X-Nico

43 unusual facts about Australia


2009 Dunlop Townsville 400

It contained Rounds 11 and 12 of the series and was held on the weekend of 11–12 July at Townsville Street Circuit, in Townsville in Queensland, Australia.

Architecture of Australia

Walter Burley Griffin was an American architect and landscape architect who played a key role in designing Canberra, Australia's capital city.

Australian architecture has generally been consistent with architectural trends in the wider Western world, with some special adaptations to compensate for distinctive Australian climatic and cultural factors.

In the period before European settlement of Australia in 1788, evidence of permanent structures built by Indigenous Australians in Australia was limited as the Indigenous population did not build establishments that were commonly recognised by the European Settlers.

Arthur Bryant Triggs

In 1887 Arthur immigrated to Australia, becoming a wealthy New South Wales grazier (known as The Sheep King) and collector of art, books and coins....

Benjamin Jennings Caddy

Caddy was born in Australia and in 1898 at the age of 17 he emigrated to South Africa.

Bill Pratney

He took up racing again in his 70s and his last big ride was a 330 km ride in Australia at the age of 86.

Bodyrox

"Yeah Yeah" reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart, also charting in a number of other countries including the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia

Canberra Symphony Orchestra

Canberra Symphony Orchestra is the professional orchestra of the Australian Capital Territory based in Canberra, the national capital of Australia.

Crawford Report

Crawford Report refers to one of four reports that reviewed and made recommendations regarding the administration of Australian sports.

Dale Buggins

Dale Charles Buggins (1961-1981) was an Australian stunt motorcyclist who had built a national and international reputation by the age of 20.

Deep Blue Orchestra

The Deep Blue Orchestra, based in Australia, is a Brisbane based musical group which combines an orchestra with electronic music, visual projections and choreography.

Deputy prime minister

The states of Australia and provinces of Canada each have the analogous office of deputy premier.

Ethnography at the British Museum

From 1970 to 2004 the Department of Ethnography of the British Museum was housed at 6 Burlington Gardens, displaying collections from the Americas, Africa, the Pacific and Australia, as well as tribal Asia and Europe.

John Newman discography

The single peaked to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in early-June 2012, the song was also a Top 5 hit in Australia, Belgium, Netherlands and New Zealand.

Lisa Gasteen National Opera School

The Lisa Gasteen National Opera School is an intensive, three-week program of study for young-professional or advanced-student opera singers and repetiteurs, founded by Lisa Gasteen, Australian opera singer.

Machinery of government

AAOs establish Departments of State under the Constitution, including the principal matters and legislation dealt with by each Department and its Minister(s).

The Commonwealth Government and some state and territory governments utilise Administrative Arrangements Orders (also called AAOs) as legal instruments as a primary method to make machinery of government changes.

According to KPMG, in South Australia the Governor may establish, alter and abolish government departments under powers provided in section 26 of the Public Service Act 2009.

Music of Brisbane

Brisbane is a city in Queensland, Australia, home to many regionally important music institutions and venues.

Nar Nar Goon North, Victoria

Nar Nar Goon North is a bounded rural locality in Victoria, Australia.

New Zealanders

Of these, 360,000, over three-quarters of the New Zealand-born population residing outside of New Zealand, live in Australia.

Originality in Canadian copyright law

Some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, have adopted a low standard of originality that requires the author to expend some effort and labour to create the work as well as requiring that the work not be copied.

Paul Vinar

Vinar was born in Czechoslovakia, and moved to Geelong in Australia with his mother and four brothers after his father was killed in World War II.

Peterhead railway station

For the railway station in Adelaide, Australia, see Peterhead railway station, Adelaide.

Pobjie

Pobjie is a surname, popular in Australia.

Quadripartite Agreement

Quadripartite Agreement (1947) was a secret pact signed by Britain, the United States, Canada, and Australia as a follow on from World War II cooperation on intelligence matters.

Raffles Bay

It was the site of an abortive attempt to establish the British military outpost and settlement of Fort Wellington, which lasted only two years - 1827 to 1829.

Regulation of acupuncture

In 2000, the Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria, Australia (CMBV) was established as an independent government agency to oversee the practice of Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture in the state.

Richo

Richo, a television program hosted by Graham 'Richo' Richardson, which airs on Sky News Australia.

Rolling Through This World

Rolling Through This World is the title of a collaborative album between American guitarist Bob Brozman and Australian guitarist Jeff Lang, released in 2002.

Select Vacancy

Select Vacancy is the debut Album by the Australian Alternative rock artist Lisa Maxwell, released in 2006 by Essential Music Australia.

Socialism with no doctrine

"Socialism with no doctrine" (Socialisme sans doctrine) is a phrase coined by Albert Métin based on his observation of the experiments in labour and economic regulation by the nonsocialist governments of Australia and New Zealand that Métin described as effectively being a form of state socialism though these policies did not contain any reference recognizing socialist theory.

Somewhere Down the Barrel

"Somewhere Down the Barrel" is the debut single by Australian pop rock band The Dissociatives, from their album of the same name, released in 2004.

Soul Mystique

This duo is most famous for their two times appearance on the television show Australia's Got Talent in 2007 (series 1) and 2012 (series 6) – both times with great success as Grand Finalists, and placing 2nd runner up in series 6.

St Patrick's College, Mackay

Wendell Sailor – dual-code international Rugby League and Rugby Union player and TV personality

Stephen Currie

Stephen Currie is lost man who was found after 32 days surviving eating wild fruits and freshwater mussels in the bush in Queensland, Australia.

Sydney Victor Colville

He was one of the first amateur radio operators in Australia.

Theo Stewart

Theophile Lecompte Stewart (9 May 1891 – 14 December 1952) was an Australian cricketer.

Those Terrible Twins

Those Terrible Twins is a 1925 Australian silent film directed J.E. Ward, a Papuan adventurer, who had previously made Australia's Own (1919).

VTOL Aircraft Phillicopter

The VTOL Aircraft Phillicopter is a 1970s Australian light utility helicopter designed and built by VTOL Aircraft of Newcastle West, New South Wales.

Walker railmotor

Walker railmotor is a term for a family of railcars ordered by the Victorian Railways of Australia.

Yip Ho Nung

Yip Ho Nung (18 October 1909 – 6 October 1979) was an Australian Chinese community leader, general merchant, produce merchant and restaurateur.


1966 Davis Cup

India then fell to defending champions Australia in the Challenge Round which was the 1966 Davis Cup finals.

1988 Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship

With the championship generally ignored by most of the top teams from the stronger Group A championships (Australia, Europe and Japan), Crowe, Bond and Pirro were able to gain the top three placings despite each only running in two of the four rounds.

1993 Ansett Australian Indoor Championships

The 1993 Ansett Australian Indoor Championships was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney in Australia and was part of the Championship Series of the 1993 ATP Tour.

2011 Melbourne Cup

The winning jockey, Frenchman Christophe Lemaire, had arrived in Australia less than a day previously as a late replacement for Craig Williams.

Aaron Heal

He established himself in Western Australia's first-class (Sheffield Shield) and limited-overs (Ford Ranger Cup) sides during the 2006–07 season, taking over from Brad Hogg as the team's primary spinner, but was selected less regularly over the following seasons.

Alfalfa House

Alfalfa House Community Food Cooperative Ltd is a not-for-profit food cooperative based in Enmore, Sydney, Australia.

Anderson Report

Wearne, a publisher from South Yarra, told the inquiry that 'Scientologists planned to take over Australia, after establishing a "Scientology Government"' and that 'he first heard of the plan to take over Australia in 1960'.

Ansett New Zealand

Ansett Australia would be owned by Air New Zealand and (until it was bought out) Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, while Ansett New Zealand would be owned by News Corporation exclusively.

Antares

The Wotjobaluk Koori people of Victoria, Australia, knew Antares as Djuit, son of Marpean-kurrk (Arcturus); the stars on each side represented his wives.

Australia's Funniest Home Videos

At the end of each year there are semi finals and a grand final, where third place receives a home theatre package from JVC, second place receives a prize package worth around $100,000, normally two or three cars and the winner receives $250,000 in cash although in 2012, the winner received $150,000.

Battle of Barrosa

A young officer in the 4th Dragoons at the battle, subsequently Colonel William Light and the governor of South Australia in the 1830s, decided to name one of the valleys in his area Barossa Valley in memory, albeit subject to a clerical error.

Bill Ely

His career came to an end at the 1932 election, amidst Labor's heavy defeat after Lang was sacked as Premier by Governor Philip Game; one of many Labor MPs to lose their seats, Ely was defeated by United Australia Party candidate Claude Fleck.

C. Y. O'Connor

On 7 December 1898, his daughter Eva married Sir George Julius at St John's Church, Fremantle, Western Australia.

Carinotrachia admirale

The type locality of Carinotrachia admirale is Middle Osborn Island, Bonaparte Archipelago in north-western Kimberley, Western Australia.

CBD Rail Link

CBD Relief Line, a similar proposed rail link in Sydney, Australia

Club Nintendo

Club Nintendo in Australia was launched on April 24, 2008 to coincide with the release of Mario Kart Wii, with the website, catalogue and product registration going live on March 11, 2009 using the same system offered by Nintendo of Europe.

Corangamite Catchment Management Authority

There are 13 Ramsar-listed wetlands in the catchment including Lake Corangamite, the largest permanent inland lake in Australia.

Diadema palmeri

The species has also been found in other sub-tropical regions around the South Pacific at greater depths, including New Zealand's Kermadec Islands, and Australia's lower east coast - off Danger Point to Montague Island, New South Wales (at about 200 m), Lord Howe Island and the Norfolk Island Ridge.

Dingee railway station

Dingee Railway Station is an unmanned operational V/Line train station situated on the Bendigo-Swan Hill Line in the town of Dingee, 200 km north of Melbourne, Australia and 50 km north of Bendigo.

Everlasting Night

It was released as a single in the first quarter of 1999 in Australia and reached number 42 on the singles chart, largely helped by the fact that the song was the official theme of the 1999 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Hyde Park, Sydney

Seven Arab horses taken on board the First Fleet at the Cape Colony (now South Africa) were the first horses to be brought to Australia.

Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin

Chinensis-type (Chinese white dolphin) is the eastern variety, found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia

International Grape Genome Program

In the course of their research, the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture (CRCV), based at the CSIRO Plant Industry Horticulture Unit in Adelaide, Australia (one of the IGGP collaborating centres) discovered that white grapes only exist today as a result of a rare genetic mutation which took place thousands of years ago.

J'adore Hardcore

The video for the single features footage of a live Scooter concert in Differdange (Luxembourg), dancers Pae and Sarah performing the Melbourne Shuffle on the streets of Melbourne (Australia) and car scenes of H.P. Baxxter, the frontman of Scooter, recorded on Majorca (Spain).

Kathy Troutt

Followed by work as a crew member with Return to the Blue Lagoon and later several other feature films produced in Australia and Asia.

Kerryn Tolhurst

This was followed by a successful stint in Country Radio (1972–73), after which he formed one of Australia's most successful country-rock bands, The Dingoes.

King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences

KSAU-HS has a number of licensing agreements to develop its academic programs with prestigious universities worldwide: University of Sydney (Australia); University of Liverpool (UK); South Alabama University (USA); Flinders University (Australia); Arkansas University (USA), Thomas Jefferson University (USA) University of Maryland (USA), Maastricht University (Netherlands), The University of Oklahoma (USA) and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (USA).

Live: Bad Kitty Board Mix

Live: Bad Kitty Board Mix is a 2006 live album by Sophie B. Hawkins recorded at The Triple Door (Seattle, USA) and The Basement (Sydney, Australia).

Louis Matheson

In 1951, after only a few years in Australia, he returned to the UK to accept the Beyer Chair in Engineering at the University of Manchester.

MacDonald Airfield

MacDonald Airfield was an airfield built alongside the former northern road, west of Stuart Highway, north of Pine Creek, Northern Territory, Australia during World War II.

Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club

The Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club was established in Melbourne over 45 years ago and is located at 1200 Ferntree Gully Rd Scoresby, Victoria, Australia.

Milhan

Acacia citrinoviridis, the black mulga, river jam, milhan or wantan, a tree species endemic to Western Australia

Mint julep

These mint juleps were served in gold-plated cups with silver straws, and were made from Woodford Reserve bourbon, mint imported from Ireland, spring water ice cubes from the Bavarian Alps, and sugar from Australia.

Oceanian nations at the FIFA World Cup

New Zealand, Australia, Fiji got to group 1 and respectively ranked 1, 2, 5 places.

Osadia

Tollwood Festival, Munich / Sydney Mardi Gras, Australia / Trafalgar Square Festival, London, UK / Juste pour rire/Just for laughs, Montreal, Canada / The Esplanade Festival, Singapore / NZ International Festival, Wellington, New Zealand / Kleines Fest im Grossen Garten, Hanover / Daidogei World Cup, Shizuoka, Japan / Hogmanay, Edinburgh, Scotland / Festes de la Mercè, Barcelona

Page playoff system

It is identical to a four-team McIntyre System playoff, first used by the Victorian Football League in Australia in 1931, originally called the Page-McIntyre system, after the VFL delegate, the Richmond Football Club's Secretary, Percy "Pip" Page, who had advocated its use.

Percy Douglas, 10th Marquess of Queensberry

He went as a gold prospector to Kalgoorlie, Australia, during the gold rush beginning in 1893, and later managed a road house in Canada.

Pixie Jenkins

Born 'Paul Blake Jenkins' in Launceston, Tasmania in 1957, now referred to by his stage name 'Pixie', in an article in The Australian, Pixie was referenced alongside Jimmy Little, Chad Morgan and Slim Dusty as "...an icon of Australia's country music industry".

Ramón Freire

After failing in his purpose, he was imprisoned in the port of Valparaíso, court-martialled, and exiled first to the island of Juan Fernández, and afterwards to Tahiti and in 1837 temporarily settled in Australia.

Run to Paradise

The song returned to the Australian singles charts in Australia in July 2004 when dance producer Nick Skitz asked Gable to sing "Run to Paradise" on a dance reworking.

Scott Alderdice

Scott Alderdice is a Shakespearean director, media producer and acting lecturer currently based at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

Souls on Board

Souls on Board have played the Big Day Out and St Kilda Festivals, shared stages with Maxïmo Park (UK), Yura Yura Teikoku (Japan), Ground Components, Expatriate, Midnight Juggernauts, Dukes of Windsor, and toured Australia a bunch of times including jaunts with Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males, End of Fashion & Glenn Richards (Augie March).

Star Stuff

StarStuff is a weekly half hour space and science program that airs on Australia's Government operated ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Stratos Boats

Stratos began building boats in 1984, and sells throughout a network of dealers throughout the United States, Australia, France, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Italy and Venezuela.

Talia Zucker

Talia played the role of Louisa Von Trapp in the Australia tour of The Sound of Music starring Lisa McCune and John Waters.

Toti Dal Monte

In 1924, fresh from triumphs in Milan and Paris, but before her debut in London or New York, she was engaged by the diva Dame Nellie Melba to be one of the star singers of an Italian opera company that Melba was organising to make a tour of Australia.

UNSW Faculty of Engineering

Michael Uzzell, Electrical Engineering - Head of Navy Engineering, Royal Australian Navy; Engineers Australia "Top 100 Influential Engineers, 2013"

Vladas Vitkauskas

Between 1993 and 1996 Vitkauskas climbed the Seven Summits, the highest peaks of all the continents including Mt. Everest (Eurasia), Mt. McKinley (6,194 m, North America), Vinson Massif (4,897 m, Antarctica), Kilimanjaro (5,895 m, Africa), Mt. Kosciusko (2,228 m, Australia), Aconcagua (6,959 m, South America); also Elbrus (5,642 m, Caucasus) and Mont Blanc (4,807 m, Alps) in Europe.

World Safari

Includes a motorcycle trip across Australia, living with Buddhist monks, selling life insurance on the side of the road, and getting lost in a two-cylinder DAF van while crossing the Sahara desert.