Just after 11am in Victoria and 3pm in Melbourne 1983, a great cloud of red soil, dust and sand swept across Australia. Fuelled by strong winds and loose topsoil swept up from the Mallee and Wimmera regions, after a long period of drought, the dust clouds height was thousands of metres up into the atmosphere….
7 February…
Today in 1812, author Charles Dickens is born in Landport, Portsmouth. He was very ambitious to achieve success in his life, this is possibly due to seeing his father go to debtors prison in early 1824. Charles started his writing career as a freelance reporter of law cases in 1829, before becoming a parliamentary reporter…
6 February…
Today in 1952, whilst at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya, Elizabeth II becomes Queen of England and Northern Ireland upon the death of her father King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II is the longest reigning monarch in British history, having ruled the country for more than 60 years. Fun fact: the Queen has written more…
5 February…
Today in 1869, John Season and Richard Oates discover the world’s largest golden nugget in Victoria, Australia. Called the Welcome Stranger, the gold nugget was 3cm below the surface and weighed 66kg. Due to the size, the nugget had to be broken into 3 pieces to fit onto the bank’s scales in Dunolly. It was…
4 February…
Today in 2004, Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg and co-founders Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. Originally called TheFacebook, the social media website was made available to Harvard students only. It wouldn’t be until 26 September 2006, when anyone in the world could make an Facebook account. The name having been…
3 February…
Today in 1870, the fifteenth amendment to the United States Constitution was made. This amendment allows for any man, irrelevant of their race, the right to vote. Unfortunately, this amendment was not as simple as it should have been. It would not be until 6th August 1965, when the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed…
2 February…
Today in 1709, Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being marooned on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean, for four years and four months. In 1704, the Scottish privateer (sailor) voiced his concerns regarding the seaworthiness of their ship to the Captain, Thomas Stradling, even saying that he would rather stay on the island…
1 February…
Today in 1884, the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. Originally planned to be a four-volume dictionary, which would take 10 years to complete. 5 years into the project, the authors, The Oxford University Press and James A. H. Murray, had only reached the word Ant. This was due to the fact…
31 January…
Today in 1961, Ham the chimpanzee was sent into space. His mission to and from space lasted 16 minutes and 39 seconds. NASA was a newly formed space agency who, as apart of the space race, began Project Mercury; USA’s first human spaceflight program. The flight in the MR-2 capsule wasn’t without its problems. Soon…
30 January…
Today in 1969, The Beatles play their last live gig on the rooftop of the Apple offices in London. The Fab Four, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, played the impromptu 42 minute set before the police shuts them down due to the noise. * * * * * * Source &…
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