Hello Friends. Happy Australia Day to each and every one from our site. We wish the country a great year a head with joyful and successful days and months.

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When were the first recorded ‘Australia Day’ celebrations held?

1808. 26 January 1808 marked twenty years since Captain Arthur Phillip had raised the British flag at Sydney Cove claiming Australia for the Poms – and the Aussies have been beating them at cricket ever since, well, almost!

What do people do to celebrate?

Since Australia Day takes place in the summer “down under”, many people celebrate the day with outdoor events. There are plenty of large public events to attend such as music festivals, sports competitions, fireworks shows, and community awards ceremonies. Many people attend these events or just have a gathering of their own family and friends where they may have a barbecue or picnic to celebrate the day.

A lot of people fly the Australian National Flag on this day. They may also fly the Aboriginal Flag or the Torres Strait Islander Flag.

The single largest event held this day is the City of Perth Skyworks. Around half a million people attend this annual fireworks show that is held over the Swan River in Perth. It is a huge fireworks show where fireworks have been launched from bridges, moving boats, and even skyscrapers.

Australia Day Wishes

Australia Day Greetings

Which Australian Governor held the first ‘official’ Australia Day celebrations?

Lachlan Macquarie. 26 January 1818 marked thirty years of European settlement in the ‘colony’ and Governor Lachlan Macquarie organised the first ‘official’ ‘Australia Day’ celebrations which included a thirty gun salute and a dinner at Government House followed by a ball.

What was the name given to ‘Australia Day’ in the early part of the nineteenth century?
Foundation Day. During this stage of Australia’s history, ‘Foundation Day’ was usually marked by sporting events including horse and boat racing.

Which colony first declared ‘Australia Day’ as a public holiday and in what year?

New South Wales in 1838. On the fiftieth anniversary of the landing at Sydney Cove ‘Australia Day’ became a public holiday in the colony of New South Wales. By 1888 nearly all the ‘colonial’ capital cities had proclaimed a public holiday to celebrate ‘Australia Day’.

Three years before the 150th anniversary of ‘Australia Day’, which state did not officially adopt the name ‘Australia Day’ for the national day?
New South Wales. ‘Anniversary Day’ was the official name for ‘Australia Day’ in New South Wales, until the mid 1940’s when all the States and the Territories adopted ‘Australia Day’ as the official name for Australia’s national day and agreed on 26 January as the proper day to celebrate.

What did the Aboriginal population of Australia declare on ‘Australia Day’ 1988?

A Year of Mourning. In 1938 a ‘Day of Mourning’ conference had been held on 26 January trying to gain citizenship and equal rights for Australian Aborigines and in 1988, fifty years later, a ‘Year of Mourning’ was declared.

Who was named the first ‘Australian of the Year’?
Sir Macfarlane Burnet. Sir Macfarlane Burnet was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 1960 and was the inaugural ‘Australian of the Year’. In 1968, Lionel Rose was the first Aboriginal ‘Australian of the Year’, John Yu was ‘Australian of the Year in 1996 and Sir Gustav Nossal was ‘Australian of the Year’ in 2000.

Which of the following are included in the ingredients list for a basic ‘damper’?
Self raising flour, milk and salt. Delicious with anything you’d have bread with and so easy even the kids can make a ‘beaut’ damper – millions of Aussies will be tucking into damper of one kind or another on ‘Australia Day’.

Australia Day Images

What does Australia Day celebrate?

Australia Day is the national day of Australia celebrating the arrival of the First Fleet at Sidney Cove in 1788. It is a day to celebrate all the things that people love about the country of Australia.

When is Australia Day celebrated?

January 26th

Who celebrates Australia day?

Although it is a fairly new holiday in Australia, much of the country celebrates the day.

History of Australia Day

On January 26, 1788 the First Fleet under Captain Arthur Phillip arrived at Sidney Cove in Australia and claimed the land for Great Britain. The First Fleet was made up mostly of prisoners who established a penal colony in Australia.

The 26th was celebrated early on as the anniversary of the landing date of the First Fleet. For the fist 100 years the day was celebrated mostly by people in New South Wales. Other colonies had their own foundation days that they celebrated.

In 1888, one hundred years after the First Fleet landed, all of the colony capitals but Adelaide celebrated the day as Anniversary Day. By 1935 all the states celebrated the 26th as Anniversary Day.

In 1946 the day was renamed to Australia Day.

History & Fun Facts About Australia Day

It is estimated that over half of Australia’s 21 million citizens participate in celebrating this day.
During the 1988 Bicentennial Celebration (200 years) over 2.5 million people attended the celebration in Sidney.
Boat races such as the ferry race and the tall ships race are held in Sidney Harbor on this day.
Citizenship ceremonies are a big part of the day. In 2011 around 13,000 people became citizens on this day.
There has been criticism of the day by the Indigenous Peoples of Australia. There are also a number of alternative dates that some people would like to use for the national day.
Out of the 1000 people who arrived on the First Fleet, around 700 were prisoners.
Since 1960 the Australian of the Year has been awarded on this day. Past winners include actor Geoffrey Rush, cricket player Steve Waugh, and painter Arthur Boyd.

Australia Day 2015 poster

How do people celebrate on January 26?

Most Australians take the day off work and all schools are closed. There are many other celebrations across the country, including many spectacular fireworks displays.

Why is Australia Day on January 26?

Australia day

On this day in 1788, Captain Arthur Philip, commandeering a small fleet with 736 convicts, entered Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour, Australia), which he described as “the finest harbour in the world”. A landing party was sent ashore. This was to be the site of the new settlement.

Why don’t all Australians celebrate this day?

Many Aboriginal Australians do not like the idea of a day to celebrate the British landing, which is understandable.

Apart from all the celebrations and fireworks there is an award ceremony in which the Australian of the Year is selected.

Geoffrey Rush – 2012 winner of Australian of the Year
Geoffrey Rush (on the left) – 2012 winner of Australian of the Year
The criteria: An individual who has demonstrated excellence in his/her field, has had a significant contribution to the Australian community and nation, and an inspirational role model for the Australian community.

There are four categories: Senior Australian of the Year, Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year, and Australia’s Local Hero. People are chosen from all walks of life.

This year, for example, the candidates include a submarine designer, a media icon, an anti-poverty campaigner and even a dancer. You can check the finalists here: http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/

Australia in itself is a very exciting country. I’ve collected some funny and interesting facts that you might not know:

1. The Australian Coat Of Arms has a kangaroo and an emu on it. The reason for this is that the kangaroo and the emu cannot go backwards but can only walk forwards. Also, Australia is the only country that eats the own national animal.

2. Australia’s first police force was made up of 12 of the best-behaved convicts.

3. Australians often use opposites to describe people. For example, a redhead is called “Blue” or “Bluey”, a bald man would be called “Curly”, a tall man will be called “Shorty”, a silent person would be nicknamed “Rowdy’ and bastard is often used as a term of endearment. Check out more Australian expressions in one of our previous posts.

The largest fence in the world
The largest fence in the world
4. The name for the Australian marsupial kangaroo came about when some of the first white settlers saw this strange animal hopping along and they asked the Aborigines what it was called. They replied with ‘Kanguru’, which in the native language meant ‘I don’t know’.

5. Australia has the longest fence in the world. It is called the ‘dingo fence’ and is about twice as long as the Great Wall of China.

6. While Australia was founded by convicts, the homicide rate is in Australia is only 1.8 per 100,000 of population, one of the lowest in the world.

7. It seems that Australians are fans of big things

Australia Day 2015 Fireworks

There’s….

• The Big Banana
• The Big Pineapple
• The Big Orange
• The Big Rocking Horse
• The Big Axe
• The Big Lobster
• The Big Prawn
• The Big Golden Guitar
• The Big Merino

Phew….. and the list goes on. Watch this rather hilarious video about most of them here.

Australia Day History Facts Events Wishes Celebrations Date January 26 Images Messages Greetings

8. Dropbears. Have you heard of them? They’re said to be large, fierce man-eating koalas, that deliberately fall from trees onto their unsuspecting victims and do terrible things to them. The only known deterrent is a generous smearing of Vegemite behind your ears. Of course these are just myths, which you may believe or not 🙂 .

Originally posted 2015-01-22 14:55:56.