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Apr 4, 2009


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AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

1874 - The Forrest brothers depart Geraldton WA in search of a stock route to the east. On this expedition the brothers discovered Weld Springs, which seemed to have an "almost unlimited supply of water." The explorations of John and Alexander Forrest filled in the missing gaps regarding Australia's interior. [more]

1897 - Jandamarra, who led the rebellion to defend his land from white man, is killed. Jandamarra, or 'Pigeon'- turned from police assistant to resistance fighter, leading his people against the white forces invading their land. In 1894, the resistance fighters were tracked down - people on both sides were killed. It was thought Jandamarra was among the dead, but he escaped after playing "possum". The police then recruited a tracker who killed him at Tunnel Creek on 1 April 1897.[more] 
Novel's coverpage at right:["Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance"]
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1978 - APRIL FOOL'S DAY HOAX: Dick Smith's Iceberg 
Australian identity Dick Smith actually played out this hoax the day before April 1st so that people would be less likely to catch on... a barge came through the heads of Sydney Harbour towing a giant iceberg which Smith claimed to have come from Antarctica, and which he intended to carve up and sell for 10c per ice-cube. The scheme was only revealed when rain washed away the firefighting foam and shaving cream of which the berg was really made, uncovering the white plastic sheets beneath.
.[pictured below]

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WORLD HISTORY
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First of April is April Fool's Day, a time of famous hoaxes and pranks.
Perhaps April Fool's Day originated in India with the celebration of the Spring equinox, often marked by sending people them on fruitless errands? Or did it begin in France,1582, after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar?
Some popular hoaxes of April Fool's Day have been:

  • In 1957, the BBC television program Panorama ran a hoax showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. A lot of people called up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. 
  • In 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today, saying that people could get a Whopper for left-handed people, the contents of which were designed to drip out the right side. Thousands of customers went into restaurants to request the new burger. 
  • In 1965, the BBC purported to conduct a trial of "smellovision", a new technology allowing the transmission of odor over the airwaves to all viewers. Many viewers reportedly contacted the BBC to report the trial's success. 
  • In 1976, British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47am, the planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, causing a brief gravitational alignment... Listeners were told that if they jumped in the air at that exact moment they would experience a strange floating sensation. 
  • One year, Dutch television news reported that the government had new technology to detect unlicensed televisions but that wrapping a television in aluminium foil could prevent its detection. Within a few hours, aluminium foil was sold out throughout the country.
  • Origin of April Fool's hoaxes [according to Snopes]
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Posted: Apr 4, 2009 10:07pm

 

 
 
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Thubten Chokyi
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