Timeline of Melbourne history

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This is a timeline of major events in the history of the city of Melbourne, Australia.

Chart of Melbourne's population growth since first settlement in 1851.

1 18th century
2 19th century
3 20th century
4 21st century
5 See also
6 References

[edit] 18th century

1797 - George Bass explores the south-east coast of Australia

[edit] 19th century

A map dating to the 1880s shows the well-established suburbs of Melbourne.

1800 - James Grant explores the south-east of Australia
1801 - John Murray sails into Port Phillip Bay in the Lady Nelson
1803 - Charles Robbins and Charles Grimes explore entirety of Port Phillip Bay and discover the Yarra River in the Buffalo
1803 - David Collins sent from Sydney to establish a settlement for the British Government. Unaware of previous discoveries, Collins settles near present-day Sullivan Bay on the Mornington Peninsula. This settlement is abandoned five months later.
1834 - The Henty family establish first long-term European settlement in Victoria at Portland
1835 - John Batman sails to the mouth of the Yarra from Tasmania in the Rebecca
1835 - John Batman 'buys' the 2,430 km² that Melbourne would be founded on from the local Aboriginal nation, the Wurundjeri, with blankets and trinkets
1835 - Melbourne is founded by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner
1836 - Lonsdale built the first government block, declaring Melbourne the capital of the Port Phillip district (Lewis, Miles (1995). Melbourne the city's history and development, 2nd ed. City of Melbourne. )
1837 - March 28 -The Hoddle Grid of streets for the central business district is surveyed by Robert Hoddle
1837 - June 1 - First inner-city land sale
1838 - Melbourne is declared a legal port and administrative centre, opening the way for vastly increased immigration
1838 - Melbourne Cricket Club is founded
1838 - Second inner-city land sale
1839 - Third inner-city land sale. Quarrying of bluestone began out of the Melbourne Corporation Quarry at Clifton Hill.
1841 - First seaport and market are opened
1842 - Melbourne Municipal Corporation Act was passed in Sydney. Melbourne City Council is formed.
1845 - First Princes Bridge constructed connecting both sides of the Yarra
1847 - Melbourne declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June.^[1]
1847 - Melbourne Building Act was passed in 1847 based on Sydney act of 1833.
1848 - Melbourne Hospital founded (from 1935 the hospital is called The Royal Melbourne Hospital)
1851 - Beginning of the Victorian gold rush with discovery of gold in Ballarat
1851 - Victoria becomes a colony, separate from New South Wales
1851 - First state Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe inaugurated
1852 - City's first gas works is opened
1853 - The University of Melbourne is founded
1854 - The Melbourne Terminus (first Flinders Street Station building) is completed
1854 - First steam railway journey in Australia from Flinders Street Station to Port Melbourne (then Sandridge)
1854 - Melbourne Exhibition held in conjunction with Exposition Universelle (1855)
1854 - The State Library of Victoria is founded
1854 - First telegraph service, to Williamstown
1854 - The first Town Hall is completed
1855 - First state Governor Sir Charles Hotham inaugurated
1855 - The Melbourne Museum is founded
1856 - Stonemasons win the Eight hour day
1857 - First reservoir water supply (at Yan Yean Reservoir) tapped outside city limits
1857 - Queen Victoria Market is founded
1857 - Australia's first country railway from Geelong to Melbourne is built
1857 - City streets first lit by gas lighting
1858 - 31 July - first game of Australian rules football played between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College
1858 - August 7 - Melbourne Football Club, Australia's oldest football club is founded
1858 - First inter-city telegraph services, to Adelaide and Sydney
1859 - Spencer Street Station (then Batman's Hill Station) and Princes Gate Station completed
1859 - Construction of the General Post Office begins construction
1859 - First Melbourne Trades Hall building opened.
1860 - The Burke and Wills expedition departed from Royal Park.
1861 - National Gallery of Victoria is founded
1861 - First Melbourne Cup
1861 - Victorian Exhibition held
1861 - Melbourne's population reaches 125,000
1862 - Melbourne Zoo founded
1863 - Batman's Hill levelled
1865 - Melbourne overtakes Sydney to become Australia's largest city
1866 - Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia held
1867 - The current Town Hall begins construction
1869 - The Royal Mint is completed
1874 - The Supreme Court building is completed
1875 - Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition held
1877 - First Test cricket match, between Australia and the MCC, at the MCG. First season of the Victorian Football Association.
1878 - Xavier College, in Kew, is founded after the increased need of boarding space for the oldest Jesuit School in Melbourne, St. Pat's.
1880 - Royal Exhibition Building opened
1880 - Melbourne International Exhibition held
1883 - historic Melbourne Falls (nr Queens Bridge) removed using explosives
1884 - Victorian International Exhibition held
1885 - First cable tram line opens in the Melbourne cable tramway system
1885 - Victorians' Jubilee Exhibition
1887 - The current Town Hall is completed
1888 - Victorian Juvenile Industrial Exhibition and Centennial International Exhibition held
1890 - The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works is formed
1894 - City streets first lit by electric lighting
1897 - First season of the Victorian Football League
1897 - First part of the mains sewage system becomes operational

[edit] 20th century

1900 - The Puffing Billy Railway opens
1900 - Construction of the current Flinders Street Station building begins
1901 - The Commonwealth of Australia is formed. Melbourne becomes national capital
1902 - Sydney overtakes Melbourne as Australia's most populous city
1903 - The City Baths are opened
1905 - First Australian Open championship
1906 - First electric tram service commences
1907 - The General Post Office is completed
1910 - Current Flinders Street Station building is completed
1913 - The Domed Reading Room of the State Library is opened
1916 - Strict height limit of 32 feet (40 metres) imposed on all buildings
1919 - Electric suburban train services commence on the Broadmeadows line
1923 - W-class Melbourne trams introduced.
1923 - 1923 Victorian Police strike
1924 - first radio station 3AR
1927 - Federal Parliament is moved to Canberra, the new national capital
1928 - Melbourne City Council installs city's first set of traffic lights at Collins and Swanston streets
1940 - Last cable tram service ends operation
1943 - Russell Street Police Headquarters building is completed
1954 - April - Victorian Railways closes the Puffing Billy Railway
1954 - First Moomba parade
1954 - Proposal to destroy much of East Melbourne and Jolimont to make way for an inner city ringroad.
1955 - City's first parking meters are installed
1955 - ICI building given special exception from CBD height limits
1956 - First television station HSV-7
1956 - The Olympic Games held in Melbourne
1957 - Plot ratio height limits introduced to CBD (dependent upon floor space and light angles), plazas and open space. By laws introduced for compulsory carspace for all new city buildings. 1.45m Setbacks for 'Little' streets introduced to widen footpaths.
1959 - Sidney Myer Music Bowl opened
1961 - Proposal to demolish Flinders Street station and replace it with office blocks.
1962 - The Puffing Billy Railway is re-opened as a tourist attraction
1967 - first woman city councillor Clare Cascarret
1969 - Proposal to demolish the Regent Theatre for multi-storey development.
1970 - October 15 - 35 construction workers die when a span of the West Gate Bridge collapses
1974 - Underground Rail Loop begins construction
1975 - Z-class tram introduced
1982 - The City Loop subway is opened
1985 - Port Melbourne and St Kilda train lines are converted to light rail
1985 - B-class trams introduced
1986 - Car-bombing outside the Russell Street Police Headquarters kills one police officer
1986 - Rialto Towers completed and becomes the city's tallest building as well as the tallest in the southern hemisphere
1986 - Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman is stolen from National Gallery of Victoria by activists. Returned a week later
1987 - Hoddle Street Massacre, killing 7 and injuring 19.
1987 - Queen Street Massacre, killing 8 and injuring 5.
1990 - Southbank promenade opens, paving the way for urban renewal in Southbank, Victoria
1991 - Melbourne experiences severe economic slump; City property markets crash and CBD vacancy rates reach all time high.
1992 - Pedestrianization of Swanston Street creates Swanston Street Walk
1992 - Postcode 3000 policy attracts residents to the city centre, warehouses and offices are converted into apartments and CBD vacancy rates drop.
1994 - Opening of the Melbourne Observation Deck in Rialto Towers
1994 - Tasty nightclub raid
1996 - Development of the Docklands area begins
1996 - Construction of the CityLink freeways begins
1996 - Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre opens
1996 - Melbourne wins right to host Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Lake
1997 - Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex, Melbourne's first gambling centre opens.
1999 - New Melbourne Museum officially opens
1999 - Bolte Bridge open for traffic.

[edit] 21st century

2000 - The CityLink freeways open, including two new tunnels, a new cross-harbour bridge, and electronic tolling
2000 - Docklands Stadium (later renamed Colonial Stadium, currently Telstra Dome) completed
2000 - March 6 - Bourke Street redevelopment
2002 - Controversial Melbourne 2030 planning policy introduced. Aimed to increase population in designated 'activity centres' and curb urban sprawl. Promises to increase public transport usage to 20% of motorised trips by 2020.
2006 - Commonwealth Games Held
2010 - Population expected to reach 4,000,000
2015 - Expected completion of docklands.