This list is a calendar of various events which are considered to be significant in Australian history and in the development of Australian culture. For a chronological listing of events in Australia, see the Timeline of Australian history and culture. This list is not exhaustive; it is intended to expand the list as time goes on.
January
1 January: New Year’s Day.
1 January 1809: William Paterson becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
1 January 1810: Lachlan Macquarie becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
1 January 1901: Australia officially becomes a nation; Edmund Barton becomes Australia’s first federal Prime Minister; John Hope (7th Earl of Hopetoun) becomes the first federal Governor-General.
1 January 1915: The Battle of Broken Hill occurs; two Muslims, flying the Turkish flag, attack and kill a number of Australian civilians, as their contribution to the war between the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire (First World War).
5 January 1941: Tobruk captured (Second World War).
7 January 1799: George Bass and Matthew Flinders complete their circumnavigation of Tasmania.
7 January 1920: Death of Edmund Barton, Prime Minister of Australia (1901-1903, Protectionist Party).
8 January 1885: John Curtin is born in Creswick, Victoria. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1941-1945, Labor Party).
9 January 1868: The Hougoumont, the last convict ship to come to Australia, arrives in Fremantle with 229 convicts.
12 January 1861: Jack Moses is born in Sydney, New South Wales. He becomes a poet and author.
14 January 1830: Charles Sturt discovers the Murray River.
14 January 1856: J. F. Archibald is born in Geelong, Victoria. He becomes a journalist and publisher.
14 January 1968: Death of Dorothea Mackellar, poet and author.
18 January 1849: Edmund Barton is born in Glebe, NSW. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1901-1903, Protectionist Party).
19 January 1913: Rex Ingamells is born in Orroroo, South Australia. He becomes a poet, author, and teacher.
20 January 1880: The bushranger Andrew Scott, known as “Captain Moonlite”, is hung at Darlinghurst Gaol (NSW).
18 January 1788: The first ship of the First Fleet arrives in Botany Bay, New South Wales (the ship Supply arrived on the 18th, whilst the rest of the fleet arrived on the 19th and 20th).
21 January 1827: Major Edmund Lockyer formally takes possession of the western part of the Australian continent (New Holland) for the British Empire.
22 January 1931: Sir Isaac Isaacs becomes the first Australian-born Governor-General.
23 January 1813: Charles Harpur is born in Windsor, New South Wales. He becomes a poet.
25 January 1788: The First Fleet arrives at Sydney Cove (Port Jackson), after Governor Phillip’s decision that Botany Bay was an unsuitable place for a settlement.
26 January: Australia Day
26 January 1788: The First Fleet lands at Sydney and establishes the first European settlement in Australia.
26 January 1808: The Rum Rebellion occurs, with Governor William Bligh being deposed by the New South Wales Corps, led by Major George Johnston.
26 January 1994: Pay TV is launched in Australia.
28 January 1953: Death of James Scullin, Prime Minister of Australia (1929-1932, Labor Party).
28 January 1983: Death of Frank Forde, Prime Minister of Australia (1945, Labor Party).
31 January 1880: The Bulletin magazine begins publication.
February
2 February 1788: The first Christian religious service is held in New South Wales; it is performed by the Rev. Richard Johnson.
2 February 1829: Charles Sturt discovers the Darling River.
2 February 1933: Death of John Le Gay Brereton, an author, poet, literary critic, and scholar.
4 February 1856: A branch of the Operative Masons’ Society is formed in Collingwood (Victoria) by James Stephens and James Galloway, which becomes a catalyst for the winning of eight hour day agreements (agreements were struck soon thereafter with small businesses; although a major agreement with many businesses was made in March, coming into effect in April 1856)
5 February 1841: Death of “Banjo” Paterson, poet, author, and war correspondent.
7 February 1788: The colony of New South Wales is formally proclaimed.
7 February 2009: Black Saturday, the worst day of the huge bushfires that swept through various areas of Victoria in January and February 2009, killing 173 people, and devastating the towns of Flowerdale, Kinglake, Kinglake West, Marysville, Narbethong, and Strathewen.
10 February 1788: The first Christian marriage ceremonies are conducted in New South Wales.
14 February: Valentine’s Day
14 February 1966: Australia changes from the Imperial monetary system to the Decimal monetary system; pounds, shillings, and pence are converted to dollars and cents.
17 February 1848: Louisa Lawson is born in Guntawang (near Mudgee), New South Wales. She becomes a newspaper publisher, editor, journalist, feminist, and poet.
17 February 1864: “Banjo” Paterson is born in Narrambla (near Orange), New South Wales. He becomes a poet, author, and war correspondent.
19 February 1942: Japanese planes attack Darwin; further air attacks occur later, against Broome, Darwin, Exmouth Gulf, and elsewhere (Second World War).
22 February 1872: John Shaw Neilson is born in Penola, South Australia. He becomes a poet.
22 February 1942: Death of Furnley Maurice (Frank Wilmot), poet and publisher.
25 February 2001: Death of Don Bradman, the famous cricket player.
March
3 March 1942: Japanese planes shoot down a DC-3 full of refugees from the Netherlands East Indies and a Liberator carrying wounded US servicemen; they also destroy 6 planes on the ground and 16 moored flying boats (some of which were carrying refugees); an estimated 100 are killed (Second World War).
4 March 1804: Convicts revolt in the Castle Hill Rebellion.
5 March 1803: The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser begins publication (this was the first newspaper in Australia).
6 March 1788: Philip Gidley King takes possession of Norfolk Island.
9 March 1939: Death of “Dryblower” Murphy, poet and author.
11 March 1871: Alice Springs (Northern Territory) discovered.
18 March 1985: The television show “Neighbours” is broadcast for the first time (the show began on the Seven Network, but was cancelled a few months later, with the last Channel 7 episode airing on 8 November 1985; the show was then picked up by Network Ten, and broadcasting of “Neighbours” recommenced on 20 January 1986).
19 March 1856: Victoria passes legislation for voting by secret ballot.
19 March 1932: The Sydney Harbour Bridge is officially opened.
April
6 April 1881: Furnley Maurice (Frank Wilmot) is born in Collingwood, Victoria. He becomes a poet and publisher.
7 April 1939: Death of Joseph Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia (1932-1939, United Australia Party).
8 April 1817: The Bank of New South Wales, Australia’s first bank, is established in Sydney.
8 April 1958: Death of Ethel Turner, author and poet.
9 April 1865: The bushranger “Mad Dan” Morgan is shot by police, dying of his wounds on the same day.
11 April 1866: Bernard O’Dowd is born in Beaufort (north-west of Ballarat), Victoria. He becomes a poet and author.
11 April 1941: Germans cut off Tobruk from Allied land forces; the siege of Tobruk lasts from April to October 1941; the Australians there cheerfully adopt the name thrown at them by the Germans, as “the Rats of Tobruk” (Second World War).
11 April 1997: The One Nation Party is formed.
13 April 1894: Arthur Fadden is born in Ingham, Queensland. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1941, Country Party).
15 April 1800: Philip Gidley King becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
15 April 1883: Stanley Bruce is born in St Kilda, Victoria. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1923-1929, Nationalist Party).
15 April 1933: Death of A. G. Stephens, editor, publisher, author, literary critic, and poet (he is regarded as a major figure in Australia’s literary history).
18 April 1839: Henry Kendall is born in Ulladulla, New South Wales. He becomes a poet.
19 April 1984: The song “Advance Australia Fair” becomes Australia’s national anthem.
20 April 1770: James Cook discovers the east coast of Australia.
20 April 1836: A fleet of ships sails from Portsmouth (England) to establish a colony in South Australia.
21 April 1973: Death of Arthur Fadden, Prime Minister of Australia (1941, Country Party).
25 April: Anzac Day
25 April 1915: The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) lands at Gallipoli (Turkey) as part of an Allied effort to take the Dardenelles and/or keep Turkey out of the European theatre of war (First World War).
28 April 1996: The Port Arthur massacre (Tasmania) occurs; 35 people are murdered and 23 others wounded (Martin Bryant pled guilty to the murders, and was jailed for life).
29 April 1770: James Cook and some of the crew from the Endeavour land on Kurnell Peninsula (Botany Bay, NSW), thus becoming the first Europeans to set foot on the east coast of Australia.
May
1 May: May Day
2 May 1829: The Swan River Colony is established on the Swan River (Western Australia) by Captain James Stirling.
4 May 1871: The Victorian Natives’ Association is founded (it shortly thereafter changed its name to the Australian Natives’ Association).
5 May1865: The bushranger Ben Hall is ambushed by police and shot dead.
7 May 1942: Death of William Baylebridge, author and poet.
8 May 1901: The federal parliamentary Labor Party is formed.
12 May 1942: Death of John Shaw Neilson, poet.
13 May 1787: The First Fleet, under the command of Arthur Phillip, sails from Portsmouth, England, for Australia.
14 May 1943: The brightly-lit Australian Hospital Ship Centaur is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off Stradbroke Island; 268 died.
15 May 1888: The Dawn magazine, owned and edited by Louisa Lawson, begins publication.
15 May 1978: Death of Robert (Bob) Menzies, Prime Minister of Australia (1939-1941, 1949-1966, United Australia Party, Liberal Party).
20 May 1948: Death of Marie E. J. Pitt (née McKeown), poet and journalist.
25 May 1815: George William Evans discovers the Lachlan River.
25 May 1870: The bushranger Frederick Ward, known as “Captain Thunderbolt”, is shot dead by a policeman.
28 May 1965: Death of P. R. Stephensen, author, editor, publisher, and poet.
31 May 1813: Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William Charles Wentworth find a way over the Blue Mountains (NSW), thus opening up further land for settlement.
June
1 June 1942: HMAS Kuttabul sunk by a Japanese midget submarine in Sydney Harbour; 21 sailors are killed (Second World War).
3 June 1790: The first ship (Lady Juliana) of the Second Fleet arrives in New South Wales.
4 June 1857: Anti-Chinese riots occur at Buckland River, where hundreds of European miners oust the Chinese from the goldfields.
6 June 1853: The Anti-Gold Licence Association is formed in Bendigo, at a mass meeting of miners, to protest against the inequities of the miner’s license. The discontent on the goldfields led to further mass meetings and acts of civil disobedience, which came to be known as the Red Ribbon Rebellion.
7 June 1917: Hill 60 blown up by Australian tunnellers (First World War).
9 June 1803: Matthew Flinders arrives back in Port Jackson, after having sailed around Australia, thus achieving the first circumnavigation of the continent.
10 June 1868: Death of Charles Harpur, poet.
12 June 1789: Governor Arthur Philip discovers the Hawkesbury River.
13 June 1951: Death of Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945-1949, Labor Party).
14 June 1825: The colony of Van Diemen’s Land is established in its own right (later renamed as Tasmania).
17 June 1867: Henry Lawson is born in Grenfell, New South Wales. He becomes an author and poet.
22 June 1938: Death of C. J. Dennis, poet, author, and journalist.
30 June 1861: Anti-Chinese riots occur at Lambing Flat (now Young, NSW); hundreds of European miners oust the Chinese from the goldfields.
July
1 July 1885: Dorothea Mackellar is born in Point Piper, New South Wales. She becomes a poet and author.
1 July 1916: The Battle of the Somme begins (First World War).
1 July 1932: The Australian Broadcasting Commission is established (it becomes the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on 1 July 1983).
1 July 1995: Telecom becomes Telstra.
1 July 2000: The federal Goods and Services Tax comes into effect; the GST was introduced by the Liberal-National coalition government, led by John Howard.
5 July 1945: Death of John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia (1941-1945, Labor Party).
10 July 1945: Death of Jack Moses, poet and author.
18 July 1890: Frank Forde is born in Mitchell, Queensland. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1945, Labor Party).
19 July 1823: The New South Wales Judicature Act enables some legal changes for New South Wales, including the right to trial by jury in some civil cases.
21 July 1944: Death of P. I. O’Leary, journalist and poet.
22 July 1952: Death of E. J. Brady, poet, author, and journalist.
30 July 1915: The first celebration of “Australia Day” as a patriotic fundraising day during World War One (1914-1918). This special day had nothing to do with the modern “Australia Day” (the celebration of the foundation of a British colony in NSW in 1788), which was celebrated at that time as “Foundation Day”.
30 July 1947: Death of Joseph Cook, Prime Minister of Australia (1913-1914, Commonwealth Liberal Party). He was born on 7 December 1860 in Silverdale, Staffordshire, England.
August
1 August 1791: The first ship (Matilda) of the Third Fleet arrives in New South Wales.
1 August 1882: Death of Henry Kendall, poet.
3 August 1856: Alfred Deakin is born in Fitzroy, Victoria. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1903-1904, 1905-1908, 1909-1910, Protectionist Party).
4 August 1900: Australian soldiers distinguish themselves at the battle of Elands River (Boer War).
6 August 1869: Marie E. J. Pitt (née McKeown) is born in Bulumwaal, Victoria. She becomes a poet and journalist.
6 August 1915: The Battle of Lone Pine, at Gallipoli (First World War).
7 August 1869: E. J. Brady is born in Carcoar, New South Wales. He becomes a poet, author, and journalist.
8 August 1880: Earle Page is born in Grafton, NSW. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1939, Country Party).
12 August 1920: Death of Louisa Lawson, newspaper publisher, editor, journalist, feminist, and poet.
13 August 1790: William Charles Wentworth is born on the Neptune, off Norfolk Island (however, it should be noted that his date of birth is a debatable issue). He becomes an explorer, author, poet, barrister, campaigner, and statesman. He died in Dorset, England on 20 March 1872.
13 August 1806: William Bligh becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
15 August 1820: Governor Lachlan Macquarie orders that all traffic in New South Wales shall drive on the left side of the roads.
15 August 1873: Erle Cox is born in Emerald Hill (South Melbourne, Victoria). He becomes an author.
16 August 1865: Mary Gilmore (née Cameron) is born in Woodhouselee (north of Goulburn), New South Wales. She becomes a poet, author, journalist, teacher, and social campaigner.
17 August 1980: A two-month-old baby girl, Azaria Chamberlain, is taken by a dingo from a tent during the night and killed, at a campsite at Ayers Rock (Uluru); her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, was subsequently convicted of murder, but this was later found to be a wrongful conviction, and she was released.
18 August 1966: Australian military forces distinguish themselves at the Battle of Long Tan (Vietnam War).
20 August 1860: Burke and Wills set off on an expedition to cross the Australian continent, travelling from Melbourne (Victoria) to the Little Bynoe River (Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland).
20 August 1936: Death of Agnes Louisa Storrie (married name, Kettlewell), poet, author, journalist, and campaigner.
22 August 1770: James Cook, on Possession Island, claims the east coast of Australia for Britain.
22 August 1872: The Overland Telegraph, from Adelaide to Darwin, is completed, thus establishing a telegraph link to London.
23 August 1864: Agnes Louisa Storrie (married name, Kettlewell) is born in Glenelg, South Australia. She becomes a poet, author, journalist and campaigner.
25 August 1824: The Legislative Council of New South Wales meets for the first time.
25 August 1967: Death of Stanley Bruce, Prime Minister of Australia (1923-1929, Nationalist Party).
26 August 1818: John Oxley discovers the Liverpool Plains.
27 August 1908: Don Bradman is born in Cootamundra, New South Wales; he later becomes known as the greatest batsman in the world.
28 August 1865: A. G. Stephens is born in Toowoomba, Queensland. He becomes an editor, publisher, author, literary critic, and poet (he is regarded as a major figure in Australia’s literary history).
29 August 1882: The origin of The Ashes in cricket competition between Australia and England.
31 August 1945: The Liberal Party is formed.
September
1 September: Wattle Day
1 September 1830: The bushranger John (“Jack”) Donohoe is shot dead by a soldier at Bringelly, New South Wales.
1 September 1910: The first Wattle Day celebration is held nationwide (organised by the Wattle Day League).
1 September 1953: Death of Bernard O’Dowd, poet and author.
2 September 1871: John Le Gay Brereton is born in Sydney, New South Wales. He becomes an author, poet, literary critic, and scholar.
2 September 1922: Death of Henry Lawson, author and poet.
5 September 1908: “Dorothea Mackellar’s poem “Core of My Heart” is published in the Spectator (London, UK); the title of the poem is later changed to “My Country”.
7 September 1790: Governor Arthur Philip is speared by an Aborigine; Philip orders that there should be no retaliation.
7 September 1876: C. J. Dennis is born in Auburn, South Australia. He becomes a poet, author, and journalist.
9 September 1946 : TAA (Trans-Australia Airlines) commences operations (it is later renamed Australian Airlines).
10 September 1919: Death of J. F. Archibald, journalist and publisher.
11 September 1795: John Hunter becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
12 September 1918: Death of George Reid, Prime Minister of Australia (1904-1905, Free Trade Party). He was born on 25 February 1845 in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
13 September 1909: The Wattle Day League is formed in Sydney.
13 September 1912: Death of Joseph Furphy, author, poet, farmer, bullock-driver, and iron worker.
15 September 1879: Joseph Lyons is born in Stanley, Tasmania. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1932-1939, United Australia Party).
15 September 2000: Opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, held in Sydney (the closing ceremony was held on 1 October 2000).
16 September 1956: TCN-9 (Sydney) is the first mainstream television station in Australia to commence broadcasting (some experimental broadcasting had been previously conducted in 1929, using the “Radiovision” system).
18 September 1876: James Scullin is born in Trawalla, Victoria. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1929-1932, Labor Party).
18 September 1918: Australian forces attack the Hindenburg Line and capture Montbrehain (First World War).
22 September 1885: Ben Chifley is born in Bathurst, NSW. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1945-1949, Labor Party).
26 September 1843: Joseph Furphy is born in at Yering (near Yarra Glen), Victoria. He becomes an author, poet, farmer, bullock-driver, and iron worker.
October
1 October 1880: The International Exhibition commences in Melbourne (the 8th World’s Fair); it remains open until 30 April 1881.
6 October 1879: The first Intercolonial Trade Union Congress is held in Sydney (coinciding with the Intercolonial Exhibition).
7 October 1919: Death of Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia (1903-1904, 1905-1908, 1909-1910, Protectionist Party).
12 October 1918: Death of Mary Hannay Foott (née Black), author, editor, and poet.
12 October 2002: Terrorists set off two bombs in Bali, Indonesia, at a nightclub frequented by tourists; the bombings were aimed primarily at Westerners, killing 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians, 24 Britons, and many others, culminating in a total of 202 people murdered.
13 October 1878: John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan) is born in O’Connell Town (near Yass), New South Wales. He becomes a poet and author.
17 October 2010: Mary MacKillop becomes the first Australian saint, being canonized by Pope Benedict XVI; MacKillop was born on 15 January 1842 in Fitzroy, Victoria (then part of the colony of New South Wales) and died on 8 August 1909 in North Sydney, NSW.
21 October 1818: The bushranger Michael Howe is killed.
22 October 1928: Death of Andrew Fisher, Prime Minister of Australia (1908-1909, 1910-1913, 1914-1915, Labor Party). He was born on 29 August 1862 in Crosshouse, Ayrshire, Scotland.
24 October 1889: Sir Henry Parkes gives a speech at Tenterfield in favour of federation, which is viewed by many as an important impetus for the unification of the Australian colonies.
25 October 1616: Dirk Hartog, in the Eendracht, sights “various islands” in Shark Bay (WA); he lands at an island, now known as Dirk Hartog Island, and nails a metal plate to a post with a note of his being there; he then sailed northwards, charting the western coast of Australia.
28 October 1952: Death of Billy Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia (1915-1923, Labor Party, Nationalist Party). He was born on 25 September 1862 in Pimlico, London, England.
31 October: Battle of Beersheba commemoration
31 October 1917: The charge of the Australian Light Horse against the Turks at Beersheba Wells (First World War).
31 October 1999: Jesse Martin sails into Melbourne, becoming the youngest person to have sailed around the world solo, non-stop and unassisted.
November
2 November 1824: A civil jury is empanelled for the first time in New South Wales.
2 November 1942: Australians recapture Kokoda, in New Guinea (Second World War).
4 November 1921: Poppy Day is held in Australia to sell poppies, to be worn on Armistice Day (Remembrance Day, 11 November) in commemoration of the end of the First World War and to remember the sacrifice of those who fought and died.
4 November 1930: Phar Lap wins the Melbourne Cup.
6 November 1933: Death of Grant Hervey, poet, author, and journalist.
7 November 1861: The first Melbourne Cup race is held.
8 November 1907: The Harvester judgement, in the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, sets a minimum wage for workers.
11 November: Remembrance Day
11 November 1854: The Ballarat Reform League is officially formed at an mass meeting of 10,000 miners on the Ballarat goldfields.
11 November 1880: The bushranger Ned Kelly is hung at Melbourne Gaol (Victoria).
11 November 1918: The First World War ends; the date is thereafter commemorated as Remembrance Day.
11 November 1975: John Kerr, the Governor-General, dismisses Gough Whitlam from his position of Prime Minister, and subsequently swears in Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister until elections can be held.
18 November 1941: Death of Chris Watson, Prime Minister of Australia (1904, Labor Party). He was born on 9 April 1867 as Johan Cristian Tanck in Valparaíso, Chile, to a German-Chilean father and an Irish mother; however, he grew up using his stepfather’s surname (his mother married George Thomas Watson in New Zealand in 1869).
20 November 1901: P. R. Stephensen is born in Maryborough, Queensland. He becomes an author, editor, publisher, and poet.
20 November 1950: Death of Erle Cox, author.
22 November 1956: Opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, held in Melbourne (the closing ceremony was held on 8 December 1956).
23 November 1923: 2SB (Sydney) is the first commercial radio station in Australia to commence broadcasting.
24 November 1642: Abel Tasman (a Dutch explorer) discovers Tasmania, naming it Anthoonij van Diemenslandt, after Antonio van Diemen (Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies).
24 November 1855: Responsible government proclaimed in New South Wales.
24 November 1858: Manhood suffrage introduced in New South Wales.
26 November 1942: The Battle of Brisbane, where fighting occurred between US servicemen and Australian servicemen and civilians; 1 Australian soldier killed, hundreds wounded on both sides (Second World War).
28 November 1909: Death of W. T. Goodge, poet, author, journalist, and newspaper editor.
30 November 1880: Grant Hervey is born in Casterton, Victoria. He becomes a poet, author, and journalist.
December
1 December 1821: Thomas Brisbane becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
3 December 1642: Abel Tasman claims Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) for the Netherlands.
3 December: Battle of the Eureka Stockade commemoration
3 December 1854: Military and police storm the Eureka Stockade, ending the Eureka Rebellion.
3 December 1962: Death of Mary Gilmore (née Cameron), poet, author, journalist, teacher, and social campaigner.
8 December 1915: The Anzacs evacuate Gallipoli (Cape Helles evacuated on 9 January 1916) (First World War).
8 December 1941: Prime Minister John Curtin announces Australia will declare war on Japan, in consequence of the Japanese attack against the USA’s naval base at Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii (Second World War).
9 December 1798: George Bass and Matthew Flinders sail between the Australian mainland and Tasmania, proving that the two land masses are separate.
9 December 1873: A large gathering of miners block the usage of Chinese strike-breakers in Clunes (Victoria).
12 December 1883: William Baylebridge is born in East Brisbane, Queensland. He becomes a poet and author.
12 December 1866: “Dryblower” Murphy is born in Castlemaine, Victoria. He becomes a poet and author.
15 December 1851: A mass meeting of 14,000 to 20,000 miners is held at Forest Creek to protest against the inequities of the miner’s license.
19 December 1825: Ralph Darling becomes Governor of the colony of New South Wales.
20 December 1894: Robert (Bob) Menzies is born in Jeparit, Victoria. He becomes Prime Minister of Australia (1939-1941, 1949-1966, United Australia Party, Liberal Party).
20 December 1961: Death of Earle Page, Prime Minister of Australia (1939, Country Party).
21 December 1890: “The Man from Snowy River”, by “Banjo” Paterson, is published in The Bulletin; the poem becomes enormously popular.
25 December: Christmas Day
26 December 1906: The Melbourne premiere of the movie “The Story of the Kelly Gang” (trial showings had previously been held in some country areas); this was arguably the world’s first full-length feature film.
27 December 1952: Death of John O’Brien (Patrick Joseph Hartigan), poet and author.
28 December 1836: The colony of South Australia is proclaimed.
29 December 1905: Death of Victor Daley, poet and journalist.
30 December 1955: Death of Rex Ingamells, poet, author, and teacher.
Notes:
1) This list includes various people considered relevant to Australian culture and history; however, only a select few have been chosen (otherwise the list could include a cast of thousands).
2) Inclusions have been limited to people of early Australia (whilst including any person could be a controversial, people selected from history are less likely to create division; therefore this list includes the Prime Ministers of Australia from 1900 to 1966, but not beyond).
3) Birth date entries are only included for those born in Australia, as the birth of someone born overseas is not an Australian event. However, dates of birth are noted for those people of foreign birth who have a death date entry included in the list (e.g. Joseph Cook, Billy Hughes, Chris Watson).
Updated 18 July 2021
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