The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Pre-Colonial
- 50,000âÂÂ45,000 BP â 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 â Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity occurred in and around the Sydney basin, as evidenced by an archaeological dig in Parramatta, in Western Sydney. The finds show that the Aboriginal Australians in that region used charcoal, stone tools and possible ancient campfires.
- 21,100âÂÂ17,800 BP â Stone artifact assemblages dating to this time period discovered in Shaws Creek (near Hawkesbury River) and in Blue Mountains. A rock shelter with flakes dating to this period discovered near Nepean River.
- 5,000âÂÂ7000 BP â The Sydney rock engravings, a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art consisting of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols, date to this time period.
- 4,000âÂÂ2,000 BC â The first backed stone artifacts developed, such as blades and spears. The stones would drill, scrape, cut and grind material. They were also associated with woodworking.
- 1,000âÂÂ500 BC â Bone and shell usage dating to this period discovered. They would've been attached to fishing spear 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.
- c 500 CE â Likely large tsunami.
18thâÂÂ19th centuries
1770sâÂÂ1790s
1800sâÂÂ1840s
1850sâÂÂ1890s
- 1859
- Parliamentary electoral districts of East Sydney and West Sydney created.
- Great Hall of the University of Sydney completed.
- 1861
- Thomas Sutcliffe Mort establishes freezing works at Darling Harbour.
- First horse-drawn trams run from Circular Quay to Redfern station.
- Population: 95,000 city and suburbs.
- 1863 â Imprisoned bushranger Captain Thunderbolt escapes from Cockatoo Island by swimming.
- 1865 â St Mary's Cathedral destroyed by fire.
- 1866 â Bridge St building demolished in nitroglycerine explosion.
- 1867
- Measles epidemic kills some 750, mostly young children.
- First burials at Rookwood Cemetery.
- 1868
- Belmore Park opens.
- St Andrew's Cathedral consecrated.
- Prince Alfred survives shooting by Irishman Henry O'Farrell at Clontarf.
- First mention of Granny Smith apple, discovered by Maria Smith at Ryde.
- 1869 â State Government purchases Subscription Library and opens Sydney Free Public Library.
- 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.
- Tooheys opens Darling Brewery.
- 1874
- Art Gallery of New South Wales opened.
- Foundling Institution established.
- 1875 â Holtermann panorama of Sydney Harbour photographed.
- 1877 â Waverley Cemetery established near city.
- 1878
- Great Synagogue completed.
- Speakers' Corner established in The Domain.
- Robinson-Finlay wedding takes place.
- 1879
- St Aloysius College, Jesuit school established.
- Sydney Riot of 1879 over unpopular umpiring decision.
- Sydney International Exhibition held; Garden Palace built.
- Art Gallery of New South Wales opens.
- Opera House opens in King Street.
- Dymocks bookseller in business.
- New South Wales Zoological Society founded.
- Royal National Park established south of the city.
- Joseph Conrad's first visit to Sydney.
- 1880
- Jesuit school Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview established on Lane Cove River.
- Children's Hospital opened.
- Wirth's Circus begun.
- 1881
- Population: 237,300 city and suburbs.
- First telephone exchange.
- Coast Hospital (later Prince Henry) for infectious diseases opened at Little Bay.
- 1882
- Sydney Showground opens.
- St Mary's Cathedral consecrated.
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital opened.
- Garden Palace destroyed by fire.
- Construction of Eveleigh Railway Workshops begun.
- Sydney Technical College formed, incorporating Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts.
- Royal Easter Show moves to Moore Park site.
- The Australian Golf Club established.
- 1883
- Main Southern railway line completed to Albury.
- Sydney High School and Sydney Wharf Labourers Union established.
- Sydney University Medical School founded by Professor Anderson Stuart.
- Sydney Cricket Ground hosts third and fourth tests in first test tour in Australia.
- 1885 â Doyles Restaurant at Watsons Bay founded.
- 1886 â Angus & Robertson bookselling partnership formed.
- 1887
- Four hanged in Mount Rennie rape case.
- Parramatta Girls Home opened.
- 1888
- Arrival of Afghan from Hong Kong sparks anti-Chinese demonstrations.
- Centennial Park established to mark centenary of Sydney.
- Louisa Lawson founds The Dawn feminist magazine.
- Charles Conder's paintings Coogee Bay and Departure of the Orient - Circular Quay.
- Intercolonial Rabbit Commission meets to consider schemes for eradication of rabbits.
- 1889
- Sydney Town Hall built.
- Women's College and Sydney Church of England Grammar School founded.
- St Patrick's Seminary, Manly, founded.
- 1890
- Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ installed.
- Julian Ashton Art School established.
- Hotel Metropole opens.
- Charles Kerry photography studio in business.
- 1891
- General Post Office built.
- Population: 399,270 city and suburbs.
- Australia Hotel opens with visit of Sarah Bernhardt.
- Constitutional Convention meets to begin framing constitution for federated Australia.
- Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Wales founded, with Mary Windeyer president.
- 1892
- Strand Arcade opens.
- GPS (Great Public Schools) Association founded.
- Henry Lawson's short story The Drover's Wife published in The Bulletin.
- The Women's College, University of Sydney opens.
- Suspension Bridge connects Northbridge and Cammeray.
- 1893
- Technological Museum opens.
- Royal Sydney Golf Club founded.
- Baby farmers John and Sarah Makin convicted of murder of infants.
- Arthur Streeton's painting Railway Station, Redfern.
- Socialists led by William Lane set out to found New Australia settlement in Paraguay.
- Women's Hospital, later Crown Street Women's Hospital, opened.
20th century
1900sâÂÂ1940s
- 1942
- Anti-submarine defences built.
- MayâÂÂJune: Attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese midget submarines.
- Bankstown Bunker constructed as Air Defence HQ.
- Yaralla Military Hospital (later Concord Repatriation General Hospital) opened.
- 1943
- Sydney University philosopher John Anderson censured by State Parliament for anti-religious views.
- William Dobell's Archibald Prize-winning portrait Mr Joshua Smith subject of legal case as to whether it was a caricature.
- Kylie Tennant's novel Ride on Stranger describes a country girl making her way in the city.
- 1944 â Sali Herman's painting McElhone Stairs wins Wynne Prize.
- 1945
- Celebration of VJ Day.
- First Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.
- 1946
- Sydney Symphony Orchestra active.
- Norman Gilroy named first Australian-born cardinal.
- Criminal Darcy Dugan makes first of several escapes from custody.
- 1947
- Population: 95,852 city; 1,484,434 metro.
- Qantas operates Sydney-London Kangaroo Route.
- New Year's Day hailstorm causes massive damage.
- Don Bradman scores 100th first-class century.
- Australian School of Pacific Administration moved to Middle Head.
- Russell Drysdale's painting Sofala wins Wynne Prize.
- 1948
- Visit of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.
- Communist-Catholic debate attracts 30,000 to Sydney Stadium.
- Ruth Park's novel The Harp in the South describes an inner-Sydney poor Irish community.
- Qantas connects Australia to Africa via air for first time via Sydney-Johannesburg Wallaby Route.
- 1949
- Alexandria, Darlington, Erskineville, Glebe, Newtown, Paddington, Redfern, and Waterloo become part of the city.
- University of Technology (later University of New South Wales) established.
- Australia's first computer, CSIRAC, constructed at CSIRO Radiophysics Lab.
- Security forces seize documents in raid on Communist headquarters Marx House.
- Broadcast of first of 5795 episodes of radio serial Blue Hills.
- Villawood Migrant Hostel built.
- Ingrid Bergman stars in Alfred Hitchcock's film Under Capricorn, set in 1830s Sydney.
1950sâÂÂ1990s
- 1954
- Queen Elizabeth II makes first royal visit.
- Dramatic photo of Mrs Petrov being dragged across tarmac of Sydney Airport sparks Petrov Affair.
- Model Shirley Beiger acquitted of murder after shooting her lover dead outside Chequers nightclub.
- Sydney Film Festival begins.
- 1955 â Public outcry against Rosaleen Norton, the "Witch of Kings Cross", for alleged Satanism.
- 1956
- ATN Channel 7 television begins broadcasting.
- Circular Quay railway station opened marking the completion of the City Circle.
- St George rugby league club wins the first of 11 consecutive premierships.
- Kurnell Refinery built.
- Kirribilli House begins use as Prime Ministerial residence.
- Anti-communist cultural magazine Quadrant founded.
- James Dibble begins 27 years as ABC TV newsreader.
- Conservatorium director Eugene Goossens resigns after pornography found at Airport.
- First drive-in theatres opened.
- 1957
- Jørn Utzon wins competition to design Sydney Opera House.
- John Laws joins 2UE, beginning 60-year Sydney radio career.
- 1958
- Cahill Expressway completed.
- National Institute of Dramatic Art founded.
- First Australian nuclear reactor opened at Lucas Heights.
- Cyril Pearl's Wild Men of Sydney describes corruption in colonial times.
- Betty Archdale becomes headmistress of Abbotsleigh girls' school, known for progressive reforms.
- Professor Harry Messel founds International Science School.
- 1959
- Joe 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.
- Ice skating rink built at Prince Alfred Park.
- Broughton Knox becomes principal of Moore Theological College.
- 1960
- Murder of Graeme Thorne solved with scientific methods.
- Overseas Passenger Terminal opens at Circular Quay.
- Completion of Warragamba Dam ensures reliable water supply to Sydney.
- Paul Robeson sings Ol' Man River to construction workers on Opera House site.
- Clontarf beach washed away by Chilean tsunami.
- 1961
- Last Trams in Sydney operate.
- Dr William McBride reveals thalidomide is causing birth defects.
- Demolition of Subiaco colonial home, Rydalmere, prompts moves to preserve architectural heritage.
- Tania Verstak first immigrant Miss Australia.
- Dedication of Baha'i Temple.
- El Alamein Fountain opened at Kings Cross.
- 1962
- First performance by Australian Ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre.
- Shows by visiting comedian Lenny Bruce cancelled for obscenity.
- AMP Building opens, then the tallest building in Australia.
- Blues Point Tower completed.
- 1963
- Mysterious deaths of Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler.
- Lifeline telephone counselling service launched by Rev Alan Walker.
- Harry Triguboff founds Meriton property development company.
- Last fatal shark attack in Sydney Harbour.
- 1964
- Gladesville Bridge opened.
- Macquarie University established.
- Dawn Fraser returns from Tokyo Olympics with third consecutive women's 100m freestyle gold medal.
- Rev Ted Noffs establishes Wayside Chapel near Kings Cross.
- The Beatles perform at Sydney Stadium.
- The Mavis Bramston Show brings satirical sketch comedy to Australian TV.
- First of Charmian Clift's five years of essays in Sydney Morning Herald.
- James Hardie Industries ignores warning on the extreme health risks of asbestos manufacture.
- Paddington Society founded.
- Colourful academic Fred May appointed foundation professor of Italian at Sydney University.
- 1965
- Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti in J.C. Williamson's opera tour.
- Controversy over failure of Sydney University to appoint Dr Knopfelmacher to post in political philosophy.
- Roselands Shopping Centre opens.
- Wanda Beach Murders.
- Sydney Maritime Museum founded.
- Hydrofoil ferry service to Manly begins.
- 1966
- Attempted assassination of Arthur Calwell, Federal opposition leader, in Mosman.
- Protestors disrupt motorcade of President Lyndon Johnson in Oxford Street.
- Significant changes to Opera House design after Jørn Utzon's resignation.
- Movie comedy They're a Weird Mob portrays tensions between Italian immigrants and Irish-Australians.
- Children's TV series Play School begins broadcasting.
- Wentworth Hotel opens.
- Bee Gees achieve first major hit
21st century
2000s
2010s
2020s
See also
References
Bibliography
Published in the 19th century
Published in the 20th century
- K. W. Robinson, 'Sydney, 1850âÂÂ1952, A Comparison of Developments in the Heart of the City', Australian Geographer, Vol. 6, 1952âÂÂ1956
- 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 1842âÂÂ1992 (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.
- Richard Reid, "Irish in Sydney from First Fleet to Federation" The Dictionary of Sydney (2012) online
External links