Born on this day
Thursday, January 14, 1875. : German theologian, musician, philosopher, and physician, Albert Schweitzer, is born.
Albert Schweitzer was born on 14 January 1875 in Kaysersberg, Upper-Alsace, Germany (now Haut-Rhin département, France). He became a theologian, student of music, physician and medical missionary. As a renowned organist of his time, he sought to develop a style of performance similar to how he believed the master, Bach, would have played. Schweitzer wrote a biography of Bach, considered to be one of the best studies of the composer which, along with his edition of Bach’s organ music, made him an outstanding authority on Bach.
Schweitzer deeply revered life, and sought to spread his philosophy of respect for life as the highest principle. This was seen especially in his work as a medical missionary. Schweitzer established a hospital near an existing mission station in Lambaréné, in what is now Gabon, Africa. He cared for hundreds of lepers and treated many victims of the African sleeping sickness. After being interned as a German on French soil during World War I, he was later released, and returned to Lambaréné to resume his previous work there.
Schweitzer continued to travel, preaching and teaching his philosophy of life and showing its practical application. After 1952, along with Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell, he campaigned heavily against nuclear tests and bombs. Schweitzer died in Lambaréné on 4 September 1965.
Australian Explorers
Thursday, January 14, 1830. : Captain Charles Sturt discovers that the Murrumbidgee River flows into the Murray.
Captain Charles Sturt was born in India in 1795. He came to Australia in 1827, and soon undertook to solve the mystery of where the inland rivers of New South Wales flowed. Because they appeared to flow towards the centre of the continent, the belief was held that they emptied into an inland sea. Drawing on the skills of experienced bushman and explorer Hamilton Hume, Sturt first traced the Macquarie River as far as the Darling, which he named after Governor Darling.
Pleased with Sturt’s discoveries, Governor Darling then sent Sturt to trace the course of the Murrumbidgee River, and to see whether it joined to the Darling. In November 1829 Sturt and his party reached the Murrumbidgee. Sturt followed the river in a whaleboat and, on 14 January 1830, discovered that the Murrumbidgee River flowed into the Murray (previously named the Hume). Sturt later went on to discover that the Darling River also flowed into the Murray, and that the Murray River flowed to the ocean, emptying out at Lake Alexandrina on the southern coast. Sturt’s discoveries were significant, for they allowed for the development of paddle-steamer transportation of goods and passengers along Australia’s inner waterways.
Australian History
Wednesday, January 14, 1699. : English sea explorer William Dampier sets out to chart the northwest coast of Australia.
English sea explorer William Dampier was born in 1651. As an experienced sea captain and pirate, he became the first Englishman to explore and map parts of New Holland and New Guinea. On 4 January 1688, his ship the ‘Cygnet’ was beached on the northwest coast of Australia, at King Sound near Buccaneer Archipelago. While the ship was being repaired Dampier made notes on the fauna and flora he found there. He was unimpressed by the dry, barren landscape, the lack of water and what he described as the “miserablest people in the world” – the native population.
Eleven years later, Dampier was back, after the British Admiralty commissioned him to chart the north-west coast, hoping to find a strategic use for ‘New Holland’. The expedition set out on 14 January 1699. In July, Dampier reached Dirk Hartog Island near Shark Bay in Western Australia. Searching for water, he followed the coast northwards, reaching the Dampier Archipelago and then Roebuck Bay. After finding no sign of water, he was forced to head north for Timor. Sailing east, he sighted New Guinea on 1 January 1700. He then traced the southeastern coasts of New Hanover, New Ireland and New Britain, discovering the Dampier Strait between these islands (now the Bismarck Islands) and New Guinea.
Australian History
Tuesday, January 14, 1812. : The first public water mill in New South Wales is opened.
Thomas West was born in Sussex, England in 1773. Arrested for burglary in England, he arrived in New South Wales in June 1801 as a convict with a life sentence. However, West proved to be a trusted worker, gaining a reputation for initiative while employed in the government lumberyard. As well as his assigned tasks, he fashioned coffins, and hung the bells in St Philip’s Church.
In June 1810, West requested permission from Governor Lachlan Macquarie to construct a water mill on a land grant he was given near Rushcutters Bay. The mill was to be available for public use, for grinding grain. After gaining Macquarie’s approval, West completed the mill in 1811. It was opened by Governor Macquarie on 14 January 1812. In recognition of his contribution to the community, West was granted a conditional pardon – and one cow from the government dairy herd – in 1813.
West’s mill continued to operate for the next twenty years. It was retired when the lack of water supply made the mill unsustainable.
Australian History
Thursday, January 14, 1841. : The highest flood in Brisbane’s recorded history occurs.
The city of Brisbane was named after the Brisbane River, upon which it is built. The first colony in Queensland was the colony of the Moreton Bay District, founded in 1824 when explorer John Oxley arrived at Redcliffe with a crew and 29 convicts. Due to the lack of fresh water, the settlement was abandoned less than a year later when the main settlement was moved 30km away, to the Brisbane River. Another convict settlement was established under the command of Captain Patrick Logan. In 1825, the settlement was given the name of Brisbane, and the area was opened up for free settlement in 1838.
It was in the early years of free settlement that Brisbane suffered its first major natural disaster. Between 1840 and 1900, the Brisbane River flooded twenty-three times, with the highest flood in Brisbane’s recorded history occurring on 14 January 1841. Flood levels were reported to be over 8 metres above the mean sea level. By comparison, the notorious 1974 floods reached a height of 5.45 metres. However, because the settlement was fairly new and there was not the same density of houses, damage was minimal.
Lessons were learnt from this flood. Government buildings in Brisbane were built higher, allowing the city to escape the worst of its second highest flood in February 1893, which came to within 7cm of the previous high level.
World History
Monday, January 14, 1907. : Former Governor of South Australia, Sir James Fergusson, is killed in an earthquake in Jamaica.
Sir James Fergusson, born 14 March 1832, was a British politician. He was Governor of South Australia from 1868 to 1873, then Governor of New Zealand, resigning in 1874. He completed his career life as Governor of Bombay between 1880 and 1885. The South Australian town of Jamestown was named in his honour.
On 14 January 1907, Fergusson was one of several thousand people killed in an earthquake that hit Jamaica. Jamaica, an island nation in the Caribbean, is prone to tectonic movements which can result in earthquakes. The 1907 earthquake began at 3:32pm and lasted for about 40 seconds. Kingston and Port Royal suffered heavy damage, with eyewitnesses reporting brick walls bulging and collapsing, and carriages being lifted and thrown about. Fires broke out across Kingston, creating more devastation
It was an unfortunate coincidence that the day of the earthquake saw the meeting of delegates from Canada, England, USA and various West Indian nations for the Annual West Indian Agricultural Conference. It is estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people were killed in the earthquake.
World History
Saturday, January 14, 1911. : Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches the Ross Ice Shelf on his quest to be the first to reach the South Pole.
Roald Amundsen was born on 16 July 1872, near Oslo, Norway. At fifteen, he intended to study medicine but, inspired by Fridtjof Nansen’s crossing of Greenland in 1888, altered his career intentions to eventually become one of the most successful polar explorers. He planned to be the first to the North Pole, but having been beaten by Frederick Cook and Robert Peary, he then altered his plans to make for the South Pole. He set out for Antarctica in 1910, and reached the Ross Ice Shelf on 14 January 1911 at a point known as the Bay of Whales. From here, on 10 February 1911, Amundsen scouted south to establish depots along the way. During the next two months, he and his party established three depots for storing their extensive provisions. They had their last glimpse of the sun for four months on 22 April 1911.
After maintaining their base at the Bay of Whales during the winter months, on 20 October 1911, Amundsen and four others departed for the South Pole. The remaining three in his expedition party went east to visit King Edward VII Land. The southern party consisted of five men, four sledges, fifty-two dogs and provisions for four months. The expedition reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911, a month before the famed Robert Scott reached it.