1813: In 1813, the new Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, faced a shortage of new currency in New South Wales. In response to currency shortages, New South Wales began circulating strange coins called "holey dollar" and "dump". As a result, the holed silver dollar became Australia's first official currency minted specifically for circulation. It is estimated that there are approximately 350 silver Hori coins and 1,500 large gold coins still in circulation. From 1822 these coins were replaced by pound coins.


1922: Former senior Australian Army officer Major General Alan Stretton was born. He rose to prominence when he was responsible for the clean-up in Darwin after Cyclone Stratton on Christmas Day 1974. As head of the National Disaster Organization he managed the evacuation of 35,000 people over six days. In 1975 Stretton was named Australian of the Year.


1951: Australian doctor Barry Marshall was born in Western Australia. In 1982, Marshall and Warren performed initial cultures of Helicobacter pylori, which led to the development of theories related to the bacterial cause of peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. A strong link was found between H. pylori and peptic ulcers and gastritis. In 2005, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.


1990: Writer Patrick White has died after a long illness. He developed a complex literary style and a body of work that challenged his native country's dominant realist prose tradition, satirized Australian society, and aroused heated debate among local critics. In 1973 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the only Australian to win it.


2022: The court ruled that the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 did not apply to the Director of Parks Australia. The court held that the director-general of Parks Australia "has the same legal standing as the federal executive government with respect to criminal liability" and is generally immune from prosecution. The decision dealt a blow to Aboriginal land rights, leaving traditional owners 'without a say'.