15 July Australian History

1851 – Charles La Trobe, aka Charley Joe, was appointed as first Lieutenant Governor of Victoria.Party!

Charles La Trobe

1912 – The first branch of the Commonwealth Bank opened. Party!

1915 The first group of NZ wounded soldiers returned from Gallipoli to Wellington, NZ on board the ship Willochra. 

1918 HMAT Barunga was travelling to Australia with 800 sick and wounded when it was torpedoed on this day. Destroyers were quickly on the scene to pick up survivors and saved all the ships crew.

1922 A zoo in USA, the Bronx Zoo, had taken delivery of a male platypus and it was first put on display to the public on this day. Party!

1940 The Volunteer Defence Force, composed mainly of World War I veterans, was formed for home defence by the Returned Services League. 

1942 The 2nd NZ Division captured Ruwiesat Ridge.

1964 Rupert Murdoch *hack* brought his new toy out to show off ; a new fish n chip wrapper called The Australian. Hmph.

1971 Today saw the introduction of the HQ Holden Kingswood! Party!

1977 Anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay vanished near Griffith, presumed murdered. 

1978 Today saw the biggest LGBT rights protest/demonstration to date with more than two thousand people in attendance.

1995  The Queensland state election partied itself into a hung Parliament, but with the support of independent Liz Cunningham the Coalition (Liberal Party & National Party) formed the Government in Queensland. 

2009 A Tsunami warning was issued at 7: 46 pm by the Bureau of Meteorology following an earthquake measuring 7.9 just off the NZ coast.

11 July Australian History

 

1858 The first completed stage of St Francis Xavier Cathedral, Adelaide, was consecrated today by Father Michael Ryan.

1867 The Main Western Railway Line (NSW) was gaily opened from Penrith to Blaxland Junction.

1877 Today Kate Edger became the first female Kiwi of the species to earn a university degree and the first gal of the British Empire to earn a Bachelor of Arts.

Kate Edger

1882 The Mungindi Railway Line (NSW) was opened today from Gunnedah to Boggabri

1979 Skylab, the first space station, crashed on through the atmosphere to land in parts of Western Australia.

1983 New Zealander Lorraine Downes was crowned Miss Universe; after a career in modelling, Lorraine competed in , and won, the second season of Dancing with The Stars in 2006 raising $112,000 for the Child Cancer Foundation.

1990  Sarah MacDiarmid, age 23, vanished from, and was likely murdered at Kananook railway station, Melbourne. The crime remains unsolved.

1997 Australians were evacuated from Phnom Penh following a bloody coup

1 July in Australian History

1797 - The first mob of Merino sheep were bundled up from the Cape of Good Hope, Africa, by a pair of clever clogs named Captain Henry Waterhouse and Lieutenant William Kent. Party!

1841 -  The Convict Assignment System was kicked to the kerb in favour of the new Probation Gang System. Party!

1841 - New Zealand separated from NSW. Party!

1851 - Victoria separated from NSW. Party!

1871 - The London Missionary Society, led by Reverend Samuel Macfarlane, arrived on Erub Island in what the Torres Strait Islanders call The Coming of The Light, which they celebrate each year on this date. Party!

1932 - The then-PM Joseph Lyons blessed into being the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). Party!

1945 - Unemployment Insurance was introduced for the first time to provide cash benefits for those unable to work due to sickness or accident.

1957 - Darwin-ites got gussied up to the nines in excitement of the very first voting for their very own Mayor and 12 councillors; He Who Won the right to wear The Mayoral Tiara was Lucius (Bill) Richardson. Party!

1970 - Melbourne Airport was magicked into being at Tullamarine. Which is named for Tullamareena, a senior Wurundjeri man, who was present at the signing of Batman's treaty, and who managed to burn down the original Melbourne Gaol (I'm not laughing, you're laughing).

1975 - Medibank was introduced; this was the earliest form of Medicare, (Australia) as we know it, which did not last long before the Whitlam Govt was dismissed and Fraser tinkered around with it.

1975 - Australia Post and Telecom Australia were pupped from the innards of the former Postmaster-General Dept.

1978 - The Top End aka the Northern Territory was deemed grown up enough to govern itself, and now celebrates this each year with Territory Day. Party!

Sources :

Portal: Australia/Anniversaries/July

Torres Strait History

Darwin History

Social Security Payments for the unemployed, the sick and those in special circumstances, 1942 - 2012: a chronology

On The Sheep's Back

Tullamareena's Escape