Australia has a sandcastle culture, according to Jim Davidson, one-time editor of Meanjin. His point: we suffer from cultural amnesia. Every incoming tide wipes out the memories of what came before, both our achievements and failures.

Ahead of Australia Day, here are 20 of the weirdest facts about Australian history – a list of all those sandcastles that should not be forgotten.

1. In 1932, the Australian army fought a war against the emus. The emus won.

Emus were the real winners. Credit: Peter Lorimer

2. Nearly all wild rabbits in Australia are genetically related to the 24 imported in 1859 for the purposes of hunting by a single British idiot called Thomas Austin.

3. When US President Lyndon Johnson visited Australia in 1966, tensions between Melbourne and Sydney were so intense he had to spend an equal number of hours – four – in each city.

4. Australia invented Wi-Fi but failed to commercialise it.

5. Australia invented the solar panel but failed to commercialise it.

President Lyndon Johnson in Australia in 1966.Credit: Fairfax

6. Charles Darwin came up with the theory of evolution while in Australia. The Galapagos Islands were also important, but the first place he questioned the idea of a single creator was at present-day Wallerawang, near Lithgow. He examined animals that occupied similar ecological niches to those of the northern hemisphere........

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