The following is a timeline of the
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
of the city of
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia.
Pre-Colonial
![View of Sydney Cove 1792](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/View_of_Sydney_Cove_1792.jpg)
*
50,000–45,000 BP – Near
Penrith, a
far western suburb of Sydney, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Cranebrook Terraces gravel sediments dating to this time period; at first when these results were new they were controversial. More recently in 1987 and 2003, dating of the same strata has revised and corroborated these dates.
*30,000 BP –
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
suggests human activity occurred in and around the
Sydney basin
The Sydney Basin is an interim Australian bioregion and is both a structural entity and a depositional area, now preserved on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia and with some of its eastern side now subsided beneath the Tasman Sea. ...
, as evidenced by an archaeological dig in
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
, in
Western Sydney
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
. The finds show that the Aboriginal Australians in that region used
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
, stone tools and possible ancient campfires.
*21,100–17,800 BP – Stone artifact assemblages dating to this time period discovered in Shaws Creek (near
Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...
) and in
Blue Mountains. A
rock shelter
A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...
with flakes dating to this period discovered near
Nepean River
Nepean River (Darug: Yandhai), is a major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River and its associated mouth, the Hawkesbury River, almost encircles the metropolitan region of ...
.
*5,000–7000 BP – The
Sydney rock engravings
Sydney rock engravings, or Sydney rock art, are a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art in the sandstone around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that consist of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols. Many thousands of such eng ...
, a form of
Australian Aboriginal rock art
In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...
consisting of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols, date to this time period.
*4,000–2,000 BC – The first backed stone artifacts developed, such as
blades and
spears
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastene ...
. The stones would drill, scrape, cut and grind material. They were also associated with
woodwork
Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning.
History
Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials ...
ing.
*1,000–500 BC – Bone and shell usage dating to this period discovered. They would've been attached to fishing
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
prongs, which would mean that multi-pronged fishing spears occurred at this time. The evidence of
spear-throwing is suggested by an excavated shell in
Balmoral Beach
Balmoral is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore.
The locality is mostly known for its beach, o ...
.
18th–19th centuries
* 1770 – Lieutenant (later Captain)
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
, in command of
HMS ''Endeavour'', sighted the east coast of Australia and landed at
Kurnell
Kurnell is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire along the east coast. Cronulla and Woolooware are the only adj ...
.
* 1786 – British government decides to found convict settlement in
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...
.
* 1787 –
First Fleet
The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...
of eleven vessels under the command of Captain
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales.
Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 unti ...
leaves
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.
* 1788
** Phillip arrives in Botany Bay but moves site of settlement to
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove (Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central Sydney locatio ...
.
** French vessels under the command of
Lapérouse land in Botany Bay.
**
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
founded.
* 1789
**
Smallpox epidemic
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...
kills many of indigenous population.
** ''
Rose Hill Packet
''Rose Hill Packet'', was a marine craft built in Australia to serve the second place of European settlement in Australia, Parramatta#European settlement, "Rose Hill", the furthest navigable point inland on the Parramatta River. When launched the ...
'' built for service on
Parramatta River
The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Seco ...
.
** Six marines
hanged
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...
for theft from government stores.
* 1790
** Phillip speared by
Willemering
Willemering or Wileemarin (c.1755 – c.1800) was a man of the Eora people of Aboriginal Australians who on 7 September 1790 became a notable identity by spearing Arthur Phillip, the first governor of New South Wales.
Early life
Willemering was d ...
at
Manly Cove
Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the local government area of Nort ...
.
**
Second Fleet
The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. The Fleet was established following World War II. In September 2011, Second Fleet was deactivated in view of ...
arrives with many convicts in poor condition.
* 1791
** Successful convict farmer
James Ruse
James Ruse (9 August17595 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at age 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of h ...
granted land at
Rosehill.
** Convict station established at
Old Toongabbie
Old Toongabbie is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta.
History
Toongabbie is derived ...
.
**
Mary Bryant
Mary Bryant (1765 – after 1794) was a Cornish convict sent to Australia. She became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony.
Early life
Bryant was born Mary Broad (referred to as Mary Braund at the E ...
and other convicts escape by open boat to
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
.
** First convicts arrive from Ireland in the ''
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
''.
* 1792 –
Burial Ground
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
established.
* 1793
**
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
and
Elizabeth Macarthur
Elizabeth Macarthur (14 August 1766 – 9 February 1850) was an Anglo-Australian pastoralist and merchant, and wife of John Macarthur.
Early life
Elizabeth Macarthur was born in Bridgerule, Devon, England, the daughter of provincial farmers, ...
begin building
Elizabeth Farm
Elizabeth Farm is an historic Estate (land), estate located at 70 Alice Street, Rosehill, New South Wales, Rosehill, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Elizabeth Farm was the family home of wool pioneer, John Macarthur (wool pioneer) ...
at
Rosehill.
** Visit of
Malaspina's Spanish exploratory expedition.
** First free settlers arrive on the ''
Bellona Bellona may refer to:
Places
*Bellona, Campania, a ''comune'' in the Province of Caserta, Italy
*Bellona Reef, a reef in New Caledonia
*Bellona Island, an island in Rennell and Bellona Province, Solomon Islands
Ships
* HMS ''Bellona'' (1760), a 74 ...
''.
**
Watkin Tench
Lieutenant General Watkin Tench (6 October 1758 – 7 May 1833) was a British marine officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first European settlement in Australia in ...
's ''Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson'' published in London.
* 1794 –
Maurice Margarot
Maurice Margarot (1745–1815) is most notable for being one of the founding members of the London Corresponding Society, a radical society demanding parliamentary reform in the late eighteenth century.
Early life
Maurice Margarot was the son of ...
and four other radical
political prisoners
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...
arrive.
* 1795
**
Bennelong
Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813), also spelt Baneelon, was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia in 1788. Bennelong serv ...
returns from visit to England.
** Descendants of cattle that had escaped in 1788 found at
Cowpastures (Camden).
* 1796
** White population: 4,000.
** Political prisoner
Thomas Muir escapes on American ship.
** Bushranger
"Black Caesar" shot and killed.
* 1797
**
Prospect
Prospect may refer to:
General
* Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer
* Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team
* Prospect (mining ...
, a
western Sydney
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
suburb, became the boundary between colonists and indigenous Australians. Hostility grew where a state of
guerrilla warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
existed between indigenous people and the settler communities at Prospect and
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
. The aboriginal people were led by their leader,
Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy (also rendered as Pimbloy, Pemulvoy, Pemulwoy, Pemulwy or Pemulwye, or sometimes by contemporary Europeans as Bimblewove, Bumbleway or Bembulwoyan) (c. 1750 – 2 June 1802) was a Bidjigal man of the Eora nation, born around 1750 in th ...
, a member of the
Bidjigal tribe who occupied the land.
[Willey, K., When the sky fell down : the destruction of the tribes of the Sydney region, 1788-1850s, Collins, Sydney, 1979]
** First windmill.
** First merino sheep brought from Cape of Good Hope by
Captain Waterhouse.
* 1798 – First church burns down.
* 1800 – Hundreds of rebels of the
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...
arrive as convicts.
* 1801
** Female Orphan School first state charitable institution.
**
Lieutenant Governor Paterson wounded by
John Macarthur John MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to:
*J. Roderick MacArthur (1920–1984), American businessman
*John MacArthur (American pastor) (born 1939), American evangelical minister, televangelist, and author
* John Macarthur (priest), 20th-century pro ...
in a duel.
* 1802
** Visit of
Baudin's French exploratory expedition.
**
Pemulwuy
Pemulwuy (also rendered as Pimbloy, Pemulvoy, Pemulwoy, Pemulwy or Pemulwye, or sometimes by contemporary Europeans as Bimblewove, Bumbleway or Bembulwoyan) (c. 1750 – 2 June 1802) was a Bidjigal man of the Eora nation, born around 1750 in th ...
shot and killed.
* 1803
** ''
Sydney Gazette
''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' was the first newspaper printed in Australia, running from 5 March 1803 until 20 October 1842. It was a semi-official publication of the government of New South Wales, authorised by Governo ...
'' newspaper begins publication.
** First
Vaucluse House
Vaucluse House is a heritage-listed residence, colonial farm and country estate and now tourist attraction, house museum and public park located at 69a Wentworth Road, Vaucluse in the Municipality of Woollahra local government area of New South ...
built.
* 1804
**
Castle Hill convict rebellion
**
Fort Phillip construction begins.
* 1805 – first whaling vessels based in Sydney.
* 1808 –
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps (sometimes called The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment of the British Army to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia, in fortifying the ...
depose
Governor Bligh
Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...
in
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a ''coup d'état'' in the then-British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, the name derives from ...
.
* 1810
**
Macquarie Street laid out.
**
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
founded.
* 1813
**
Crossing of Blue Mountains opens route from Sydney to west.
**
Benevolent Society
The Benevolent Society, founded by Edward Smith Hall in 1813, is Australia's first and oldest charity. The society is an independent, not-for-profit organization whose main goals include helping families, older Australians and people with disabili ...
founded as charity for general purposes.
** First steam engine imported.
* 1814 –
Native Institution established for education of black children.
* 1816
**
Royal Botanic Gardens open.
**
Sydney Hospital
Sydney Hospital is a major hospital in Australia, located on Macquarie Street in the Sydney central business district. It is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788, and has been at its current location since 1811. It first rece ...
built.
* 1817
**
Bank of New South Wales established.
** Construction of
Fort Macquarie
Fort Macquarie was a square castle, castellated battlement fort built in 1798 at Bennelong Point, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the site where the Sydney Opera House now stands. It was demolished in 1901 to make way for the Fort Macqua ...
begun on
Bennelong Point.
* 1818 –
Macquarie Lighthouse
The Macquarie Lighthouse, also known as South Head Upper Light, is the first, and is the longest serving, lighthouse site in Australia. It is located on Dunbar Head, on Old South Head Road, Vaucluse in the Municipality of Woollahra local govern ...
operational.
* 1819
**
Hyde Park Barracks built.
** Visit of
de Freycinet's French exploratory expedition.
* 1820
**
Devonshire Street Cemetery
The Devonshire Street Cemetery (also known as the Brickfield Cemetery or Sandhills Cemetery) was located between Eddy Avenue and Elizabeth Street, and between Chalmers and Devonshire Streets, at Brickfield Hill, in Sydney, Australia. It was con ...
established.
** Deaths from flu epidemic.
* 1821
** First Catholic church,
St Mary's, begins construction.
** Philosophical Society (later
Royal Society of New South Wales
The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society.
The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...
) founded.
* 1823 –
Sydney Royal Easter Show
First held in 1823, the Sydney Royal Easter Show, commonly shortened to The Easter Show or The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around the Easter period. It comprises an agricultural show, an amusement park and a ...
begins.
* 1824
**
St James' Church consecrated.
**
New South Wales Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...
proclaimed.
** ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1826
**
Scots Church opened.
**
Eliza Darling
Eliza, Lady Darling (1798–1868), born Elizabeth Dumaresq, was a British philanthropist and artist. She was the wife of Sir Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.
Early life
She was the daughter of Lieut.-Col. John Demar ...
establishes the first
friendly society
A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutual org ...
, the Female Friendly Society of the Town of Sydney.
* 1825 –
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...
established in Sydney.
* 1827 –
Australian Museum established.
* 1828
** Thieves steal some £14,000 in
Bank of Australia robbery
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
.
** North Head begins use as
quarantine station
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
.
* 1831
** Weekly ''
Sydney Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' newspaper begins publication.
**
The King's School, Parramatta
The King's School is an Education in Australia#Non-government schools, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Pre-school education, early learning, primary school, primary and secondary school, secondary day and boarding school, boardi ...
founded.
* 1833
**
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA) is the longest running School of Arts (also known as a " Mechanics' Institute") and the oldest continuous lending library in Australia.
Founded in 1833, the school counted many of the colony's educat ...
founded.
**
Randwick Racecourse
Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney ra ...
opened.
**
Theatre Royal opened.
* 1834
**
First Catholic bishop appointed.
** Markets consolidated at
Paddy's Markets
Paddy's Markets is a commercial enterprise that has two large markets in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Paddy's Markets are located in Haymarket and Flemington and specialise in the sale of fruit, vegetables, fish, clothes and giftware. B ...
site at
Haymarket Haymarket may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia
Germany
* Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market)
Russia
* Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...
.
** Australian Union Benefit Society formed to support workers in distress.
**
Commercial Banking Company of Sydney founded.
* 1835 –
Tooth and Co.
Tooth and Co was the major brewer of beer in New South Wales, Australia. The company owned a large brewery on Broadway in Sydney from 1835 until 1985, known as the Kent Brewery. It was historically one of Australia's oldest companies, having be ...
build Kent Brewery at
Blackwattle Creek
''Blackwattle Creek'' (2012) is a crime novel by Australian author Geoffrey McGeachin. It is the second in the author's Charlie Berlin mystery series and won the 2013 Ned Kelly Award.
Plot summary
Ten years after the events of the first book ...
.
* 1836
** Visit of
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
on
voyage of the ''Beagle''.
**
First Anglican bishop installed.
**
Great North Road completed connecting Sydney to Hunter Valley.
* 1837 –
Government House
Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries.
Gover ...
and
Botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
-Sydney aqueduct built.
* 1838
** Seven perpetrators of
Myall Creek Massacre
The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least twenty-eight unarmed Indigenous Australians by twelve colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near the Gwydir River, in northern New South Wales. After two trials, seven of the twelve co ...
hanged.
**
David Jones (shop) in business.
* 1839
** Penal establishment for secondary punishment opened on
Cockatoo Island.
** First ice imported to Sydney from Boston.
* 1840
** Farmers & Co. in business.
** Visiting Maori chiefs' attempted sale of
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...
to
W.C. Wentworth and associates prevented by
Governor Gipps
Sir George Gipps (23 December 1790 – 28 February 1847) was the Governor of the British colony of New South Wales for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship oversaw a tumultuous period where the rights to land were bitterly conte ...
.
* 1841
**
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm (born Caroline Jones; 30 May 1808 – 25 March 1877) was a 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her support of immigrant female and family welfare in Australia. She is commemorated on 16 May in the calendar of s ...
establishes Female Immigrants Home
**
Darlinghurst Gaol in operation.
** Scarlet fever epidemic.
* 1842
** City incorporated; city council elected.
** Area of city: 11.65 square kilometres (approximate).
**
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney
The Archdiocese of Sydney ( la, Archidioecesis Sydneyensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Its episcopal see is Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Erected in 1842, the archdiocese is the ...
established.
* 1843 – Depth of depression with failures of
Bank of Australia
The Bank of Australia was a failed financial institution of early colonial New South Wales formed in 1826 by a producers' and merchants' group as a rival to the Bank of New South Wales. Brian Fitzpatrick, ''British Imperialism and Australia 178 ...
and Sydney Banking Company.
* 1846
** Hero's welcome to
Ludwig Leichhardt
Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt (), known as Ludwig Leichhardt, (23 October 1813 – c. 1848) was a German explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.Ken Eastwood,'Cold case: Leichhardt's dis ...
on his return from overland expedition to
Port Essington
Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...
.
** First Australian meat canning plant opened.
* 1847
**
Isaac Nathan
Isaac Nathan (15 January 1864) was an English composer, musicologist, journalist and self-publicist, who has been called the "father of Australian music".
Early success
Isaac Nathan was born around 1791 in the English city of Canterbury to a '' ...
's opera ''
Don John of Austria
John of Austria ( es, Juan, link=no, german: Johann; 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was the natural son born to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V late in life when he was a widower. Charles V met his son only once, recognizing him in a secret ...
'' produced at
Royal Victoria Theatre.
**
Herman Melville
Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...
's ''
Omoo
''Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas'' is the second book by American writer Herman Melville, first published in London in 1847, and a sequel to his first South Sea narrative ''Typee'', also based on the author's experiences in the ...
'' describes a whaling voyage from Sydney.
* 1848
** House of the Good Shepherd and Sydney Female Refuge founded as women's refuges.
** First shipment of Irish Famine orphans arrives on the ''
Earl Grey
Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...
''.
* 1849
** Arrival of ''
Hashemy'', last convict transport.
** Foundation of
AMP Society
AMP is a financial services company in Australia and New Zealand providing superannuation and investment products, financial advice, and banking products (through AMP Banking) including home loans and savings accounts. Its headquarters is in Sy ...
to provide life insurance.
* 1850
**
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
established.
** ''
Freeman's Journal
The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper.
Patriot journal
It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with radi ...
'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1853 –
Manly ferry services
Manly ferry services (numbered F1) operate on Sydney Harbour connecting the Sydney suburb of Manly with Circular Quay in the CBD a journey of seven nautical miles.
History
In 1853, Henry Gilbert Smith chartered the wooden paddle wheeler ' ...
begin.
* 1854
**
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...
opens.
**
St Paul's College founded.
* 1855
** First
New South Wales Government Railways
The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932.
Management
The agency was managed by a range of differe ...
train operates from
Redfern to
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
.
**
Sydney Mint
The Sydney Mint in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is the oldest surviving public building in the Sydney central business district. Built between 1811 and 1816 as the southern wing of the Sydney Hospital, it was then known as the ''Rum Hospi ...
established in
General Hospital and Dispensary building.
** Stonemasons first workers to win
Eight-hour day
The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses.
An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...
.
* 1856
** First
Pyrmont Bridge
The Pyrmont Bridge, a heritage-listed swing bridge across Cockle Bay, is located in Darling Harbour, part of Port Jackson, west of the central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Opened ...
built.
**
St Philip's Church
''Riceyman Steps'' is a novel by British novelist Arnold Bennett, first published in 1923 and winner of that year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. It follows a year in the life of Henry Earlforward, a miserly second-hand bookshop ow ...
rebuilt.
** Anglican
Moore Theological College
Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The president of the Moore Theological College Council is ''ex officio'' t ...
opens.
**
First Australian medical school established at Sydney University
* 1857
** Wreck of ''
Dunbar
Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...
'' at
The Gap The Gap may refer to:
Places Australia
* The Gap, New South Wales, a locality near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
* The Gap, Northern Territory, a suburb of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
* The Gap, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
...
kills 121.
**
Fitzroy Dock
Fitzroy Dock is a heritage-listed dockyard at the former Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.
History
Cockatoo I ...
dry dock completed on
Cockatoo Island Dockyard
The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...
.
**
St Vincent's Hospital founded by
Sisters of Charity
Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...
.
**
St John's College founded.
** Construction of
Fort Denison
Fort Denison, part of the Sydney Harbour National Park, is a protected national park that is a heritage-listed former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north-east of the Royal Botanic Garden and approximat ...
completed.
**
Australian Museum opened to the public.
* 1858
**
Sydney Observatory
The Sydney Observatory is a heritage-listed meteorological station, astronomical observatory, function venue, science museum, and education facility located on Observatory Hill at Upper Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers P ...
built.
** Royal Navy takes over
Garden Island for use as naval base.
* 1859
** Parliamentary
electoral districts
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
of
East Sydney and
West Sydney created.
**
Great Hall of the University of Sydney
The Great Hall of the University of Sydney, is one of the principal structures of The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, with a public interior used for formal ceremonies, conferences, recitals and dinners. The Hall, located in the ...
completed.
* 1861
**
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort
Thomas Sutcliffe Mort (23 December 18169 May 1878) was an Australian industrialist who improved the refrigeration of meat. He was renowned for speculation in the local pastoral industry as well as industrial activities such as his Ice-Works in ...
establishes freezing works at
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district.
Origin ...
.
** First horse-drawn
trams
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
run from Circular Quay to Redfern station.
** Population: 95,000 city and suburbs.
* 1865 –
St Mary's Cathedral destroyed by fire.
* 1867
**
Henry Kendall's poem ''
Bell-Birds
"Bell-Birds" is a poem by Australian writer Henry Kendall that was first published in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' on 25 November 1867.
It was later included in the author's poetry collection ''Leaves from Australian Forests'' (1869), and was ...
'' published in ''Sydney Morning Herald''.
** Measles epidemic kills some 750, mostly young children.
* 1868
**
Belmore Park opens.
**
St Andrew's Cathedral consecrated.
**
Prince Alfred survives shooting by Irishman
Henry O'Farrell
Henry James O'Farrell (183321 April 1868) was the first person to attempt a political assassination in Australia. On 12 March 1868, he shot and wounded Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria.
Biog ...
at
Clontarf.
** First mention of
Granny Smith
The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar which originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling. The tree is thought to be a hybrid ...
apple, discovered by Maria Smith at
Ryde
Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...
.
* 1869 –
Sydney Free Public Library established.
* 1871
**
Trades & Labor Council formed as peak union body.
**
Sydney Exchange and Academy of Art founded.
* 1872
** Sydney connected to Europe
by telegraph.
** Fish market opens in
Woolloomooloo
Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a low ...
.
** Toohey's opens Darling Brewery.
* 1874 –
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...
opened.
* 1877 –
Waverley Cemetery
The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...
established near city.
* 1878
**
Great Synagogue completed.
**
Robinson-Finlay wedding takes place.
* 1879
** St Aloysius College, Jesuit school established.
**
Sydney Riot of 1879
The Sydney Riot of 1879 was an instance of civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now the Sydney Cricket Ground (at the time known as the Association Ground), during a ma ...
.
**
Sydney International Exhibition
The Sydney International Exhibition was established headed by Lord Augustus Loftus and took place in Sydney in 1879, after being preceded by a number of Metropolitan Intercolonial Exhibitions through the 1870s in Prince Alfred Park.
Organisa ...
held;
Garden Palace
The Garden Palace was a large, purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet and constructed by John Young, at a cost of £191,800 in only ...
built.
**
Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...
opens.
**
Dymocks Bookseller in business.
**
New South Wales Zoological Society founded.
**
Royal National Park
The Royal National Park is a protected national park that is located in Sutherland Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales, just south of Sydney.
The national park is about south of the Sydney central business district near the local ...
established near city.
**
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in t ...
's first visit to Sydney.
* 1880
** ''
The Bulletin
Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to:
Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals)
* Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper
* ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008)
** Bulletin Debate, ...
'' magazine first published.
** Jesuit school
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview
Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Jesuit tradition, located in Riverview, a small suburb located on the Lane Cove River on the ...
established on
Lane Cove River
The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding throu ...
.
* 1881
** Population: 237,300 city and suburbs.
** First telephone exchange.
* 1882
**
Sydney Showground opens.
**
St Mary's Cathedral consecrated.
**
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School ...
opened.
**
Garden Palace
The Garden Palace was a large, purpose-built exhibition building constructed to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879 in Sydney, Australia. It was designed by James Barnet and constructed by John Young, at a cost of £191,800 in only ...
destroyed by fire.
**
Sydney Technical College
The Sydney Technical College, now known as the TAFE New South Wales Sydney Institute, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education i ...
formed, incorporating
Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts
The Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts (SMSA) is the longest running School of Arts (also known as a " Mechanics' Institute") and the oldest continuous lending library in Australia.
Founded in 1833, the school counted many of the colony's educat ...
.
**
Royal Easter Show moves to
Moore Park site.
* 1883
** Melbourne–Sydney railway built.
**
Sydney High School
, motto_translation = With Truth and Courage
, established =
, location = Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, pu ...
and Sydney Wharf Labourers Union established.
**
Sydney University Medical School founded by
Professor Anderson Stuart.
**
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in Sydney, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australian rules football and occasionally for rugby league, rugby union and as ...
hosts third and fourth tests in
first test tour in Australia.
* 1885 –
Doyles Restaurant at
Watsons Bay
Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.
...
founded.
* 1886 –
Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...
bookselling partnership formed.
* 1887 – Four hanged in
Mount Rennie rape case
The Mount Rennie rape case is the only gang rape in Sydney, Australia, during the 1880s that led to a full conviction of the participants involved in the crime—young larrikins of the " Waterloo Push". The attack is sometimes referred to as the ...
.
* 1888
** Arrival of ''Afghan'' from
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
sparks anti-Chinese demonstrations.
**
Centennial Park established to mark centenary of Sydney.
**
Louisa Lawson
Louisa Lawson (née Albury) (17 February 1848 – 12 August 1920) was an Australian poet, writer, publisher, suffragist, and feminist. She was the mother of the poet and author Henry Lawson.
Early life
Louisa Albury was born on 17 February 1 ...
founds ''
The Dawn'' feminist magazine.
**
Charles Conder's paintings ''Coogee Bay'' and ''Departure of the Orient - Circular Quay''.
![Charles_Conder_Coogee_Bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Charles_Conder_Coogee_Bay.jpg)
** Intercolonial Rabbit Commission meets to consider schemes for eradication of rabbits.
* 1889
**
Sydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings and ...
built.
**
Women's College
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
and
Sydney Church of England Grammar School
, motto_translation =
, established =
, type = Independent single-sex and co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school
, grades = Early learning ...
founded.
**
St Patrick's Seminary
St Patrick's Seminary, Manly is a heritage-listed former residence of the Archbishop of Sydney and Roman Catholic Church seminary at 151 Darley Road, Manly, Northern Beaches Council, New South Wales, Australia. The property was also known as ...
, Manly, founded.
* 1890
**
Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ
The Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ is a large pipe organ built by English firm William Hill & Son in 1890. It is located in the Centennial Hall of Sydney Town Hall in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. installed.
**
Banjo Paterson's poem ''
The Man from Snowy River The Man from Snowy River may refer to:
* "The Man from Snowy River" (poem), an 1890 Australian poem by Banjo Paterson.
* ''The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses'' an 1895 poetry collection by Banjo Paterson (including the above)
* ''The Man f ...
published in ''
The Bulletin
Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to:
Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals)
* Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper
* ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008)
** Bulletin Debate, ...
''.
**
Julian Ashton Art School
The Julian Ashton Art School was established by Julian Ashton in 1890 as the "Academy Julian", (perhaps a reference to the Académie Julian in Paris) has been an influential art school in Australia. For a long time it was known as the Sydney Art ...
established.
**
Kerry
Kerry or Kerri may refer to:
* Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Kerry, Queensland, Australia
* County Kerry, Ireland
** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...
photography studio in business.
* 1891
**
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
built.
** Population: 399,270 city and suburbs.
**
Australia Hotel
The Australia Hotel was a hotel on Castlereagh Street, Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. From its opening in 1891 until its closure on 30 June 1971 and subsequent demolition, the hotel was considered "the best-known hotel in Australia", "the ...
opens with visit of
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...
.
* 1892
**
Strand Arcade
The Strand Arcade is a heritage-listed Victorian-style retail arcade located at 195-197 Pitt Street in the heart of the Sydney central business district, between Pitt Street Mall and George Street in the City of Sydney local government area ...
opens.
**
GPS (Great Public Schools) Association founded.
**
Henry Lawson
Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...
's short story ''
The Drover's Wife
''The Drover's Wife'' is a 1945 painting by Australian artist Russell Drysdale. The painting depicts a flat, barren landscape with a woman in a plain dress in the foreground. The drover with his horses and wagon are in the background. The pain ...
'' published in ''
The Bulletin
Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to:
Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals)
* Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper
* ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008)
** Bulletin Debate, ...
''.
**
Suspension Bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...
connects
Northbridge and
Cammeray
Cammeray is a residential suburb located five kilometres north of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) and is part of the North Sydney Council local government area. Cammeray is part of the Lower North Shore region of Northern Sydney.
His ...
.
* 1893
**
Technological Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle Hill. Although often de ...
opens.
**
Royal Sydney Golf Club
Royal Sydney Golf Club is golf club in Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia, a suburb of Sydney.
Founded in 1893, Royal Sydney is one of Australia's premier sporting and social clubs. It features an 18-hole Championship Course, a 9-hole Centen ...
founded.
**
Arthur Streeton
Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism.
Early life
Streeton was born in Mt Moriac, Victoria, sou ...
's painting ''Railway Station, Redfern''.
![Arthur_Streeton_Redfern_railway_station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Arthur_Streeton_Redfern_railway_station.jpg)
* 1894
** ''
Seven Little Australians
''Seven Little Australians'' is a classic Australian children's literature novel by Ethel Turner, published in 1894. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father ...
'' published.
** Photographic Society of New South Wales founded.
* 1895 –
City Tattersalls Club
The City Tattersalls Club is a social club located in Sydney, New South Wales. The club was formed in 1895 by a group of bookmakers disgruntled with a judge's decision on a race at Kensington, New South Wales. The club named itself after the T ...
formed.
* 1896 –
Australis motor car manufactured in
Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to:
* Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives
* Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia
* Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route
* Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...
.
* 1897
**
Balmain Colliery
Balmain Colliery was a coal mine located in Birchgrove in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It produced coal from 1897 until 1931 and natural gas from 1937 to 1950.Peter Reynolds, ''Balmain Places 2 - The C ...
dug.
**
Sacred Heart Monastery
The Sacred Heart Monastery in Kensington, New South Wales, is a monastery of the Catholic men's religious order, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSCs). Since its establishment in 1897 it has played a leading role in the Catholic life of Sy ...
, Kensington, constructed.
* 1898
**
Queen Victoria Building
The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian stat ...
constructed.
**
Clyde Engineering formed to manufacture railway rolling stock.
* 1899 –
Ultimo Power Station
The Ultimo Power Station, or Ultimo Powerhouse, was an electricity generating plant located in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Ultimo, New South Wales.
Commissioned in 1899, it was the first major power station in Sydney and was originally built t ...
commissioned.
* 1900
**
Sydney Harbour Trust
The Sydney Harbour Trust began operations on 1 November 1900 with responsibility for the Navigation Department and Marine Board of Sydney Harbour. The Trust, as governed by an act of the New South Wales Parliament consisted of three commissione ...
active.
** Bubonic plague outbreak.
**
NSW troops embark for
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
.
20th century
1900s–1940s
![Electric trams, King Street, Sydney, 1900](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Electric_trams%2C_King_Street%2C_Sydney%2C_1900.jpg)
* 1901
** Inauguration of
Commonwealth of Australia at
Centennial Park.
**
Royal Australian Historical Society
The Royal Australian Historical Society, formerly Australian Historical Society, is a voluntary organisation founded in Sydney, Australia in 1901Helen Doyle, "Royal Australian Historical Society" in Graeme Davison, John Hirst and Stuart Maci ...
founded.
** Population: 112,137 city; 369,693 suburbs.
** Fire destroys
Anthony Hordern
Anthony Hordern & Sons was a major department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail space, Anthony Hordern's was once the largest department store in the world. The historic Anthony Hordern building, w ...
's department store with 5 lives lost.
**
Haberfield subdivided to create garden suburb of
Federation houses.
* 1902 – Second
Pyrmont Bridge
The Pyrmont Bridge, a heritage-listed swing bridge across Cockle Bay, is located in Darling Harbour, part of Port Jackson, west of the central business district in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Opened ...
built.
* 1903
**
Glebe Island Bridge
The Glebe Island Bridge is a heritage-listed disused swing Allan truss road bridge that carried Victoria Road (as Bank Street) across Rozelle Bay, located in the inner city Sydney suburb of Pyrmont in the City of Sydney local government a ...
and
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...
rebuilt.
**
Bronte Surf Club became the first Surf Club as noted in Bronte by S. Vesper in his history of the Bronte Surf Club
** Death of prominent Chinese businessman
Quong Tart after bashing.
* 1904 – Electric street lighting installed.
* 1905 –
Hordern's Palace Emporium in business.
* 1906
**
Central railway station opens.
**
Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club
The Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club is Australia's oldest Surf Life Saving Club, founded in 1907. The club was officially established on 21 February 1907 at the Royal Hotel in Bondi Beach, Sydney, New South Wales. The clubs aim is to ensure ...
active.
* 1907
** 20 October:
Bathing costume protests.
** Melbourne–Sydney
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
begins operating.
* 1908
**
Camperdown becomes part of city.
**
New South Wales Rugby League Premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...
formed
**
Burns-Johnson world heavyweight boxing title fight at
Sydney Stadium
The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...
.
** Visit of American
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships which completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. Its mission was t ...
.
* 1909
**
City of Sydney Library established.
**
Mark Foy's
Mark Foy's Limited or Mark Foy's was a department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, founded by Francis Foy and his brother Mark Foy. The department store was named after their father, Mark Foy (senior) and traded between 1885 and 1 ...
emporium opened on
Liverpool Street.
** First powered flight in Australia at
Victoria Park Racecourse
Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi, also known as Park 16, is a park located in the Southeastern Park Lands of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is bordered by Fullarton Road, Greenhill Road, East Terrace and Wakefield Road.
It hosts a ...
,
Zetland.
* 1910 – ''
The Sun'' newspaper begins publication.
* 1912
** Natural living advocate
William Chidley declared insane and confined in
Callan Park Hospital.
** Culwulla Chambers
built.
* 1913
**
Eileen O'Connor
Eileen ( or ) is an Irish feminine given name anglicised from Eibhlín and may refer to:
People Artists
*Eileen Agar (1899–1991), British Surrealist painter and photographer
*Eileen Fisher (born 1950), clothing retailer and designer
* Eileen ...
founds Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor to assist the sick poor at home.
** Parcel Post Office built at
Railway Square
Railway Square is a plaza at the southern end of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia, formed by the confluence of Broadway, Sydney, Broadway, Lee Street, Pitt Street and George Street, Sydney, George Street. The squa ...
.
** Arrival of first
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
fleet.
** Sydney quarantined in smallpox epidemic.
* 1914 –
Anzacs
''Anzacs'' (named for members of the all volunteer army formations) is a 1985 Australian five-part television miniseries set in World War I. The series follows the lives of a group of young Australian men who enlist in the 8th Battalion (Austr ...
train at
Kensington Racecourse before being sent to
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...
.
* 1915
**
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the old ...
established.
* 1916
** First Anzac Day commemoration in Sydney.
** 14 February:
Liverpool riot of 1916
The Liverpool Riot of 1916 also known as the Battle of Central Station was an event in Sydney, Australia where a large group of Australian soldiers rioted through the streets of Sydney and surrounding areas on 14 February 1916 and into the e ...
.
**
Taronga Zoo
Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning 'beautiful water view'.
It ...
opens.
** ''
Art in Australia'' magazine begins publication.
** Middleweight boxer
Les Darcy
James Leslie Darcy (28 October 189524 May 1917) was an Australian boxer. He was a middleweight, but held the Australian Heavyweight Championship title at the same time.
Les Darcy was the 2003 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall o ...
wins Australian heavyweight championship at
Sydney Stadium
The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...
.
* 1917
**
General strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...
begins with walkouts of Sydney railway workers.
** J.G. Park photography studio in business (approximate date).
**
White Bay Power Station
The White Bay Power Station is a heritage listed former coal-fired power station on a site in White Bay, in the suburb of Rozelle, from Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
The remains of the plant can be clearly seen at the western end of ...
operational.
* 1918
** Crowds celebrate Armistice Day.
** Publication of ''
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
''Snugglepot and Cuddlepie'' is a series of books written by Australian author May Gibbs. The books chronicle the adventures of the eponymous Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. The central story arc concerns Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (who are essentially ...
'' introduces
May Gibbs
Cecilia May Gibbs MBE (17 January 1877 – 27 November 1969) was an Australian children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist. She is best known for her gumnut babies (also known as "bush babies" or "bush fairies"), and the book ''Snugglepot a ...
' cartoon gumnut babies.
**
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...
's children's book ''
The Magic Pudding
''The Magic Pudding: Being The Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum and his friends Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff'' is a 1918 Australian children's book written and illustrated by Norman Lindsay. It is a comic fantasy, and a classic of Australian childr ...
'' published.
* 1919
** Some 3500 die in Spanish Flu epidemic.
**
Elioth Gruner
Elioth Lauritz Leganyer Gruner (16 December 1882 – 17 October 1939) was an Australian artist.
Gruner won the Wynne Prize for landscape painting seven times, the most of any Australian artist besides Hans Heysen. One of Gruner's winners of th ...
's ''
Spring Frost
''Spring Frost'' is a 1919 painting by the Australian artist Elioth Gruner. The painting depicts a small herd of dairy cows in the early morning. Gruner's most well-known painting, ''Spring Frost'' was awarded the Wynne Prize in 1919.
''Spring F ...
'' painted at
Emu Plains
Emu Plains is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney re ...
.
* 1920
**
Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...
formed.
** 18 February: World's "first"
swimsuit competition
A swimsuit competition, more commonly now called a bikini contest, is a beauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear a swimsuit, typically a bikini. One of the judging criteria is the physical attractiveness of the contestants. ...
(beauty contest) held in Sydney.
**
Hurlstone Park Choral Society formed.
** ''
The Home
''The Home'' was a high quality Australian quarterly magazine published in Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales between 1920 and 1942. It became bimonthly from July/August 1924. Then from 1926 onwards it was published monthly until it ceased pub ...
'' luxury magazine first published.
* 1921
** First award of
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...
for portraiture.
** Bronte Splashers Winter Swimming Club was formed becoming the first Winter Swimming Club in Australia.
* 1922
**
Country Women's Association founded.
** State funeral for
Henry Lawson
Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial perio ...
.
**
D.H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
's brief visit results in novel ''
Kangaroo
Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
'' set in extreme Right and Left politics in Sydney.
* 1923 – ABC radio station
2BL begins broadcasting.
* 1924
**
Sydney Airport
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...
begins operating.
**
Hordern Pavilion
Hordern Pavilion is a building located in Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on the grounds of the old Sydney Showground. "The Hordern", as it is affectionally known by Sydneysiders, has been an architecturally and socially signif ...
built.
** Architects
Walter Burley Griffin
Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He is known for designing Canberra, Australia's capital city and the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and ...
and
Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Mahony Griffin (; February 14, 1871 – August 10, 1961) was an American architect and artist. She was one of the first licensed female architects in the world, and is considered an original member of the Prairie School. Her work in ...
move to
Castlecrag
Castlecrag is a suburb on the lower North Shore (Sydney), North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government ...
and begin designing the suburb.
**
Star Amphitheatre
The Star Amphitheatre was an open air temple constructed by the Order of the Star in the East, which at the time was an organisation founded to promote the works of, and involve followers of Jiddu Krishnamurti. The Order of the Star in the East ...
completed at
Balmoral Beach
Balmoral is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore.
The locality is mostly known for its beach, o ...
.
**
HMAS ''Australia'' scuttled off Sydney Heads under terms of
disarmament treaty.
* 1925 – Poet
Christopher Brennan dismissed by
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
for divorce and drunkenness.
* 1926
** Electric train services begin
** Radio station
2GB
2GB is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by parent company Nine Radio, a division of Nine Entertainment Co., who also own sister station 2UE.
2GB broadcasts on 873 kHz, AM.
In 2010, 2GB held 14.7% of the total rad ...
begins broadcasting.
**
Anna Pavlova
Anna Pavlovna Pavlova ( , rus, Анна Павловна Павлова ), born Anna Matveyevna Pavlova ( rus, Анна Матвеевна Павлова; – 23 January 1931), was a Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th ...
dances at
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...
.
** Patent for
Weet-Bix
Weet-Bix is a whole-grain wheat breakfast cereal created and manufactured in Australia and New Zealand by the Sanitarium Health Food Company, and in South Africa by Bokomo.
History
Weet-Bix was developed by Bennison Osborne in Sydney, Aust ...
cereal registered.
* 1927
**
St James railway station opens.
**
Sydney Cenotaph
The Sydney Cenotaph is a heritage-listed monument located in Martin Place, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Bertram Mackennal and built from 1927 to 1929 by Dorman Long & Co. It is also known as Martin Place Memorial ...
erected.
**
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
built.
**
Greycliffe ferry disaster on Sydney Harbour kills 40.
**
Darrell Lea
Darrell Lea is an Australian company that manufactures and distributes chocolate, liquorice and other confectionery. Its headquarters is based in Ingleburn, New South Wales. After 85 years under the ownership and control of the Lea family, the ...
chocolate shop established in
Haymarket Haymarket may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia
Germany
* Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market)
Russia
* Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...
.
** Romano's Restaurant opens.
**
Aeroplane Jelly
Aeroplane Jelly is a jelly brand in Australia created in 1927 by Bert Appleroth. Appleroth's backyard business, Traders Pty Ltd, became one of Australia's largest family-operated food manufacturers and was sold to McCormick Foods Australia, a ...
launched.
![Sydney (AU), Harbour Bridge -- 2019 -- 2179](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Sydney_%28AU%29%2C_Harbour_Bridge_--_2019_--_2179.jpg)
* 1928
**
Capitol Theatre opens.
**
Government Savings Bank building constructed.
** Catholic Eucharistic Congress witnessed by 500,000.
**
Kingsford Smith leaves for first Trans-Tasman flight.
**
Alexander MacRae
Alexander John MacRae (25 December 1889 – 30 November 1938) was a sports entrepreneur and clothing manufacturer. Born in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia where, in 1914, he founded the company that became the swimwear giant Speedo.
...
's line of swimwear renamed
Speedo
Speedo International Limited is a distributor of swimwear and swim-related accessories based in Nottingham, England, known for its swim briefs. The company has roots in Australia but is no longer based there. Founded in Sydney in 1914 by Al ...
s.
* 1929
**
State Theatre opens.
**
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
Building constructed.
* 1930
** Modern Art Centre opens.
**
Grace Building constructed in
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style.
**
Grace Cossington Smith
Grace Cossington Smith (20 April 189220 December 1984) was an Visual arts of Australia, Australian artist and pioneer of Modernist art, modernist painting in Australia and was instrumental in introducing Post-Impressionism to her home country. ...
's painting ''
The Bridge in Curve
''The Bridge in Curve'' is a painting completed in 1930 by Australian artist Grace Cossington Smith, depicting the Sydney Harbour Bridge during its construction. The work is now considered one of Australia's best modernist paintings, but was rej ...
'' shows the Harbour Bridge under construction.
![Sydney 1932](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Sydney_1932.jpg)
* 1931 – Collapse of Government Savings Bank and amalgamation with
Commonwealth Bank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...
.
* 1932
**
Sydney Harbour Bridge
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...
,
Town Hall railway station, and
Wynyard railway station open.
** Governor
Sir Philip Game
Sir Philip Woolcott Game, (30 March 1876 – 4 February 1961) was a British Royal Air Force commander, who later served as Governor of New South Wales and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (London). Born in Surrey in 1876, Game was educa ...
dismisses Premier
Jack Lang in
constitutional crisis
In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this d ...
.
**
Bodyline bowling of
Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood, MBE (14 November 1904 – 22 July 1995) was a professional cricketer for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team between 1924 and 1938. A right-arm fast bowler who combined unusual speed with great a ...
secures England victory in first test match.
**
Dymocks
Dymocks Booksellers is an Australian-founded privately owned bookstore chain, that also specialise in CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, e-books and related merchandising. It currently has 65 stores locally
and has had several stores in New Zealand and ...
building constructed.
**
Archibald Fountain
The Archibald Fountain, properly called the J. F. Archibald Memorial Fountain is located in Hyde Park, in central Sydney. It is named after J. F. Archibald, owner and editor of '' The Bulletin'' magazine, who bequeathed funds to have it bu ...
unveiled.
**
Arthur Stace begins decades of chalking "Eternity" on Sydney pavements.
**
Edward Hallstrom
Sir Edward John Lees Hallstrom (25 September 1886 – 27 February 1970) was one of Australia's best-known philanthropists and businessmen of the mid 20th century.
Early life
Born at High Park station, near Coonamble, New South Wales, Hallst ...
's refrigerator factory opens in
Willoughby.
* 1933
** ''
The Australian Women's Weekly
''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...
'' begins publication.
** Australia's first traffic lights installed at corner of Market and Kent Streets.
* 1934
**
Anzac Memorial
The Anzac Memorial is a heritage-listed war memorial, museum and monument located in Hyde Park South near Liverpool Street in the CBD of Sydney, Australia.
The Art Deco monument was designed by C. Bruce Dellit, with the exterior adorned wit ...
, Hyde Park opened.
** Communist
Egon Kisch
Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Raging Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners of the g ...
given test in Scottish Gaelic in
attempt to exclude him from Australia.
**
Christina Stead
Christina Stead (17 July 190231 March 1983) was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. Christina Stead was a committed Marxist, although she was never a mem ...
's novel ''
Seven Poor Men of Sydney
''Seven Poor Men of Sydney'' (1934) is the first novel by Australian writer Christina Stead.
Story outline
The novel follows the fortunes of seven men living around Watson's Bay in Sydney. The men are brought together by their radical or ratio ...
'' portrays struggles of poor intellectuals.
** Comedian
Roy Rene
Roy Rene (born Henry van der Sluys, 15 February 189122 November 1954) was an Australian comedian and vaudevillian. As the bawdy character Mo McCackie, Rene was one of the most well-known and successful Australian comedians of the 20th century.
...
's only film, ''
Strike Me Lucky
''Strike Me Lucky'' is a 1934 Australian comedy musical film starring popular stage comic Roy Rene in his first and only film. It was the fourth feature film from Cinesound Productions but proved a box office disappointment. Director Ken G. Hall s ...
'' made by
Ken G. Hall
Kenneth George Hall, AO, OBE (22 February 1901 – 8 February 1994), better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. ...
.
* 1935
**
Luna Park
Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-sc ...
and Astoria Theatre
open.
**
Shark Arm case
The Shark Arm case refers to a series of incidents that began in Sydney, Australia, on 25 April 1935 when a human arm was regurgitated by a captive 3.5-metre tiger shark, subsequently leading to a murder investigation and trial.
Discovery of t ...
when human arm found in captured shark.
** Shark Menace Advisory Committee recommends meshing.
**
Olive Cotton
Olive Cotton (11 July 191127 September 2003) was a pioneering Australian modernist photographer of the 1930s and 1940s working in Sydney. Cotton became a national "name" with a retrospective and touring exhibition 50 years later in 1985. A book ...
's photograph ''
Tea cup ballet
''Tea cup ballet'' is a 1935 photograph by Australian modernist photographer Olive Cotton. It is arguably Cotton's best known work. The photograph depicts six tea cups and saucers lit so to form shadows that suggest the form of ballet dancers.
...
''.
* 1936
** First Black and White charity ball.
**
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
car factory opened at
Homebush West
Homebush West is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Homebush West is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfi ...
.
**
Harry's Cafe de Wheels
Harry may refer to:
TV shows
* ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin
* ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons
* ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
pie cart opens in
Woolloomooloo
Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a low ...
.
* 1938
** City hosts
1938 British Empire Games
The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, the event that evolved to become the Commonwealth Games. Held in Sydney, Australia from 5–12 February 1938, they were timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 ye ...
.
** Five dead when large waves wash away sandbar at
Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Easter ...
.
** Aboriginal
Day of Mourning protests sesquicentenary celebrations of settlement.
**
Rose Bay Flying Boat Base
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be e ...
opened with flights to London.
* 1939
**
AWA Tower
The AWA Tower is a heritage-listed office and communications complex in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia built for Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited. The AWA Tower consists of a radio transmission tower atop a 15-storey ...
built.
**
Last execution in NSW.
**
Kenneth Slessor
Kenneth Adolphe Slessor (27 March 190130 June 1971) was an Australian poet, journalist and official war correspondent in World War II. He was one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist influences int ...
's poem ''
Five Bells
"Five Bells" (1939) is a meditative poem by Australian poet Kenneth Slessor. It was originally published as the title poem in the author's collection ''Five Bells : XX Poems'', and later appeared in numerous poetry anthologies.
Outline
The po ...
'' commemorates friend who drowned in Sydney Harbour.
** Prime Minister
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office, 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He ...
dies at
St Vincent's Hospital.
* 1940
** St. James Theatre opens.
**
Charles Chauvel movie ''
Forty Thousand Horsemen
''Forty Thousand Horsemen'' (aka ''40,000 Horsemen'') is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse (mounted rifleman as distinct from cavalry) which operated in the desert at t ...
'' filmed at
Bondi and
Cronulla.
** ''
Dunera
HMT (Hired Military Transport) ''Dunera'' was a British passenger ship which, in 1940, became involved in a controversial transportation of thousands of "enemy aliens" to Australia. The British India Steam Navigation Company had operated a prev ...
'' arrives after horror voyage with "enemy aliens".
**
Christina Stead
Christina Stead (17 July 190231 March 1983) was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. Christina Stead was a committed Marxist, although she was never a mem ...
's novel ''
The Man Who Loved Children
''The Man Who Loved Children'' is a 1940 novel by Australian writer Christina Stead. It was not until a reissue edition in 1965, with an introduction by poet Randall Jarrell, that it found widespread critical acclaim and popularity. ''Time'' maga ...
'' describes growing up with a controlling paterfamilias.
* 1941
** ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...
'' newspaper begins publication.
** ''
Queen Mary'' departs Sydney with troops for Middle East.
* 1942
**
Anti-submarine defences built.
** May–June:
Attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese
midget submarines
A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...
.
**
Bankstown Bunker
Bankstown Bunker, formerly known as Air Defence Headquarters Sydney (ADHQ Sydney), is a heritage-listed defunct Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operations facility, located on the corner of Marion and Edgar Street, in Condell Park, City of ...
constructed as Air Defence HQ.
** Yaralla Military Hospital (later
Concord Repatriation General Hospital) opened.
* 1943
** Sydney University philosopher
John Anderson John Anderson may refer to:
Business
*John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland
* John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...
censured by State Parliament for anti-religious views.
**
William Dobell
Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named ...
's
Archibald Prize
The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...
-winning portrait ''
Mr Joshua Smith
''Mr Joshua Smith'', also known as ''Portrait of an Artist (Joshua Smith)'', is a 1943 in art, 1943 painting by Australian artist William Dobell. The painting is a portrait of Joshua Smith (artist), Joshua Smith, an artist and friend of Dobell. T ...
'' subject of legal case as to whether it was a caricature.
**
Kylie Tennant
Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO (; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian.
Early life and career
Tennant was born in Manly, New South Wales; she was educate ...
's novel ''
Ride on Stranger
''Ride on Stranger'' is a 1979 Australian mini series about a woman in the 1930s, based on the novel of the same name by Australian author Kylie Tennant.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970–1995'', Oxford University Press, 19 ...
'' describes a country girl making her way in the city.
* 1944 –
Sali Herman
Sali Herman (12 February 1898 – 3 April 1993) was a Swiss-born Australian artist, one of Australia's Official War Artists for the Second World War.
Life and career
Herman arrived in Melbourne in 1937 and enlisted in the Australian Army in ...
's painting ''McElhone Stairs'' wins
Wynne Prize
The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...
.
* 1945
** Celebration of
VJ Day
Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...
.
** First
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...
.
* 1946
**
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and firs ...
active.
**
Norman Gilroy
Sir Norman Thomas Gilroy (22 January 1896 – 21 October 1977) was an Australian bishop. He was the first Australian-born cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Early life and priestly ministry
Gilroy was born in Sydney, to working-class par ...
named first Australian-born cardinal.
** Criminal
Darcy Dugan
Darcy Ezekiel Dugan (29 August 192022 August 1991) was an Australian bank robber and New South Wales' most notorious prison escape artist. During his criminal career, he committed numerous armed holdups, robbing banks and even a hospital. How ...
makes first of several escapes from custody.
* 1947
** Population: 95,852 city; 1,484,434 metro.
**
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
operates Sydney-London
Kangaroo Route
The Kangaroo Route refers to air routes flown between Australia and the United Kingdom via the Eastern Hemisphere. The route by definition found its name following the unique mode of travel of the kangaroo, as planes historically achieved the ...
.
**
New Year's Day hailstorm causes massive damage.
**
Don Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...
scores 100th Test century.
**
Australian School of Pacific Administration
The Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) was a tertiary institution established by the Australian Government to train administrators and later school teachers to work in Papua New Guinea. It became the International Training Insti ...
moved to
Middle Head
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
.
* 1948
** Visit of
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
and
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh ( ; 5 November 1913 – 8 July 1967; born Vivian Mary Hartley), styled as Lady Olivier after 1947, was a British actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for her definitive performances as Scarlett O'Hara in ''Gon ...
.
** Communist-Catholic debate attracts 30,000 to
Sydney Stadium
The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...
.
**
Ruth Park
Rosina Ruth Lucia Park AM (24 August 191714 December 2010) was a New Zealand–born Australian author. Her best known works are the novels ''The Harp in the South'' (1948) and ''Playing Beatie Bow'' (1980), and the children's radio serial ''Th ...
's novel ''
The Harp in the South
''The Harp in the South'' is the debut novel by Australian author Ruth Park. Published in 1948, it portrays the life of a Catholic Irish Australian family living in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, which was at that time an inner city slum.
...
'' describes an inner-Sydney poor Irish community.
**
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
connects Australia to Africa via air for first time via Sydney-Johannesburg
Wallaby Route.
* 1949
**
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
,
Erskineville
Erskineville is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres south west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Erskinevill ...
,
Glebe
Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...
,
Newtown,
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
,
Redfern, and
Waterloo
Waterloo most commonly refers to:
* Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat
* Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place.
Waterloo may also refer to:
Other places
Antarctica
*King George Island (S ...
become part of the city.
** University of Technology (later
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
) established.
** Australia's first computer,
CSIRAC, constructed at CSIRO Radiophysics Lab.
** Security forces seize documents in raid on Communist headquarters Marx House.
**
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary ''Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is often ...
stars in
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's film ''
Under Capricorn
''Under Capricorn'' is a 1949 British historical thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock about a couple in Australia who started out as lady and stable boy in Ireland, and who are now bound together by a horrible secret. The film is based on ...
'', set in 1830s Sydney.
1950s–1990s
* 1950
**
Nuffield Australia
British Motor Corporation (Australia) was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company (Australia) and Nuffield (Australia). This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and ...
opens car assembly plant at
Zetland.
**
Lloyd Rees
Lloyd Frederic Rees (17 March 18952 December 1988) was an Australian landscape painter who twice won the Wynne Prize for his landscape paintings.
Most of Rees's works are preoccupied with depicting the effects of light and emphasis is placed ...
awarded
Wynne Prize
The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...
for ''The Harbour From McMahon's Point''.
* 1951
**
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.
She possessed ...
's stage debut in
Eugene Goossens' opera ''Judith''.
**
Cumberland Plan adopted for green belt around city.
* 1952 –
Berala train crash kills 10.
* 1953
** ''
Sydney Sun-Herald'' newspaper in publication.
** Racehorse trainer
Tommy J. Smith
Thomas John Smith (3 September 1916 – 2 September 1998) was a leading trainer of thoroughbred racehorses based in Sydney, New South Wales.
Inducted into the Australian Racing Museum & Hall of Fame in 2001 and elevated to Legend status in ...
wins the first of 33 consecutive Sydney Trainers' Premierships.
** Rugby League commentator
Frank Hyde
Frank Hyde MBE OAM (7 February 1916 – 24 September 2007) was an Australian rugby league footballer, coach and radio caller. A New South Wales representative three-quarter, Hyde played his club football in Sydney for NSWRFL Premiership clubs ...
broadcasts the first of 33 consecutive grand finals on
2SM
2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group.
The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's.
2SM's progra ...
.
** Fictionalised autobiography ''
Caddie, A Sydney Barmaid'' published.
* 1954
**
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
makes first royal visit.
**
Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.
Histo ...
begins.
* 1955 – Public outcry against
Rosaleen Norton
Rosaleen Miriam Norton (2 October 1917 – 5 December 1979), who used the name of Thorn, was a New Zealand-born Australian artist and occultist, in the latter capacity adhering to a form of pantheistic / Neopagan Witchcraft largely devoted to t ...
, the "Witch of Kings Cross", for alleged Satanism.
* 1956
**
ATN Channel 7
ATN is the Sydney flagship television station of the Seven Network in Australia. The licence, issued to a company named Amalgamated Television Services, a subsidiary of John Fairfax & Sons, was one of the first four licences (two in Sydney, two ...
television begins broadcasting.
**
Circular Quay railway station opened.
**
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
rugby league club wins the first of 11 consecutive premierships.
**
Kurnell oil refinery built.
**
Kirribilli House
Kirribilli House is the secondary official residence of the Prime Minister of Australia. Located in the Sydney harbourside suburb of , New South Wales, the house is at the far eastern end of Kirribilli Avenue. It is one of two official Prime M ...
begins use as Prime Ministerial residence.
** Anti-communist cultural magazine ''
Quadrant'' founded.
**
James Dibble
James Edward Dibble (4 February 1923 – 13 December 2010) was an Australian television presenter, best known as the presenter of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) Sydney news for 27 years, from Monday, 5 November 1956 until his ...
begins 27 years as ABC TV newsreader.
** Conservatorium director
Eugene Goossens resigns after pornography found at Airport.
* 1957
**
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzo ...
wins competition to design Sydney Opera House.
**
John Laws
Richard John Sinclair Laws CBE (born 8 August 1935) is a Papua New Guinean-born Australian radio announcer. For 50 years, until 2007, he was the host of an Australian morning radio program combining music with interviews, opinion, live adverti ...
joins
2UE
2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales.
History 1920s 2EU
Electrical Utilities applied to the ...
, beginning 50-year Sydney radio career.
* 1958
**
Cahill Expressway
The Cahill Expressway is an urban freeway in Sydney and was the first freeway constructed in Australia, opening to traffic in 1958. It starts from the Eastern Distributor and Cross City Tunnel in Woolloomooloo, and runs through a series of s ...
completed.
**
National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) founded.
**
First Australian nuclear reactor opened at
Lucas Heights
Lucas Heights is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is near to the Royal National Park.
Geography
It is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government ...
.
**
Betty Archdale
Helen Elizabeth Archdale (21 August 1907 – 1 January 2000) was an English-Australian sportswoman and educationalist. She was the inaugural Test captain of the England women's cricket team in 1934. A qualified barrister and Women's Royal Naval S ...
appointed headmistress of
Abbotsleigh.
* 1959
**
J. J. Cahill dies in office after seven years as premier.
** 150,000 attend evangelist
Billy Graham's last appearance at Sydney Showground.
**
D'Arcy Niland's novel ''
The Big Smoke'' tells stories of early twentieth-century Sydney.
* 1960
**
Murder of Graeme Thorne
Graeme Thorne was an Australian child who was kidnapped and murdered in 1960 for part of the money that his parents, Bazil and Freda, had won in an Opera House lottery. The crime, regarded as one of the most infamous in Australia's history, caus ...
solved with scientific methods.
**
Overseas Passenger Terminal
The Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT), known officially as the Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal, is a public passenger terminal servicing cruise ships and ocean liners located in Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia. Whilst commercial shipping operati ...
opens at
Circular Quay.
* 1961
** Last
Trams in Sydney
The Sydney tramway network served the inner suburbs of Sydney, Australia from 1879 until 1961. In its heyday, it was the largest in Australia, the second largest in the Commonwealth of Nations (after London), and one of the largest in the worl ...
operate.
**
Dr William McBride reveals
thalidomide
Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications of ...
is causing birth defects.
* 1962
** First performance by
Australian Ballet
The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson's, J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teache ...
at
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...
.
** Shows by visiting comedian
Lenny Bruce
Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), known professionally as Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of comedy which ...
cancelled for obscenity.
**
AMP Building opens, then the tallest building in Australia.
**
Blues Point Tower
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...
completed.
* 1963
** Mysterious
deaths of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler.
**
Lifeline telephone counselling service launched by
Rev Alan Walker.
* 1964
**
Gladesville Bridge
Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's Hill, ...
opened.
**
Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...
established.
**
Dawn Fraser returns from
Tokyo Olympics with third consecutive women's 100m freestyle gold medal.
**
Rev Ted Noffs establishes
Wayside Chapel
The Wayside Chapel is a charity and parish mission of the Uniting Church in Australia in the Potts Point, New South Wales, Potts Point area of Sydney, Australia. Situated near Sydney's most prominent red-light district in Kings Cross, New South ...
near
Kings Cross.
** The
Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
perform at
Sydney Stadium
The Sydney Stadium was a sporting and entertainment venue in Sydney, New South Wales, which formerly stood on the corner of New South Head Road and Neild Avenue, Rushcutters Bay. Built in 1908, it was demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...
.
** ''
The Mavis Bramston Show
''The Mavis Bramston Show'' was a weekly Australian television satirical sketch comedy revue series which aired on the Seven Network from 1964 to 1968. Inspired by the British TV satirical revue TV shows of the period (notably ''That Was The Week ...
'' brings satirical sketch comedy to Australian TV.
** Editors of ''
Oz'' magazine convicted of obscenity but conviction overturned on appeal.
** First of
Charmian Clift's five years of essays in ''
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
''.
** Paddington Society founded.
* 1965
**
Joan Sutherland
Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.
She possessed ...
and
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...
in
J.C. Williamson's opera tour.
** Controversy over failure of
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
to appoint
Dr Knopfelmacher to post in political philosophy.
**
Roselands Shopping Centre
Roselands Shopping Centre (previously known as Centro Roselands) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Roselands in South Western Sydney.
Transport
Roselands Shopping Centre has bus connections to Greater Western Sydney, Inner West, St George ...
opens.
**
Robin Dalton
Robin Ann Dalton Order of Australia, AM ( Eakin; 22 December 1920 – 8 July 2022) was an Australian literary agent, film producer and memoirist who lived in London for most of her adult life. She was also a journalist, television performer and ...
's memoir ''Aunts up the Cross'' describes interwar life in
Kings Cross.
**
Afferbeck Lauder
Afferbeck Lauder was the pseudonym used by Alastair Ardoch Morrison (21 September 1911 – 15 March 1998), an Australian graphic artist and author who in the 1960s documented Strine in the song ''With Air Chew'' and a series of books beginning with ...
's ''Let Stalk
Strine Strine, also spelled Stryne , describes a broad accent of Australian English. The term is a syncope, derived from a shortened phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent, drawing upon ...
'' published.
**
Wanda Beach Murders
The Wanda Beach Murders, sometimes referred to simply as "Wanda", is the case of the unsolved murders of Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock at Wanda Beach near Cronulla in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 11 January 1965. The victims ...
.
**
Sydney Maritime Museum founded.
**
Hydrofoil ferry service to
Manly begins.
* 1966
**
Attempted assassination of Arthur Calwell
On 21 June 1966, an assassination attempt was made on Arthur Calwell, then leader of the Australian Labor Party.
It was arguably the third assassination attempt in Australian political history following Henry James O'Farrell's attempt on the li ...
, Federal opposition leader, in
Mosman
Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...
.
** Protestors disrupt motorcade of
President Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
in
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
.
** Significant changes to Opera House design after
Jørn Utzon
Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzo ...
's resignation.
** Movie comedy ''
They're a Weird Mob
''They're a Weird Mob'' is a popular 1957 Australian comic novel written by John O'Grady (writer), John O'Grady under the pen name, pseudonym "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character of the book. The book was the Debut novel, first publishe ...
'' portrays tensions between Italian immigrants and Irish-Australians.
** Children's TV series ''
Play School
Play School or Playschool may refer to:
Television
* ''Play School'' (British TV series), a BBC production aimed at preschool children
* ''Play School'' (Australian TV series), an Australian Broadcasting Corporation production based on the Briti ...
'' begins broadcasting.
* 1967
**
Australia Square hi-rise built.
**
Thomas Keneally
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...
wins
Miles Franklin Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...
for novel ''
Bring Larks and Heroes
''Bring Larks and Heroes'' is a 1967 novel by Australian author Thomas Keneally which won the Miles Franklin Award in 1967.
Plot summary
The novel is set in an unidentified Penal colony in the South Pacific, which bears a superficial resembla ...
'' set in early Sydney.
** ABC TV current affairs show ''
This Day Tonight
''This Day Tonight'' (TDT) was an Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) evening current affairs program from 1967 to 1978.
Founding
When ''TDT'' premiered in 1967 it was the first regular nightly current affairs program on Australian TV, an ...
'' premieres.
**
Bourbon & Beefsteak
The Bourbon & Beefsteak, latterly The Bourbon, is a pub in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia. It was opened in October 1967 by Bernie Houghton with a 24-hour licence. At the time Kings Cross was a popular venue for United States G.I.s on rest and ...
pub opens in
Kings Cross, catering to American servicemen on leave from Vietnam.
**
HMAS Platypus,
Neutral Bay
Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Neutral Bay takes ...
commissioned as base for
Oberon-class submarine
The ''Oberon'' class was a ship class of 27 British-designed submarines operated by five different nations. They were designed as a direct follow-on from the ''Porpoise'' class: physical dimensions were the same, but stronger materials were us ...
s.
* 1968
**
South Sydney Municipal Council created.
**
Sydney Region Outline Plan
The Sydney Region Outline Plan (SROP) was a land use and infrastructure scheme for metropolitan New South Wales released by the State Planning Authority in March 1968. The SROP superseded the 1948 County of Cumberland planning scheme. Whereas t ...
envisages dispersed city centres.
**
Sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
relationship established with
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, USA.
** ''
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'' TV series begins broadcast.
** Australia's first heart transplant by
Dr Harry Windsor unsuccessful.
**
Glenfield siege ends with wedding of gunman and hostage.
**
D.M. Armstrong
David Malet Armstrong (8 July 1926 – 13 May 2014), often D. M. Armstrong, was an Australian philosopher. He is well known for his work on metaphysics and the philosophy of mind, and for his defence of a factualist ontology, a functiona ...
's ''A Materialist Theory of the Mind'' defends philosophical theory that the mind is identical with the brain.
** Entrepreneur
Dick Smith founds Dick Smith Car Radios, later
Dick Smith Electronics
Dick Smith Holdings Limited (formerly Dick Smith, Dick Smith Electronics or DSE) was an Australian chain of retail stores that sold consumer electronics goods, hobbyist electronic components, and electronic project kits. The chain expanded succ ...
.
* 1969
** Musical ''
Hair
Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...
'' provokes controversy over nudity and swearing.
** Death by overdose of English comedian
Tony Hancock
Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor.
High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series ''Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...
.
* 1970
**
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
makes first papal visit.
**
Nimrod Theatre
The Nimrod Theatre Company, commonly known as The Nimrod, was an Australian theatre company based in Sydney. It was founded by in 1970 by Australian actor John Bell, Richard Wherrett and Ken Horler, and gained a reputation for producing more "go ...
founded.
**
Aboriginal Legal Service founded in
Redfern.
* 1971
** City of Sydney Strategic Plan created.
**
Green Bans
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
begin in
Hunters Hill
Hunters Hill is a suburb of the lower north shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Hunters Hill is located north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area ...
.
** Protests against
Springbok rugby union tour.
** First
City2Surf fun run and race.
** First McDonald's in Australia opens at
Yagoona
Yagoona, a suburb of the local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 20 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is a part of the South-western Sydney regio ...
.
** Qantas pays $500,000 ransom in
bomb hoax.
* 1972
** Construction workers
take over the
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
.
**
Aboriginal Medical Service
Aboriginal Medical Services Redfern, known as AMS Redfern, formerly the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) is an Aboriginal Australian health service in the Sydney suburb of Redfern. Established around 1971, it was the first Aboriginal community- ...
established in Redfern.
**
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
's Blacktown speech launches successful Labor
It's Time federal election campaign.
** Soap opera
Number 96
96 (ninety-six) is the natural number following 95 and preceding 97. It is a number that appears the same when turned upside down.
In mathematics
96 is:
* an octagonal number.
* a refactorable number.
* an untouchable number.
* a semiperfe ...
stretches boundaries of what can be shown on TV.
** ''
Cleo'' magazine for young women founded with
Ita Buttrose
Ita Clare Buttrose (born 17 January 1942) is an Australian TV network chairperson, television and radio personality, author and former magazine editor, publishing executive and newspaper journalist.
She was the founding editor of ''Cleo'', a ...
as editor.
** Fashion designer
Carla Zampatti
Carla Maria Zampatti , (19 May 1942 – 3 April 2021) was an Italian-born Australian fashion designer and businesswoman, and executive chair of the fashion label Carla Zampatti Limited.
Background
Born in Lovero, Italy in 1942, Zampatti se ...
opens first boutique in
Surry Hills
Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surroun ...
.
* 1973
**
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
opens.
**
Patrick White
Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987.
White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...
awarded
Nobel Prize for Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
.
** Political disturbances in
Sydney University
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
Philosophy Department lead to strike and split in department.
* 1974
**
Elsie Women's Refuge established in
Glebe
Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...
.
** Federal government buys
Glebe
Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...
Estate to begin urban renewal.
**
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
and
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
negotiate deal for Sinatra to continue controversial tour.
* 1975
** Disappearance of activist
Juanita Nielsen
Juanita Joan Nielsen (; 22 April 1937 – disappeared 4 July 1975) was an Australian homicide victim, who was a newspaper owner, publisher and journalist, a model, businesswoman, urban conservationist, and heiress.
She was notable for her advo ...
.
**
Savoy Hotel fire
The Savoy Hotel on Darlinghurst Road in the Kings Cross area of Sydney, Australia burned down on 25 December 1975 with the loss of 15 lives. It was the deadliest hotel fire in Australia at that time.
The fire
On 24 December 1975 the five sto ...
kills 15.
** Development begins of
Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System
The Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, abbreviated SCATS, is an intelligent transportation system that manages the dynamic (on-line, real-time) timing of signal phases at traffic signals, meaning that it tries to find the best phasing (i. ...
.
**
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
radio begins broadcasting.
** Radio Station 2EA (later
SBS Radio
SBS Radio is an Australian radio network owned by the Special Broadcasting Service directed towards newly arrived immigrants in Australia. SBS Radio originally began as two stations based in Melbourne and Sydney, set up to provide pre-recorded ...
) begins broadcasts in multiple languages.
** Premiere of TV comedy ''The
Norman Gunston
Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He w ...
show'' with
Garry McDonald
Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is bes ...
.
**
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...
meets Iraqi agents at
Blues Point Tower
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...
seeking money for electioneering.
* 1976 –
Sydney New Year's Eve
Sydney New Year's Eve is an annual New Year's Eve fireworks event in Sydney, Australia. The event currently consists of two fireworks shows, with an evening display known as the "Family Fireworks" held at 9:00 p.m. AEST, and the main "Midnight ...
firework display launched.
* 1977
**
Granville train disaster
The Granville rail/train disaster occurred on Tuesday 18 January 1977 at Granville, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, when a crowded commuter train derailed, running into the supports of a road bridge that collapsed onto ...
kills 84.
**
Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...
begins.
**
Harry Seidler
Harry Seidler (25 June 19239 March 2006) was an Austrian-born Australian architect who is considered to be one of the leading exponents of Modernism's methodology in Australia and the first architect to fully express the principles of the Bauh ...
-designed MLC Centre opens.
** First Sydney International Piano Competition.
* 1978
** First Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
** Painter Brett Whiteley wins Archibald Prize, Archibald, Wynne Prize, Wynne and Sulman Prize, Sulman prizes in same year.
** Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing, Hilton bombing kills three.
* 1979
** 9 June: 1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire.
** Martin Place, Sydney, Martin Place pedestrianised.
** Eastern Suburbs railway line opens.
** Sydney Theatre Company founded.
** Teen novel ''Puberty Blues (novel), Puberty Blues'' describes surfing culture in Sutherland Shire.
** Racing identity and crime figure George Freeman (bookmaker), George Freeman survives being shot in the neck.
* 1980
** Collapse of Nugan Hand Bank.
** Publication of the first of Peter Corris's Cliff Hardy detective novels.
** Clive James's memoir ''Unreliable Memoirs'' describes his Sydney childhood and youth.
** CPAP machine for sleep apnea developed by Colin Sullivan (physician), Colin Sullivan.
** SBS Television begins broadcasts in multiple languages from studios in Milsons Point, New South Wales, Milsons Point.
** Advance Airlines Flight 4210, Crash at Sydney Airport kills 13.
* 1981
** Sydney Tower opened.
** Drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi shot dead by policeman Roger Rogerson in Chippendale, New South Wales, Chippendale.
** Croatian Six convicted of conspiracy to bomb several targets.
** First edition of Macquarie Dictionary of Australian English.
** Judy Davis/Bryan Brown movie ''Winter of Our Dreams'' portrays inner-Sydney life.
* 1982
** Sydney Israeli Consulate and Hakoah Club bombings, Bombings of Israeli Consulate and Hakoah Club.
** First Harvey Norman retail store opened at Auburn, New South Wales, Auburn.
* 1983
** Hillsong Church established in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Baulkham Hills.
** Glenn Murcutt-designed Berowra Waters Inn restaurant opened by Gay Bilson, Gay and Tony Bilson.
** Golfer Jack Newton loses right arm after walking into propeller at
Sydney Airport
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (colloquially Mascot Airport, Kingsford Smith Airport, or Sydney Airport; ; ) is an international airport in Sydney, Australia, located 8 km (5 mi) south of the Sydney central business district, in the ...
.
** Joan Sutherland, Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti, Pavarotti perform at Sydney Opera House, Opera House benefit concert.
** Beverly Hills Twin Cinema in business.
* 1984
** Victor Chang performs Australia's first successful heart transplant at
St Vincent's Hospital.
** Judge's wife killed in Family Court of Australia attacks.
** Seven killed in Milperra massacre bikie shootout.
* 1985
** Parliament House, Sydney, Parliament House rebuilt.
** Granny Smith Festival begins in Eastwood, New South Wales, Eastwood.
** Financial services firm Hill Samuel becomes Macquarie Group, Macquarie Bank.
** Lionel Murphy, Justice Lionel Murphy convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice (later overturned).
** Chief Stipendiary Magistrate Murray Farquhar jailed for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
** Suicide of Harry Bailey, Dr Harry Bailey while under investigation for deep sleep therapy at Chelmsford Hospital.
* 1986
** ''This Sporting Life (radio program), This Sporting Life'' radio comedy with Roy and HG first broadcast.
** Body of Sallie-Anne Huckstepp found in
Centennial Park.
** Anita Cobby murder.
* 1987
** David Williamson's play ''Emerald City (play), Emerald City'' satirises Sydney cultural life.
** TV sitcom ''Hey Dad..!'' begins.
** University of Sydney's Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific established.
* 1988
** Sydney Monorail opens
** University of Technology, Sydney and University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies
established.
** Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre and Powerhouse Museum open.
** Australian Bicentenary events staged including First Fleet Re-enactment Voyage, First Fleet Re-enactment on Sydney Harbour.
** Kay Cottee completes first women's solo non-stop unassisted circumnavigation of world.
** Peter Sculthorpe's composition ''Kakadu (Sculthorpe), Kakadu'' completed.
** Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay and Mount Annan Botanic Garden open near city.
** New South Wales Institute of Technology becomes University of Technology Sydney.
* 1989
**
South Sydney City Council established.
** Area of city: 6.19 square kilometres.
** Neil Perry opens Rockpool restaurant.
** St James Ethics Centre (later The Ethics Centre) founded.
** Three colleges federate to form University of Western Sydney (later Western Sydney University).
![Sunset before 2000 Summer Olympics closing ceremony](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Sunset_before_2000_Summer_Olympics_closing_ceremony.JPEG)
* 1990
** Sydney Children's Choir founded.
** Bell Shakespeare company founded by actor John Bell (Australian actor), John Bell.
** Arrest of "Granny Killer" John Wayne Glover.
** Media tycoon Kerry Packer revived after severe heart attack while playing polo at Warwick Farm, New South Wales, Warwick Farm.
** Eureka Prizes for science inaugurated.
* 1991
** Sydney Park established.
** ''Brides of Christ'' TV miniseries dramatises convent life.
** Heart surgeon Victor Chang shot dead in
Mosman
Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...
.
** Eight dead in Strathfield massacre.
** Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art opens in former Maritime Services Board building.
** Chris Riley (priest), Fr Chris Riley founds Youth Off The Streets charity.
* 1992
** Sydney Harbour Tunnel opened.
** Sydney Jewish Museum opened.
** Romantic comedy ''Strictly Ballroom'' portrays the world of competitive ballroom dancing.
** Reality TV series ''Sylvania Waters (TV series), Sylvania Waters'' portrays wealthy suburban life.
** Melina Marchetta's novel ''Looking for Alibrandi (novel), Looking for Alibrandi'' explores growing up in multicultural inner Sydney.
* 1993
** Sydney makes successful Bids_for_the_2000_Summer_Olympics, bid for 2000 Olympics.
** South Sydney Heritage Society founded.
** Offset Alpine fire raises suspicions of arson.
** Liberal Presbyterian minister Peter Cameron (minister), Peter Cameron convicted of heresy by church court.
* 1994
** Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, Sydney International Aquatic Centre opens.
** Politician John Newman (Australian politician), John Newman assassinated in Cabramatta, New South Wales, Cabramatta.
** 1994 eastern seaboard fires, January bushfires penetrate several suburbs.
** Two blank shots fired at Prince Charles by David Kang at
Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district.
Origin ...
.
* 1995
** Anzac Bridge opens.
** Pope John Paul II beatifies Mary MacKillop at
Randwick Racecourse
Royal Randwick Racecourse is a racecourse for horse racing located in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Randwick Racecourse is Crown Land leased to the Australian Turf Club and known to many Sydney ra ...
.
** Museum of Sydney opens.
** The Star, Sydney, Sydney's first legal casino opens.
* 1996
** Princess Diana attends Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Royal Ball.
** CSIRO patents successful fast wifi technology developed by John O'Sullivan (engineer), John O'Sullivan and other scientists.
* 1997
** Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service, Wood Royal Commission finds widespread corruption in NSW Police Force.
** Asian Australian Artists’ Association Gallery 4A opens.
** The Star, Sydney casino opens
** First Sydney Writers' Festival.
** Inner West Light Rail opens between Central and Wentworth Park, signalling the return of trams to Sydney after 36 years.
* 1998
** March: Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre, State Hockey Centre opens.
** July: 1998 Sydney water crisis
** BridgeClimb Sydney commences
** 1998 Sydney water crisis, Water crisis over fears of contamination with pathogens.
** Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority formed to coordinate state-owned Harbour properties.
* 1999
** 6 March: Stadium Australia opens.
** 4 October: Sydney Super Dome opens.
** 8 December: Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre, NSW Tennis Centre opens.
** City Recital Hall opens.
** Lucy Dudko enables escape of prisoner from Silverwater Correctional Complex, Silverwater Jail in hijacked helicopter.
** 1999 Sydney hailstorm, Hailstorm causes damage of around A$2.3bn.
* 2000
** September: City hosts 2000 Summer Olympics & 2000 Summer Paralympics
** City of Sydney Historical Association founded.
** Spires of
St Mary's Cathedral completed.
** Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Mary Donaldson meets her future husband, Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, Prince Frederik of Denmark, at the Royal George Hotel, Sydney, Slip Inn.
21st century
2000s
* 2001
** Sydney Harbour Federation Trust established.
** Population: 4,128,272.
** Drama film ''Lantana (film), Lantana'' portrays complex relationships in Sydney suburbia.
* 2002
** Glenn Murcutt awarded Pritzker Architecture Prize.
** Six members of Coogee Dolphins rugby league club killed in 2002 Bali bombings, Bali bombing.
** Short and Sweet (festival), Short and Sweet 10-minute play festival founded.
* 2003
** Lowy Institute for International Policy headquartered in city.
** George Pell, Archbishop Pell appointed cardinal.
** Prominent stockbroker Rene Rivkin found guilty of insider trading.
* 2004
** 14 February: 2004 Redfern riots.
** City of South Sydney becomes part of City of Sydney.
** Judicial inquiry criticises James Hardie Industries for evading compensation to victims of asbestos.
* 2005
** December: 2005 Cronulla riots occur near city.
** 2005 Macquarie Fields riots, Macquarie Fields riots.
** Cross City Tunnel opens.
** Businessman Rodney Adler jailed for misconduct related to the collapse of HIH Insurance.
** Sydney Swans Australian Rules football team win 2005 AFL Grand Final, AFL Grand Final.
** Bankstown Bites Food Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival begin.
* 2006
** Liberal arts college Campion College opens at Toongabbie, New South Wales, Toongabbie.
** ''Bondi Rescue'' TV series first broadcast.
* 2007
** September: APEC Australia 2007, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meets in city.
** Sydney Underground Film Festival begins.
* 2008 – Pope Benedict XVI visits for World Youth Day 2008.
* 2009
** Institute for Economics and Peace headquartered in city.
** Festival of Dangerous Ideas begins.
** First Vivid Sydney festival
2010s
![Sydney Metro Kellyville Sunset1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Sydney_Metro_Kellyville_Sunset1.jpg)
* 2010
** Sydney Desalination Plant at
Kurnell
Kurnell is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire along the east coast. Cronulla and Woolooware are the only adj ...
begins operation.
** Jessica Watson returns to Sydney after solo round the world voyage.
* 2011
** Population: 4,028,524.
* 2012
** Redevelopment of Barangaroo, New South Wales, Barangaroo commences.
* 2013
** Southern Sydney Freight Line opened.
** White Bay Cruise Terminal opened.
* 2014
** 2014 Sydney hostage crisis
** Second Sydney Airport location announced as Badgerys Creek, New South Wales, Badgerys Creek.
* 2015
** 2015 Parramatta shooting, Police worker killed by Islamic terrorist in Parramatta.
* 2017
** Population reaches 5 million, according to the 2016 Australian census.
* 2019
** Completion of the Sydney Metro Northwest, the first line of the upcoming Sydney Metro, Australia's first rapid transit system.
** CBD and South East Light Rail, Light Rail opens from
Circular Quay to Randwick, New South Wales, Randwick.
** Death of serial killer Ivan Milat in jail.
* 2020
** 4 Jan Record high temperature of 48.9 °C (120 °F) recorded at
Penrith.
** Disembarkation of ''Ruby Princess'' cruise ship leads to cluster of COVID-19 cases.
** Opening of the remaining leg of the Light Rail to Kingsford
See also
* History of Sydney
* List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators of Sydney
* Governors of New South Wales#List of Governors of New South Wales, List of Governors of New South Wales, headquartered in Sydney
* Premier of New South Wales, List of Premiers of New South Wales, headquartered in Sydney.
References
Bibliography
Published in the 19th century
*
*
*
*
1962 facsimilepublished by Ure Smith)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Published in the 20th century
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* K. W. Robinson, 'Sydney, 1850–1952, A Comparison of Developments in the Heart of the City', Australian Geographer, Vol. 6, 1952–1956
* Nineteenth Century Sydney: Essays in Urban History, M. Kelly (ed.), Sydney University Press, 1978
*
*
*
* P. Webber, ed. (1988), The Design of Sydney. Sydney: Law Book Company.
* Shirley H. Fitzgerald, Sydney 1842–1992 (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1992)
*
*
* J. Birmingham. (1999), ''Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney''. Knopf.
Published in the 21st century
* ''Sydney: the Emergence of a World City''. Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2000.
* P. Spearritt. (2000), ''Sydney's Century: a History''. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Items related to Sydney various dates (via Europeana).
Items related to Sydney various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
{{Coord, -33.859972, 151.211111, type:city, display=title
History of Sydney,
Sydney-related lists,
Timelines of cities in Australia, Sydney
New South Wales timelines