On This Day
The origins of January 26
What are the origins of January 26, and should it be our national day?
Category: On This Day
On This Day
On this day: Kingsford Smith disappears
Record-breaking aviator Charles Kingsford Smith vanished mid-flight in 1935.
On This Day
On this day: First Australian Nobel Prize for Literature
Patrick White was a quiet achiever – even when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
On This Day
On this day: Harold Holt disappears
17 December 1967: Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt goes missing whilst swimming at Portsea, Victoria.
On This Day
On this day: Stolen dinosaur footprint recovered
In 1998, a missing carnivorous dinosaur footprint stolen from a sacred Aboriginal site was recovered.
On This Day
On this day: trans-Tasman flight disappears
Prior to Kingsford Smith’s successful flight over the Tasman, Moncrief and Hood’s attempt ended in disaster.
On This Day
On this day: Australia Day, 26 January
Our national day is seen in many different ways, depending on the viewpoint of Australia.
On This Day
On this day: Darwin under attack
The largest raid ever mounted on the nation, on 19 February 1942, forced Australia to reconsider its place in the world.
On This Day
On this day: Australia’s capital city named
Canberra was officially named on 12 March 1913, but few realise how close the city came to being called ‘Myola’.
On This Day
On this day: One of Australia’s worst maritime disasters
The loss of the SS Yongala – now a Great Barrier Reef dive site – was a puzzling mystery for almost 50 years.