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 early sea explorers who charted sections of Australia’s coastline, adding valuable information to the current charts. In 1798, Bass explored along the southern coast of what would later become the colony of Victoria. His journeys led him to the belief that Van Diemen’s Land (later Tasmania) was separate from the mainland. Governor Hunter wished for this theory to be proven conclusively, so he commissioned Flinders and Bass to circumnavigate Van Diemen’s Land. The two men set out at dawn in the ‘Norfolk’ on 7 October 1798.
On 24 December 1798, Flinders and Bass entered the Derwent River. The ship anchored in Risdon Cove, and Flinders described the area as “Very beautiful country, with a rich and luxuriant soil”.
Australian History
Saturday, December 24, 1836. : Colonel William Light enthusiastically approves the site for Adelaide.
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia. Although not the only Australian state to have been founded by free settlers, it is the only state to have remained entirely free of convicts during its history.
The site of Adelaide was originally determined by Captain Collet Barker. Barker was sent by Governor Darling in April 1831 to explore southern Australia, following up on Charles Sturt’s discovery of the mouth of the Murray River. Barker explored around the eastern side of Gulf St Vincent, climbed Mt Lofty, and selected a suitable port for the future city of Adelaide. Late in April 1831, Barker arrived at the sandspit where the Murray River enters the Southern Ocean. He elected to swim the channel, but disappeared after he reached the sandhills on the eastern side. It was determined later, on the information of an aboriginal woman, that Barker had been speared to death by Aborigines and his body thrown into the sea.
The city of Adelaide was subsequently surveyed and designed by Colonel William Light, first Surveyor-General of South Australia, who arrived in South Australia in 1836 to follow up on Barker’s expedition. Light explored Encounter Bay and nearby regions until he discovered Port Adelaide which Barker had noted in his journals. Towards the end of 1836, Light’s deputy, George Kingston, discovered what he described as a short river flowing from the Mt Lofty ranges to the coastal plains. This was to be named the Torrens River. As a result of this discovery, Light approved the mouth of the river as the site for the settlement of Adelaide. On 24 December 1836 in his journal, he enthusiastically scribed:
“My first opinions with regard to this place became still more confirmed by this trip, having traversed over nearly six miles of a beautiful plat … affording an immense plain of level and advantageous ground for occupation … I was delighted with the appearance of the country …”
Colonel Light began surveying Adelaide on 11 January 1837, and completed his survey on 10 March 1837. He then commenced the task of naming streets and squares in the new town on 23 May 1837.
Australian History
Friday, December 24, 1875. : A cyclone hits Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, killing 59.
Exmouth Gulf, on Australia’s north-western tip, is located in one of the most cyclone-prone areas of Australia’s coast. As the pearling industry developed in the region in the late 1800s, pearling luggers from Port Hedland would often gather shells in Exmouth Gulf. As a cyclone hit on 24 December 1875, a pearling fleet bore the brunt of the storm. Fifty-nine people were killed and several boats were sunk, including the Mothership “Fairy Queen”.
Australian History
Saturday, December 24, 1938. : Australia hosts the first ever Carols by Candlelight.
Carols by Candlelight is a popular Australian Christmas tradition. Communities gather in parks or churchyards to sing carols and Christmas songs on any given evening in the lead-up to Christmas. There is often extra entertainment during these events, with skits, plays and other performers, and participants may hold candles or other electric lights to enhance the festive atmosphere.
The concept of Carols by Candlelight was born in 1937 when radio veteran Norman Banks was on his way home after a late evening shift. Walking along St Kilda Road, Melbourne, he saw a woman through the window of her home, her face reflecting the soft glow of candlelight, singing to Away in a Manger as it played on the radio. The sight inspired Banks to create an event which could be enjoyed by many, and which would reflect both the reverence and the joy of Christmas. With the support of his employers and the Melbourne City Council, particularly Lord Mayor AW Coles, Banks organised a programme for the following year.
The first Carols by Candlelight took place in Melbourne, Australia on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1938. Approximately ten thousand people came together at midnight in Alexandra Gardens to sing carols, backed by a choir, two soloists and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Band. A larger production was organised the following year, and the tradition grew, continuing even through World War II. Since that time, Carols by Candlelight events have spread, continuing to be organised throughout the nation, with some sponsored by major organisations, and others being quieter affairs in churches and community centres.
World History
Thursday, December 24, 1818. : The Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’ is sung for the first time.
Josef Mohr was a young priest serving as parish priest at St Nikolas Church in Oberndorf bei Salzberg, Austria. Two days before Christmas 1818, the bellows in the church organ were found to be rotted through, possibly eaten by rats.
Needing music that could still be appreciated by the congregation, Mohr wrote a poem. He then asked the church organist and choirmaster, Franz-Xaver Gruber, if he could set it to music which the two men could sing, accompanied by Mohr on the guitar. Late on Christmas Eve, the men practised the song for the first time, and performed it for Mass. The song that Mohr penned was “Silent Night”, one of the world’s most enduring Christmas carols, and it was first sung on 24 December 1818.
The original St Nikolas Church has since been demolished, being regularly damaged by flooding. The Silent Night Memorial Chapel was built on the site of the demolished church and consecrated on 15 August 1937. It features beautiful stained glass windows depicting both Mohr and Gruber.
World History
Wednesday, December 24, 1913. : Dozens are crushed to death in a stampede at a Christmas party for copper miners in Michigan.
Coal mining has always been a dangerous occupation, with working conditions unhealthy and life-threatening. In 1913, workers at the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company copper mines, Michigan, USA, went on strike over their poor and dangerous working conditions and inadequate wages.
Despite the strike, the traditional Christmas Eve party was offered to the coal miners. On 24 December 1913, the workers and their families attended a Christmas party on the upper floor of Calumet’s Italian Hall. Around 200 adults and 500 children were present when there was a cry of ‘Fire!’, and people stampeded for the stairways. In the rush, a couple fell, causing more to fall behind them; the result was a wall of human bodies clogging the staircase as terrified people continued to pour down the stairs. The weight of all the people crushed those at the bottom of the pile. In all, between 73 and 75 people died that day, 59 of them children. Most of them were Finnish immigrants.
There was no fire, and it was never established who had cried “Fire” and why, although much suspicion was cast upon members of the management at the coal mine. No arrests were ever made. Although Italian Hall was demolished in the 1980s, the tragedy remains strong in the folklore of the town. Singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie immortalised the event in his song “1913 Massacre”.
World History
Tuesday, December 24, 1968. : American astronauts on Apollo 8 become the first men to transmit a Christmas Eve message from space.
Whilst Apollo 11 is known as the first spacecraft to land men on the moon, earlier missions were vital in developing understanding of what the first lunar landing would entail. Apollo 8, launched on 21 December 1968, was the first manned flight to and from the moon. It was also the world’s first manned flight to escape the influence of Earth’s gravity.
On board were astronauts Frank Borman (Commander), James A Lovell Jr (Command Module Pilot) and William Anders (Lunar Module Pilot). Apollo 8’s mission included testing various components during the twenty-hour lunar orbit, and returning photography of the lunar surface. Whilst in orbit around the moon on 24 December 1968, the crew transmitted a Christmas Eve television broadcast that is believed to be one of the most watched of all time. Apollo 8 returned to Earth on 27 December 1968.
New Zealand History
Thursday, December 24, 1953. : 151 die in New Zealand as an express train plunges off a damaged bridge.
Mount Ruapehu, at 2,797 metres high, is the highest point on New Zealand’s North Island. One of the largest active volcanoes in New Zealand, it is part of Tongariro National Park. On Christmas Eve 1953, a lahar, or flow of rock, mud, water and other volcanic debris, swept down the valley towards the railway bridge over the Whangaehu River at Tangiwai. The lahar swept away the fourth pier of the railway bridge and damaged the fifth, creating a yawning gap in the bridge just ahead of the Wellington – Auckland express train.
At 10:21pm on 24 December 1953, the locomotive and the first six carriages plummeted through the gap in the bridge and into the raging lahar torrent below. The force of the torrent carried one carriage 8 kilometres, while some bodies were found 50 kilometres away. Of the 285 people on board, 151 were killed in the tragedy. More would have been killed but for the actions of the postmaster from Taihape, a town situated 10km away, who saw the damage to the bridge and attempted to warn the approaching train by running along the track waving a torch. An inquest found that the driver was able to apply the brakes before reaching the bridge, which no doubt prevented the entire train from plunging into the lahar torrent.