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.

Tracker Alec Riley 1884 - 1970

 This absolute legend worked to bring criminals to justice but also to help find and/or recover those lost in the bush.

Sidenote - the movie One Night The Moon 2001 is based on him not being allowed to set foot onto a white fella's farm to help look for a missing child.

Tracker Riley spent long, arduous hours combing the bush for evidence when tracking criminals, and in the case of Mad Mossy (Narromine Murders 1939) he spent more than 12 months tracking, tracing and gathering evidence as to the multiple murders.

Reaching the rank of Sergeant in NSW police in 1941 was a first for any Indigenous person, in 1943 he was awarded the King's Police and Fire Services Medal for Distinguished Conduct.

Tracker Riley and his family lived at the Talbragar Reserve at Dubbo.

The movie Blacktracker 1996 is based on Tracker Alec Riley's life.

Further reading - 

Tracker Alec Riley biography