1814 he served in […]
July 14
Australian History Saturday, July 14, 1770. : The first European sighting of a kangaroo is recorded. The kangaroo is a native Australian marsupial, of which there are over 60 species. The kangaroo family includes wallabies, tree kangaroos, wallaroos, pademelons, rat-kangaroos and the quokka, all of which are classified as macropods. Because the larger species – the Red […]
July 30
Australian History Saturday, July 30, 1768. : James Cook receives sealed secret orders prior to his first journey in the Endeavour. In 1768, Lieutenant James Cook was commissioned with the task of observing the transit of Venus across the sun from the vantage point of Tahiti. This expedition was originally commissioned by the Royal Society of London […]
July 24
Born on this day Tuesday, July 24, 1725. : John Newton, former English slave trader who wrote ‘Amazing Grace’, is born. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. John Newton was the self-proclaimed wretch who once was lost […]