March 27
Australian Explorer Tuesday, March 27, 1838. : Eyre discovers Lake Hindmarsh in 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 to open new stock […]
March 17
Australian Explorers Wednesday, March 17, 1830. : Sturt’s party reaches the junction of the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers on their arduous journey upstream to Sydney. Captain Charles Sturt was born in India in 1795. He came to Australia in 1827, and soon after undertook to solve the mystery of where the inland rivers of New South Wales […]
March 19
Born on this day Friday, March 19, 1813. : Missionary and explorer, David Livingstone, is born. David Livingstone was born on 19 March 1813, in Blantyre, Scotland. His surname was ‘Livingston’, but he changed it later to identify with Christ, the ‘living rock’, the cornerstone of the Church. Initially Livingstone studied medicine and theology at the University […]
March 04
Australian History Sunday, March 4, 1804. : The Australian Battle of Vinegar Hill, also known as the Battle of Castle Hill, begins. Castle Hill is a suburb in Sydney, Australia, about 30 kilometres northwest of the central business district. The area was established as a government farm by Governor King in July 1801. Most of the convicts […]
March 20
Australian Explorers Saturday, March 20, 1802. : English explorer Matthew Flinders names Spencer Gulf in South Australia. Spencer Gulf is a large and prominent gulf in South Australia, approximately 322 km long and 129 km wide at its mouth. It is bordered by Yorke Peninsula to the east and Eyre Peninsula to the west. The first English […]
March 10
Australian History Monday, March 10, 1788. : French explorer Jean-Francois La Perouse is observed departing Botany Bay, never to be seen again. Although the Australian continent was claimed by the British, it was an object of interest for a number of European countries. The Portuguese, Dutch and French all charted sections of the coastline at different times. […]
March 16
Born on this day Wednesday, March 16, 1774. : Sea explorer and the first recorded European to circumnavigate Australia, Matthew Flinders, is born. Matthew Flinders was born on 16 March 1774 in Lincolnshire, England. In 1789, he entered the Royal Navy. He became a sea explorer, and arrived in Australia in the 1790s. Together with George Bass, […]
March 23
Born on this day Thursday, March 23, 1769. : The developer of the geologic map, William Smith, is born. William Smith was born on 23 March 1769 in Churchill, Oxfordshire. Initially a surveyor’s assistant, it was while working for Somersetshire Coal Canal that he noticed strata (layers of rock of similar composition) were arranged in a predictable […]
March 29
Born on this day Saturday, March 29, 1738. : Inventor of the concept of the guillotine, Joseph Guillotin, is born. A guillotine is an instrument for capital punishment by which the victim is decapitated. The machine consists of a tall upright frame from which is suspended a heavy blade. This blade is raised with a rope and […]
March 21
Born on this day Wednesday, March 21, 1685. : The great German composer and organist, Johann Sebastian Bach, is born. Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach, Germany on 21 March 1685. He was a German composer and organist of the Baroque Era. The Baroque Era spanned approximately 1600 to 1750, and followed the Renaissance era of […]