1896

Sir Robert Menzies

Posted in 1896

  • Wagon load of grain sacks drawn by a bullock team, Jeparit Jeparit is thought to be an Aboriginal term for 'home of small birds'.
  • "Jeparit owed its existence to settlers who in the 1880s selected land in the extreme north of the Wimmera, braving low rainfall, summer heat, poor soils and the daunting task of clearing a stubborn cover of scrub, mainly mallee. The Wimmera area, containing almost 17,000 square kilometres of land adjoining the South Australian border, had for its first European exploiters squatters who followed the tracks of the explorers, Thomas Mitchell and Edward Eyre."
    A W Martin, Robert Menzies: A Life. Vol 1 1894-1943, 1993 p 5.

Australian Events

Posted in 1896

  • "An unofficial 'People's Federal Convention' at Bathurst, New South Wales, discussed problems in devising an equitable method for distributing 'surplus' Commonwealth revenue once the states gave up their collection of customs duties." Papers relating to the Federation Campaign 1890-1901
    The Macquarie Book of Events, 1983 p 342.
  • A wages board system is established in Victoria.

World Events

Posted in 1896

  • Athens hosts the first modern Olympic Games.
  • The annual Nobel Prize is established in Stockholm. Based on the will of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize is awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace.
  • Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon Territory.
  • The Lumiere Brothers give the first public performance of their films in New York.