Redfern Railway Wreck - 31 October 1894



 

Redfern Railway Station, publ. by Kerry & Co., 1884-1906

The first train crash in NSW history resulting in double digit fatalities occurred on this day in 1894. In total 13 people were killed when a Goulburn bound train leaving Redfern station collided with an incoming local train from Strathfield at 9.30am. Among the dead was Edward Lloyd Jones, director of the David Jones department store, the world's oldest department store continously trading under it's original name.

The driver of the country train was charged with manslaughter for allegedly disobeying a stop signal. However, he maintained his innocence, claiming the signal had been set in his favour and was found not guilty by the jury. It was later determined that the accident occurred because of a number of factors including clocks being too fast, the signalman being unwell and a mistake occurring in the signaling.

Elsewhere in the world, Martin Luther pre-empted Facebook and used a church door to "post" his 95 theses on the "wall" (Wittenberg, 1517), Arthur Conan Doyle published "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1892), a world record heatwave of 160 consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures above 100F (37.8C) started in Marble Bar/Western Australia (1923), the Mount Rushmore Monument was finally completed after 14 years of construction (1941), Queen released "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975), Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated (1985), World Population hit 7 billion (2011).

Some famous birthdays of the day include the long time Leader of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-Shek (Fenghua/Zhejiang, 1887), German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton (Berlin, 1920), "Miss Ellie" Barbara Bel Geddes (New York, 1922), as well as the Italian Olympic swimmer [Helsinki, 1952 and Melbourne, 1956] and actor Carlo Pedersoli, better known as Bud Spencer (Naples, 1929). Amongst the deaths of the day is also the famous Hungarian-born magician Erik Weisz, aka Harry Houdini (Detroit/Michigan, 1926), who died of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix.

Declaration of a Desert Town - 30 October 1890

Following John McDouall Stuart's explorations between 1857 and 1862, the Overland Telegraph Line and camel train route through Northern South Australia led to the foundation of a township near the Simpson Desert, roughly 1000km North of Adelaide on this day in 1890.

Oodnadatta, derived from the aboriginal word "utnadata" (mulga blossom), became the terminus of the Great Northern Railway Line, later renamed "The Ghan", until the line was extended to Alice Springs in 1929. In 1981 the railway line was moved further West and since 2003 runs all the way North to Darwin.

Today the town is famous for the Oodnadatta Track, a popular 620km unsealed outback road between Marla on the Stuart Highway and Marree, where it connects with the Birdsville Track., which crosses two deserts and leads to southern Queensland. Oodnadatta has a population of just under 300, half of which are Aboriginal Australians, and survives mainly thanks to tourists travelling the track and mining nearby.

Elsewhere in the world, Henry VII of England, first of the Tudor dynasty, was crowned king (1485). Prince William of Denmark arrived in Athens to assume the Greek throne as King George I, 7 months after his election (1863), the city of Helena in Montana was founded after the discovery of gold (1864), the first successful kidney transplant was peformed (Edinburgh/UK, 1960), Europe and Asia were for the first time connected through the Bosporus Bridge (Istanbul/Turkey, 1973), Muhammad Ali and George Foreman battled it out in Kinshasa/Zaire during the "Rumble In The Jungle" (1974) and the rebuilt Frauenkirche was reconsecrated 60 years after its destruction during WW2 (Dresden/Germany, 2005).

Born on this day were, amongst others, John Adams, the 2nd US President (Braintree/Massachusetts, 1735), Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Moscow/Russia, 1821) and Diego "Hand-of-God" Maradona (Buenos Aires/Argentina, 1960).

30 Years on - The Chamberlain Dingo Mystery

On 29 October 1982 Lindy Chamberlain was convicted for the murder of her daughter Azaria in August 1980 at a campsite near Uluru. Her claims that a dingo had taken the baby were not believed and she was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dingo on Fraser Island, photo: Sam Fraser-Smith

All appeals remained fruitless until in 1986 pieces of Azaria's clothing were found in a dingo den inside the national park. Lindy was released from prison and later cleared of all charges against her. A final and fourth coronial inquest in June 2012 ruled that the baby's death was caused by a dingo and after 32 years the death certificate was amended accordingly.

Elsewhere in the world, Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" was performed for the first time in Prague, while the First Fleet was en route to Botany Bay (1787), the International Red Cross was formed in Geneva (1863), Ned Kelly was sentenced to hang in Melbourne (1880), after Egypt nationalised the Suez Canal, Israel invaded Sinai, starting the "Suez Crisis" (1956), Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, won his first professional fight (Louisville/Kentucky, 1960), the first computer-to-computer-link was established on ARPANET, the precursor to the internet (1969) and Meat Loaf released the "Bat Out Of Hell" (1977).

Henry III, aka Henry the Pious, Holy Roman Emperor, and King of Germany, Burgundy and Italy was born on this day 995 years ago. Also born on this day were Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels (1897), British blues rock guitarrist Peter Allen Greenbaum, aka Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac fame (London, 1946) and Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar (Voorhout/Netherlands, 1970).
Conradin, last member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, last Duke of Swabia, together with Frederick of Baden was executed on this day, just 16 years of age (Naples/Italy, 1268).

Massacre on the Murray River, WA - 28 October 1834

Some call it the "Battle of Pinjarra", which occurred in this place some 80km South of Perth in Western Australia on this day 178 years ago. Given the unbalanced distribution of weaponry and the outcome of this incident that choice of words can safely be regarded as playing down the actual events of the day.


Murray River near Pinjarra, Western Australia

After repeated calls by white settlers of the area for protection from local Aboriginals, Governor James Stirling led a group of 25 soldiers and settlers to attack an encampment of Pindjarrep people, who fled into the bush but were later ambushed at a river crossing of the Murray River. According to settler accounts, 1 soldier died, another was wounded and between 10-80 Aboriginals were killed, including women and children. Aboriginal oral tradition speaks of up to 150 casualities...

Elsewhere in the world, Harvard University was founded in Cambridge/Massachusetts (1638), the United Tribes of New Zealand declared independence (1835), St. Louis Police trialled a new investigation method: fingerprinting (1904), Czechoslovakia gained independence for the first time in 300 years (1918), Benito Mussolini took over the Italian government (1922), John XXIII got elected Pope (1958) and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced the withdrawal of Soviet nuclear installations in Cuba, thus bringing an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962).

Today's birthdays include Microsoft founder Bill Gates (Seattle/Washington, 1955), Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Aradan/Iran, 1957), Italian musician and songwriter Eros Ramazzotti (Rome/Italy, 1963) and US actress Julia Roberts (Atlanta/Georgia, 1967).
The English philosopher and Father of Classical Liberalism, John Locke, died in Essex on this day (1704).

Constantine's Vision of the Cross - 27 October 312

It was 1700 years ago today, that Constantine had a vision of christ's cross on the eve of the Battle of the Milvina Bridge in Rome. He had the Chi Rho monogramm added tro all shields before the battle.

Having fought "under the protection of the cross", he won the battle, gained control of the whole Roman Empire and subsequently paved the way for Christianity to spread throughout the empire and ultimately become the dominant religion in Europe. 
 
Elsewhere in the world, Amsterdam was founded on this day (1275), as was Philadelphia (1682), the first New York Subway line went into operation (1904) and the British carried out nuclear test Totem 2 in Emu Fields, South Australia (1953).

James Cook, the first European to discover Australia's East Coast was born in Marton (present day Middlesborough)/England (1728), 26th US President Theodore Rosevelt (New York City, 1858), John 'Basil Fawlty' Cleese (Weston-super-Mare/England, 1939) and the Oscar winning Italian actor and director Roberto Benigni (Manciano/Italy, 1952).
 

Rock Returned to Rightful Owners

On 26 October 1985, the world famous Central Australian monolith Uluru, aka Ayers Rock, was returned to the local Pitjantjatjara Aborigines, the Anangu, on condition that it would be leased back to the National Parks and Wildlife Services for 99 years under joint management.

The fist European to discover the rock was South Australian Surveyor William Gosse in 1873. He named it in honour of the then South Australian Premier Sir Henry Ayers, whereas the aboriginal name is believed to mean either "Great Pebble" or "Meeting Place". It is 348m high, measures over 9km in circumference and is visited by approximately half a million tourists each year. While it is not forbidden to climb the rock, "we prefer that, as a guest on Aṉangu land, you will choose to respect our law and culture by not climbing".  

Elsewhere in the world, Norway gained independence from Sweden (1905), the Battle of Leyte (Philippines) ended with a resounding American victory (1944), the first commercial Boeing 707 flew for PanAm from New York to Paris (1958), the last criminal in Western Australia was hanged (1964), British rock band Queen and David Bowie recorded  the hit single "Under Pressure" (Montreux/Switzerland, 1981) and Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty (1994).

Prominent birthdays on this day include former French president Francois Mitterand (Jarnac/France, 1916), current US Secretary of State and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton (Chicago/Illinois, 1947), Australian country music star (and Nicole Kidman's husband) Keith Urban (Whangarei/New Zealand, 1967) and the first Australian Idol winner Guy Sebastian (Selangor/Malaysia, 1980).

First European Setting Foot on Australia Westcoast

Cape Inscription, Dirk Hartog Island, W.A.

On 25 October 1616, Dutch Captain Dirk Hartog struck land while on his way from the Cape of Good Hope to Batavia aboard the Dutch cargo ship "Eendracht". He left an inscripted plaque behind, named the place after his ship "Eendrachtsland" and continued sailing North to Dutch East India.
 
What Hartog had found was actually the biggest and western most island of Western Australia. It is now named Dirk Hartog Island and its northernmost point is known as Cape Inscription.
 
Elsewhere in the world, George III became King of England (1760), the Russian Tzar got kicked out of the Winter Palace - at least according to the Julian calendar - (St. Petersburg/Russia, 1917), Nelson Mandela was sentenced to 5 years in prison (1962) and the US launched Operation Urgent Fury and invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada (1983).

The King of Waltz, Johann Strauss II, ("The Blue Danube", "Die Fledermaus") was born in St. Ulrich/Austria (1825), Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, better known as Georges Bizet, the composer of "Carmen" (Paris, 1838), Pablo Picasso (Malaga/Spain, 1881), Bart Simpson's voice Nancy Cartwright (Dayton/Ohio, 1957) and "I Kissed A Girl" Katy Perry (Santa Barbara/California, 1985).

Father of Australian Federation

Sir Henry Parkes (b1815 - d1896)

The date was 24 October 1889. The place was Tenterfield, a small town in Northern NSW. The protagonist was New South Wales Premier and Colonial Secretary Henry Parkes.

Following a banquet in his honour, Parkes delivered a speech, which later would be remembered as "The Tenterfield Oration". In it he picked up on two main and very important issues: the national defence of the Australian continent and the major disadvantages suffered by the populations of border towns, such as Tenterfield due to the trade barriers between the various self ruling colonies, such as Queensland and New South Wales. Parkes called for a constitutional convention with the aim to prepare the ground work for a federation of the Australian colonies.

Parkes died in the Sydney suburb of Annandale five years before Federation would become reality and bear the name he had proposed: Commonwealth of Australia

Elsewhere in the world, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, 80km southwest of Paris, was consecrated in the presence of King Louis IX (1260), the Peace of Westphalia was signed in Muenster and Osnabrueck, ending the 30 Years War and the Holy Roman Empire by returning - much to the Vatican's displeasure - the sovereign power back to the Imperial States (1648), the world's first football club, Sheffield F.C., was founded in England (1857), the United Nations Charter became effective (1945) and the Yom Kippur War ended (1973).

Born today were, amongst others, British bass guitarist William George Perks, better known as Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones (London, 1936), Australian business man and politician Malcolm Turnbull (Sydney, 1954) and Russian multibillionaire and owner of the Chelsea football club, Roman Abramovich (Saratov/Sovietunion, 1966)

Australians Battling Nazis in African Desert

23 October 1942 marks the start of the 13-day long, decisive 2nd Battle of El Alamein (Northwestern Egypt), in which Allied Forces under the command of General Montgomery and including the 9th Australian Division drove back the Axis Powers under "Desert Fox" Erwin Rommel. The resounding victory was a turning point in the WW II North Africa campaign, allowing the Allies to take control of the Suez Canal and the Middle Eastern and Persian oil fields.

The "El Alamein Fountain" in Sydney's Kings Cross commemorates Australian participation in the North African campaign in general and the two battles of El Alamein in particular and is the neighbourhood's main landmark and meeting place.

Earlier in Australia, NSW Surveyor-General John Oxley sailed North from Sydney on this day in 1823 in order to find a suitable settlement for continously re-offending convicts. He finally found a spot by a river which he named in honour of the NSW Governor of the time Brisbane River.

Elsewhere in the world, this day marks the first appearance of The Smurfs (1953), the number one UK Chart Hit "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" by Culture Club (1982) and the first release of Apple's iPod (2001).

German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, after whom the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney's Inner West is named, was born in Trebatsch/Prussia, now Brandenburg (1813). Other birthday boys and girls include Isabella of Portugal, Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Germany, Spain, Naples and Sicily, Duchess of Burgundy and spouse of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Lisbon/Portugal, 1503), Pyotr Alekseyevich Romanov, who became Russian Tsar Peter II at age 11 and then died only 3 years later (St. Petersburg/Russia, 1715), Brazilian football idol Edison Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, (Três Corações, 1940), as well as Metallica's bassist Robert Trujillo (Santa Monica/California, 1964). Fashion designer Christian Dior died on this day in Montecatini Terme/Italy (1957).

23 October is furthermore the Feast Day of Saint Severin, 3rd bishop of Cologne in the latter half of the 4th century and patron saint against bad luck and drought!

Australia Connected to the World

Overland Telegraph Line near Tennant Creek, NT

140 years ago today, on 22 October 1872, the first overseas telegraph message was received in Adelaide via the newly completed Overland Telegraph Line connecting Port Augusta in South Australia with Darwin 3200km further North by 35,000 telegraph poles strung throught he Red Centre of the Australian continent.
 
Elsewhere in the world, the death of King Fernando without a male heir to the Portuguese throne threw Portugal into a 2-year civil war (1383), André-Jacques Garnerin made the first recorded parachute jump (Paris, 1797), the New York Met opened its doors (1883). Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature but refused the honour (1964).

Today's birthdays include American pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone (Pennsylvania, 1734), famous composer and pianist Franz Liszt (Doborjan/Kingdom of Hungary, 1811), Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, last German Empress and Queen of Prussia (Dolzig Palace/Prussia, 1858).
 
Charles Martel, aka "Charles the Hammer", grandfather of Charlemagne and victorious Frankish commander at the Battle of Tours in 732, halting the northward expansion of the Moorish Empire, died on this day in Quierzy/Picardy (741), French post-impressionist painter Paul Cezanne died in Aix-en-Provence/France (1906) and Andrew Fisher, Australia's first Prime Minister to lead a majority government and the second longest serving Labor Prime Minister died in London (1928).

HMAS Australia Targeted by First Kamikaze Attack

At 6am, on 21 October 1944, the Royal Australian Navy vessel HMAS Australia became the first target of a Japanese suicide bomber attack.

There is some academic debate on whether this was a deliberate suicide attack ordered by the Japanese High Command or (just) an accident as the pilot attempted an extreme manouver. There had also been previous attacks on individual pilots' initiatives as early as 1942, but generally this occasion is regarded as the start of Japanese kamikaze tactics in the Pacific War.

Elsewhere in the world, Portuguese seafarer Ferdinand Magellan became the first European to discover - and later navigate - a passage between the southern tip of mainland South America and Tierra Del Fuego, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which later would be named after him the Strait of Magellan (1520). Sticking with the maritime theme of the day, 27 ships of the Royal British Navy under command of Admiral Lord Nelson defeated the combined French and Spanish Navies at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).

Our German friends may be interested to learn that 26-year-old master baker Carl Brandt founded the "Märkische Zwieback- und Keksfabrik" in Hagen 100 years ago today. Generations of German children grew up with the Brandt brand as a synonym for "Zwieback", a double baked form of crisp bread, which he did not invent but improved by changes to the original recipe. While our American and Mexican friends commemorate the death of Ignacio Annaya (1975) with the "International Day of the Nacho" today.

Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm on this day (1833). As were jazz legend Dizzy Gillspie (Cheraw/South Carolina, 1917), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Tel Aviv, 1949) and Australian rugby great David "Campo" Campese (Queanbeyan, 1962).

Queen Opens Sydney Opera House

After 14 years of construction the Sydney Opera House was formally opened by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on 20 October 1973. 

The ceremony included a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, as well as a fireworks display. The Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, was neither invited nor even mentioned at all, due to an earlier falling out which had led to Utzon's resignation from the project.

On the very same day Steve Miller Band released "The Joker" and 19 years later Madonna launched her album "Erotica" (1992).

Elsewhere in the world, the 49th paralllel was established as the border between the US and Canada (1818), first code of American football rules was drafted by Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities (1873); Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen departed the Bay of Whales, Antarctica, on his expedition to the South Pole (1911); JFK's widow Jackie married Greek billionaire Aristotle Onassis (1968) and former Libyan leader/dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed by revolutionaries/freedom fighters (2011).

Sir Christopher Michael Wren, the (most) famous English architect and designer of St. Pauls Catehdral in London was born in East Knoyle/England (1632), Australian pop singer Dannii Minogue was born in Melbourne as well as US rapper Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr., better known as Snoop Dogg, in Long Beach/California (both 1971) and US actor Burt Lancaster died (Los Angeles, 1994).

World's Largest Gold Nugget Found

140 years ago today, on 19 October 1872, the world's largest gold nugget ever was found in Hill End/NSW - the Holtermann Nugget.

Bernhardt Holtermann with "his" nugget

Strictly speaking it was not a 'nugget' - which is why Victorians will argue about this one!
It was, in fact, a vein of gold embedded in a huge piece of quartz. It measured 150 centimetres (59 inches) in length, 66centimetres (26 inches) in width, weighed 286 kg (630 pounds) and had an estimated gold content of 5000 ounces (57 kg).

It wasn't found by German born Sydney entrepreneur Bernhardt Holtermann, either. It just happened to be named after him, because he was part-owner of the mine in which it had been found. Holtermann has been reported to have attempted buying it, offering 10% extra above value, but was turned down and the nugget was sent away to have the gold extracted. Thus, the photo to the right is by some claimed to be a fake, an early day 'photoshop' job, where two separate images were merged into one - a fairly feasible assumption given that Holtermann's passion was photography.

It was this interest in photography that would lead to an important legacy, but that's a story for another day...

Elsewhere in the world, Carthage (present day Tunis/Tunisia) was defeated twice on this day - in 202BC, when Hannibal lost the Battle of Zama against Roman legions under Scipio Africanus and again in 439, when the Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, conquered the city; the first lecture was held at Heidelberg University, the oldest university in Germany (1368); Martin Luther bacame Doctor in Theology (1512); the Battle of Leipzig concluded with a massive defeat for Napoleon Bonaparte (1813); the world's first discotheque, the Scotch Club in Aachen/Germany, opened (1959) and Mother Theresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II (2003).

Among today's birthdays are David John Moore Cornwell, better known as spy thriller author John Le Carre (Poole/UK, 1931), Winston Hubert McIntosh, aka Peter Tosh, core member of the reggae band "The Wailers" (Grange Hill/Jamaica, 1944) and box champion Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield (Atmore/Alabama, 1962).

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 18 October 1854

The day an Australian cricket legend was born!
William Lloyd Murdoch was born in Sandhurst (today's Bendigo) in Victoria, but moved with his parents to NSW in the 1860s. And it was there, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where in 1881-82 he became the first Australian , and only the second eprson altogether, to score a first-class triple century in a game against Victoria - 321, scoring against all ten Victorian bowlers. He also scored the first Test double century at The Oval in Kennington/London in 1884.
Considered to be the best wicketkeeper in Australia at the time, he captained the Australian team on tours to England in 1880, 1882, 1884 and 1890, including that famous match in 1882 at The Oval in which Australia beat England on English ground for the first time and the "Ashes Series" was born - when the British newspaper The Sporting Times satirically remarked that English cricket had died and "the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."

Other birthdays include German writer Heinrich von Kleist, author of the famous comedy "Der Zerbrochene Krug" [The Broken Jug], who was born in Frankfurt/Oder (1777), Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry (St. Louis, Missouri) and Polish born German movie actor Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski, better known as Klaus Kinski ["Nosferatu", "Woyzeck" and "Fitzcarraldo"] (both 1926, although Kinski already died two decades ago), as well as the Czech-born American tennis star Martina Navratilova (Prague, 1956).

Margaret Tudor, elder sister of Henry VIII and Queen of Scotland, died of a massive stroke in 1541 (Methven Castle, Perthshire) and Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, the phonograph and a whole lot of other comunications devices, died in West Orange, New Jersey (1931).

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 17 October 1949

One of the greatest engineering achievements of the 20th century got underway on this day 63 years ago, when Governor General Sir William McKell, Prime Minister Ben Chifley and New Zealand engineer Sir William Hudson fired the first blast at Adaminaby/NSW to start construction of the Snowy River Scheme. Over 100,000 men and women from over 30 countries worked for 25 years to build sixteen dams, seven power stations, a pumping station, 145 km of underground tunnels and 80 km of aqueducts to redirect the river flow inland for hydroelectric power generation and agriculture irrigation purposes and proved to the world that Australia was not a technological backwater.

Elsewhere in the world, King Cyrus The Great of Persia marched into the city of Babylon, released the Jews from almost 70 years of exile and made the first Human Rights Declaration (539BC), the first commercial wireless telegraph was sent across the Atlantic Ocean (1907), Albert Einstein arrived in New Jersey with his wife after fleeing from Nazi Germany (1937), the musical "Hair" was performed for the first time on Broadway (1967), Eric Clapton released "After Midnight" (1970), Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1979, Oslo) and a major earthquake registering 6.9 on the Richter scale hit the San Francisco Bay Area (1989).

German author Georg Büchner ("Woyzeck") was born in Goddelau near Darmstadt (1813),US actress Margarita Carmen Mansino, aka Rita Hayworth (Brooklyn/New York, 1918), Australian poet Les Murray (Nabiac/NSW, 1937), Robert Craig Knievel, better known as daredevil and motorbike stuntman Evel Knievel (Butte/Montana, 1938), Marshall Bruce Mathers III, aka Eminem (Saint Joseph/Missouri, 1972).
The famous Polish composer Frederic Chopin died in Paris aged 39 (1849), as did 61 year old Aisin-Gioro Puyi, the last emperor of China (Beijing, 1967).

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 16 October 1837

The first group of German immigrants arrive in South Australia on this day 175 years ago. Lutheran refugees from Prussia on board the "Solway" reach the shores of Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, where they bury the body of one of their own, who had succumbed to pneumonia on the ship two days previously.

Elsewhere in the world, Marie Antoinette, queen of France and wife of Louis XVI, was guillotined (1793, Paris), the Disney Company was founded (1923, Los Angeles), the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years was elected in Rome to head the Catholic Church: the 58 year old Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II (1978) and South Africa Bishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Price (1984, Oslo).

Born on this day were the Irish poet and writer Oscar Wilde (1854, Dublin), the first Israeli prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (1886, Plonsk/Poland), German author and winner of the Nobel Price for Literature Gunther Grass (1927, Gdansk/Poland), US actor and former partner of Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins (1958, West Covina/California) and Melbourne-born Michael Peter Balzary, aka Flea, the co-founder, bassist and songwriter of US Rockband Red Hot Chilli Peppers turns 50. (The readers of Rolling stone magazine voted him #2 of the bast rock bass players of all times.)

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 15 October 1911

Death of a Sydney visionary - Norman Selfe, engineer, naval architect, inventor, teacher, education activist and city visionary, died in Sydney of a heart attack.
In the late 1880s he had campaigned for a variety of infrastructure improvements to the city of Sydney, such as proposing a city railway loop, an overhead railway station for Circular Quay, major landscaping of Belmore Park, redevelopment of the Rocks and a cantilever bridge to McMahons Point on the North Shore of Sydney Harbour. He didn't live to see any of this happening, but many of his proposals became the foundations of what Sydney looks like today. The suburb of Normanhurst, in Hornsby Shire in Sydney's North, is named after him and his self-designed villa Gilligaloola is still a local landmark.

Other famous deaths of the day include Dutch dancer Mata Hari, who was executed for working as a spy for Germany (1917, Paris) and Hermann Goering, Nazi war criminal and founder of the Gestapo, who poisoned himself just hours before his scheduled execution (1946, Nuremberg).

Some birthdays of the day: Publius Vergilius Maro, better known as Virgil, the famous Roman poet (70BC, Andes near Mantua/Cisalpine Gaul), the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844,  Röcken near Leipzig/Prussia), 'Godfather' author Mario Puzo (1920, Manhattan/New York) and Chrysler magnate Lee Iacocca (1924, Allentown/Pennsylvania).
 
Elsewhere in the world today, many Catholic countries switched to the Gregorian calendar and skipped 10 days (1582), in Cologne/Germany the building of the cathedral was finally completed after 632 years of construction, Led Zeppelin made its performance debut in England (1968, Battersea Park), while closer to home, a section of the West Gate Bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne collapsed during construction killing 35 workers (1970).
South Africa's President F.W. de Klerk and African National Congress President Nelson Mandela were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to end the apartheid system in South Africa (1993, Oslo) and Singapore Airlines became the World's first airline to take delivery of an Airbus A380 (2007, Singapore) - wow, they have been around for 5 years already. When will you hop on one and come Down Under??
 
 

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 14 October 1968

It was a quiet day in Sydney. Not so in Meckering WA, however... At 10.59am a 6.9 earthquake rocked and ruined the small township and created a 40km long surface faulting. There was even building damage recorded in Perth, some 130km West, and tremors were felt as far away as Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Esperance.
Luckily, no fatalities occurred, but as a result from the experiences made, Western Australian building codes were tightened after the event.

Elsewhere in the world, William the Conqueror defeated the Saxon Army and killed King Harold I in the Battle of Hastings (1066), Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, forcing Edward to accept Scotland's independence (1322), Theodore Roosevelt was shot while campaigning in Milwaukee, WI, but still delivered his speech regardless (1912), A.A. Milne first published his book "Winnie-the-Pooh" (1926), "Desert Fox" Field Marshall Erwin Rommel committed suicide, rather than being tried for treason by the Nazis (1944), the Cuban Missile Crisis began (1962), Dr. Martin Luther King became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1964), Wayne Gretsky scored his first NHL goal (1979) and Tim Berners-Lee issued an apology for the unnecessary ""//"" in URLs he designed for the World Wide Web (2009) ... :-)

As for birthdays.... William Penn, founder of the Quaker colony Pennsylvania (1644, London),  34th US President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890, Denison/Texas), "Agent 007" Roger Moore (1927, London), Harry Rodger Webb, aka Sir Cliff Richard (1940, Lucknow/India) and Usher (1978, Dallas/Texas) ... among others

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 13 October 1307

The origin of the superstitions relating to Friday the 13th go back to King Phillip IV of France, who on this day in 1307 had his agents round up and arrest all of the Knights Templar, a rich order founded around 1118 to protect Christian pilgrims during the second crusade The Templars were tortured until they admitted to heresy and witchcraft, then burned at the stake.

Another Friday, 13 October was in 1933. It was at 11am that the first traffic lights in Sydney went into operation at 11am at the intersection of Market and Kent St.

Elsewhere in the world, in AD 54 the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, aka Claudius, died after having been poisoned - allegedly by his own wife, Agrippina, who had convinced him a few years earlier to lift the status of her birthplace to that of a proper Roman city - Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensum (Colony of Claudius at the Altar of Agrippina), nowadays known as the city of Cologne...
In Washington, D.C. the cornerstone to the Executive Mansion was laid (1792). Since 1818 this building has been referred to as the White House. London Greenwich was established as universal time meridian of longitude (1884). Ankara replaced Istanbul as capital of Turkey (1923)
Today's birthday boys and girls include Yves Montand (Monsummano Terme/Italy, 1921), Margaret Hilda Thatcher (Grantham/UK, 1925) and Paul Frederic Simon (Newark, NJ, 1941).
Finally, in Chile 2010 this day was marked with utter joy when 33 trapped miners were rescued after 10 weeks underground.

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 12 October 2002

A sad day for Australia. 10 years ago today a vicious terrorist attack took the life of more than 200 people, nearly half of them Australians, and ruined many other lives through injury, shock or grief for lost or maimed family members, when two bombs rocked Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club in Kuta/Bali.
Three Islamic militants were subsequently found guilty to be involved in the bombings, sentenced to death by an Indonesian court and executed by firing squad in 2008. A fourth individual, thought to have been the person to trigger the detonations by remote control was killed by Indonesian police in a shoot-out in Jakarta in 2010.

In another interesting incident 55 years ago today, after performing a show in Sydney the night before during which he witnessed a "sign from God" telling him to quit show business, 23-year-old American Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, threw his $8,000 diamond ring overboard a harbour ferry to prove to his band mates he was absolutely serious about quitting. He became even more convinced that he was doing the right thing, after the plane that he was originally supposed to be on for his return to the USA crashed into the Pacific Ocean. It was only later that he learned that the "sign" had been nothing else but the launching of Sputnik 1, the first man made object to orbit earth.
Nonetheless, Richard dropped the Rock'n Roll, studied theology and recorded gospel songs forthwith... until exactly five years later: On 12 October 1962, Richard headlined a concert in Liverpool, with the Beatles as opening act. Having initially been under the impression that he would perform his gospel songs, he soon had to realise that the concert had been promoted as a rock'n roll show and he finally gave in to the pressure and performed his old, secular hits. The crowd went ballistic, he left the stage to standing ovations. Just as he would at every following show from then on... 

Elsewhere in the world, Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena/Italy (1935), Status Quo guitarrist Rick Parfitt in Woking/UK (1948) and 2008's "Sexiest Man Alive", the Australian actor Hugh Jackmann in Sydney (1968). On that same day in 1968, the 19th Summer Olympic Games of the XIX Olympiad open in Mexico City, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's "Jesus Christ Superstar" debuted on Broadway (1970) and punk rocker Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols fame was arrested on suspicion of murder after his girlfriend had been stabbed to death (1978).
Earlier, Christopher Columbus had reached Watling Island in the Bahamas, believing he had successfully circumnavigated the globe and found a westward way to India (1492), Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen and invited the public to attend the party (1810) - an event still celebrated in Munich annually where 6 million visitors from all over the world consume more than 100 oxen, over half a million chicken and 7 million litres of beer in 16 days of Bavarian . And not to forget Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev famously pounding a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a U.N. General Assembly (1960)!

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 11 October 1852

Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, was was founded in 1850 but the inauguration ceremony took place 160 years ago today. First location was a building on College St, on the Eastern side of Hyde Park, which today belongs to the Sydney Grammar School, an exclusive private school. The site is part of the route of Joeys Walkabout - Colonial City History Walk.
Six years later, Queen Victoria bestowed upon the university its Royal Charter giving its degrees the same recognition as those conferred by universities in the UK. By 1859 the university moved to its present day location between City Rd and Paramatta Rd.
According to the 2012 QS World University rankings, the University of Sydney stands in 39th place worldwide and is number 3 in Australia. As of last year there were over 32,000 undergraduate and more than 16,600 postgraduate students enrolled.

In London Arthur Phillip, Captain of the First Fleet and first Governor of New South Wales, was born (1738). Also born on this day, and like Arthur Phillip of German descent, was Henry John Heinz, the founder of the famous ketchup company (1844, Pittsburgh). Another Pennsylvania boy born today is Daryl Hall, one half of the duo Hall & Oates (1946, Pottstown).

Elsewhere in the world, Handel's Coronation Anthem No. 4 was performed for the first time (1727, Westminster Abbey), the Boer War in South Africa starts (1899), Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg's "Je T'Aime... Moi Non Plus" hits No. 1 in the UK charts (1969), Elvis and Priscilla Presley got divorced (1973), while Bill and Hillary Clinton got married (1975, Fayetteville, AR). Finally, the last hand-cranked telephones in the U.S. went out of service when in Maine the 440 telephone customers of Bryant Pond were switched to direct-dial service (1983).

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 10 October 1774

Captain James Cook became the first European to discover Norfolk Island, about 1400km East of the Australian mainland on the New South Wales North Coast, on his second voyage to the South Pacific on HMS Resolution. He named the island after Mary Howard, Duchess of Norfolk. Cook reported of tall, straight trees (Norfolk pines) and flax-like plants, which the British Navy was keen to exploit for ships' masts and sails and therefore ordered Governor Arthur Phillip, Captain of the First Fleet to New South Wales in 1788, to colonise Norfolk Island before the French could take it. The island served as a penal colony for re-offending convicts from New South Wales until 1814 and again from 1825 until 1855.
150 years later Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell was born in Sydney on this day (1924). The son of a British officer stationed here in Australia at the time, he was a British (and later American) citizen and rose to worldwide fame under the name James Clavell, as the author of the bestsellers "King Rat", "Shogun" and "Tai Pan".

Elsewhere on the globe, 10 October is remembered as the birthday of Guiseppe Verdi (1813, Le Roncole/Italy), Van Halen's David Lee Roth (1954, Bloomington/Indiana) and Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp (1961, Islington/London).
Russian actor Yuliy Borisovich Bryner, better known as Yul Brynner died in New York City (1985) and General Custer's funeral was held at West Point, NY (1877).
Liz Taylor married for the 6th time, secretly re-marrying Richard Burton in Botswana (1975).
The Battle of Tours near Poitiers/France stopped the northward thrust by Moorish forces, whose leader, the Governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, was killed during the battle with the Franks under Charles Martel (738). John Wesley Hyatt patented the billiard ball (1865), Sun Yat-sen's revolutionaries managed to overthrow the Manchu dynasty in China (1911), the Munich Agreement ceded Czechoslovakia's Sudentenland to Nazi Germany (1938) and Emperor Hirohito of Japan opened the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo (1964), where Sydney girl Dawn Fraser would later win the 100m freestyle swimming gold medal for the third time in a row.

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 9 October 1957

It was a quiet day in Sydney. But not so in Maralinga, South Australia, the ancestral home of the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal group, just under 1300km North-West of Adelaide. For the British decided to detonate a nuclear bomb here today.
It was to be the last large nuclear weapons test  in a series of test blasts the British conducted on Australian soil. However, many more minor tests were still carried out in complete secrecy at Maralinga, up until 1963, leaving behind an awful mess of contamination, which some say still lingers on, despite the site having been officially declared "clean" more than 10 years ago.

A 1984/85 Royal Commission investigating claims of radiation poisoning amongst Aboriginals, who walked barefoot over contanimated soil because the shoes they had been given didn't fit, also found that both British and Australian servicemen were purposely exposed to fallout from the blasts to see what happened as well as the claim that the actual fallout was about three times more than originally forecast.

Elsewhere on the globe, 9 October is remembered as the birthday of John Winston Lennon (1940, Liverpool) as well as his son Sean Tara Ono Lennon (1975, New York City) - well timed, Yoko! ;-).
Pope Pius XII died in Rome (1958) and Oskar Schindler (the one with the famous list) died in Munich (1973). Louis XII of France married Mary Tudor (1514) and Carloman I and Charlemagne were crowned Frankish Kings (768), while Leif Ericsson discovered "Vinland", the present day Canadian province Newfoundland and Labrador (1000).

Could one find any "bush tucker" in Sydney?

Generally, bush tucker refers to any edible wild (ie. non-farmed) plant or animal in Australia. Hunting and roasting a wild rabbit, however, would not be considered as bush tucker, 'cos rabbits had not yet been around prior to European civilisation (or invasion, depending on view point) in 1788. Thus kangaroos, wallabies, emu or even goannas would be prime examples of bush tucker as far as animals are concerned. In other words, native species of flora and fauna only qualify as bush tucker - although the term 'native' is open to interpretation as well: Are dingoes native? After all they originated in Asia and only came to Australia long after the first Aboriginal peoples already lived here...

A second characteristic usually attributed to bush tucker is that these were traditionally used as food by the various Aboriginal peoples. There are many edible plants that nobody ever bothered about, 'cos other, more nutritional or tastier species were available and usually such plants would not be considered bush tucker in a direct sense.

Given the vast size of Australia and the distinct landscapes and climates of different regions the various types of bush tucker available at any given location will vary across Australia. In the following paragraphs I will limnit myself to a few examples of bush tucker that can be found here in Sydney. And, yes, despite being a big metropolis called home by some 4.5 million people today there are quite a number of wilderness areas within the city and I'll talk about the reasons for that in one of my future blog posts.

Black-faced Wallaby (with joey) © 2008 Jo Gerk

There are still wild wallabies around some areas

of Sydney, but they are more likely to end up as roadkill (especially now in Winter when the evening rush hour traffic occurs around or after sunset) with the Wakehurst Parkway being one of the major wildlife death traps here in the North, than as BBQ fare. But the latter would be illegal anyway, as the only remaining mammal habitats in Sydney are within National Park boundaries, in which one should take nothing but photographs! Any interference with flora & fauna, aboriginal heritage sites or geological features is strictly - and rightfully! - prohibited in protected landscapes.

Sydney Rock Oyster

Pre-1788 seafood was a major part of Aboriginal diet in this region, especially shellfish varities: for example, Abalone (aka muttonfish or muttonshells here in Oz) and various types of oysters, such as the Sydney Rock Oyster.

The discarded shells piled up over time and these mounds are called (shell) middens. Today they provide invaluable information to archeologists, but back then they were very important in providing information about which species had been consumed last at a particular site, so that the next visitor would eat something different - quite a smart way to ensure "sustainable practices" centuries before white people had any idea what that term even means.

The European settlers destroyed many of those middens in the 18th and 19th century in order to use the shells in lime production for the construction of buildings in Sydney Town and also as fertiliser in the farms struggling on the poor sandstone soils.

And with the big harbour, fish were, of course, also on the menu - Bream, Mullet, Flathead or Leatherjackets, for example. The latter have a very rough skin, which the Aboriginal peoples supposedly have used like sandpaper. The Australian Museum lists a number of traditional names for different fish varieties in the Sydney region.

Often, when people hear the term "bush tucker" they think of insects and grubs, especially the Witchetty Grub, the large, white, wood-eating larvae of the Cossid Moth. Aboriginal women and children in the inland desert areas had to rely on these as a high protein source. The raw witchetty grub supposedly tastes like almonds and when cooked the skin becomes crisp like roast chicken while the inside becomes light yellow, like a fried egg (Wikipedia). I wouldn't know, as I haven't tried any (yet).

Witchetty grubs with bunya nuts and quandong dipping sauce

I found this platter in a photo by David Hancock accompanying an online article about Charles Darwin University cooking lecturer Steve Sunk in the NT News from 2008. Arranged like this the grubs look quite appealing, wouldn't you agree?

But with the seafood available in coastal regions there is no need to include any grubs or other insects in the diet. However, good to know for bush survival situations....

Much bigger importance lies with plants: berries, seeds, tubers, grasses... Whole books could be written about this subject - and actually, have been! Most notably Tim Low's "Wild Food Plants of Australia", which concentrates on more than 180 plants from South Eastern Australia and Les Hiddins' "Bush Tucker Field Guide". I just want to mention a handful here:

New Zealand Spinach

Warrigal Greens or (Warigal Cabbage aka New Zealand Spinach) are native to Argentina, Chile, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, where it was famously "discovered" by Captain James Cook, who used the plant extensively on board the Endeavour to allay scurvy amongst his crew. 

The Magenta Lilly Pilly is one of 4 species of Lilly Pilly growing in the Sydney region and the only one to be confined to NSW. The little dark red fruits are quite tasty, despite being fairly sour and the seed inside can ruin the experience sometimes.

Some 45 different types of figs grow in Australia, mostly in rainforests and on riverbanks. While all of them are edible, their taste quakities can vary substantially. Only five species grow as far South as Sydney and of these the Crowned Sandpaper Fig supposedly is the tastiest.

The most famous, and only native plant to also be farmed extensively internationally is the Macadamia Nut. Strictly speaking it does not belong here in this post, as it is from Queensland, rather than Sydney. However, I was told to use Macadamia Nut Oil with Ginger and Lemon-Myrtle to marinate kangaroo meat and I must admit that the result was very yummy!!

Finally, a word about Wattle Seeds: not all of them are edible, but among those that are, quite a few are very protein rich. The soft green seeds were eaten like peas, while the hard ripe ones were crushed into flower to make damper, or bush bread. On the South Coast the green seeds were often used as back-up food in times of food shortage. Talking about peas - there are about 850 kinds of native peas and beans in Oz and almost all of them are poisonous!

Apart from foods there were also medicinal uses for some plants. Lemon-Myrtle, for example, could be used to cure headaches, while Peppermint Gum unblocks a stuffy nose. Pig Face leaves can be used against sunburn and Lemon Scented Tea Tree chucked into the fire will keep the mozzies away!

Here is a little video clip featuring Aboriginal Education Officer Jess Sinnott showing some of those plants in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. Jess frequently runs presentations all over the city and if you ever get a chance to see her live, you should take advanatage of that. And if you're lucky she may have some yummy samples for you to taste as well (like her wattle seed cream cake, for example)!

How about you? Has any of you ever tried any bush tucker? Or used it as an ingredient for an "ordinary" meal? What was it and how did you like it? I'm looking forward to your stories :)

Joeys Daily Dose of History - 8 October 1939

It's a Sunday. In Europe there's a war going on and in the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge in North-Western NSW a boy is born. He later ends up in Sydney and works on the Harbour (join my morning tour and I'll show you where), before starting his own comedy program on TV in 1973. After 60 episodes he had enough of TV comedy, but not of Aussie Larrikinism and 3 years later he produced and co-starred in Australia's most succesful film to date - Happy Birthday to Crocodile Dundee, aka Paul Hogan!

Daily Dose of History - 7 October 1798

214 years ago today Matthew Flinders & George Bass embarked on a special journey: They were to prove that Van Diemen's Land was actually an island. Discovered 150 years earleir by Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman and named it after Tasman's patron, the Colonial Governor of East India, Antonius Van Diemen, it had originally be thought to be part of New South Wales.

But there was suspicion that there might be a shorter route to England than to sail around the Southern tip of Van Diemen's Land and Hunter, the Governor of NSW, commissioned Lieutenant Flinders and his friend, surgeon Bass, to set out tand find that shortcut. Then to circumnavigate Van Diemen's Land and prove it's island status.

The Strait they found to separate the island from the mainland was then named after one of the explorers - Bass Strait - and the largest island in the strait after the other - Flinders Island. Although, the better known island today is probably Kings Island, due to the yummy cheeses that come from there...