Fifty-seven years ago, on the 25 February 1961, Sydney’s last electric trams operated on the La Perouse and Maroubra Beach lines. The last day of trams is a great date to remember for trivia nights. This wonderful image taken by D.R. Keenan shows an R1 class tram at Maroubra Junction on the day. It was…
Forty four years ago, n March 5, 1974, Queen Elizabeth the Second became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Hospital ground. The “private” visit to Rivendell came after a quiet lunch on board the Captain Phillip, which was intended as a respite from a pressing series of public engagements. The idea was…
Recently we received an almost complete set of the magazine “Inside History”. Unfortunately, eight of the issues were missing – Issues Nos. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 18 and 34. If any of our readers have one of these they no longer want, we would be most happy to accept the donation.
. . . these are some of the lessons you might learn. When a loved one comes home, always run to greet them. Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Thrive on attention and let people touch you. When you’re happy, dance around and wag your entire body. Delight in the simple…
Public Transport: These days, we hop on a train, or a bus…we don’t think much of it. But public transport was very different back in the eras when our grandparents and great-grandparents were alive. In the early 1900s, buses as we know them today did not exist. Trains were steam-powered or powered by electricity. Electrically-powered…
Englishwoman Hannah Snell, who could neither read nor write, joined the army in 1745 under the name of James Gray. Later she joined the navy as a cook’s assistant and then became a common seaman, spending a total of nine years at sea. She fought in naval battles and was considered a courageous sailor. Snell…
Valentine’s Day, or St Valentine’s Day, is celebrated every year on 14 February. Flowers, cards, chocolates, red hearts and romance. That’s what Valentine’s day is all about, right? Well, maybe not It all goes back to a mysterious, third century saint who suffered a brutal fate The celebration appears to have its roots in a…
The now defunct horse trough on the corner of Park Road and Princes Street at Boronia Park has an interesting and intriguing history. It is one of about a dozen such watering troughs still to be found in the Sydney metropolitan area and was originally among 700 installed mainly across New South Wales and Victoria…
Soft Drinks: These days, we don’t give much thought to soft drinks. They come in metal cans or they come in plastic bottles, we open them, we drink them, we burp, we throw them away. We think of them as modern inventions. But they’re not, are they? Back in the old days, soft drinks were…
In the early days of Australia convicts provided free labour, standards of living were generally poor and the small affluent society managed to live very well with a minimum of conveniences. Gradually the lower classes came to resent being servants. There were two alternatives to the problem. One was to advertise overseas, mainly in Britain,…
Before the iPad and iPhone! Before CD and DVD players! Before gaming consoles and TV! Just how did people have fun in the early 20th century? You might think life would be so boring. It certainly wasn’t! People made their own entertainment, making do with whatever was on hand. The Great Depression was a very…
Why is the wreck of this ship being remembered in the Australian maritime history books all these years later? Because it remains one of the worst maritime disasters in Australian history resulting in the tragic loss of 89 lives, mostly due to cold and exposure. They were in sight of land but unable to reach…
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