October 26
Australian History Saturday, October 26, 1985. : The Australian Government returns ownership of Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park to its traditional owners. Uluru, in central Australia, is an inselberg, often referred to as the second largest monolith in the world, second only to Mt Augustus which is also in Australia. Also known as Ayers Rock, it […]
October 29
Born on this day Wednesday, October 29, 1947. : American actor Richard Dreyfuss is born. Actor Richard Dreyfuss was born on 29 October 1947. After spending his early childhood in Brooklyn, his family moved to Los Angeles. He landed various smaller roles on TV shows such as Peyton Place and The Big Valley, then earned small parts […]
October 09
Born on this day Wednesday, October 9, 1940. : Singer, songwriter and former member of “The Beatles”, John Lennon, is born. John Lennon was born John Winston Lennon on 9 October 1940. His father walked out on his mother when Lennon was very young, leading his mother to hand the young Lennon over to her sister to […]
October 08
Born on this day Sunday, October 8, 1939. : Australian actor and comedian, Paul Hogan, is born. Paul Hogan was born on 8 October 1939, in the north-western New South Wales town of Lightning Ridge. Initially he worked as a rigger on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but during the 1970s he developed his own television comedy sketch […]
October 15
Born on this day Wednesday, October 15, 1924. : Actor Mark Lenard, best known as Spock’s father, Sarek, in Star Trek, is born. Mark Lenard was born Leonard Rosenson in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 15 October 1924. Lenard was best known as the actor who played Vulcan Spock’s father, Sarek, in Star Trek: The Original […]
October 28
Australian History Saturday, October 28, 1916. : Australia’s first referendum on conscription fails. William Morris ‘Billy’ Hughes was Australia’s seventh Prime Minister. Born in London on 25 September 1862, he migrated to Australia in 1884. After many years of wandering from job to job, he established a mixed business which sold, among other things, political pamphlets. As […]
October 03
Born on this day Tuesday, October 3, 1916. : Inventor of the portable defibrillator, James F Pantridge, is born. James Francis “Frank” Pantridge was born on 3 October 1916, in Hillsborough, Ireland. He was educated at Queen’s University in Belfast, graduating in medicine in 1939, and became a physician and cardiologist. He served in the British Army […]
October 06
Born on this day Tuesday, October 6, 1914. : Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer who led the Kon-Tiki expedition, is born. Thor Heyerdahl, born on 6 October 1914 in Larvik, Norway was an anthropologist and marine biologist who developed an interest in the origins of settlement in the islands of the south Pacific. In 1947, he proposed […]
October 24
Australian History Thursday, October 24, 1889. : Sir Henry Parkes, ‘Father of Australian Federation’, makes his famous Tenterfield Oration. Henry Parkes was born in Warwickshire, England, on 27 May 1815. A failed business venture prompted him to seek passage with his wife to Australia, and he arrived in Sydney in 1839. Moving up from a position of […]
October 14
Australian History Monday, October 14, 1889. : Australia’s first electric trams begin operating. A tram is a rail-borne vehicle, lighter than a train, for the transport of passengers. Some of Australia’s cities ran extensive tram networks in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The city of Melbourne, the second-largest city in Australia, boasts the third largest tram […]