Robstar's Awesome Things About Australia
For the uninitiated, I thought I'd make this thread to share my home country with those who might be interested. It's bound to be a mish-mash of facts, clips and uniquely Aussie things that appeal to me and give a better representation of Australia than any marketing campaign you'll find out there. ;)
Hope you enjoy it.
Awesome Facts About Australia
Australia is approximately the same size as the 48 mainland states in the USA and 50 percent larger than Europe which makes it the sixth largest country in the world it also has the lowest population density in the world with an average of only two people per square kilometre.
The coastline in Australia stretches for almost 50,000 kilometres and is joined by well over 10,000 beaches, more than any other country in the world.
More than 85% of Australians live within 50 kilometres of the coast which makes the beach a very important part of their lifestyle.
Australia is the only nation to govern an entire continent it is also the largest island in the world but the smallest and flattest continent.
Native Aboriginal people are believed to be the world's oldest civilization and have lived on the continent for over 50,000 years. They invented the boomerang, they were the first society to ground edges on stone cutting tools and the first to use stone tools to grind seeds.
The black box flight recorder for aircraft was invented in Australia in 1958 by the Aeronautical research scientist David Warren.
Melbourne was formerly called Batmania, after one of its founders John Batman.
Australia's first police force was created from a group of 12 of their best behaved convicts.
Australians called the English pommies from the initials POME on convicts uniforms. These initials stood for Prisoners of Mother England.
Australian inventions include things like the surf lifesaving reel, notepads, aspirin, the pacemaker, Hills Hoist clothesline, plastic disposable syringes, wine casks, the bionic ear, dual flush toilet and long-wearing contact lenses. *fixed for accuracy(thanks Polly)