As the highly political 26 January approaches, here are some important historical moments (beyond the First Fleet)
1. The First Fleet didn't actually arrive on the 26 January , actually arrived in Botany Bay somewhere between the 18th and 20th of January 1788
2. The first sanctioned marriage between an Aboriginal person and a convict occurred on the 26 January. Robert and Maria Lock were married in Paramatta in on 26 January 1824. This union was performed on the 26th only by coincidence and has nothing to do with 'Australia Day' as we recognise it.
3. What Henry Parkes said about the 1888 Centenary celebrations, When Parkes (the then Premier of NSW) was planning the upcoming celebrations of the 100 year anniversary in 1888, he was asked what — if anything — was being planned for Aboriginal people in the Centenary events.
Parkes retorted, 'And remind them that we have robbed them?'; a harsh, but truthful response, one that many modern-day politicians still don't seem to recognise.
4. A significant Aboriginal protest in 1938 rallied against Australia Day and called it the 'Day of Mourning', unanimously they passed a resolution, "We, representing the Aborigines of Australia, assembled in conference at the Australian Hall, Sydney, on the 26th day of January, 1938, this being the 150th Anniversary of the Whiteman's seizure of our country, hereby make protest against the callous treatment of our people by the whitemen during the past 150 years, and we appeal to the Australian nation of today to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, we ask for a new policy which will raise our people to full citizen status and equality within the community."
5. The 150th Anniversary, Aboriginal people were forced to participate in a reenactment of the landing of the First Fleet, According to the National Museum of Australia website:
Aboriginal people living in Sydney refused to take part so organisers brought in men from Menindee, in western New South Wales, and kept them locked up at the Redfern Police Barracks stables until the re-enactment took place.
6. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the 26 January 1972, by four First Nations men (Michael Anderson, Billie Craigie, Bert Williams and Tony Coorey) set up a beach umbrella on the lawns opposite Parliament House in Canberra, Labelled the ‘Aboriginal Embassy’.
7. On 26 January 1988, more than 40,000 people staged the largest march in Sydney since the 1970s anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, the protesters (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal supporters marched from Redfern Park to a public rally at Hyde Park, and then on to Sydney Harbour, to mark the 200th anniversary of British occupation and colonisation.
8. Archie Roach's 1988 protest song, 'Keep your handouts, give us back our land'. The well-known 2016 hit by A.B.Original's caused some controversy with its staunch anti-Australia Day message, but others have been protesting this celebration long before the #ChangeTheDate campaign.
9. Australia Day was not consistently celebrated on 26 January as a public holiday in all states and territories until 1994.
10. The triple j Hottest 100 wasn't always on the 26 January
After being criticised for facilitating Australia Day celebrations by hosting their famous music countdown on a date that signifies European invasion, in 2017 the popular radio station did not host their event on the contentious day.
And a bit of bonus info - You should know that... It wasn't until 2013 that the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag were raised together on Sydney Harbour Bridge for Australia Day, Despite being formally recognised in 1995 as an official Flag of Australia.
