March 08
Australian History Saturday, March 8, 1902. : The first test to pump water through the most difficult section of the Golden Pipeline to the Western Australian goldfields is successfully carried out. The goldfields of Western Australia, discovered in 1893, are located in one of the world’s most isolated and inhospitable areas of the world’s driest hot continent. […]
March 01
Australian History Friday, March 1, 1901. : The Postmaster-General’s Department in Australia is put into effect. In the early years of settlement in Australia, there was no official postal service. It was only after the arrival of Governor Macquarie that Australia’s first postmaster, Isaac Nichols, was appointed. This occurred in 1809, and the first official post office […]
March 14
Born on this day Friday, March 14, 1879. : Physicist Albert Einstein is born. Albert Einstein was born on 14 March 1879 at Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. At six he began learning to play the violin and became a gifted amateur violinist, although it is said that once, in a violent temper, he threw a chair at […]
March 24
Born on this day Tuesday, March 24, 1874. : American escapologist Harry Houdini is born. Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz on 24 March 1874 in Budapest, Hungary. When his family moved to the United States in 1878, their family name was changed to Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. In 1891, Ehrich became a professional magician, and […]
March 12
Australian History Thursday, March 12, 1868. : An attempt is made to assassinate Prince Alfred, second son of Queen Victoria, on his Australian tour. Prince Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, born on 6 August 1844, was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria. He entered the Royal Navy in 1856 and was appointed to […]
March 30
Born on this day Wednesday, March 30, 1853. : The great artist, Vincent van Gogh, is born. Vincent Willem van Gogh was born on 30 March 1853 in Zundert, in the southern Netherlands. Van Gogh was not recognised for his talent during his lifetime. However, he is posthumously considered one of the greatest and most prolific painters […]
March 13
Australian Explorers Saturday, March 13, 1847. : Kennedy departs Parramatta to trace the course of the Barcoo River, hoping it will lead to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. Edmund Kennedy was born on 5 September 1818, on the Island of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. He arrived in Australia in 1840, and took up the […]
March 03
Born on this day Wednesday, March 3, 1847. : Inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, is born. Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 3 March 1847. It was whilst living in Canada, from 1870, that Bell pursued his interest in telephony and communications. He moved to the US shortly afterwards to continue developing […]
March 15
Australian Explorers Sunday, March 15, 1840. : Strzelecki climbs and names Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain. 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 in Australia, where he made influential friends, […]
March 05
Australian Explorers Tuesday, March 5, 1839. : George Grey discovers the Gascoyne River, longest river in Western Australia. Sir George Edward Grey, born 14 April 1812, was Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony (South Africa), Premier of New Zealand and a writer. Prior to his political career, however, he was […]