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Captain James Cook
Cook was the first to map the coastline of eastern Australia, New Zealand and many islands of the Pacific. He sailed further south than any explorer before him. Amongst Cook’s great achievements was his ability to navigate with a chronometer to calculate longitude. This transformed mapping. He was also a remarkably humane commander, concerned for the health of his crews and the prospects of the indigenous peoples he encountered. -
Women's Prison Hobart
A prison was built in Murray Street, Hobart in 1817, and a convict barracks in Campbell Street in 1821. Used progressively as a civilian prison from 1846, it became Hobart's prison after convict transportation ended in 1853. The Murray Street prison was dismantled the following year. Meanwhile, the Launceston prison was built in 1827. Women convicts and children were housed at female factories, at the Cascades in Hobart (opened 1828), George Town (1829), Launceston (1832) and Ross (1847). Women -
Ayers Rock
Ayers Rock is one of the most impressive landmarks in Australia. A huge chunk of sandstone and a ‘true’ monolith, it resides in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Ayers Rock is located down towards the southwest corner of the Northern Territory and close to the geographic centre of Australia.The rock is huge, jutting up about 350m from its barren surrounds. And more interestingly, Ayers Rock extends even further than this amount below ground. Although there are other, similar entities to Ayers Rock -
The Commonwealth of Australia
Australia became an independent nation on 1 January 1901. The British Parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian colonies to govern in their own right as part of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia was established as a constitutional monarchy. 'Constitutional' because the Commonwealth of Australia was established with a written constitution, and 'monarchy' because Australia's head of state was Queen Victoria. -
anzac day
The date of the landing at ANZAC, the 25th April was chosen to be the day that would become our national day of commemoration.
Initially, ANZAC day was a mark of respect for those who served and sacrificed their lives in the Great War for Civilisation, the war as many hoped, to end all war
However, because of the vicissitudes of man, the date has become the day on which the nation remembers those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in all the conflicts that Australia has pa -
QANTAS
Formed in 1920, the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Serivces Ltd (QANTAS) has been Australia's national carrier for almost a century. Since then, the airline has experienced many highs and lows but still remains one of Australia's most significant icons. -
Sydney Harbour Bridge
General design for the Sydney Harbour Bridge prepared by Dr J J C Bradfield and officers of the NSW Department of Public Works. The New South Wales Government then invited worldwide tenders for the construction of the Bridge in 1922 and the contract was let to English firm Dorman Long and Co of Middlesbrough.The Bridge has an interesting past including its official opening on 19 March 1932. Before the NSW Premier, the Honourable John 'Jack' T. Lang, could cut the ribbon to signify the opening of -
Vegemite
The VEGEMITE brand has a history spanning nearly 90 years. Its story began in 1922 when the Fred Walker Company, which would later become Kraft Food Company, hired a young chemist to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources in the Vitamin B group – brewer’s yeast. After months of laboratory tests, Dr. Cyril P Callister, Australia’s leading food technologist of the 1920s and 30s, developed a tasty, spreadable paste. It was labelled ‘Pure Vegetable Extract’. -
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is Australia's most recognisable building and is an icon of Australia's creative and technical achievement. Since its completion in 1973 it has attracted worldwide acclaim for its design and construction, enhanced by its location on Bennelong Point within a superb harbour setting.It took 16 years to build. Constructed between 1957 and 1973, is a masterpiece of modern architectural design, engineering and construction technology in Australia. It exhibits the creative genius -
The new Parliament House opens in Canberra
Federal Parliament first met on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne. From 1901 to 1927 the Parliament met in the Victorian Parliament House. Finding a location for the nations parliament was a complex matter. The directions for its location can be found in Section 125 of the Constitution of
The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and bel -
The Sydney Olympics
The Sydney Olympic Games were held from 15 September to 1 October 2000. Sydney was awarded the right to host the 2000 Olympic Games in 1993. It was the second time that an Australian city had hosted the Olympic Games, the first being in Melbourne in 1956. The first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens in 1896 following the founding of the International Olympic Committee in 1894. The Olympics began in Greece about 3,500 years ago but were discontinued in 393 AD. In 1887, Baron Pier
