Today is October 20, 2006.

Born on this date in the year 1884 was actor Bela Lugosi. He is best known for his portrayal of Dracula in the 1931 version of the movie.

Actor Viggo Mortensen, who is best known for his role in the Lord of The Rings movies was born on this date. The year was 1958.

It was 33 years ago today that the Six Million Dollar Man made his debut on ABC Television. The show lasted for 5 years.

And finally..

Our story today starts with 18th century English explorers doing what they did best: exploring the World and claiming new land for the English Crown.

On the 25th and the 26th of January in the year 1788, 11 English ships containing some 1500 immigrants would arrive on a remote shoreline and establish a colony. As you may imagine, the natives were not overly thrilled about the arrival of the newcomers. In a half-hearted attempt to make peace with the tribe members, the British did try to treat the natives fairly and graciously with one exception. Although the British were the newcomers, they would claim land ownership and that was not negotiable. Due to this policy, it was nearly impossible for the British and the natives to establish friendly relations.

As a last resort, in an attempt to get the leaders of the natives to set down and talk with the British colonists, the British would take many of the tribe members as hostages. Several of the captives would quickly escape, but many of them did not. Over time, various relationships and even a few friendships would develop between the captives and the colonists. After a period of about 6 months, a captive by the name of Bennelong would eventually escape. Bennelong was recognized as being very intelligent, well spoken, proud and an excellent negotiator and tactician. After his escape, he would cautiously re-approach the colony’s leadership in an attempt to finally establish a peaceful co-existence between the colonists and the natives. He would make several requests of the colonists and one of those requests was that a house be built for him and his tribe mates near the colony. The house was built and Bennelong would take possession of the house in the year 1790. The house was used as a social center for the natives when they would visit the colony.

As well as being an excellent negotiator and tribe spokesman, Bennelong enjoyed having a great time. He was a singer, a dancer, and an entertainer. He enjoyed fine foods and drinks. And it was these traits that would make him very popular not only with his fellow natives, but also with the British colonists. As a result, the area in which he lived would become known as Bennelong Point.

In March of 1791, Bennelong invited the British Governor and several of the governors’ guests to his house. Fine foods and drinks were served and Bennelong himself would perform a concert of singing, dancing and stage performance. These concert events would become a regular occurrence at Bennelong Point.

Eventually, Bennelong would be invited on a trip back to England. During his trip, his house at Bennelong Point was barely used and it was eventually demolished so that the bricks could be used elsewhere.

Over the next century and a half, the location of Bennelongs house would be used for several different purposes: an artillery installation, an expedition base,commercial businesses, a fort, a British Naval Brigade and even a tram station was located there for several years. But eventually the land at Bennelong Point was cleared for the construction of a new facility.

This building currently attracts over 2 million visitors per year. It contains over 1000 rooms and is approximately the size of 6 football fields.

Although Bennelong died in the year 1813, his tradition of hosting concerts with singing and dancing would not die with him. At the exact same location that Bennelong hosted countless concerts at his home on Bennelong Point, now sets perhaps the Worlds greatest concert hall. You see, Bennelong was an Aborigine and Bennelong Point was located in an area that we now call Sydney Harbor and it was on this date, October 20th in the year 1973 that the very first concert was performed in the new facility called the Sydney Opera House.

And that is just one of the things that has occurred on this day in history.