History & Culture
Vale Bernard ‘Midget’ Farrelly
Farewell to an icon of an era and the very first World Surfing Champion, Midget Farrelly.
History & Culture
Early Victoria: Bushfires, gold rushes and sad bushrangers
FROM VICTORIA’S GOLD RUSHES to its bushrangers, English artist William Strutt’s (1825-1915) paintings captured the state’s colonial history in vivid scenes and sketches. William arrived at Melbourne in 1850 and began work as an illustrator painting portraits of people such as explorer Robert O’Hara Burke, who’s famous expedition with William John Wills ended in their tragic deaths. William illustrated the scenes around Burke’s demise in the epic ‘The burial of Burke’ (1911). He also recorded many historical events such as Victoria becoming a separate state and the devastating Victorian bushfire on Black Thursday in 1851. His paintings depict the hardship of colonial life, exploration and the dangers of the environment. His oil paintings, watercolours, portraits, prints and preparatory sketches will be on display at ‘Heroes and villains: Strutt’s Australia’ exhibition at the State Library of Victoria until 23 October 2016. The exhibition is the first retrospectives of William’s work in Melbourne, it includes pop-up talks of three of his well-known paintings; ‘Bushrangers’ (1887), ‘The burial of Burke’ (1911) and ‘Black Thursday’ (1864).
History & Culture
Kelpie, king of the mob
Fast, smart and always raring to go, the kelpie has been a fixture on Australian stations for more than a century. These days, the canine icon is not just a working dog but also a showman and beloved pet to many.
Events
On This Day: Aboriginal flag first flown
A potent symbol of Aboriginal Australia recognised the world-over, this flag first ruffled in the wind in Adelaide in 1971.
History & Culture
The tangled mess that choked Australia
A huge area of the nation’s inland was once smothered with invasive prickly pear.
History & Culture
GALLERY: Australia’s Prime Ministers
They’ve come from electorates throughout the continent and worked at occupations as varied as coalminer, drover, doctor and solicitor. Sometimes revered, sometimes despised, 28 men and 1 woman – represented by their official portraits – have taken on the nation’s top job, often heralding and at other times following winds of change. Whether they served for eight days or 19 years, each took on the responsibility of being prime minister of Australia.
History & Culture
How Australia played the world’s first music on a computer
It might not sound like the best music in the world, but Australia was the first by a matter of months at playing a tune on a computer.
History & Culture
VIDEO: Australia’s first atomic bomb test, 1952
Dramatic documentary footage captures Operation Hurricane, the British’s first atomic bomb test conducted in the Montbello Islands off Western Australia.
History & Culture
GALLERY: 100 years of Taronga Zoo
Today marks 100 years since the opening of Taronga Zoo at its current site in Mosman on the north shore of Sydney Harbour. The first public zoo in New South Wales, Taronga has come a long way since the early days. We take a look back through its history. Click on the image to scroll, or swipe right-to-left if using a touchscreen device.
History & Culture
Top 10 Aussie TV dramas
The fondly remembered and frequently spoken of, from Number 96 to Summer Bay.