More disturbingly still, the group was known to have nuclear engineers among its members. When the authorities investigated, they found a sophisticated laboratory and evidence that members of the group had been mining uranium. Subsequent investigations turned up a massive 500,000-acre property owned by the group near the site of the previously unexplained seismic activity. Later, in 1995, the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult achieved notoriety after killing 12 commuters in a nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway. In the end, the tremors were chalked up as an unsolvable mystery. It couldn’t have been a meteorite strike as there wasn’t a crater, and the activity was too intense to be blamed on a mining accident. An earthquake was ruled out, which left a couple of possibilities. The disturbances took place in the Great Victoria Desert. Take the seismic activity that baffled experts in 1993.

Even the most bizarre events there barely make international news. It’s a massive country that leaves a comparatively small footprint in the global consciousness. What do you really know about Australia? If you’re not from “down under,” probably not a lot.

why a former prime minister refused to live in the capital.

how nineteenth-century gold rushes changed the country’s fortunes and.

why Cook went down in history as the discoverer of Australia.

In this summary of In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson, you’ll find out In a Sunburned Country recounts his time traveling the country from north to south and east to west.ĭisplaying his trademark ability to dig out the tastiest tidbits, it’s a brilliant travelogue full of fascinating facts that’ll have you checking tickets for the next plane to Oz. That’s something Bill Bryson – Anglo-American travel writer and connoisseur of the curious and captivating aspects of Australia – knows better than most. From tropical rainforests to barren deserts, modern cities to the famously rugged “outback,” it’s a stunningly diverse place teeming with life and history.

Well, such a place exists – it’s called Australia! But it’s not just Australia’s sheer size that’s breathtaking. Imagine a country so vast the commute between two major cities takes days rather than hours! Where a group of people could buy half a million acres of land and carry out secret bomb tests without anyone noticing…

Sunburned country