22 July Australian History

1802 He of the forever itchy feet, Captain Matthew Flinders, set sail yet again and charted the east coast of Oz, then the Gulf of Carpentaria, then a little further west , a bit more south and what do you know Bungaree had become the first Indigenous Aussie to circumnavigate the Fair Isle of Oz, bringing his mate Flinders along for funsies.

1870   A state flag of South Australia was adopted. Woot.

1888 The Derwent Valley Railway Line (Tas) was extended to Glenora in a mad, giddy rush of Gunzel Appreciation.

1900 Fred Lane, (better known as GOLD! winning Olympian Frederick Claude Vivian Lane) won 2 GOLD! medals whilst being the first Aussie to represent The Fair Isle of Oz in water sports.

1938   The Australian National War Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France was dedicated and opened by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth; Queen Elizabeth laid a small posy of poppies on the wreath laid by her husband, the King.

1979 ABC in Sydney and Melbourne presents the final instalment of multicultural television programs from the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).

1981 Victoria’s television stations were forced to be restricted to only 2 hours of programming between 6 and 8pm to curb power use across the state following a snap strike called by power workers in the Latrobe Valley.

1983  Aviator and business bloke Dick Smith puttered over the finishing line of the first solo around the world helicopter flight.

2010 ABC gaily launched ABC News 24, the first 24-hour free-to-air news channel in Australia. Party.

July 5 Australia History On This Day

1788 Governor Arthur Philip sent a despatch to the British Under-secretary of state cos Oz was turning spectacularly into Destination Fucked due to the lack of food. 
*We won't point out the obvious that they were surrounded by tucker*

1851 James Esmond made public the fact he'd tripped over a great lump of GOLD! in Clunes, Victoria.

James Esmond

1881 New Zealand Parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act under which, having received Royal Assent, they then legislated a Poll Tax of £10 ($1,770 in todays money) on the-now restricted numbers of Chinese migrants.

1900 British Parliament passed the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.
This document set out guidelines for how the Federation would be founded, and how the laws and authorities of The Fair Isle of Oz would be created, and was given Royal Assent on 9 July 1900.

1902 Today Australia fielded a decent team, it seems, as Oz won the only Test they played at Sheffield against England.

1905 Alfred Deakin had a blank spot on his dance card so tossed his hat into the ring for a second turn as PM.

1945 John Curtin had a nasty mischief; he popped his clogs in office.

John Curtin

1957 Lew Hoad won the Men Singles at Wimbledon when he beat fellow Aussie Ashley Cooper.

1967 New Zealand banks were closed today for bank staff to convert their records in readiness of the currency changing from Pounds and Pence to Dollars and Cents.

1968 Rod Laver won the Wimbledon Mens Singles against fellow Aussie Tony Roche.

1969 Rod was back at the scene of the crime when he won against Aussie John Newcomb.

1971 Two hundred protesters demonstrated at Sydney Town Hall against a reception for the ‘Springboks’.

1972 Commonwealth police raided the ABC TV studios at Gore Hill Sydney thirty minutes after underground draft resister (and DRU Secretary) Peter Galvin was interviewed on This Day Tonight.

1980 Evonne Goolagong Cawley beat Chris Evert for the Womens Singles at Wimbledon. 

Evonne Goolagong-Cawley

1981 Jan Stephenson waltzed off with the crown for the du Maurier Golf Classic. 

1987 Pat Cash , despite the 80s big hair, managed to win the Men Singles title at Wimbledon. 

2003 A memorial was dedicated on this day at Gordon, 4.3 km from the crash site of a DC-3 airliner in the Kaimai Range, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. All 23 passengers and crew were killed in what still remains the worst air crash within New Zealand. 

SOURCES

Ballarat Gold Rush 

Labour History Timeline

When a grave digger is left to his own devices... 1936

 ...he, or rather, this one in particular, had a novel idea to solve the pesky problem of uncovering previously interred bodies when digging new graves - evict the original residents into a nearby mine shaft.

That harsh sound you hear are the sounds of thousands of genealogists heads exploding.

Source;
Bones In Old Mine Shaft

Skeleton for sale; slightly used by former bushranger or someone... 1929

 Came across this article which tickled my fancy.

A little investigation - very little - turned up this article which puts everything into place & perspective

Rocklea Hotel, Rocklea

Disappearance of Police Constable Thomas Ryan 1886

 Constable Thomas Ryan was a well-liked and very respected member of the White Hills area of Bendigo; he'd been in the police force for almost 30 years, having been similar back in Ireland from whence he came.

He was very familiar with the area, the mine shafts, river, creeks, water holes, yet the night of 6th January 1886 he vanished entirely.

Monster massive searches took place; he was held in high regard so many volunteered to help look for him.

Nothing was ever found, although there were several suspects none were arrested for lack of evidence.

Somewhere under White Hills Constable Thomas Ryan slumbers.

His wife, Johanna Ryan, passed barely 3 years later, never knowing what happened.

Further reading -

Bendigo Graves

Honor Roll

Find A Grave