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Period: to
1960's Australia
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The 2nd Annual Logie Awards
The 2nd Annual Logie Awards are held the Savoy Hotel in Brighton, Victoria, although they are not televised. Graham Kennedy wins the "Star of the Year" (Gold Logie) award. -
Great Barrier Reef
Crown-of-thorns starfish begins ravaging the Great Barrier Reef -
Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway operates its last steam locomotive powered train in regular service as freight train number 76, led by 4-6-2 number 1262, arrives in Montreal. -
Australian Labor Party
Arthur Calwell becomes leader of the Australian Labor Party -
First Adelaide Festival
First Adelaide Festival -
The halogen lamp invented.
The halogen lamp invented. -
Hobart:
Hobart: The last tram runs. Earlier in April, a runaway tram crashed into another tram. Several vehicles, including a bus, were hit by the trams. A conductor was killed and more than 40 people were treated for injuries in the Royal Hobart Hospital. -
Men's national marathon
Ian Sinfield wins the men's national marathon title, clocking 2:25:13 -
Paradise
Surfer's Paradise: Billiards champion Walter Lindrum dies at 61 -
The Warragamba Dam
The Warragamba Dam is opened by the Premier of New South Wales. -
Valium invented.
Valium invented. -
New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield
New South Wales wins the Sheffield Shield -
Sentenced
Sydney: Stephen Leslie Bradley sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of kidnap victim Graeme Thorne July 1960 -
Government
Federal Government directs all future TV commercials to be made in Australia -
Credit Squeeze
The Credit Squeeze hits the car industry: GMH to dismiss 2,600 workers and on March 8, Ford sacks 980 workers, making a total of 2000 since the previous November -
Tram
Sydney: Last tram runs from La Perousse to Randwick workshops -
Sydney
Sydney: Stephen Leslie Bradley sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of kidnap victim Graeme Thorne July 1960 -
Federal Government
Federal Government directs all future TV commercials to be made in Australia -
Wimbledon
Wimbledon: Rod Laver wins Men's Singles tennis final -
Defects
Sydney: Obstetrician Dr William McBride confirms the anti nausea drug thalidomide is linked to birth defects -
The audio cassette invented.
The audio cassette invented. -
Australia wins 38 gold medals at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, held in Perth
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Perth: Prince Philip opens the Commonwealth Games. Australia's medal tally at the end of the games is 38, the highest score for any one country in Commonwealth Games' history
Perth: Prince Philip opens the Commonwealth Games. Australia's medal tally at the end of the games is 38, the highest score for any one country in Commonwealth Games' history -
Sydney: Australia tallest building opens, the 25-storey AMP building
Sydney: Australia tallest building opens, the 25-storey AMP building -
Perth: As Astronaut John Glenn circles the Earth, the city of Perth turns on its lights. "I can see the outline of a town and a very bright light just to the south of it." Glenn dubs Perth "The City of Lights"
Perth: As Astronaut John Glenn circles the Earth, the city of Perth turns on its lights. "I can see the outline of a town and a very bright light just to the south of it." Glenn dubs Perth "The City of Lights" -
Perth: Philip Magalnir becomes the first Australian Aborigine to vote under the new Commonwealth electoral laws granting voting rights to Aborigines
Perth: Philip Magalnir becomes the first Australian Aborigine to vote under the new Commonwealth electoral laws granting voting rights to Aborigines -
New York: Rod Laver wins the Grand Slam in men's tennis after his defeat of fellow Australian Roy Emerson in the US Championships. Margaret Smith is the first Australian woman to win the US Women's Singles title
New York: Rod Laver wins the Grand Slam in men's tennis after his defeat of fellow Australian Roy Emerson in the US Championships. Margaret Smith is the first Australian woman to win the US Women's Singles title -
Melbourne: Busfhires rage through the Great Divide and the Dandenong Ranges on the edge of Melboune, killing 8 people and destroying hundreds of houses
Melbourne: Busfhires rage through the Great Divide and the Dandenong Ranges on the edge of Melboune, killing 8 people and destroying hundreds of houses -
The video disk invented.
The video disk invented. -
Dixie Willis breaks Lyudmila Shevtsova's world record (2:04.3) in the women's 800 metres, clocking 2:01.2 in Perth.
Dixie Willis breaks Lyudmila Shevtsova's world record (2:04.3) in the women's 800 metres, clocking 2:01.2 in Perth. -
Bogle/Chandler Case: Two boys near the Lane Cove River in Sydney find the bodies of Dr Gilbert Stanley Bogle, a physicist with the CSIRO, and Mrs Margaret Chandler, wife of a CSIRO scientist. Although poisoning is suspected, the case is still unsolved
Bogle/Chandler Case: Two boys near the Lane Cove River in Sydney find the bodies of Dr Gilbert Stanley Bogle, a physicist with the CSIRO, and Mrs Margaret Chandler, wife of a CSIRO scientist. Although poisoning is suspected, the case is still unsolved -
Comalco begins full-scale mining of bauxite at Weipa on Cape York Peninsula
Comalco begins full-scale mining of bauxite at Weipa on Cape York Peninsula -
Stockholm: The Australian scientist Sir John Carew Eccles is awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the central portions of the nerve cell membrane
Stockholm: The Australian scientist Sir John Carew Eccles is awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the central portions of the nerve cell membrane -
Wimbledon: Margaret Smith becomes the first Australian woman to win the Women's Singles tennis championship
Wimbledon: Margaret Smith becomes the first Australian woman to win the Women's Singles tennis championship -
Stockholm: The Australian scientist Sir John Carew Eccles is awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the central portions of the nerve cell membrane
Stockholm: The Australian scientist Sir John Carew Eccles is awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the central portions of the nerve cell membrane -
Darwin: Police evict the Mapoon community on Cape York Peninsula and raze community buildings to allow bauxite mining. This becomes the focus for the growing issues of aboriginal land rights
Darwin: Police evict the Mapoon community on Cape York Peninsula and raze community buildings to allow bauxite mining. This becomes the focus for the growing issues of aboriginal land rights -
Acrylic paint invented.
Acrylic paint invented. -
Jervis Bay: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager, cutting it in half and killing 82 of the Voyager's officers and crew in the worst peacetime naval disaster in Australian history
Jervis Bay: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager, cutting it in half and killing 82 of the Voyager's officers and crew in the worst peacetime naval disaster in Australian history -
Canberra: Royal Commission into the Voyager disaster opens
Canberra: Royal Commission into the Voyager disaster opens -
udy Hanrahan becomes the first woman teller appointed by the Bank of NSW since the warDr Hanna Neumann is named Professor of the Department of Pure Mathematics at the ANUCanberra: Federal Government fails to ratify the ILO convention on equal pay for wome
udy Hanrahan becomes the first woman teller appointed by the Bank of NSW since the war
Dr Hanna Neumann is named Professor of the Department of Pure Mathematics at the ANU
Canberra: Federal Government fails to ratify the ILO convention on equal pay for women -
The Beatles tour Australia.
The Beatles tour Australia. -
National Service reintroduced
National Service reintroduced -
Queensland Government declares a state of emergency in an attempt to end an industrial dispute at Mt Isa mines.
Queensland Government declares a state of emergency in an attempt to end an industrial dispute at Mt Isa mines. -
The compact disk invented
The compact disk invented by James Russell. -
London: Prime Minister Menzies declares that Australia is at war with Vietnam
London: Prime Minister Menzies declares that Australia is at war with Vietnam -
rafton: Freedom Rides - A bus carrying 30 students, including Charles Perkins, has to be escorted from Moree after a demonstration against discrimination at the town's swimming pool
rafton: Freedom Rides - A bus carrying 30 students, including Charles Perkins, has to be escorted from Moree after a demonstration against discrimination at the town's swimming pool -
Grafton: Freedom Rides - A bus carrying 30 students, including Charles Perkins, has to be escorted from Moree after a demonstration against discrimination at the town's swimming pool
Grafton: Freedom Rides - A bus carrying 30 students, including Charles Perkins, has to be escorted from Moree after a demonstration against discrimination at the town's swimming pool -
Roma Mitchell is Australia's first woman judge, after her appointment to the South Australian Supreme Court Bench
Roma Mitchell is Australia's first woman judge, after her appointment to the South Australian Supreme Court Bench -
Melbourne: Students protest over Springbok tour - the all white Springbok Rugby Union team arrive to a hostile reception
Melbourne: Students protest over Springbok tour - the all white Springbok Rugby Union team arrive to a hostile reception -
Melbourne: Students protest over Springbok tour - the all white Springbok Rugby Union team arrive to a hostile reception
Melbourne: Students protest over Springbok tour - the all white Springbok Rugby Union team arrive to a hostile reception -
The ALP deletes "White Australia" from its immigration policy
The ALP deletes "White Australia" from its immigration policy -
Adelaide: The Beaumont children, Jane, Arnna & Grant disappear from the suburb of Glenelg
Adelaide: The Beaumont children, Jane, Arnna & Grant disappear from the suburb of Glenelg -
Australia changes over to decimal currency.
Australia changes over to decimal currency. -
The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies resigns after 16 straight years in office. Harold Holt succeeds him
The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies resigns after 16 straight years in office. Harold Holt succeeds him -
Joern Utzon quits the construction of the Sydney Opera House
Joern Utzon quits the construction of the Sydney Opera House -
Sydney: The first Australian conscripts fly out for Vietnam. Anti-conscription and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators could not get near the RAAF base at Richmond
Sydney: The first Australian conscripts fly out for Vietnam. Anti-conscription and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators could not get near the RAAF base at Richmond -
Long Tan: Australian troops encounter one of the bloodiest episodes yet with the Viet Cong
Long Tan: Australian troops encounter one of the bloodiest episodes yet with the Viet Cong -
Wave Hill: 200 hundred aborigines employed on the Wave Hill cattle station go on strike claiming a wage of $50 a week
Wave Hill: 200 hundred aborigines employed on the Wave Hill cattle station go on strike claiming a wage of $50 a week -
Melbourne: Ronald Ryan is the last man to hang in Australia for the murder of a prison warder while escaping from Melbourne's Pentridge Jail. His execution would result in the abolition of the death penalty.
Melbourne: Ronald Ryan is the last man to hang in Australia for the murder of a prison warder while escaping from Melbourne's Pentridge Jail. His execution would result in the abolition of the death penalty. -
Tasmanian bushfires
Tasmanian bushfires -
Gough Whitlam succeeds Arthur Calwell to become new Leader of the Labor Party
Gough Whitlam succeeds Arthur Calwell to become new Leader of the Labor Party -
90% of white Australians vote in referendum for proposal to count aborigines in the census and to allow the federal government to make special laws for them
90% of white Australians vote in referendum for proposal to count aborigines in the census and to allow the federal government to make special laws for them -
Brisbane: Demonstrations against Queensland Government regulations, which require groups to apply for, and be granted, a permit before holding any public meeting in the city
Brisbane: Demonstrations against Queensland Government regulations, which require groups to apply for, and be granted, a permit before holding any public meeting in the city -
The Federal Government announces it will set up the Office of Aboriginal Affairs
The Federal Government announces it will set up the Office of Aboriginal Affairs -
Canberra: John Grey Gorton sworn in as Australia's 19th Prime Minister after Harold's Holt's disappearance
Canberra: John Grey Gorton sworn in as Australia's 19th Prime Minister after Harold's Holt's disappearance -
Violet Town, Vic: Southern Aurora express passenger train crashes into a goods train from Sydney, killing at least 10 people and injuring 50
Violet Town, Vic: Southern Aurora express passenger train crashes into a goods train from Sydney, killing at least 10 people and injuring 50 -
Tokyo: Lionel Rose wins the Bantamweight world boxing championship after defeating Masahiko "Fighting" Harada
Tokyo: Lionel Rose wins the Bantamweight world boxing championship after defeating Masahiko "Fighting" Harada -
Wimbledon: Rod Laver wins Men's Singles tennis title in the first Open Wimbledon
Wimbledon: Rod Laver wins Men's Singles tennis title in the first Open Wimbledon -
Sydney: British comedian Tony Hancock found dead in his flat after overdose of barbiturates and alcohol
Sydney: British comedian Tony Hancock found dead in his flat after overdose of barbiturates and alcohol -
Brisbane: Joh Bjelke-Petersen becomes Premier and leader of the Country Party after the death of Pizzey
Brisbane: Joh Bjelke-Petersen becomes Premier and leader of the Country Party after the death of Pizzey -
WA: The town of Meckering destroyed by biggest earthquake yet recorded in Australia. The quake measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale
WA: The town of Meckering destroyed by biggest earthquake yet recorded in Australia. The quake measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale -
Vic: Death toll from bushfires across the state reaches 15
Vic: Death toll from bushfires across the state reaches 15 -
Hong Kong: Ill-fated aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts an American destroyer in half in the South China Sea, killing at least 56 American sailors
Hong Kong: Ill-fated aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts an American destroyer in half in the South China Sea, killing at least 56 American sailors -
Melbourne: Police battle 3,000 Vietnam war protesters outside the US Consulate
Melbourne: Police battle 3,000 Vietnam war protesters outside the US Consulate -
Portsea: Prime Minister Harold Holt disappears while swimming in heavy surf south of Melbourne. His body is never found
Portsea: Prime Minister Harold Holt disappears while swimming in heavy surf south of Melbourne. His body is never found