Australian History
Thursday, September 29, 1791. : George Vancouver formally claims southwestern Australia for Great Britain.
The area of Western Australia where Albany now stands was first discovered by George Vancouver in 1791. After being sent to explore the southern coastline of Australia, Vancouver first made landfall at Cape Leeuwin, then travelled southeast. On 28 September 1791, he discovered an excellent harbour which he named “King George the Third’s Sound”, later shortened to King George’s Sound or, as it is now, King George Sound. Standing at Possession Point, Vancouver formally claimed this land as British territory on 29 September 1791.
British occupation of King George’s Sound, the first settlement in Western Australia, did not begin until 1826. At that time, the western third of Australia was unclaimed by any country, and there were fears that France would stake its claim. To prevent this, Governor Darling of New South Wales sent Major Edmund Lockyer, with troops and 23 convicts, to establish a settlement at King George Sound. They arrived in the brig ‘Amity’ on Christmas Day in 1826. Lockyer initially named the site Frederickstown after His Royal Highness, Duke of York & Albany, Frederick Augustus – second son of King George III.
World History
Tuesday, September 29, 1829. : London’s Metropolitan Police Service is established.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the main police force in Greater London, England. It does not include the square mile of the commercial and financial centre of London, which has its own police force, the City of London Police.
Prior to the mid-18th century, London did not have a police force. Law and order were maintained by magistrates, volunteer constables, watchmen and sometimes even the armed forces. The Metropolitan Police Service began operations on 29 September 1829. British Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, succeeded in reforming the criminal laws and established the London police force, which then became known as Scotland Yard. Having been established by Peel, members of the force were given the nicknames of ‘Peelers’ or ‘Bobbies’.
World History
Tuesday, September 29, 1903. : Prussia becomes the first locality in the world to make drivers’ licences for automobiles compulsory.
In 1886, Karl Benz demonstrated the first gasoline car powered by an internal-combustion engine in Mannheim, Germany. The development of the automobile progressed quickly from this point, with more and more people opting for the new mode of transportation.
With the increased number of automobiles came the need for more rules and controls. One of the first innovations was the driver’s licence. The very first such licence was issued to the inventor of the modern automobile, Karl Benz, in 1888, who sought permission from the Grand Ducal authorities to drive his vehicle on public roads following a number of complaints by his fellow citizens in Mannheim. Following the introduction of the licence, other European countries issued drivers’ licences only according to need.
The first European state, however, to legislate for drivers’ licences was Prussia, doing so on 29 September 1903. Testing was conducted by the Dampfkesselüberwachungsverein, or Steam Boiler Supervision Association, and concentrated less on how well a driver controlled his car than on his ability to maintain the mechanics of his vehicle.
World History
Friday, September 29, 1916. : The New York Times reports that John D Rockefeller has become America’s first billionaire.
John D Rockefeller was born John Davison Rockefeller on 8 July 1839 in Richford, New York. Starting his career as a humble assistant bookkeeper for a small firm of commission merchants and produce shippers, he then went into the produce commission business in 1858. His firm Clark & Rockefeller invested in an oil refinery in 1862, and in 1865 Rockefeller sold out his share to his partner Clark. He then paid $72,500 for a larger share in another refinery, and formed the partnership of Rockefeller & Andrews. In 1867 he and his brother merged their refineries, and were joined by another partner, Henry M Flagler. In 1870 the two Rockefellers, Flagler, Andrews and a refiner named Stephen V Harkness formed the Standard Oil Company, with John D Rockefeller as president. This was Rockefeller’s start to his incredible wealth.
On 29 September 1916 the New York Times reported in a front-page story that John D Rockefeller was America’s first billionaire. His oil holdings alone were worth $500 million, and by the end of the day, they had increased in value by $8 million.
World History
Friday, September 29, 1939. : During WWII, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree to divide up Poland.
On the last day of August 1939, Germany staged an attack by Poland, dressing Nazi S.S. troops in Polish uniforms and leaving behind dead German prisoners in Polish uniforms as evidence of the ‘Polish attack’. Using this as propaganda served to pave the way for Germany to invade Poland the next day. On 17 September 1939 the Soviet Red Army invaded eastern Poland. This was in co-operation with Nazi Germany, as a means of carrying out their part of the secret appendix of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which involved the division of Europe into Nazi and Soviet spheres of influence.
The German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty of 29 September 1939 involved dividing control of occupied Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. Germany was given the land west of the Bug River, which included heavily populated and industrialised areas. Stalin himself drew up the line which then gave the Soviets control of the region of Lvov and its rich oil wells, and Lithuania, as well as the strategic advantage of a western buffer zone.
World History
Monday, September 29, 1941. : The Babi Yar massacre, considered to be the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust, begins.
The Holocaust of World War II involved the mass slaughter of European Jews and others by the German-led Nazis. The killings were not restricted to Germany and its immediate neighbours.
Babi Yar is a ravine near Kiev, capital of the Ukraine. At the time of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in mid-September of 1941, the city of Kiev held around 175,000 Jews. Within two weeks of capturing Kiev, beginning on 29 September 1941, the Nazis rounded up 33,771 Jewish civilians – men, women and children – and took them to Babi Yar, near the Jewish cemetery. Firstly, they were stripped of their clothes and beaten. Then they were marched down into the ravine and ordered to lie on the ground. There, the innocent Jews were machine-gunned in what is believed to have been the largest single slaughter of Jews in the history of the Holocaust. Each time, a thin layer of dirt was placed over the bodies, and the next group was ordered down into the ravine, to repeat the process. The massacre of nearly 34,000 people took two days.
Babi Yar was later converted into an extermination camp for more Jewish victims from throughout the Ukraine. In the months following the massacre, and during the course of WWII, over 100,000 more were captured and taken to Babi Yar where they were executed.
World History
Wednesday, September 29, 2004. : The 4179 Toutatis/1989 AC asteroid passes within 4 lunar distances of Earth.
The 4179 Toutatis/1989 AC is an asteroid with an irregular orbit. Its very low orbital inclination (0.47°) and its orbital period of just under 4 years causes Toutatis to make regular close approaches to Earth. One such approach occurred on 29 September 2004, when it came within 4 lunar distances of Earth, or 0.0104 AU (astronomical units). There was no danger of Toutatis impacting the Earth, but its proximity provided excellent opportunities for observation of the asteroid.
Toutatis was first observed on 10 February 1934, but only named when it was rediscovered by astronomer Christian Pollas on 4 January 1989. It is a very irregularly shaped object consisting of two lobes, one measuring approximately 4.6 km wide and the other 2.4 km wide.