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).