January 1, 1901: The Federation of Australia

January 1, 1901: The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia, completing a process that began in 1842, federate as "The Commonwealth of Australia." The Constitution of Australia comes into effect at the same time. Edmund Barton, Leader of the Protectionist Party in Victoria, and one of the drafters of the Constitution, is named the new country's 1st Prime Minister.

Edmund Barton

While this doesn't make sense in terms of names or geography, South Australia governed what became the Northern Territory. The colonies of Fiji and New Zealand had been part of the Federation process, but they decided not to join. New Zealand achieved Dominion status, a kind of semi-independence, in 1907, with full independence in 1947; Fiji did not achieve independence until 1970.

Australia's 1st national election was held on March 29 and 30, 1901. Barton's Protectionists won 32 seats in the new Parliament, while George Reid led his Free Trade Party to 25 seats. Barton remained Prime Minister until 1903, when he resigned to accept a post on the High Court of Australia, which he held until his death in 1920.

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January 1, 1901 was a Sunday. There were no scores on this historic day: Sports on Sundays were illegal in most places, anyway. The next season would see America's first college football bowl game, on January 1. On January 31, 1901, the Winnipeg Victorias beat the Montreal Shamrocks to win the Stanley Cup.