| 1803 |
Convict colony in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) founded. |
| 1825 |
Convict colony in Brisbane (Moreton Bay) founded. |
| 1828 |
Census: 36,598, of whom 5,000 were actually not convicts. |
| 1922 |
A chemist is employed by the Fred Walker Company (later bought by Kraft) to develop a spread from brewer's yeast. The result is the foul product Vegemite. |
| 27 Jul 1953 |
Yahoo Serious born as Greg Pead, Hunter Valley, New South Wales Australia. |
| 11 Jul 1979 |
The derelict space station Skylab finally returns to Earth, ignominiously breaking into 500 separate fragments which are swallowed by the Indian Ocean. That is, except for the ones which crash into Woorlba Sheep Station, near Balladonia in Western Australia. Shortly thereafter, President Jimmy Carter telephones the prime minister of that country to apologize for scattering NASA litter on his nation. |
| 17 Aug 1980 |
Dingos snatch baby Azaria from a campground near Ayers Rock, Australia. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, is later convicted of murder and spends three years in prison, but the conviction is ultimately overturned. Apparently there have been a number of baby/dingo incidents over the
years, the dingo not differentiating animals from humans. (The fact that if you rearrange the letters in LINDY CHAMBERLAIN you get CHILDREN BY ANIMAL is just a coincidence.)
|
| 12 Nov 1992 |
Film Romper Stomper premieres. |
| 10 Aug 1994 |
Film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert premieres. |
| 19 Feb 1995 |
The Simpsons episode 2F13 airs, Bart vs. Australia. |
| 28 Apr 1996 |
After openly lamenting the dearth of Japanese tourists, Martin Bryant opens fire with an AR-15 (serial number SP128807) at the Broad Arrow Cafe in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 and wounding 18. |
| 21 Nov 1997 |
Lead singer of INXS Michael Hutchence found hanged in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Sydney Australia. Police have denied that his death was due to Autoerotic Asphyxiation. Hutchence is survived by his daughter, Heavenly Hirani Tiger Lily. |