Australian Explorers
Tuesday, January 26, 1802. : Flinders crosses the 129th degree of longitude, which is later to become the border between Western Australia and South Australia.
Matthew Flinders was born on 16 March 1774 in Lincolnshire, England. He arrived in Australia in the 1790s and commenced exploring and charting the coast of the continent. A meticulous cartographer, Flinders explored many inlets and bays which had been overlooked by previous explorers, adding greatly to the understanding of the Australian coastline. Flinders, together with Bass, first determined that Van Diemen’s Land (later Tasmania) was not joined to the mainland.
Between December 1801 and June 1803, Flinders charted the entire coastline of Australia in an anti-clockwise direction. On 26 January 1802, whilst circumnavigating Australia for the first time, Flinders crossed the 129th degree of longitude, which today marks the border of Western Australia and South Australia. At this point, Flinders was astonished to sight the vast limestone cliffs which now mark the southern coastal extremity of the Nullarbor Plain.
Australian History
Saturday, January 26, 1788. : Today is Australia Day, commemorating the arrival of the First Fleet at Port Jackson, New South Wales.
Captain Arthur Phillip was appointed Governor-designate of the proposed British penal colony of New South Wales in 1786. The First Fleet of convicts left Portsmouth, England on 13 May 1787, and arrived in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. Phillip immediately determined that there was insufficient fresh water, an absence of usable timber, poor quality soil and no safe harbour at Botany Bay. Thus the fleet was moved to Port Jackson, arriving on 26 January 1788.
At Port Jackson, the British flag was raised as Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales, Phillip took formal possession on behalf of the British Crown. The territory extended “… from the Northern Cape or extremity of the coast called Cape York, in the latitude of ten degrees thirty-seven minutes south, to the southern extremity of the said territory of New South Wales or South Cape, in the latitude of forty-three degrees thirty-nine minutes south and of all the country inland westward as far as the one hundred and thirty-fifth degree of east longitude reckoning from the meridian of Greenwich, including all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean within the latitudes aforesaid of ten degrees thirty-seven minutes south and forty-three degrees thirty-nine minutes south”.
Governor Phillip was a practical man who suggested that convicts with experience in farming, building and crafts be included in the First Fleet, but his proposal had been rejected. He faced many obstacles in his attempts to establish the new colony. British farming methods, seeds and implements were unsuitable for use in the different climate and soil, and the colony faced near-starvation in its first two years. Phillip also worked to improve understanding with the local Aborigines. The colony finally succeeded in developing a solid foundation, agriculturally and economically, thanks to the perseverance of Captain Arthur Phillip.
Australia Day, celebrated annually on January 26, commemorates the landing of the First Fleet at Port Jackson, and the raising of the Union Jack to claim the land as belonging to England. The first celebrations of the landing of the First Fleet were held in 1791. The first official celebrations were held in 1818, marking the thirtieth anniversary of white settlement.
Australian History
Tuesday, January 26, 1808. : Governor William Bligh is overthrown in the “Rum Rebellion”.
William Bligh was born in Plymouth, south-west England, on 9 September 1754. He is arguably best known for his role in the mutiny on the Bounty, which occurred after Bligh left Tahiti on his way to the Caribbean. For reasons undetermined by historical records, Master’s Mate Fletcher Christian led the mutiny, with the support of a small number of the ship’s crew. Bligh and his own supporters were provided with a 7m launch, a sextant and enough provisions to enable them to reach the closest ports, but no means of navigation. Bligh and his supporters then completed an arduous 41 day journey to Timor.
Bligh was honourably acquitted in a London court, and later assigned as Governor to the fledgling colony of New South Wales in 1805. He proved himself to be a strong character, receiving criticism for his seemingly despotic ways, and apparent disregard for English law as opposed to his own law. His chief critic was grazier and wool grower John Macarthur, who convinced men from the New South Wales Corps to rebel against Bligh. On 26 January 1808, twenty years after the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, Governor Bligh was overthrown and replaced with a military Junta. This event later became known as the Rum Rebellion, though it had nothing to do with rum. The name came about because Bligh asserted that Macarthur’s main attack against the Governor came about because of his prohibition on Spirits.
The Rum Rebellion caused Bligh to be imprisoned from 1808 to 1810. Evidence suggested the catalyst to the event was more a clash of strong personalities than any real disregard for English laws. Bligh was known for his violent temper and tendency to alienate others, but his motives were honourable. Bligh was exonerated in 1811, after which he returned to England.
Australian History
Friday, January 26, 1838. : The Waterloo Creek massacre of indigenous Australians occurs.
The Waterloo Creek massacre of indigenous Australians occurs. 26 January is celebrated as Australia Day throughout much of the country. However, for those with links to one community near Waterloo Creek, southwest of Moree in New South Wales, it is a day of mourning.
As European settlers expanded their territory further west on the Australian continent and ran their stock on traditional Aboriginal hunting grounds, there were many clashes with the indigenous people. During December 1937, five stockmen were killed by Namoi and Gamilaroi people in separate incidents in the upper Gwydir River of New South Wales. Consequently, acting Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales Colonel Kenneth Snodgrass dispatched Major James Nunn and a group of over twenty troopers from Sydney to hunt down the perpetrators.
Over the next two months, Major Nunn’s party tracked the Gamilaroi, who continued to evade capture, until the morning of 26 January 1838. Accounts of the number massacred vary hugely, but according to Sergeant John Lee, who was with the main detachment of mounted police when the Gamilaroi were cornered at the junction of Slaughterhouse Creek and the Gwydir River, believed that 40 – 50 indigenous Australians were killed. Another man, Lieutenant Cobban, observed the shooting of two Aborigines, and claimed that, at most, 3 or 4 were killed. Later estimates from other historians, however, put the figure at anywhere up to 300.
An inquiry into the massacre at the time cleared all those responsible for the attack. However, this was not the end of the killings. Many settlers and stockmen maintained what Major Nunn had started, continuing their attacks against Aboriginal people along the Gwydir River, and culminating in the Myall Creek massacre five months later, on 10 June.
Plans are currently underway to establish a memorial to mark the site of the massacres, in the first small step to publicly acknowledging the atrocities which occurred at Water Creek.
Born on this day
Monday, January 26, 1925. : Hollywood legend and humanitarian, Paul Newman, is born.
Paul Newman was a humble actor who became a Hollywood legend, yet never lost his integrity and generous spirit. Born in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio on 26 January 1925, Paul Leonard Newman was the son of a Jewish father and a Slovak Catholic mother. He made his acting debut at 7 years old, as a court jester in a school production of Robin Hood. He graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1943 and attended Ohio University in Athens for a short time.
Newman served in the Navy in World War II in the Pacific and returned to university, hoping to train to be a pilot. The discovery that he was colour blind prevented him from pursuing that career, but he remained in the military field, undergoing training as a radioman and gunner. He served on the USS Bunker Hill during the battle for Okinawa in 1945, and narrowly averted death when his pilot developed an infection shortly before the main attack and could not fly: all others in his troop who flew that day died.
Newman’s theatre career began on Broadway, and he successfully transitioned to films. In all, he appeared in around 60 films, including classics such as The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Hustler (1961), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973).
Newman was a generous humanitarian: when he founded Newman’s Own, a line of food products, in 1982, he established a policy that all proceeds from the sale of Newman’s Own products, after taxes, would be donated to charity. By 2006, this had resulted in over $200 million in donations. In June 1999 Newman donated $250,000 to the relief of Kosovo refugees. He founded the “Hole in the Wall” camps which provide camps for children suffering chronic or fatal illnesses. Many other groups representing the socially disadvantaged have benefited from Newman’s philanthropy through the years.
Paul Newman died on 26 September 2008, at the age of 83, after a long battle with lung cancer. His daughters led the tributes to him, citing his “selfless humility and generosity” as a legacy that would continue, thanks to his humanitarian work.
Australian History
Saturday, January 26, 2013. : A series of tornadoes rips through southeast Queensland, causing major damage.
Australia is not generally known for destructive tornadoes. However, tornadoes do occur in Australia, given the right conditions. Since 1918, 55 people have died as a result of tornado activity in the country.
Cyclone Oswald was a category 1 cyclone which formed off the Queensland coast in January 2013, and crossed the coast on the eastern side of Cape York. Over the ensuing days, its remnants continued to travel south, bringing high winds and heavy rain to coastal Queensland. By Australia Day, 26 January 2013, the ex-tropical cyclone had reached the southeast corner of Queensland. On that day, a series of tornadoes wreaked havoc in the area. The entire region from south of Gladstone to northeast of Bundaberg was declared a disaster area after tornadoes ripped through the seaside towns of Bargara and Burnett Heads after midday, with Burnett Heads being hit by another two twisters later that evening. Coonar was also hit. Roofs were blown off and trees were uprooted, while thousands were left without electricity. One person was killed as a direct result of the tornadoes and dozens more injured, two of them critically.
The system continued to move further south over the next few days, causing widespread flooding and destruction from high winds throughout southeast Queensland. Several more deaths were attributed to the effects of the cyclone’s remnants.
World History
Thursday, January 26, 1905. : The world’s largest gem diamond is found.
The world’s largest gem diamond ever found is the 3,106 carat Cullinan Diamond. The diamond was discovered during a routine inspection of the Premier mine in Pretoria, South Africa, by superintendent Frederick Wells on 26 January 1905. The diamond was named Cullinan, after the owner of the mine, Sir Thomas Cullinan. The diamond was commissioned to be cut by the Asscher Diamond Company of Amsterdam. Company head Joseph Asscher reputedly studied the enormous diamond for over six months before determining how to best divide it. The Cullinan was ultimately cut into 9 major gems, 96 smaller brilliants, and 9.5 carats of unpolished pieces. The largest of the cut stones is the “Cullinan I”, also known as the “Star of Africa I,” which, at 530 carats, is the world’s largest-cut fine-quality colourless diamond.
World History
Thursday, January 26, 1950. : India gains independence from British rule, becoming a republic.
India is a country of southern Asia, covering most of the Indian subcontinent, and the second most populous country in the world. India became part of the British Empire in the mid 1700s and by 1818, the British controlled nearly all of India south of the Sutlej River and had subordinated their most powerful Indian enemies, the state of Mysore and the Marathas. Only Sind and Punjab (the Sikh territory) remained completely independent.
Mohandas Gandhi was instrumental in drawing attention to the desire of the Indian peoples to gain independence from British rule. Whilst Gandhi himself was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic in 1948, his struggle for independence was continued by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, finally culminating in the adoption of the new Indian constitution in 1949. India is now governed under the 1949 constitution, which became effective when the Republic of India was born on 26 January 1950.