Timeline of Sydney

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prehistory

• The first people to occupy the area now known as Sydney were Australian Aborigines. Their presence in Australia began around 40,000-60,000 years ago with the arrival in Northern Australia of the first of their ancestors by boat from what is now Indonesia.^[1]

18th–19th centuries

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• 1770 – Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook, in command of the HMS Endeavour, sighted the east coast of Australia and landed at a bay in what is now southern Sydney.
• 1788 – Sydney founded as British penal settlement following arrival of the First Fleet of eleven vessels under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip;^[2] French vessels under the command of Lapérouse land in Botany Bay.
• 1792 – Burial Ground established.
• 1796 – Population: 2,953.
• 1803 – Sydney Gazette newspaper begins publication.^[3]
• 1804 – Fort Philip construction begins.^[4]
• 1808 – Rum Rebellion.
• 1810 – Macquarie Street laid out.
• 1816
  • Royal Botanic Gardens open.
  • Sydney Hospital built.
• 1817 – Bank of New South Wales established.^[5]
• 1819 – Hyde Park Barracks built.
• 1820 – Devonshire Street Cemetery established.
• 1823 – Sydney Royal Easter Show begins.
• 1824 – St James' Church consecrated.
• 1825 – New South Wales Legislative Council established in Sydney.
• 1831 – Sydney Herald newspaper begins publication.^[6]
• 1833 – Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts founded.^[7]
• 1836 – Australian Museum established.^[8]
• 1837 – Government House^[9] and Botany-Sydney aqueduct^[7] built.
• 1838 – David Jones (shop) in business.^[10]
• 1839 – Cockatoo Island prison in operation.
• 1840 – Farmers & Co. in business.^[11]
• 1841 – Darlinghurst Gaol in operation.
• 1842
  • City incorporated; city council elected.^[12]
  • Area of city: 11.65 square kilometres (approximate).^[13]
  • Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney established.
• 1850
  • University of Sydney established.
  • Freeman's Journal newspaper begins publication.
• 1854
  • Sydney Cricket Ground opens.
  • St Paul's College founded.^[14]
• 1856
  • Pyrmont Bridge built.^[15]
  • St Philip's Church rebuilt.
• 1857 – St John's College founded.^[14]
• 1858 – Sydney Observatory built.
• 1859 – Parliamentary electoral districts of East Sydney and West Sydney created.
• 1861 – Population: 95,000 city and suburbs.^[9]
• 1868
  • Belmore Park opens.
  • St Andrew's Cathedral consecrated.
• 1869 – Sydney Free Public Library established.^[16]
• 1871 – Sydney Exchange and Academy of Art founded.
• 1877 – Waverley Cemetery established near city.
• 1878 – Robinson-Finlay wedding takes place.
• 1879
  • Sydney Riot of 1879.
  • Sydney International Exhibition held; Garden Palace built.
  • Art Gallery of New South Wales opens.
  • Dymocks Bookseller in business.
  • New South Wales Zoological Society founded.^[17]
  • Royal National Park established near city.
• 1881 – Population: 237,300 city and suburbs.^[9]
• 1882
  • Sydney Showground opens.
  • St Mary's Cathedral consecrated.
• 1883
  • Melbourne–Sydney railway built.^[18]
  • Sydney High School and Sydney Wharf Labourers Union^[19] established.
• 1889
  • Sydney Town Hall built.
  • Women's College^[14] and Sydney Church of England Grammar School founded.
• 1890
  • Sydney Town Hall Grand Organ installed.^[20]
  • Kerry photography studio in business.^[21]
• 1891
  • General Post Office built.
  • Population: 399,270 city and suburbs.^[9]
  • Australia Hotel in business.
• 1892 – Strand Arcade opens.
• 1893 – Technological Museum opens.
• 1894 – Photographic Society of New South Wales founded.
• 1895 – City Tattersalls Club formed.
• 1898 – Queen Victoria Building constructed.

20th century

1900s-1940s

• 1900 – Sydney Harbour Trust active.
• 1901
  • City becomes part of the new Commonwealth of Australia.^[18]
  • Royal Australian Historical Society founded.
  • Population: 112,137 city; 369,693 suburbs.^[9]
• 1903 – Glebe Island Bridge and Her Majesty's Theatre^[22][23] rebuilt.
• 1904 – Electric street lighting installed.^[23]
• 1905 – Hordern's Palace Emporium in business.
• 1906
  • Central railway station built.
  • Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club active.^[23]
• 1907
  • 20 October: Bathing costume protests.
  • Melbourne–Sydney telephone begins operating.^[23]
• 1908 – Camperdown becomes part of city.^[13]
• 1909 – City of Sydney Library established.
• 1910 – The Sun newspaper begins publication.^[24]
• 1912 – Culwulla Chambers built.^[23]
• 1913 – Parcel Post Office built in Railway Square.
• 1915 – Sydney Conservatorium of Music established.^[14]
• 1916 – 14 February: Liverpool riot of 1916.
• 1917 – J.G. Park photography studio in business (approximate date).^[21]
• 1920 – Hurlstone Park Choral Society formed.
• 1924
  • Sydney Airport begins operating.
  • Hordern Pavilion built.
• 1927
  • St James railway station opens.
  • Sydney Cenotaph erected.
• 1928
  • Capitol Theatre opens.
  • Government Savings Bank building constructed.^[25]
• 1929
  • State Theatre opens.^[25]
  • Sun Building constructed.^[25]
• 1930
  • Modern Art Centre opens.^[26]
  • Grace Building constructed.
• 1932
  • Sydney Harbour Bridge, Town Hall railway station, and Wynyard railway station open.
  • Dymocks building constructed.^[25]
• 1935 – Luna Park and Astoria Theatre^[27] open.
• 1938 – City hosts 1938 British Empire Games.
• 1939 – AWA Tower built.^[25]
• 1940 – St. James Theatre opens.^[27]
• 1941 – Daily Mirror newspaper begins publication.^[6]
• 1942 – May–June: Attack on Sydney Harbour by Japanese forces.
• 1946 – Sydney Symphony Orchestra active.
• 1947 – Population: 95,852 city; 1,484,434 metro.^[14]
• 1949 – Alexandria, Darlington, Erskineville, Glebe, Newtown, Paddington, Redfern, and Waterloo become part of city.^[13]

1950s-1990s

• 1953 – Sydney Sun-Herald newspaper in publication.^[24]
• 1954 – Sydney Film Festival begins.
• 1956 – ATN Channel 7 television begins broadcasting.^[24]
• 1964 – Paddington Society founded.^[28]
• 1967 – Australia Square hi-rise built.
• 1968 – South Sydney Municipal Council created.^[13]
• 1971 – City of Sydney Strategic Plan created.^[29]
• 1972 – Aboriginal Medical Service established in Redfern.^[23]
• 1973 – Sydney Opera House opens.
• 1977
  • Sydney Festival begins.
  • MLC Centre built.
• 1979
  • 9 June: 1979 Sydney Ghost Train fire.
  • Martin Place pedestrianized.
  • Martin Place railway station opens.
  • Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras begins.
  • Sydney Theatre Company founded.
• 1981 – Sydney Tower erected.
• 1983 – Beverly Hills Twin Cinema in business.^[27]
• 1985
  • Parliament House rebuilt.
  • Granny Smith Festival begins in Eastwood.
• 1987 – University of Sydney's Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific established.^[30]
• 1988
  • CityRail in operation.
  • University of Technology, Sydney and University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies^[30] established.
  • Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and Powerhouse Museum open.
  • Australian Bicentenary events staged.
  • Bicentennial Park, Homebush Bay and Mount Annan Botanic Garden open near city.
• 1989
  • South Sydney City Council established.^[13]
  • Area of city: 6.19 square kilometres.^[13]
• 1990 – Sydney Children's Choir active.
• 1991 – Frank Sartor becomes lord mayor.
• 1994 – Sydney International Aquatic Centre opens.
• 1995 – Anzac Bridge opens.
• 1997 – Asian Australian Artists’ Association Gallery 4A opens.^[31]
• 1998
  • July: 1998 Sydney water crisis begins.
  • BridgeClimb Sydney in business.
• 1999 – Sydney Super Dome, Stadium Australia, and City Recital Hall open.

21st century

• 2000
  • September: City hosts 2000 Summer Olympics.
  • City of Sydney Historical Association founded.^[32]
• 2001
  • Sydney Harbour Federation Trust established.
  • Population: 4,128,272.
• 2003 – Lowy Institute for International Policy headquartered in city.^[30]
• 2004
  • 14 February: 2004 Redfern riots.^[2]
  • City of South Sydney becomes part of City of Sydney.
  • Clover Moore becomes lord mayor.
• 2005
  • December: 2005 Cronulla riots occur near city.^[2]
  • Cross City Tunnel opens.
  • Bankstown Bites Food Festival and Sydney Comedy Festival begin.
• 2007
  • September: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meets in city.
  • Sydney Underground Film Festival begins.
• 2009 – Institute for Economics and Peace headquartered in city.
• 2011
  • Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder cricket teams formed.
  • Population: 4,028,524.^[33]
• 2013 – Sydney Trains in operation.
• 2014
  • Sydney Exhibition Centre @ Glebe Island opens.
  • December 15: The 2014 Sydney hostage crisis begins.

See also

• History of Sydney
• List of mayors, lord mayors and administrators of Sydney
• List of Governors of New South Wales, headquartered in Sydney
• Timeline of Brisbane
• Timeline of Gold Coast, Queensland

References

Further reading

Published in the 19th century

• Description of a view of the town of Sydney. London: Printed by J. and C. Adlard. 1830. Now exhibiting in the Panorama, Leicester-square, painted by R. Burford 
• David Brewster, ed. (1832). "Sydney". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker. 
• Picture of Sydney; and Strangers' Guide in New South Wales. Sydney: J. Maclehose. 1838. 
• Sydney in 1848. 1848–1850.  (1962 facsimile published by Ure Smith)
• John Dunmore Lang (1852), "City of Sydney", Australian Emigrant's Manual, London: Partridge and Oakey 
• Sands' Sydney Directory. 1858–1933. 
• Stranger's Guide to Sydney. Sydney: James William Waugh. 1861. 
• Charles Knight, ed. (1866). "Sydney". Geography. English Cyclopaedia 4. London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co. 
• Handbook to Sydney and Suburbs. Sydney: S.T. Leigh & Company. 1867. 
• "Australia: Sydney". Street's Indian and Colonial Mercantile Directory. London: G. Street. 1869. 
• "New South Wales: Sydney". Wright's Australian and American Commercial Directory and Gazetteer. New York: George Wright. 1881. 
• "Towns in New South Wales: Sydney". Australian Handbook (incorporating New Zealand, Fiji, and New Guinea): Shippers' and Importers' Directory & Business Guide. Gordon and Gotch. 1888. 
• George Lacon James (1892), "City of Sydney", Shall I Try Australia?, London: L.U. Gill, OCLC 8559275 

Published in the 20th century

• "Sydney". Chambers's Encyclopaedia. London. 1901. 
• Illustrated Guide to Sydney. Sydney: Dymock's Book Arcade and Circulating Library. 1901. 
• J.D. Fitzgerald (1906). Greater Sydney and Greater Newcastle. Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Company. 
• Norddeutscher Lloyd (1906). "Sydney". 'Lloyd' Guide to Australasia. London: Edward Stanford. 
• K. W. Robinson, 'Sydney, 1850-1952, A Comparison of Developments in the Heart of the City', Australian Geographer, Vol. 6, 1952-1956
• Nineteenth Century Sydney: Essays in Urban History, M. Kelly (ed.), Sydney University Press, 1978
• Sydney Street Directory, Macquarie Park, N.S.W: Gregory's, 1987, OL 24208759M 
• P. Webber, ed. (1988), The Design of Sydney. Sydney: Law Book Company.
• Shirley H. Fitzgerald, Sydney 1842–1992 (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1992)
• Paul Ashton (1993). The accidental city: planning Sydney since 1788. Hale & Iremonger. ISBN 0868064874. 
• 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.
• Sydney, Condensed Guides, Lonely Planet, 2000, OL 8647599M 
• "Sydney: On Top of the World Down Under", National Geographic Magazine (USA) 198, 2000 
• Ken Bernstein (2003), "Sydney", Pocket Guide Australia, Berlitz, OL 9196697M 
• "Sydney". Understanding Slums: Case Studies for the Global Report 2003. United Nations Human Settlements Programme and University College London. 2003. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sydney.

• "Historical Atlas of Sydney". City of Sydney Archives. 
• "Dictionary of Sydney". 
• Europeana. Items related to Sydney, various dates.
• Digital Public Library of America. Items related to Sydney, various dates

Gallery

• 

  Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, 1792

• 

  Government House, 1819

• 

  King Street, circa 1900

• 

  Aerial view of Sydney, 1932

Coordinates: 33°51′36″S 151°12′40″E / 33.859972°S 151.211111°E / -33.859972; 151.211111