Australian Explorers
Sunday, March 15, 1840. : Strzelecki climbs and names Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest mountain.
Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, born 20 July 1797, was a Polish explorer and skilled geologist who emigrated to London following the national uprising against tsarist Russia in 1830. In 1839 he arrived in Australia, where he made influential friends, among them wealthy grazier James MacArthur. MacArthur was keen to explore promising-looking land in Australia’s south-eastern corner with the view to acquiring more grazing land and establishing a harbour from which to export pastoral products. Interested in the geology of the Great Dividing Range, Strzelecki agreed to accompany MacArthur, and the two departed from Ellerslie Station near Adelong, New South Wales, in February 1840.
A month later, the two men climbed Mt Townsend, believing it to be the highest peak in the Australian Alps. Using his numerous geological instruments, Strzelecki determined that another peak was higher. Whilst not interested in acquiring land, Strzelecki was interested in the fame that accompanied important discoveries, and he was determined to climb the peak. He did so, on 15 March 1840, and named the mountain after a Polish patriot, Tadeusz Kosciuszko. At the time, Strzelecki determined the height of the mountain to be 6,510 feet (1984m) above sea level, but it is probable that, whilst making the steep and perilous descent during which he fell many times, Strzelecki damaged his instruments. The actual height of Kosciuszko is 7,316 feet, or 2228m.
Australian History
Thursday, March 15, 1877. : The first international cricket Test Match on Australian ground begins at the Melbourne Cricket ground.
The sport of cricket is regarded as synonymous with Australia. Although Australia has no official sport, cricket is regarded as the country’s unofficial sport. The first reported cricket game took place in Sydney at what is now known as Hyde Park on 8 January 1804. Inter-colonial games began when a team from Victoria travelled to Launceston, Tasmania for a game in February 1851. The first visit by an English cricket team to Australia occurred during Australia’s summer of 1861-62. Australia reciprocated with a team to England, made up of indigenous players, in 1868. The team played 47 matches, of which they won 14, drew 19 and lost 14.
As cricket increased in popularity, Melbourne became the first city to establish a large cricket ground. Still the largest cricket ground in Australia and the Southern hemisphere, the MCG was developed after 1853, when the site was selected. The first cricket Test Match on Australian home ground between Australia and England began at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 15 March 1877. The match continued over four days, with Australia winning by 45 runs.
Australian History
Tuesday, March 15, 1927. : An explanation is given in the southern newspaper, the ‘Register’, for the origin of the nickname “crow-eater” as applied to South Australians.
South Australians have long been referred to as “crow-eaters”, and there have been numerous theories suggested through the years regarding the origin of the nickname. Several explanations for the term have been made through the years, the first being published in the newspaper, the ‘Register’, on 6 February 1925. On this day, the paper reported the following:
“[It] was first applied to some of the original settlers at Mount Barker who – whether from necessity or a desire to sample strange native fauna – killed, cooked and ate some crows disguised under the term “Mount Barker pheasants”… Later the term… was applied generally to all.”
However, there is a strong possibility that the term originated with the goldrushes. On 15 March 1927, another report suggested the term originated as early as the 1850s. A reader recounted how, when his father and grandfather arrived at the gold diggings in Bendigo, upon being discovered as coming from South Australia they were accused of being “crow eaters”. This was because their arrival had been preceded by another group of South Australians who had run out of food during their journey across from their home state and had been forced to shoot crows to eat. When they recounted their experience, they were dubbed “crow-eaters”, a term which was henceforth applied to all new arrivals from South Australia.
World History
March 15, 44BC : Roman emperor Julius Caesar is assassinated, receiving between 23 and 35 stab wounds.
Gaius Julius Caesar was born on 13 July 100 BC in Rome. His conquest of Gaul extended the Roman territory all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, with the first Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC. He is regarded as one of the greatest military strategists of all time, as well as a brilliant politician. As leader of the Roman world, Caesar implemented extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He overthrew the already faltering government of the weak Republic, and was proclaimed Dictator for life. Caesar’s friend Marcus Brutus conspired with around 60 other senators to assassinate Caesar in hopes of saving the Republic, and to prevent Caesar from being declared ‘King’.
The assassination took place on 15 March 44 BC, known as the Ides of March, an auspicious day in the Roman calendar. It is said that a soothsayer warned Caesar ahead of time of the date. The phrases “Beware the Ides of March” and “Et tu, Brut?” (denoting the ultimate in betrayal from a friend) from Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’, are two of the most remembered lines of any of Shakespeare’s plays.
World History
Thursday, March 15, 1917. : Russian Czar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate amidst civil war.
Czar Nicholas II, born Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov on 18 May 1868, was the last crowned Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. Nicholas was ill-prepared to receive the crown when his father died prematurely in 1894, and his inability to rule effectively was compounded by a number of difficult events during his reign. The failure of the Russo-Japanese War led to the Russian Revolution of 1905, which Nicholas diffused only after signing a manifesto promising representative government and basic civil liberties in Russia. However, he recanted on several of his promises, allowing the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups to gain wide support. World War I broke out on 1 August 1914, and although unprepared, Russia immediately attacked the German province of East Prussia. The Germans mobilised their armies efficiently and completely defeated the two invading Russian armies.
The cumulative effect of these events was that Russia suffered severe food shortages, soldiers became war-weary, and morale was at an all-time low. On 15 March 1917, Nicholas was forced to abdicate amidst civil war. A year later, on 17 July 1918, he and his wife, together with their five children, the family doctor and three attendants, were taken to the cellar of a house in Yekaterinburg, where they were executed by a firing squad.