9th March in hysterical, err...historical history in Oz

1787 – Dear Diary.....In Portsmouth, England, Lieutenant Ralph Clark began journalling the voyage of the First Fleet and the early years of British settlement.

1798 - John Wilson led a party including Henry Hacking to present-day Goulburn. According to Judge-Advocate David Collins he was "a wild, idle young man who preferred living among the natives to earning the wages of honest industry".

1804 - William Johnson, Convict, a principal along with Phillip Cunningham participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion. Executed at Castle Hill, then hung in chains (gibbeting).

1804 - John Neal , Convict who participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion. Hanged at the Government Farm, Castle Hill.

1804 - George Harrington, Convict who participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion. Hanged at the Government Farm, Castle Hill.

1807 - John Macarthur had 2 illegal stills imported, which weren't for producing tea and crumpets, so they were marked for immediate deportation.

1812 - John Gould soldier of the 73rd Regiment of Foot. Hanged in Sydney for the murder of Margaret Finnie, the wife of a fellow soldier.

1826 - The Letters Patent was issued in London to form a Church and School Corporation, giving the Anglican Church the status of an established religion in New South Wales with the right to vast areas of Crown land and control of the school system.

1830 - Standing around bragging about who's nag was the fastest was getting predictable so those in Launceston put their money where their mouths were and formed the Cornwall Turf Club, which held its first gee-gee race today.

1835 - Sir Thomas Mitchell shot through from Sydney for an exploratory trip down the Bogan and Darling Rivers.

1836 - He who would not let a drop pass his lips, temperance campaigner John Tawell ordered *sob* 600 gallons (or for the metrically minded souls, 2,271 litres) of the good stuff rum *sob* to be emptied into Sydney Harbour. *sob*
Pickled herring was on the menu for many a month afterwards.

1845 - Thomas Mitchell poured out his heart to his diary that his expedition party ‘had followed the well-beaten paths of the natives during the whole of this day’s ride, and most anxious my guides and I to see them; but they avoided us’.

1856 - Determined not to let the South Oz populace enjoy their scarce spare time from hard work, an election was held for the very first South Oz parliament.

1857 - Hobart was ever-so-gently lit by gas light.
The sort of gas we tear farmland apart for...not the baked beans kind.

1870 - Maria Smith did the soft shoe shuffle as she shuffled off  this mortal coil today. You might know her better as Granny Smith who lent her moniker to an apple of a greenish hue.

1870 - Splish, splash I was takin' a bath.....Gympie's first recorded flood reached a height of 71 feet (21.64m).

1878 - Cyclones damaged the town of Cairns, Qld.

1880 - Newly created Pioneer Divisional Board (later Pioneer Shire Council) met for the first time.

1886 - The South Coast Railway Line (NSW) was opened all the way to Waterfall.

1886 - The Royal National Park Branch Railway Line (NSW) was opened all the way to...guess?! - The Royal National Park !

1902 - British New Guinea was passed, like a parcel, to Australia but the Govt played coy and didn't formally accept this little trinket until 1906.

1903 - Cyclone Leonta damaged Townsville, Qld, 10 died.

1909 - Blessing those who flew kites with keys in thunderstorms, the electric tram service began scooting around Adelaide.

1909 - The Endeavour, an Australian-built hydrographic survey vessel, was the Commonwealth’s first seagoing ship. Its research work included locating fishing grounds off the east coast and in the Great Australian Bight.

1910 - Mitchell Library, Sydney, opened.

1924 - Const James Flynn, NSW Police, was shot by an escaping prisoner.

1928 - The Armidale Teachers College, NSW, was established.

1928 - Sergeant Alexander Mark, WA Police, was shot in the line of duty.

1937 - Construction began on the University of Queensland buildings, St Lucia.

1940 - The coal strike went national.

1949 - The Council for Industry and Scientific Research (CSIR) was re-organised (don't you just love a good reorganisation?) and extended as the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

1951 - The High Court said Pig Iron Bob Menzies' Govts' Communist Party Dissolution Act was very naughty and suggested he should learn to share his toys.

1955 - The Powers That Be won again through general apathy and ceased the Hamilton to Balmoral (Vic) train passenger service.

1966 - Australia's immigration laws were relaxed to allow non-European residents to apply for citizenship after five years instead of 15 years.

1967 - Johnny Young headlined the 3CV Spectacular at the Capital Theatre, Bendigo.

1974 - Prince Philip and Earl Louis Mountbatten began a two-day visit to Darwin.

1974 - Changing their hemlines along with their title The Country Party became The National Party.

1979 - The right to six weeks of unpaid maternity leave was granted to Australia's working women by the Arbitration Commission.

1980 - The Lambda Radio CB Group held a Forum with speakers from community and business and the Anti-Discrimination Board at the Acceptance Centre 46 Oxford Street.

1982 - Enactment of Australia’s first Freedom of Information Act.

1982 - The Gay Rights Lobby (GRL) and the HLRC held a public meeting and reported on the results of lobbying against the Unsworth bill.

1984 - The title deeds for the Cummeragunja Reserve land passed to the Yorta Yorta people through the newly created Yorta Yorta Land Council. Today, many Aboriginal families reside on Cummeragunja.

1987 - The demon of homophobia was exorcised from Darlinghurst Police Station by the Sisters of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence before it was closed and incorporated into St Vincents Hospital.

1995 - Oh look, even more apathy saw another railway line shut for good with the closure of the Maffra to Stratford Junction (Vic) track.

1996 - A public rally was organised by the Aboriginal History Committee (AHC) to protest against the planned demolition of the historically significant Cyprus-Hellene Club building, the site of the 1938 Day of Mourning protest.

1997 - Cyclone Justin I. Large cyclone but stayed offshore. Mackay wave station recorded peak wave measurements at 8.45 meters. Some wind damage around the Whitsunday Group.

2000 - Telstra Dome was open for boring the pants off tourists aka business in the even bigger eyesore Docklands area, in some bizarre alternate reality Melbourne.

2001 - Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, an exhibition that covers 100 years of Lesbian, gay and transgender history in NSW opened in the Fountain Court of the NSW Parliament House.

2006 - Harry Seidler, the Austrian-born but beloved Aussie architect, passed into the great scale of beyond.

2006 - The Balranald Railway Line (NSW) was kicked off the Chrissy card list when it was closed from Caldwell to Moulamein.

2013 - Lodge Kirrawee commissioned an oil painting of Bungaree, to represent the Indigenous person on their crest, which was unveiled on this day with an Aboriginal smoking ceremony conducted by Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison and a welcome to country by Mr Bursill.

March 8 in events in Oz

1801 - Lt James Grant, having slapped together a simple renovator's delight cottage, sowed the first seeds of corn, wheat and a small flower garden on what he dubbed Churchill Island, Victoria.

1802 - Lt John Murray, having some free time and empty space in his back shed, took formal possession of the Port Phillip area.

1804 - Charles Hill , a freeman who participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion, was Hanged at Parramatta.

1804 - Samuel Hughs ,Convict who participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion, was Hanged at Parramatta.

1804 - Samuel Hume , Convict, a principal and informant who participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion. Executed at Parramatta, then hung in chains (gibbeting).

1804 - John Place, Convict who participated in the Castle Hill Rebellion, was Hanged at Parramatta.

1827 - Whilst Cap. James Stirling and 18 others were poking about on the Swan River, having a good stickybeak near current-day Claisebrook they stumbled over 3 armed Noongar blokes... “they seemed angry at the invasion of their territory, and by their violent gestures gave him reason to rejoice at the space of water, which divided them from the boat."

1828 - Aussie Post, which wasn't Aussie Post at the time, released the first Aussie stamps, which were actually the first postal markings for the Sin-City aka Sydney area.

1830 - Mark Byfield was Hanged at Sydney for the theft of a silver watch.

1832 - Thomas Wood (alias Carberry) was Hanged for highway robbery outside Parramatta.

1837 - Governor Bourke liked Hoddle's doodles on the back of the envelope and approved the plans for the village he named Melbourne.

1840 - A mere 6.5 kms from Coleraine in Victoria, on Konongwootong Station at a spot titled The Hummocks (but renamed The Fighting Hills) a massacre of between 40 to 80 Konongwootong gundidj men, women and children took place by three Whyte brothers and three employees in retaliation for Aboriginal women making off with some sheep.
Despite the relevant authorities being informed of the massacre no action was taken.

1875 - There was a Royal Commission appointed to consider lighting and ventilation of the Victorian Legislative Assembly chamber, possibly due to the ginormous amount of hot air being percolated within.

1894 - The Melbourne CBD was all sparkly and glittery when it was lit up with electricity for the first time from the Melbourne City Council generators.

1895 - Another amazing episode in *drumroll* "When Victorian Railway Networks Were Extended" *cue dramatic music*
An extra 77 kms of track was rolled out between Wycheproof and Sea Lake.

1905 - Const 1/C William Justin, NSW Police, died in a horse riding accident whilst on patrol.

1921 - Well, bugger the orchids up the garden wall and over the other side, yet another railway line was extended when Manangatang to Annuello line grewed an extra 24 kms.

1925 – Melbourne's first commercial ratio station, 3UZ, began broadcasting.

1965 - QANTAS flapped its arms really hard and made the first non-pit-stop commercial flight from USA to Oz.

1966 - The Oz Govt announced it would triple the number of troops in Vietnam.

1973 – The Whiskey Au Go Go fire occurred in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, 15 of the club's patrons were killed.

1975 - Crickey, watch out - us sheilas are rioting in the kitchens again.
Today saw the first edition of ABC Radio's The Coming Out Ready Or Not Show. Later shortened to The Coming Out Show, it was the first radio program to concentrate exclusively on women's issues and feminist politics.

1976 - Darwin Motor Vehicle Registry commenced business in a new building on Goyder Road.

1983 - This day was the official end of the blockade of the proposed Franklin Dam construction site which had drawn huge media attention around the world; involving much debate in both Tassie and Federal Parliaments the dam was never going to fly with the huge volume of destruction of natural wilderness it entailed.
The damming of Tasmania's Lake Pedder had shown us how natural beauty would be lost forever.

1989 - An exhibition of artworks by the late Michael Horne were held at the Oaklands Gallery, 55 Ross Street, Glebe.

1989 - John Howard was kicked to the kerb as leader of the Liberal Party.

1989 - A meeting at the Heffron Hall, Darlinghurst expressed a need for a gay and lesbian community centre and for SGLMG to investigate how it will be set up and operated.

1989 - Panels from Victoria were added to the Australian AIDS Memorial Quilt and a ceremony was held in front of the new Parliament House. The Quilt is now 100 square metres.

1990 - Sergeant Rodney Desmond Evans, NT Police, died whilst on duty.

1998 - The Abattoirs Branch Railway Line (NSW) was opened.

2007 - At least two people were killed when a cyclone slammed into Australia's northwest coast, paralyzing mining operations and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

2014 - Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 fell off radar screens less than an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing. 

The aircraft carried 239 people. 

2017 - The Aboriginal Heritage Project, led by the University of Adelaide’s Australian Centre for Ancient DNA published their findings in the journal Nature on this day indicated that cultural connection to country has existed for as many as 50,000 years.

2018 - The Australian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs held a public hearing regarding the inquiry into the proliferation of inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander style art and craft products, the focus being on protecting Indigenous cultural intellectual property.

2019 - To celebrate International Women's Day, the National Centre of Biography, Inside Story and the Canberra Times have published obituaries of 28 Australian women whose achievements have been forgotten over the passage of time. You can read them HERE 

2020 - The Australian Museum marked IWD by announcing a $5,000 sponsorship for scientific illustration to remember the work of Harriet and Helena Scott.

March 7 in Oz history

1791 - Mrs. Elizabeth Macarthur wrote in a letter to gal pal Bridget Kingdon,"Mrs. Coleby, whose name is Daringa, brought in a new born female infant of hers, for me to see … it was wrapp’d up in the soft bark of a Tree, a Specimen of which I have preserved, it is a kind of Mantle not much known in England, I fancy. I order’d something for the poor Woman to Eat, and had her taken proper care of for some little while, when she first presented herself to me she appear'd feeble and faint, she has since been regular in her visits. The Child thrives remarkably well and I discover a softness and gentleness of Manners in Daringa truly interesting."
Coleby or Colebee was a leading Aboriginal of Sydney and was captured along with Bennelong by Cap. Phillips although Colebee later escaped, while Elizabeth Macarthur was the real power behind the throne of the infamous Merino sheep.

1817 - The Bible Society of NSW was formed in Sydney.

1826 - Duncan McCallum was Hanged at Sydney for robbery at South Creek.

1826 - Peter Roberts was Hanged at Sydney for robbery at South Creek.

1826 - William Patient was Hanged at Sydney for robbery at South Creek.

1826 - William Morrison was Hanged at Sydney for robbery at South Creek.

1831 - Control of the King Georges Sound settlement was transferred from NSW to WA.

1832 - The first issue of the Government Gazette was published in Sydney as part of the Sydney Gazette.

1833 - John Bowen was Hanged at Sydney for burglary and putting in fear at Inverary.

1836 - Doodling in the back of an envelope with his pencils Robert Hoddle laid out the streets of Melbourne 1.5 chains wide (30 mts) with each block of land 10 chains wide.

1837 - George Capsey was Hanged at Sydney for the robbery and assault of Henry Jarvis near Berrima.

1857 - The Seabelle was a ship that left Rockhampton on this day only to be wrecked off Fraser Island the next day; rumours ran rife in the following years that a white woman and 2 white girls were seen living with the Fraser Island Aboriginal people so the NSW authorities had a word to a ships captain to have a look-see ...
The captain brought back two young girls who were placed in an institution, never to be returned to their parents as he'd promised, and both died at an early age.

1860 - Lieutenant Carr and his troopers of the Native Police shot dead 15 Aboriginals at Bendemere just north of Yuleba. Carr had tracked down and surrounded their camp containing around 100 people because the local squatter, William Sim, complained that they were "annoying the shepherds and demanding rations." Upon seeing the troopers they threw their nulla-nullas at them, to which Carr responded with sustained gunfire for over an hour.

1870 - Gee Lee was Hanged at Toowoomba Gaol for the murder of Louis Vernon at Caroline sheep station on the Burenda run, in the Warrego district.

1870 - Jacky Whitton was Hanged at Toowoomba Gaol for the rape of Henrietta Reiss at Bodumba station near Warwick.

1881 - A Victorian Royal Commission looking into this problem of the Kelly Gang outbreak and the state of the police force began asking questions and probably didn't like the answers they were given.

1882 - The north west of Western Australia was hit by a major cyclone which caused damage to the towns of Cossack and Roebourne.

1883 - NSW Premier Henry Parkes threatened to limit Irish migration to NSW if Irish people did not stop transplanting their old world animosities to the new.

1891 - The Toronto Branch Railway Line (NSW) was opened.

1894 - A Victorian Royal Commission looking into the water supply problem was established...obviously we're still waiting to hear the results!

1894 - South Australia won the 2nd Sheffield Shield cricket competition.

1896 - Victoria passed legislation that opened the way for Federation.

1896 -Japan opened its first consulate in Australia, in Townsville, Qld.

1907 - A fire at the Elwood tram depot destroyed the entire Victoria Railways tram fleet of 17 cars.

1911 - Alexander Smart was Hanged for the murder of Ethel May Harris at 5 Cowle Street, West Perth.

1921 - The Commonwealth Department of Health was formed. It took over the quarantine service of the Department of Trade and Customs, the Australian Institute of Tropical Medicine and the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories. It also became responsible for national health functions such as the treatment of infectious diseases in returned soldiers.

1936 - A short-lived experiment involved the exclusive use of six Tait carriages on a special train running from Flinders Street to Port Melbourne, to meet passengers off international ships. Called The Boat Train, the first run departed Flinders Street station at 9:10am for Station Pier, to meet the Italian liner Esquilino. The return trip departed station pier at 10:15am.

1954 - The Sydney Morning Herald reported about a new souvenir craze that saw people plopping pennies onto the railway tracks ahead of the Royal Train of Queen Elizabeth II during her Royal Tour Down Under in order to flatten the coins to create a very unique momento.

1958 - BHP and the South Australian Government agreed on the establishment of a steel plant and rolling mills at Whyalla, SA.

1959 - Chickybabes were doin' it for themselves when Jessie Cooper and Joyce Steele were the first gals elected to the South Oz Parliament.

1961 - Const. Kenneth Flatt, WA Police, died whilst on duty.

1965 - The Qantas Boeing 707 passenger jet 'City of Townsville' completed the first continuous flight across the Pacific. It roughly followed the course taken 37 years earlier by Charles Kingsford Smith in Southern Cross.
The 'City of Townsville' was later purchased by actor John Travolta.

1966 - The Arbitration Court, at long last, finally awarded equal pay to NT Aboriginal Pastoral workers BUT it was to be phased in over a three year period and came with the exemptions that Aboriginal employees could be classed as "slow workers".

1966 - The first academic year at Flinders University, South Oz, began with the enrolments of 382 first year under graduates and 35 graduate students.

1973 - The headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation in Melbourne were raided by police led by the Attorney-General, Lionel Murphy.

1975 - The Australian Film Commission was established.

1976 - Forbes House, in Makerston Street, Brisbane was purchased and converted into Queensland Police Headquarters and officially opened on this day.

1977 - QEII and Prince Phil started touring all over Or-stray-lia, but without the caravan and boat, to celebrate Liz's Silver Jubilee year.

1979 - The Peak Branch Railway Line (NSW) was closed.

1989 - Larry Kramer’s play The Normal Heart opened for a season directed by Wayne Harrison and starring John O’May and Graham Harvey.

1994 - Over 1/2 million people took part in the 5th Clean Up Australia Day.

1997 - In Australia it was disclosed that the reputed Aboriginal painter Eddie Burrup was actually 82-year-old Elizabeth Durack.

1998 - Entry to the work of lesbian photographer depicting a group of queer women performers, was restricted by the Stills Gallery.

2000 - The Aussie Federation Guard was pupped at Parliament House in Canberra today.

2008 - Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a protest ship harassing Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, said he was shot in a high-seas clash and his crew members pelted with flash grenades, injuring one. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Japanese officials insisted only warning devices were fired.

2009 - Nations United was the theme for the Mardi Gras.

2010 - A severe storm that began its rumblings on March 6th and continued on its merry way on this day saw thunderbolts and lightning (very, very frightening) with large hail stones, flash flooding and a slightly dampish start to Autumn all over Melbourne.
Who could forget the hail that broke the roof of So Cross station and piled up like snow drifts on the platforms, the flooded city line of Hawksburn Station et el, or the streets of Melbourne becoming the new Olympic swimming training facility?!

2015 - That years Mardi Gras in Sydney saw the theme of Passion adopted.

6th day of March in history in Oz.

1784 - Poor old John Hamilton Irving thought his life had come to an end as he was convicted of larceny (and him a surgeon, no less!) and sentenced to 7 years over the briny blue sea but later became Australia's very first emancipist.

1788 - Captain Phillip sent Lt Philip Gidley King off on a 3 hour cruise to settle Norfolk Island as a resort to begin the flax and timber industry which failed so badly that Gidley King began his career as a pole dancer on one of those Norfolk Island pines much to the disgust of the locals.

1812 - Methodism was birthed in the Fair Land of Oz on this day when 3 men attended a meeting; a schoolteacher, a soldier and a convict (walked into a bar....).

1818 - Charles Throsby, James Meehan, Hamilton Hume et al. set out from Camden to find an overland route to Jervis Bay.

1819 - William Gore was imprisoned for debt and suspended as Provost-Marshal with John Thomas Campbell appointed in his place.

1826 - John Burke was Hanged at Sydney for the murder of John Cogan at Mulgoa.

1826 - William Corbett was Hanged at Sydney for highway robbery on the Great Western Road.

1836 - HMS Beagle and Charlie Darwin reached King George's Sound, Australia.

1837 - Hobart had its first legit theatre the Theatre Royal , as opposed to the puppet shows in the lean-to out the back of Aunty Maggie's wash house, in Campbell St.

1840 - Alexander Maconochie became superintendent at Norfolk Island.

1879 - A rabbit plague, previously confined to Victoria, spread into New South Wales. Rabbits were first released 20 years earlier near Geelong on the property of god-damn-you-Thomas Austin.

1883 - A public meeting, where spleens were vented with great gusto, took place in the Protestant Hall in Sydney to rant protest at the Irish National League Reps in Oz.

1891 - Members of a Royal Commission, who were in that neck of the woods to eyeball the environs for a railway, were caught in the deluge at Hawker which flooded Birdsville, Innamincka and Clayton.

1894 - The railway line from Beulah to Hopetoun (Vic) opened. The railway construction was started as a private line by E.H.Lascelles to service his growing (planned) town of Hopetoun but due to the economic depression of that decade it was taken over and completed by the Government-owned Victoria Railways.

1899 - The Wanganui Herald announced that, instead of remaining as 5 pettifogging provinces Australia had finally pulled their digit out and decided to Federate!
Yet the pettifogging remains to this day...

1912 - A general strike in Brisbane, which had lasted five weeks, ended today.

1919 - The sad, miserable remains of an Aussie soldier's water bottle was found on this day at Lone Pine by the Australian Historical Mission.

1919 - The War Service Homes Act of 1918 became operative.

1922 - The Yanco - Griffith Railway Line (NSW) was opened.

1931 - Holden Motor Bodies Ltd merged with General Motors Aust. Ltd.

1944 - The advanced party of No. 19 Replenishing Centre moved from sub depot No. 4 Clarence to its new location at Talmoi and by 13 March 1944 the unit had occupied the new site.

1963 - Moe went from doing the Ugg boot shuffle to becoming a City.

1963 - The first Lifeline Centre commenced operation from its premises in Sydney at 5pm.

1965 - Labor won power in South Australian for the first time in 32 years. Labour leader Frank Walsh became Premier, replacing Liberal leader Sir Thomas Playford, Australia's longest-serving premier, who had held office for 26 years, 4 months.

1966 - Holt announced that the Australian commitment in South Vietnam would be Increased to a 4350-man task force, and would include conscripts.
The 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) included two infantry battalions, a Special Air Service squadron, combat and support logistic units and eight RAAF Iroquois helicopters (9 SQN).
The Task Force would be supported by 1 Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG) to be established at Vung Tau. For the first time, national servicemen would be sent to South Vietnam.

1970 - Marine scientists warned that the Great Barrier Reef was being severely damaged by a massive explosion in the population of the coral-eating Crown Of Thorns starfish....but don't worry the dredging spoil will take care of those slippery lil suckers.

1975 - A UFO was eyeballed at 4.30am at Lake Sorrel in Tassie with another sighted later that night on the same day in Sydney.

1985 - Sydney Gay Mardi Gras Festival: "Art Exhibition" opened at The Print Source Gallery, Darlinghurst.

1986 - Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced his Government would not proceed with legislation for national land rights.

1987 - At a not defined date in March the rural newspaper The Land refused to accept an advertisement for Country Network, a gay support group saying that it was “not in keeping with The Land General Conditions”.
Yeah, cos those home-Oh!-sex-you-alls are not allowed beyond the city limits into the country.

1993 - International Women's Day saw "Women's Rights Are On The Line." with a march from the
Parliament Steps, followed by a Festival at Lincoln Institute, and a dance that evening at the North Melbourne Town Hall.
3CR celebrated Labour Day Weekend and International Women's Day with a 3-day live broadcast from the Brunswick Pool.

1994 - A petition signed by 90 Federal MPs in an effort to re-schedule the ABC telecast of the SGLMG parade was an epic fail, and the telecast went ahead capturing 45% of the Sydney TV audience.

2001 - The latest issue of the GLBTQ weekly, G, was shrouded in controversy as the editor and staff ceased working and there was a rumoured break between the publisher and the investor.

2003 - The Kinchela Boys Home State Dinner was held at NSW Parliament House.

2004 - The theme for Mardi Gras that year was Metamorphosis.
Monica Hingston, the lesbian cousin of Catholic Archbishop George Pell and partner Peg Moran were the Chiefs of Parade.
130 floats are cheered on by 250,000 spectators in persistent rain at that year’s Mardi Gras parade. 17,000 attended the post parade party.

2004 - Prime Minister John Howard in a talk-back radio interview spoke out against adoption rights for same sex couples.
Pfft.

2006 - PM John Howard in New Delhi said Australia will consider selling uranium to India if it is convinced about New Delhi's commitment to follow global nuclear safeguards for its civilian atomic reactors.

2009 - Melbourne was shaken by a 4.7 earthquake on this day in 2009.
With a little notice we could have had the vodka in the glass.

2013 - The Council of the Australian War Memorial agreed to include all the names of ADF personnel killed in non-warlike service since 1947 (including peacekeeping operations) in the Roll of Honour. These people had previously only been included in the Remembrance Book.

2016 - The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was held on this date with the theme of Momentum.

2017 - Cyclone Blanche crossed the northern coast of Western Australia as a category two storm.

March 5 marching through Oz History

1803 - Australia's first fish and chip wrapper newspaper, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, was born, published by George Howe.

1804 - Castle hill, Parramatta and surrounding areas were declared a bogan paradise aka under martial law as The Battle of Castle Hill was fought between rebelling Irish convicts and NSW Corps.

1804 - Phillip Cunningham, the convict leader of the Castle Hill Rebellion was summarily hanged on the steps of the government storehouse at Greenhills (today's Windsor).

1823 - Drovers rejoiced at the news a droving road between Richmond and Newcastle was open for business.

1824 - The heavy hand of the law arrived in the form of the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Francis Forbes.

1829 - The last survivor and mutineer of the Bounty mutiny, John Adams, died aged 62.

1832 - Patrick McGuire was Hanged at Sydney for the murder of fellow convict Matthew Gallagher at Moreton Bay.

1854 - The St Vincent de Paul Society was born.

1865 - At Wascoe's Inn in the Blue Mountains on his way to Sydney to seek redress for his dismissal from the NSW Police Force, Police Inspector Sir Frederick William Pottinger accidentally shot himself in the upper abdomen while boarding a moving coach, an injury from which he died the following month.

1868 - Six nurses trained by She Who Must Be Obeyed Flo Nightingale, including Lucy Osburn, set foot on Aussie soil, with Lucy Osburn credited with later founding Aussie nursing.

1875 - Victorian Premier Harry Lawson was pupped at Dunolly.

1883 - Palmerston Town Hall opened on Smith Street, Darwin.
Destroyed by Cyclone Tracy, now only the remains at both ends are visible.

1887 - During the Burketown cyclone, Sergeant John Ferguson’s wife kept a lamp burning in the window of the courthouse and her beacon drew many people to the refuge during the storm.

1922 - Train services from Flinders St to Oakleigh (Vic) were electrifying.

1922 - Train services were electrified from Caulfield to Glenhuntly (Vic).

1928 - The railway line from Fawkner to Somerton (Vic) reopened.

1954 - Today marks the date Percy Buttons, a street performer from Perth, popped his clogs. Percy was an acrobat who lived on the streets and earned a pound or 3 by entertaining the passing crowd with his tumbling skills.

1958 - Some 200,000 people attended a music festival in Elder Park (South Oz). The festival was staged to celebrate the visit of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The Queen arrived at the Park on a flower decorated barge. The official party viewed the proceedings from the Rotunda. The sound stage was filled with 1500 choristers, representing 144 choirs; there were 500 orchestral musicians and four pipe bands. As part of the evening's entertainment a pageant of decorated boats passed down the lake, amongst them a swan chariot, golden carriage, river steamer, gondolas and a royal crown.

1958 - The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Woodville (South Oz) was officially opened by the Queen Mother who unveiled a portrait of Queen Elizabeth in the foyer.

1970 - A small group from the Humanist Society and the Council of Civil Liberties attempted to form a Homosexual Law Reform Committee.

1972 - The last Australian logistic units left Vung Tau and Australia’s commitment in South Vietnam returned to a training role with the 150-man Australian Assistance Group, Vietnam (AAAGV) and the AATTV.

1975 - TV host Graham Kennedy performed his infamous "crow call" during a live advertising segment on his night-time variety show (Faaaaaaaaaaark). The incident resulted in a flood of complaints and outraged newspaper headlines. After the complaints were investigated by the Broadcasting Control Board, Kennedy was banned from appearing live on TV for an indefinite period. He quit the Nine Network soon after over the network's censorship of criticisms he made of Media Minister Doug McClelland's lack of support for stronger Australian content regulations.

1983 – The ALP, with Bob Hawke as leader won with one of the biggest parliamentary majorities in Australian political history.

1986 - The NSW Anti-Discrimination Board’s conciliation officer, Greg Tillett was elected ACON President, replacing foundation president, Lex Watson.

1987 - The inaugural Police and Neighbourhood Watch Liaison Committee meeting took place at William Street Headquarters, co­chaired by Chief Commissioner S.I. Miller and NHW State Committee Chairman Tom Newman .

1989 - The Australian AIDS Memorial quilt was hung as a backdrop for the AIDS Trust Stars of the Australian Opera benefit.

1990 - The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission began work. It was the result of a merger between the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Aboriginal Development Commission.

1994 - Sydney's Mardi Gras was frothy and frilly to the theme We Are Family.
Among the events were ‘Pride and Prejudice’, the first gay and lesbian exhibition held at the Australian Museum; and ‘Looking Good’, the first Aboriginal gay and lesbian visual arts exhibition, held at Boomalli Aboriginal Artists’ Co-op.

1995 - An Australian yacht broke in two and sank in heavy wind and fierce winds off the Southern California coast, the first sinking in the history of America's Cup racing; all 17 crew members were rescued.

1995 - The ABC telecast the coverage of the SGLMG parade on Sunday. It included personalities, Julian Clary, Elle McFeast and Julie McCrossin.

2004 - Hybrid Cyclone caused waves to 14.2metres that were recorded off Stradbroke Island. Severe flooding from Sunshine Coast through Brisbane to Gold Coast.

2005 - Prince Charlie began a tour of The Shaky Isles with the most *shocking* incident to happen was when 2 brazen hussies were uneconomical with themselves and bared their boobs at him in protest after a mis-reported objection by the Prince to a topless Aboriginal dance across The Ditch in Oz.

2005 - No nekkid ladies or lads at the Sydney Mardi Gras even if the theme was Our Freedom, Your Freedom.

2008 - Australia cancelled a one billion dollar (930 million US) contract for US-made Seasprite helicopters following a review of the troubled project.

2011 - Hundreds of thousands of revelers crammed inner Sydney streets for one of the world's premier gay and lesbian parades, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which was themed Say Something.

2012 - New South Wales officials said Muslim women will have to remove veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under the latest laws giving state officials authority to look under religious and other face coverings.

2012 - Today was the earliest date couples could legally recognise their partnership in Queensland, as the Civil Partnerships Act 2011 came into effect the previous month.

2016 - Sergeant Geoffrey Richardson, NSW Police, died whilst on duty.

March 4th galloping through this day in Oz history

1804 - Irish convicts at Castle Hill weren't happy campers so over 200 of them launched a full-scale rebellion that became known as Australia's Vinegar Hill.Yep, that'll do it!

1821 - Stable your shanks' pony Mavis, a stage coach began plying its trade between Sydney and Richmond.

1824 - Thomas Harley was Hanged at Sydney for returning from Port Macquarie in defiance of his commuted sentence. Originally sentenced to death in 1822 for burglary from the house of Robert Campbell in George St.

1825 - Due to overwhelming popularity another holiday resort...er, penal settlement was begun on the picturesque isolated Maria Island in Tassie.

1831 – James Stirling was fashioned, frocked and commissioned as Governor of Western Australia, rectifying the absence of a legal instrument providing the authority detailed in Stirling's Instructions of 30 December 1828.

1836 - John Whitehead was Hanged at Sydney for highway robbery at Lane Cove.

1836 - John Hare was Hanged at Sydney for the attempted murder of Major William Elrington at Bathurst.

1836 - John Treish (aka Frisk, Fish, Trish, Frish) was Hanged at Sydney for highway robbery at Lane Cove.

1836 - John Smith was Hanged at Sydney for burglary in the Hunter Valley.

1837 - The native fauna packed its collective pouch and ambled off into the bush as Yass was gazetted for a town.

1837 - The Guv, Sir Richard Bourke, popped down for a gander at the Port Phillip District and Melbourne on a bus-mans holiday.

1853 - The Mary Anne became the first steamship plying the muddy waters of the Murray River.

1864 - Daniel Mannix, the institution who was Archbishop of Melbourne for 46 years and one of the most influential figures of his time, was pupped.

1867 - Having another party away from the womenfolk aka inter-colonial conference in Melbourne, the boys decided on a common postal service and called for more jugs of beer the establishment of a Federal Council.

1868 - The Polynesian Labourers Act was passed with the breakfast prunes in Qld to control *ahem* recruitment of Kanakas aka "blackbirding".

1873 - The Main Western Railway Line (NSW) was opened.

1885 - The Bombala Railway Line (NSW) was opened from Tarago to Bungendore.

1896 - Again with the ugly bits - The Premier's at a conference left their racist shirts hanging out when they agreed to all colonies restricting immigration of coloured people ( those who weren't lily-white enough to pass muster) and amend the Anti-Chinese legislation they'd already put in place.

1899 – Cyclone Mahina hit Bathurst Bay on the Cape York Peninsula killing 410 people.
A nine-metre tidal surge left dead "porpoises" on clifftops, thrown there by the heavy swells.
It destroyed dozens of boats in local pearling fleets, killing about 100 sailors and crew members.
There was a massive tidal surge, flooding the region and causing another 307 known fatalities on land.

1938 - After a long while between drinks - 8 years to be exact- assisted British immigration was back to full steam ahead.

1954 - History was made when QE2 climbed aboard the Royal Train at Spencer Street Station, Melbourne, and began tootling all over Victoria to places far and wide...some of which no longer have a train station or even remember having had one tethered in the main street.

1957 - Those Powers That Be were back to sticking noses into pies that didn't concern them, IE closing down railway lines vitally needed by the public.
This time it was the Birregurra to Forrest line that copped it in the neck.

1970 - Three armed bandits committed the largest payroll robbery in Australian history, stealing $587,980 from a Mayne Nickless security van at a Guildford, NSW, shopping centre.

1978 - That gorgeous tall ship project I wouldn't mind pottering about with in my bath, the Polly Woodside, officially opened on the southern side of the Yarra River.

1978 - The Australian Weekend ran articles on "The New Homosexual".

1981 - Paspalis Centrepoint on Smith Street, Darwin, was opened by the Chief Minister Paul Everingham.

1983 - A party at Club 80 raises $4,000 towards the Legal defence fund (as a result of police raids the previous month).

1989 - The first elections were held in the recently independent Australian Capital Territory.
Finally! Those living in the national capital could actually vote!

1995 - Rains kept crowds to 150,000 for the 18th SGLMG Parade, but 4,000 with 140 entries march to the Showgrounds where 20,000 party which was described as the best one ever.
The theme was Fairy Tales & Lesbian Legends.

1996 - A little slow from the starting blocks but we're starting to catch up - County Court Judge Rosemary Balmford became the first female Supreme Court Judge in Victoria.

2000 - 7,200 marchers, 200 floats and 600,000 spectators took part or watched the 23rd Mardi Gras parade. At the party there was a women’s and a men’s tent and a cabaret featuring such performers as Samantha Leith, Joyleen Hairmouth and Tina C.
That years theme was 2000gether.

2001 - Lucille Balls, the multi orbed dress designed by Ron Muncaster formed part of the Eternity exhibition at the National Museum of Australia.

2002 - The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Coolum (Queensland) established a three-person committee to work with the Commonwealth Secretary-General to determine the appropriate Commonwealth responses to Zimbabwe’s democratic shortcomings. John Howard was one of the three members of the committee, along with the Presidents of Nigeria and South Africa.

2004 - Federal health minister, Tony Abbott failed to appoint any HIV community representatives to the new Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS and sexual health.

2006 - The Oh So Fabulous Mardi Gras pranced its way through the streets to the theme of Dance · Love · Radiate.

2008 - An Australian aquaculture company claimed a world first in artificially breeding endangered southern bluefin tuna.

2017 - Sydney Mardi Gras was celebrated to the theme of Creating Equality.
And, by Goddess, didn't we FINALLY get that equality!

March 3rd all day til midnight

1772 - French explorer, Capt. Marion du Fresne of the Mascarin and Marquis de Castries, sights Van Diemen’s Land where a party goes ashore, one Aboriginal is shot and killed, others wounded.

1799 - Torrential rains broke the drought with the Hawkesbury River busting its banks and flooding the grain stores.
Typical; either feast or famine with the water in Oz!

1816 - Not liking the cut of their jib, Aboriginal people killed off 4 white settlers near the Nepean River, NSW.

1818 - Hamilton Hume and James Meehan set out to find an overland route from Sydney to Jervis Bay.

1827 - Having something to say and determined to be heard G.T Howe started publishing the Tasmanian newspaper in Hobart.

1828 - Several deaths from whooping cough occurred for the first time in Sydney including the death of Gov Ralph Darling's son.

1837 Rejecting syphilitic John Batman and the names Batmania and Bearbrass (goodness knows why?!) the powers that were curried favour when The City of Melbourne was named after William Lamb, British Prime Minister and second Viscount Melbourne.
Sidenote-Melbourne in Florida, USA was named in a competition by a former Melbournian after Melbourne, Australia.

1840 - The first race at Flemington was off and racing.

1840 - The first sale of wool by auction in Australia was held in South Australia on this day.

1842 - On the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria Street (the site of the then Melbourne Cattle Market in fact but better known as The Queen Vic Market) the fledgling The Agricultural and Pastoral Society of Australia Felix held its first show.....which was deemed a failure due to the lack of resources in such a young colony and another event was not held until 6 years later when farmers ran amok with ploughing races on the banks of the Moonee Ponds Creek.

1854 - Australia's first telegraph line was opened.

1869 - William Lanne, supposedly the last Tasmanian Aboriginal male, died on this day. His death sparked a scramble for his remains and his body was mutilated in the morgue prior to burial.

1876 - Dockworkers in sunny Qld were granted an 8 hour work day so they could spend more time (fishing, surfing and playing beach cricket) with the family.

1885 - A contingent from NSW to fight in the Sudan departed from Sydney.

1891 - Ah Chi alias Li Ki Hong, Chinese, murdered Ah Gin, Chinese, at Daliak, York.

1891 - "One people, One destiny" was adopted as the slogan for the call for Federation by the National Australasian Convention in Sydney.

1897 - A liquor licence was granted to the Renmark Hotel and it became the first community owned hotel in the Commonwealth and was administered by a trust.

1911 - Feeling like a change of pace, Palmerston became known as Darwin.

1933 - A major national cancer conference warned that people should stay out of the sun or wear some kind of protection if they had to be out in it.

1934 - Bondi Surf Club opened a new Clubhouse opened in style.

1942 - A Japanese destroyer shelled Direction Island in the Cocos group of islands.

1942 - Broome, in Westralia, was bombed by Japanese aircraft , which resulted in many of the women and children being evacuated from the town, then the Japanese went on to bomb Wyndham.

1942 - A DC-3 took off from Java transporting civilians being evacuated and a box of diamonds. This DC-3 arrived over Australia during the Japanese air raid on Broom where it was hit by gunfire and the port engine was set on fire. During the attack two of the passengers died from bullet wounds. The damaged DC-3 force landed intact on the beach at the north side of Carnot Bay, roughly 60 miles north of Broom.

1943 - A Soviet embassy was established in Canberra and an Australian diplomat was posted to Moscow.

1945 - HMS Illustrious became the first ship to use the newly completed Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island Naval Base, Sydney, NSW.

1946 - Eight died in flooding across north Queensland.

1949 - Aboriginal People gained the right to vote in Commonwealth elections...but only if their state/territory laws allowed it or if they were returned servicemen.
To be seen to be doing a great deal when there's bugger all being delivered at all.

1949 - Harold Blair, Aboriginal activist and marvellously talented tenor, announced his engagement to Dorothy Eden. They met at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music where both were taking singing lessons.

1950 - Qantas Empire Airways commenced a Sydney - Tokyo commercial air service.

1954 - Australia claimed the Australian Antarctic Territory via a 2 shilling blue stamp based on a photo taken on this date.

1966 - Gough Whitlam narrowly survived an attempt by the executive to expel him from the Labor Party after he criticised the Federal Executive over its opposition to government funding for church schools.

1967 - Liza Minnelli got hitched to Aussie singer Peter Allen.

1969 - 103 years of Morse Code on Victorian Railways came to an end with the final Morse Code transmission from Mildura to Melbourne on this day.
Message was probably something like "milk and two sugars stop and a couple of bikkies please stop ohhh some of that home made midera tea cake would go down a treat stop a foot rub would be nice, too stop I don't suppose your mother made scones again did she? stop jam and whipped cream would be delish stop hello? hello? HELLO????".

1971 - In Darwin the T&G Building on Smith Street was officially opened by the Hon H.C. Chaney CBE AFC.

1976 - Senior Const. Kevin John Laube, Victoria Police, died whilst on duty.

1978 - Former Governor-General Sir John Robert Kerr resigned from his new appointment as Australia's ambassador to UNESCO in Paris on the day he was supposed to have taken up the post. The resignation followed an outburst of public disapproval over the appointment.

1983 - The Socialist Homosexual Conference Planning Collective was first listed at Surrey Hills, NSW.

1983 - The Commonwealth Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment announced payments to twenty scuba divers for recognition of the help they provided towards protection of Australian maritime heritage.

1990 - The Bombala Railway Line (NSW) was closed.

1990 - Gay & Lesbian Rights Lobby organised a march to protest against the rise of anti-gay violence

1997 - The Holiday Inn opened on The Esplanade in Darwin.

2001 - The Sydney Mardi Gras was dancing through the streets to the theme of Out There, Everywhere.
The lead float was titled Behind the Pink Picket Fence and was intended to send a strong political message about gay and lesbian parents and their children.

2006 - The NSW Supreme Court approved an out-of-court settlement offer made by the Immigration Department to the family of Shayan Badraie, a five-year-old boy who was detained for one year in Woomera and six months in Villawood between 2000 and 2002, resulting in severe psychological trauma. A $400,000 compensation payout was made for the psychological harm he suffered.

2007 - Sydney's Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras was shimmering in style, the theme was Objects of Love.

2008 - A new study by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinic Research estimated that HIV infection rates could rise 73 percent in Victoria and 20 percent in Queensland by 2015 if current trends continued. Rates in New South Wales were predicted to decline.

2010 - ACON calls on the Government to introduce rapid testing for HIV following disturbing survey results from a study in Queensland which showed that there are still a proportion of men who remain unaware that they have contracted the virus.

2012 - Mardi Gras in Sydney was adored near and far to the theme of Infinite Love.

2012 - Thousands of Australians were ordered to evacuate their homes in Sydney's northwest and elsewhere in New South Wales state as heavy rainfall flooded rivers and waterways.

2014 - The United Nations' highest court banned Australia from making any use of documents it seized from a lawyer working for East Timor in an arbitration case over a multibillion-dollar oil and gas deal between the two nations.

2015 - Ghillar Michael Anderson, leader of the Euahlayi people and ambassador of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, wrote an open letter to the United Nations in which he stated that the proposed closures of remote communities were to open up the land for mining.

2018 - HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!
40 years of Evolution