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 km south of Sydney on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. The name “Kiama” is derived from the Aboriginal word Kiarama, which means “place where the sea makes a noise”. This is in reference to the famous Kiama Blowhole, a natural cavern at Blowhole Point. The ideal conditions in which to view the blowhole are when the seas are running southeast: at these times, the blowhole can erupt in a spray of water up to 60m in height.
Kiama was discovered by explorer George Bass on 6 December 1797 after he anchored his whaleboat in the bay which is now Kiama Harbour. Bass noted the evidence of volcanic activity in the distant past, and of the blowhole itself, he wrote: “The earth for a considerable distance round in the form approaching a circle seemed to have given way; it was now a green slope … Towards the centre was a deep ragged hole of about 25 to 30 feet in diameter and on one side of it the sea washed in through a subterraneous passage … with a most tremendous noise …”
Australian Explorers
Monday, December 6, 1813. : George Evans discovers and names the fertile Macquarie Plains and the Macquarie River.
In May, 1813, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth had crossed the Blue Mountains, finding rich farming land in the Hartley region. However, further exploration was needed so the colony could expand beyond the Great Dividing Range. George Evans was the Deputy Surveyor-General of New South Wales, and keen to progress beyond the discoveries made by Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth.
Leaving Sydney with a party of five men on 19 November 1813, Evans soon reached a mountain which he named Mt Blaxland, which was the termination of Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth’s explorations. He then headed southward into hilly country, and found a waterway which he called the Fish River, being abundantly full of fish. Following the Fish River west to its junction with the Campbell River on 6 December 1813, he named the large river formed by the union of the two smaller streams the Macquarie River, after Governor Macquarie. The plains surrounding the river were rich with lush vegetation, indicating fertile soil, and he named them the Macquarie Plains.
Australian History
Monday, December 6, 1784. : Transportation of convicts from England to Australia is first authorised.
Conditions in England in the 18th century were tough: the industrial revolution had removed many people’s opportunities to earn an honest wage as simpler tasks were replaced by machine labour. As unemployment rose, so did crime, especially the theft of basic necessities such as food and clothing. The British prison system was soon full to overflowing, and a new place had to be found to ship the prison inmates. The American colonies were no longer viable, following the American war of Independence. Following Captain Cook’s voyage to the South Pacific, the previously uncharted continent of New Holland proved to be suitable.
The plan to send a colony of convicts and officers to New South Wales was first authorised on 6 December 1784. Within two years, the formal decision was made to send a colonisation party of convicts, military and civilian personnel specifically to Botany Bay, New South Wales, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, who was appointed Governor-designate. The First Fleet consisted of 775 convicts on board six transport ships, accompanied by officials, crew, marines and their families who together totalled 645. As well as the convict transports, there were two naval escorts and three storeships.
Transportation of convicts to Australia began when the first ship departed Portsmouth, England, in May 1787, and ended when the last convict ship left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Australia on 10 January 1868.
World History
Monday, December 6, 0343. : Today is the Feast Day of St Nicholas, or modern-day Santa Claus.
St Nicholas was born in Greece (now part of southern Turkey) during the third century. Brought up in a devout Christian family, Nicholas’s parents taught him values of generosity and selflessness, practices to which he adhered throughout his life. He was known in particular for his generosity to people in need (he had a reputation for secretly giving to the poor), his love for children, and his concern for sailors who often worked under some difficult conditions.
Nicholas was persecuted for his faith under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and died on 6 December 343. A legend began which stated that, after his death, manna (the nutritious substance God miraculously provided to sustain the Israelites during their 40-year desert sojourn) formed upon his grave. This manna was said to have healing properties, spawning a new era of pious devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, and of course came to be known as St Nicholas Day.
St Nicholas was never actually officially canonised, as this was not a common practice in the early church. It was common custom in those days for his devoted followers to simply spread word of his generosity and righteousness, thereby creating a larger following. By the Middle Ages, he came to be venerated as “people’s saint”, and churches and villages were named after him. Thus, his “evolution” into sainthood occurred over a period of hundreds of years.
World History
Friday, December 6, 1907. : 361 miners are killed in the US’s worst coal mining disaster.
West Virginia, USA, once had the reputation for the highest mine death rate of any of the states. Large scale coal operations began in Marion County, WV, in the 1880s. Between 1890 and 1912, regulation of mining conditions in West Virginia was poor, and the state’s mining industry saw numerous deadly coal mining accidents. The nation’s worst coal disaster occurred on 6 December 1907. 361 workers were killed when an explosion occurred at an underground mine owned by the Fairmont Coal Company in Monongah, Marion County. The accident was the catalyst to much of the movement that created the Federal Bureau of Mines, the first concerted effort to bring safer working conditions to coal mines.
World History
Thursday, December 6, 1917. : Over 1800 are killed when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes after colliding with another vessel.
The port city of Halifax lies in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. On 6 December 1917 it was the site of the largest man-made explosion until the first atomic bomb test explosion in 1945. The French ammunition ship ‘Mont Blanc’ was waiting to be let into the harbour, awaiting the removal of submarine nets that prevented enemy U-boats from entering the harbour. The Mont Blanc was carrying 2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high-octane gasoline, and 10 tons of gun cotton. A Norwegian cargo ship, the ‘Imo’, was waiting to depart the harbour via the Right Channel. As a ship was blocking its path, it moved into the Left channel, where the Mont Blanc was travelling. The Imo stopped as the Mont Blanc passed in the centre of the channel, but the backward action of the propellers brought the Imo to the centre, and the two vessels collided.
The collision set the picric acid alight. Twenty minutes later, a massive explosion occurred, destroying the Mont Blanc, and sending blazing metal projectiles into residential and industrial sectors of the city, destroying much of northern Halifax and leaving some 1500 homeless. Many spectators who had ventured out to watch the fire were killed in the explosion, or in the tsunami generated by the blast, washing up as high as 18 metres above the harbour’s high-water mark. Approximately 1000 people were killed immediately, and the total death toll was estimated to be over 1800. Another 9000 were injured, and of these, around 200 were blinded.