Origins & Early Life

Yagan (; c. 1795 – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after Thomas Smedley, another of Butler's servants, shot at a group of Noongar people stealing potatoes and fowls, killing one of them.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

The government offered a bounty for Yagan's capture, dead or alive, and a young settler, William Keats, shot and killed him. Yagan is considered a legendary figure by the Noongar. After his shooting, settlers cut off Yagan's head to claim the bounty. Later, an official sent it to London, where it was exhibited as an "anthropological curiosity" and eventually given to a museum in Liverpool. It held the head in storage for more than a century before burying it with other remains in an unmarked grave in Liverpool in 1964.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Over the years, the Noongar asked for repatriation of the head, both for religious reasons and because of Yagan's traditional stature. The burial site was identified in 1993; officials exhumed the head four years later and repatriated it to Australia. After years of debate within the Noongar community...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Antonio José de Sucre — Contemporary (Born in 1795) (1795): Venezuelan general and politician, key leader in South America's struggle for independence.
• François-André Danican Philidor — Contemporary (Died in 1795) (1795): Pioneering French composer and celebrated chess master of the Enlightenment era.
• Francis Marion — Contemporary (Died in 1795) (1795): The "Swamp Fox," a key figure in American irregular warfare during the Revolution.
• Adrien-Marie Legendre — Contemporary (Died in 1833) (1833): Pioneering French mathematician known for Legendre polynomials and least squares method.
• Alexander Borodin — Contemporary (Born in 1833) (1833): Russian Romantic composer, chemist, and physician known for 'Prince Igor' and symphonies.
• Alfred Nobel — Contemporary (Born in 1833) (1833): Pioneering chemist, inventor of dynamite, and founder of the Nobel Prizes.
• E. B. White — Shared historical date (07-11 · Born) (1899): Esteemed American author celebrated for children's literature and sharp essays.
• George Gershwin — Shared historical date (07-11 · Died) (1937): Pioneering composer blending jazz, popular, and classical American sounds.
• George Peabody — Historical peer (Born in 1795) (1795): American financier and philanthropist, considered the father of modern philanthropy.
• James Boswell — Historical peer (Died in 1795) (1795): Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, famed for his work on Samuel Johnson.
• 1795 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1795
• 1833 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1833
• July 11 (07-11) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on July 11