Search A Day Of The Year In History

Australian History Friday, December 1, 1876. :   Aboriginal stockman Sam Isaacs and teenager Grace Bussell rescue about 40 people from a stricken steamship off Western Australia. The SS Georgette...

Australian Explorers Tuesday, December 2, 1823. :   Oxley sights the entrance to the Brisbane River. John Joseph William Molesworth Oxley was one of Australia’s early explorers. An experienced seaman...

Australian Explorers Sunday, December 3, 1797. :   Bass departs Sydney to determine whether Van Diemen’s Land is an island or part of the Australian continent. The island of Tasmania,...

Australian History Friday, December 4, 1953. :   Oil is discovered in Exmouth Gulf off the coast of Western Australia. The first exploration drilling for oil in Western Australia was...

Born on this day Thursday, December 5, 1901. :   American animator and film producer, Walt Disney, is born. Walter Elias Disney was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on 5...

Australian Explorers Wednesday, December 6, 1797. :   George Bass discovers the Kiama blowhole, on the New South Wales coast. Kiama is an attractive town and Local Government Area 120...

Australian Explorers Sunday, December 7, 1800. :   James Grant discovers and names Portland Bay and Cape Otway on the southern coast. James Grant was a young lieutenant sent out...

Born on this day Tuesday, December 8, 1542. :   Mary, Queen of Scots, is born. Mary, Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart, was born on 8 December...

Australian History Saturday, December 9, 1882. :   One of the earliest sightings of Australia’s mythical ‘yowie’ is recorded. The yowie is a mythical Australian creature, commonly frequenting bushland on...

Australian History Saturday, December 10, 1859. :   Today is Proclamation Day, marking Queensland’s official separation from New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in Australia in 1788, the...

Born on this day Tuesday, December 11, 1792. :   Josef Mohr, who wrote the lyrics to ‘Silent Night’, is born. Josef Mohr was born on 11 De­cem­ber 1792 in...

Born on this day Sunday, December 12, 1915. :   American singer and actor Frank Sinatra is born. Frank Sinatra was born Francis Albert Sinatra on 12 December 1915, in...

Australian History Monday, December 13, 1802. :   Charles Robbins successfully dissuades the French from making a claim on Van Diemen’s land (now Tasmania). Tasmania was first discovered by Abel...

Australian History Monday, December 14, 1840. :   Governor Gipps appoints the first Government Printer. In the first two decades of British settlement in Australia, all government notices were printed...

Australian History Saturday, December 15, 1810. :   Governor Lachlan Macquarie introduces a building code into the New South Wales colony. Lachlan Macquarie was born on 31 January 1762 on...

Born on this day Sunday, December 16, 1770. :   The great composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, is born. The true date of Beethoven’s birth is not known, but it is...

Born on this day Thursday, December 17, 1778. :   Humphry Davy, inventor of the Davy miner’s safety lamp and discoverer of numerous elements, is born. British chemist and inventor...

Born on this day Sunday, December 18, 1707. :   Methodist leader Charles Wesley is born. Charles Wesley was the younger brother of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist...

Born on this day Wednesday, December 19, 1764. :   William Cox, the builder of the first road over the Blue Mountains of NSW, is born. William Cox was to...

Born on this day Thursday, December 20, 1894. :   Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia, is born. Robert Gordon Menzies was born in the...

Australian Explorers Thursday, December 21, 1837. :   Eyre attempts the first overlanding venture from Sydney to South Australia. Edward John Eyre was born on 5 August 1815 in Hornsea,...

Born on this day Wednesday, December 22, 1858. :   Italian operatic composer Giacomo Puccini is born. Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was born on 22 December 1858...

Australian History Saturday, December 23, 1893. :   The South Australian Parliament gives assent to the Act which supports the founding of communal settlements, or village settlements, most of which...

Australian Explorers Monday, December 24, 1798. :   Flinders and Bass become the first Europeans to anchor in the Derwent River, Van Diemen’s Land. Matthew Flinders and George Bass were...

Australian History Monday, December 25, 1826. :   British occupation of Western Australia begins. The area of Western Australia where Albany now stands was first discovered by George Vancouver in...

Australian History Wednesday, December 26, 1945. :   The first Sydney to Hobart yacht race is held. The Sydney to Hobart yacht race is a major Australian event held annually...

Born on this day Friday, December 27, 1822. :   Biologist and chemist, Louis Pasteur, is born. Louis Pasteur was born on 27 December 1822 in Dole, Jura, France. Known...

Australian History Wednesday, December 28, 1836. :   The Proclamation announcing the creation of the colony of South Australia is read by its first Governor. Explorer Matthew Flinders was the...

Born on this day Monday, December 29, 1800. :   Charles Goodyear, inventor of vulcanised rubber, is born. Charles Goodyear was born on 29 December 1800. Goodyear became famous for...

Australian History Wednesday, December 30, 1998. :   One of a set of stegosaurus prints stolen from a sacred Aboriginal site near Broome is recovered. On 16 October 1996, it...

Australian History Friday, December 31, 1790. :   Enough barley is harvested in the penal colony of New South Wales to alleviate impending starvation. The First Fleet, containing the officers...