The Great Aussie Firsts — New Series. They did it ‘first’

Great Aussie Firsts - People who were credited with doing it ‘first’. Apart from the fact that they’re all Australians, the bulk of the population have never heard of them. Their achievements cannot be emulated. They did it first.
 

The first Labor PM

John Watson was not only Australia’s first Labor Prime Minister in 1904, but, at 37, he was also the youngest incumbent to hold that office. Watson only occupied the position for four months but it was long enough to make an impression on elder statesman Alfred Deakin.

Of Watson, Deakin wrote: “His (Watson’s) simple dignity, courage and resource during his short lease of power, made hosts of admirers and many friends.”  From 1920 to 1941, Watson became president of NRMA.  

He was one of the first to see the potential in ‘motor touring’, or road trips. He was dubbed “Good Roads” Watson. Watson was a ruthless politician but he brought ‘ kindness and courtesy’ to NRMA. 

An NRMA spokesperson said: “He made it one of the most powerful motoring clubs in the world.” Watson died age 74 on November 18, 1941. He was given a state funeral.
 

Main: John Watson – the first Labor Prime Minister and the first President of the NRMA.
 

The 'boy' Bushrangers

Young lads who became bushrangers in Australia during the 1800s, were lured into the position.
 

Some of the bushrangers clan from the 1840s, according to history, were young lads, the first, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, turned to bushranging due to various reasons, such as poverty, unemployment, or a desire for adventure. They engaged in illegal activities, such as stealing, robbing, and evading the law. However, their experiences and motivations were diverse, and individual stories may vary. – Adapted by Frank Morris.
 

Blind Society’s Talking Books 

Back in the 1930s, came a revolutionary breakthrough that would lead to the development of the ‘talking book’ – recording and storing information -- so that it could be ‘reproduced’ accurately later on.

This by-product of the printed word would eventually sell worldwide in the hundreds of thousands. This was groundbreaking stuff. The  New York-based American Foundation for the Blind was quick to divine the potential of this and releases and the anthology of American literature.
 

Broadcaster, the late John Pearce, who did the historic reading of the book in 1975.
 

In UK the following year, the first series of Talking Books, The Story of San Michelle and four other major titles, was launched by the Royal National Institute of the Blind. The Royal Blind Society of NSW, imported the first Talking Book in 1934.

Much to the despair of the Society, there was no Australian material to be had at any cost. It would another twenty-odd years before the Talking Book was introduced in Australia.

In 1954, Kenneth Bruce and his brother and the three friends established the Blind Book Society, to record Aussie literature which “has previously not been done here.” The group were on verge of developing a machine “capable of recording 26 hours of speech on one tape at trifling cost.”.

The first work recorded for the Royal Blind Society Talking Book program was Colin Roderick’s The Lady and the Lawyer published in 1955. Broadcaster, the late John Pearce, a pioneer of talk-back radio in Australia, did the historic reading of the book.
 

Briefly …
 

A magazine called Punch

In 1855, the first satirical magazine was published, Melbourne Punch. 
 

Near miss

Federal parliamentarian, Athur Caldwell, survived an attempted assassination during an election campaign in 1966. He was left with some facial injuries. The culprit was apprehended, stood trial, and put in jail.
 

Arthur Caldwell ‘near miss in the 1966 Federal election.
 

The Discovery of ‘Australia’

The first book to use the word ‘Australia’ in the text was the Zoology of New Holland, published in 1794.
 

Enter Judy Davis

Her first taste of success in Miles Franklin’s My Brilliant Career, in 1979. Davis was chosen to play the romantic, idealistic, rebellious teenager, Sybylla Melvyn. She was one of NIDA’s outstanding students. After which she had a frustrating six months with the Adelaide Theatre. “I was appalled at the stultifying direction there,” she said. Just around the corner was My Brilliant Career – and success!

Are we nearly there!

Lady Jane Franklin, looking pert and pretty, was the first woman to travel overland from Melbourne and Sydney in 1839.
 

Youngest Swimmer!

Australian Tracey Wickham, 13, was the youngest swimmer at the Olympic Games! Canada played host to 88 countries at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Her 800m and 400m freestyle world records set in 1978 stood and 9 and 10 years respectively.
 

<< Great Events Australia’s History, Dictionary of Australian Bushrangers, Biography and autography, Footnote Australian, Ampol Book of Recording, Shell, Historic First column, and Panel by Panel, a book about the artists. << Frank Morris.
 

Tracey Wickham!