dec 19, 1900 - Governor-General of Australia Earl of Hopetoun passes up favorite Edmund Barton as his choice for the Commonwealth's first Prime Minister, selecting instead Sir William Lyne, in a decision memorialized as the Hopetoun Blunder

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When key leaders said that they would not serve under Lyne, who had opposed the federation, Lyne withdrew on December 24, and Barton became the first Prime Minister of Australia on January 1, 1901.

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