X-Nico

97 unusual facts about Melbourne


1952 VFL season

In May 1952, as part of its promotion of the Burt Lancaster movie Ten Tall Men, the management of the Melbourne cinema The State Theatre on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street (now known as the Forum Theatre) measured the height of the ten tallest VFL players.

3CS

A Melbourne radio station executive Mr. M. B. Duffy became aware, through his involvement with 3KZ, that radio reception in the Colac-Otways area was generally very poor.

A Beginner's Guide to the Sea

A Beginner's Guide to the Sea is the second album from Melbourne-based band The Holy Sea.

A.O. Segerberg

Segerberg claimed to have taken the first moving pictures in Australia at the 1896 Melbourne Cup and shown it in the Opera House, Melbourne.

Alf Wallis

Born at North Carlton in Melbourne to carpenter William Wallis and Mary Ann, née Gorman, he attended state schools at Horsham and Moreland before becoming a cutter's apprentice and journeyman.

Ann Caroline Sherry

She rose through the corporate hierarchy of the bank to become the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Melbourne (a subsidiary of Westpac) from 2000 to 2002.

Archibald Stewart

After the 1910 election he moved to Melbourne and was elected senior vice-president of the Political Labor Council, later taking on the secretaryship in 1911.

Arthur Bartholomew

Arthur Bartholomew (3 December 1833 Bruton, Somerset – 19 August 1909 Melbourne) was an English-born Australian engraver, lithographer and natural history illustrator.

Athenaeum Club

Athenaeum Club, Melbourne, a private gentlemen's club situated in Melbourne, Australia.

Australian Church

The Australian Church (1884-1957) was founded by Dr. Charles Strong in Melbourne.

Baillieu Library

It is located on the west side of the University’s inner city Parkville Campus, near the corner of Grattan Street and Royal Parade.

Balwyn, Victoria

Now defunct, the church was adopted by the Rev Dr A. H. Wood upon his retirement as Principal of the Methodist Ladies' College in Kew.

Batman's Hill

The site now forms the eastern border of the Melbourne Docklands (a precinct of the Docklands development is also named Batman's Hill) and is dominated by Southern Cross Station and the Collins Street bridge built in 2002 to replicate the original curve and shape of the hill.

Box Hill artists' camp

In the summer of 1885/86, Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin set up a tent on the site near Damper Creek (now Gardiners Creek) on the property of David Houston, about a mile south of the railway station.

Bruce Sayers

Sayers was born in London in February 6, 1928 and moved to Melbourne with his parents.

Carlo Catani

widening and improvement of the Yarra River upstream from Princes Bridge, Alexandra Avenue and the laying out and planting the Alexandra Gardens

Charles Victor Robertson

Robertson built the Melbourne headquarters at Bank House in Bank Place, Collins Street and opened offices throughout Australia and later operations in North America and the United Kingdom.

Chelsea railway station

Chelsea railway station, Melbourne, a station on the Metlink network in Melbourne, Australia

City of Hawthorn

The council area covered the suburbs of Hawthorn, Hawthorn East and parts of Glen Iris, and was bounded by the Yarra River to the west, Barkers Road to the north, Gardeners Creek and CityLink (formerly South Eastern Freeway) to the south and Burke Road to the east.

Coburg Cemetery

Coburg Cemetery is located in the northern Melbourne suburb of Preston, Victoria, Australia on the boundary of Coburg.

Anna Teresa Brennan - the University of Melbourne's first female law graduate and the second woman to be admitted to the Bar in Victoria in 1911

Collins St., 5 pm

The painting depicts office workers walking along busy Collins Street in Melbourne after finishing work for the day.

Darcsyde Productions

Darcsyde Productions is a small-scale Australian web development and publishing concern, based in Melbourne, which has specialised in creating websites and role-playing games (RPGs).

Darebin Creek Trail

Going straight ahead on the bitumen trail leads to the Austin Hospital helipad (Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital) near Bell Street.

Darren Millane

Although his skills were occasionally poor, at his best he found and used the football well, and became a favourite to fans at Victoria Park.

Darren Wheildon

He however never got a chance to play for them after he was hit by a taxi in King Street and badly injured his legs, ending his career.

Denis Mackey

Mackey was born at Richmond in Melbourne to commercial traveller Alphonsus Denis Mackey and Dulcie Edith, née Reid.

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.

Disappearance of Sarah MacDiarmid

MacDiarmid, who emigrated with her family in 1987 from the Scottish Highlands to Australia, had been playing tennis after work with two friends at what was then known as Flinders Park in Batman Avenue, East Melbourne, before walking to Richmond station, where they found that they had just missed a Frankston line train.

Donald Macleay

Financial difficulties caused his parents to move to Canada and settle on a farm near Melbourne, Quebec, when Macleay was 16.

Edward George Honey

A monument of Honey was erected by Eric Harding near the Shrine of Remembrance in St Kilda Road, Melbourne.

Edward Goll

In 1915 Henri Verbrugghen, the inaugural Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, offered Goll a post there, but he accepted an alternative offer from the University of Melbourne Conservatorium, and also became musical director for Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne.

Ernie Toshack with the Australian cricket team in England in 1948

Two Melbourne doctors ruled him unfit, but three specialists from his home state of New South Wales presented a more optimistic outlook; this allowed him to tour.

Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park

Fawkner Crematorium and Memorial Park is located in the north-western Melbourne suburb of Hadfield, Victoria close to Fawkner, Victoria, Australia.

Flower Drum

The Flower Drum is a notable multi-award winning Chinese cuisine restaurant in Melbourne, Australia.

Frank Holloway

In season two, Frank had a brief relationship with Melbourne detective Nicola Burke (Essie Davis), while he and Rachel were visiting the Victorian capital to investigate a murder.

Free Presbyterian Church of Victoria

The building of John Knox Free Presbyterian Church, Swanston Street was opened 8 May 1848 on the corner with Little Lonsdale Street and with frontage to that street.

George Christopher Nash

He then took a gap year in 2007/08 where he coached rowing in Melbourne at Scotch College.

George Selth Coppin

In 1862 he built the Haymarket Theatre on the south side of Bourke Street, and in 1863 Mr and Mrs Charles Kean played a season there.

Go to the Beach

Go To The Beach is the debut album of Melbourne band The Conglomerate, and was released in 2005.

Gunnarolla

The majority of the video is set in Hosier Lane in Melbourne, Australia, and features Gunadie and a group of Australian fans.

Herbert Geer

The law firm of Herbert Geer was founded on 26 January 1939 when Keith Geer commenced his sole practice in Bank Place, off Collins Street, Melbourne.

History of Monash University

In 1991, Monash, to the surprise of many, merged with the Victorian College of Pharmacy, which most people had predicted would merge with the University of Melbourne.

Hold Your Breath

Hold Your Breath is the second album of Melbourne band The Conglomerate.

Housing Commission of Victoria

:*Lygon Street (Lygon St), 4 buildings (2 S-Shaped, 1 Y-Shaped, 1 T-Shaped)

Ivor Crapp

Crapp found that no job existed for him and departed by train to Perth intending to return to Melbourne.

James Edward Neild

Also in 1890, Neild was given a public testimonial at the Princess Theatre with his friend George Selth Coppin presiding.

Janjucetus

They are held in the Museum Victoria Palaeontology Collection in Melbourne, Australia.

Jay and the Doctor

Warhurst announced on 10 October 2007 that she would leave Triple J and co-host a new show with comedian Peter Helliar for Triple M Melbourne.

Jimmy Rooney

He is also currently the head coach of the first eleven soccer team at St Kevin's College, Melbourne, Australia.

John Aloysius Morgan

He attended St Joseph's Christian Brothers College in North Melbourne in 1917 and again from 1920 to 1926.

John Medley Building

The John Medley Building is at Kernot Road, Melbourne University, Parkville Campus, Melbourne, Australia.

John Twycross

The photographs documented rural scenes, seascapes, working life, and architecture around Port Phillip Bay, and Melbourne.

Joseph Schneider

Another work was St. Kilian's Catholic Church (1857) in Bendigo, credited to the firm of George and Schneider of Melbourne.

Kew House

Sean Godsell was born in Melbourne in 1960 and is a new generation of architect in the 1990s who insists on the traditions of Modernism and the crusades for the difference in family houses design.

Lawrence Shehan

He celebrated an aboriginal Mass at the 1973 Eucharistic Congress in Melbourne.

Little Stories

Little Stories is the second solo album from Melbourne singer / songwriter, Harry James Angus.

Louis Buvelot

Arriving in Melbourne in February 1865, Buvelot was in business as a photographer in Bourke Street for a year but soon resumed his painting.

Maribyrnong Road

Maribyrnong Road is a major road in northwestern Melbourne, Australia.

Marion Phillips

She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne and Melbourne University, graduating in 1903 and in 1904 began a research scholarship at the London School of Economics.

Mater Christi College

Mater Christi is a Catholic girls' secondary college located in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Belgrave, Victoria, Australia.

Melbourne City School

Melbourne City School was an independent, co-educational Prep to Year 9 school located in the Melbourne Central Business District on King Street.

Students used the onsite courtyard and facilities at Flagstaff Gardens, the MSAC, City Baths and Princess Park for their sporting activities.

Melbourne McTaggart Tait

Born in Melbourne, Canada East, studied at St Francis College and received a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from McGill University in 1862.

Moler

Moler (previously called Snuff) is a three-piece power pop band from Melbourne, Australia, featuring Helen Cattanach, Julien Poulsen, and an often changing drummer.

Monash University, Berwick campus

Monash University, Berwick Campus is a campus of Monash University located in Berwick, which is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria. It offers degrees in Business and Commerce, Nursing and Education.

Monash University, Clayton campus

Monash University, Clayton Campus is the main campus of Monash University located in Clayton, which is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria.

Mount Gambier Airport

Currently Regional Express Airlines is the only airline servicing the airport, with multiple daily flights to Adelaide and Melbourne with Saab 340 turboprop aircraft.

Mount Mahony

It was mapped by the Western Geological Party, led by Thomas Griffith Taylor, of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910–13, and was named for Daniel James Mahony, a geologist of Melbourne, Australia.

Newmarket railway station

Newmarket railway station, Melbourne, a station serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Oswald Stoll

Born in Melbourne, Australia as Oswald Gray, Stoll moved to England with his mother after the death of his father.

Our Lady of Sion College

Our Lady of Sion College is a Catholic school for girls located in Box Hill, Melbourne, Australia.

Peter Chitty

After being repatriated at the end of World War II, Chitty was aboard the Largs Bay returning to Australia when the 1945 VFL Grand Final between South Melbourne and Carlton was being played.

After missing Round 12 with a leg injury, Chitty returned to St Kilda's league side for the Round 13 match against South Melbourne.

Red-browed Finch

The finch is common in the south east of its range, from Brisbane to Melbourne .

Reginald Spencer Ellery

In establishing the Melbourne Institute for Psycho-Analysis in October 1940, the group encountered opposition from both the Federal government and the local branch of the British Medical Association.

Ruyton Girls' School

Middle School Plays are also done in conjunction with Scotch College.

Ruyton Girls' School (commonly referred to simply as Ruyton), is a non-denominational, independent, day school for girls, located in Selbourne Road, Kew, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Sackville Ward

Bounded to the east by Burke Road to the north by Cotham Road (Maroondah Highway) and to the south by Barkers Road, its western boundary is technically Glenferrie Road but more often deemed to be east of Edgevale or even Davis Streets.

Sam Rosa

In 1888 he moved to Melbourne and established the local branch of the Australian Socialist League; on 20 July 1889 he formed the Social Democratic League with William Maloney and W. D. Flinn, publishing a pamphlet, Social Democracy, in 1890.

Samuel Peter Mackay

De Grey Station was owned by Mackay in 1875 and was briefly managed by George Julius Brockman for three months of the same year while Mackay travelled to Melbourne.

Sidney Myer

The most famous philanthropic funding was for the construction of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in the Kings Domain, Melbourne in 1958, which is named in his honour.

South Surrey Park

South Surrey Park follows the course of Back Creek from Union Road in the north to Riversdale Road in the South.

St Kilda railway station

The St Kilda station was ideal for commercial use, as it is situated on busy Fitzroy Street, and was subsequently sold off.

Stan Bisset

A back-rower, Bisset played with the Power House Rugby Club in Melbourne.

The Getting of Wisdom

The author's family lived in various Victorian towns and from the age of 13 to 17 Richardson attended boarding school at the Presbyterian Ladies' College in Melbourne, Victoria.

Thelymitra

Jeffrey A Jeanes of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne has recently (2004) done a taxonomic revision, resolved several species complexes and described a considerable number of new species (see Muelleria 19; 2004)

Tight White Ballhugger

'Tight White Ballbreaker' is the third and final EP of Mornington Peninsula, Melbourne indie band The Fauves.

Walter J. Turner

Born in South Melbourne, the son of a church musician – organist at St Paul's Cathedral – and a warehouseman, Walter James Turner, and a woman of long golden hair, Alice May (née Watson), he was educated at Carlton State School, Scotch College and the Working Men's College.

William A. Richards

This job lasted until 1912, when he traveled to Melbourne, Australia as a delegate for the U.S. Committee on Irrigation.

William Mark Forster

Forster then gathered the newsboys of the city together in a room in Little Collins Street, and started the Herald Boys' Try Excelsior Class, afterwards known as the City Newsboys' Society.

Forster arrived in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) on 18 October 1852 on the Ellen with his parents when he was six years old and was educated at St Luke's school, South Melbourne.

William Wedge Darke

For a time Darke located his caravan at the seaside in what is now the inner city suburb of Port Melbourne after cutting the first track through the tea tree scrub.

At Port Phillip Darke carried out some of the first surveys of the new town of Melbourne and was instrumental in laying out the streets of the new town for sale at the first land auctions.

Woodend railway station, Victoria

Before 2pm, trains depart platform 2 for Melbourne, and Platform 1 for Bendigo, and vice versa for after 2pm, as most of the new track is on the platform 2 side.

World Fingerpainting Day

Event was organized by Miriam McWilliam and occurred in Edinburgh Gardens, its attendance was estimated at 20-40.

Wymlet, Victoria

It is an approximately 410 km North West from Melbourne


1943 VFL season

In the spiteful round 1 match between Essendon and South Melbourne, a vicious brawl broke out in the last quarter when South Melbourne's Jack "Basher" Williams felled Ted Leehane (apparently in a square-off retribution for Leehane's similar action against Williams in the 1942 Preliminary Final) which involved a dozen players, team officials, trainers, fans, and police.

Albert H. Maggs Composition Award

The award was founded in 1966 by Albert H. Maggs, a Melbourne-based professional bookmaker, amateur pianist and patron of the arts and medicine.

Anatol Kagan

After arriving in Melbourne in 1939, Kagan worked in the offices of several prominent architectural firms of the day, including Hugh & Arthur Peck, Seabrook & Fildes, Joseph Plottel, and Geelong-based firm of Buchan, Laird & Buchan.

Angela Menzies-Wills

Angela Menzies-Wills is an Australian Actress from Melbourne known for roles in films such as Fantasm Comes Again, Felicity, Leonora,Pacific Banana and Coming Of Age.

Archer–Hird Medal

In round 13, 2011, the medal was presented to Brent Harvey by former Australian Test cricket captain and prominent North Melbourne supporter, Ricky Ponting.

Bishopscourt

Bishopscourt, East Melbourne, a gothic architecture building in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Brad Hardie

After initially living in Perth, Hardie now lives in Melbourne and works exclusively for 882 6PR.

Brian Tse

While in Sydney, he became influenced by the cartooning style of Michael Leunig, a Melburnian who was (and remains to this day) one of the most popular and critically acclaimed cartoonists in Australia.

Burnley, Victoria

In 2006, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was built adjacent to the exit of the Burnley Tunnel.

Chris Boyle

During the game he awarded three penalties (two to Melbourne, one to North Queensland), and handed out two red cards to North Queensland players Chris Grossman and Eric Akoto.

Christine McCafferty

She attended Whalley Range Grammar School for Girls (now Whalley Range High School) on Wilbraham Road in Whalley Range, Manchester, then the Footscray High School in Melbourne, Australia.

Damian McGrath

Damian has also coached the England U19 s to a World Cup 3rd place finish in 2006, coached the Junior England 7’s to a silver medal at the Junior Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2004 and toured on two Churchill Cups with the England ‘A’ team.

Damien Fleming

He has been heard on Melbourne’s Triple M and SEN 1116 radio, and is a specialist cricket commentator for ABC Radio Grandstand, Channel Ten and Fox Sports.

Deloris

In 2002 Deloris began work on their third record 'Fake Our Deaths', soliciting the services of engineer Matt Voigt (Cat Power, The Nation Blue, Augie March, The Dirty Three) and assistant engineer Hugh Counsell (later worked with Race the Fray), to commence recording at Melbourne's Sing Sing studios.

Dictionary of Australian Biography

It should not be confused with the multi-volume Australian Dictionary of Biography published by Melbourne University Press in 1966.

FPV

Ford Performance Vehicles, the Melbourne-based, premium performance vehicle partner of automobile manufacturer Ford Australia

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).

Jesse Martin

In January 2009 Martin crashed his car into a train at railway level crossing at McKinnon railway station in Melbourne.

Joanne Accom

She performed a number of her hits at Melbourne's Rumba along with other artists on Saturday 17 November 2001 at the Docklands Stadium.

John Lang Currie

Currie lived either on his estates or in Geelong until the 1870s, but in 1871 he moved to Melbourne and built Eildon Mansion in Grey St, St Kilda, where he lived until his death in 1898.

Laverton North Power Station

Laverton North Power Station is a power station in Laverton, on the outskirts of Melbourne, Victoria.

Leigh Marning

Leigh Marning trained at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Melbourne, Australia from 2001–2003 and was later accepted into the Cirque du Soleil show Cirque du S in Las Vegas.

Lillydale Lake

Lillydale Lake (the name retaining the earliest spelling and the name of the former Lillydale Shire) is an artificial lake and wetlands area created in Lilydale, Melbourne, Australia.

Luna Park, Pittsburgh

Remnants of the entertainment empire remain, from Mexico City (the park is now called Luna Loca) to Melbourne to Athens (now called Ta Aidonakia).

Melbourne Hebrew Congregation

The 1850s saw the arrival of some 300 Jewish families from London and the Province of Posen, Prussia to Melbourne, prompting the construction of a new larger synagogue on the Bourke Street site.

MM1

Melbourne Metro, Stage 1 a proposed rail tunnel in Melbourne, Australia linking the Domain Interchange to North Melbourne railway station

Monash University, Caulfield campus

Monash University, Caulfield campus is a campus of Monash University located in Caulfield, which is a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, in the state of Victoria.

Russell Street, Melbourne

Russell Street is lined with established, green leafy trees and is the address of many restaurants, cafes, bars, shops, offices, 5-star Grand Hyatt Melbourne Hotel and luxury French label Chanel who have a flagship store on the corner of Russell Street and Flinders Lane.

Saintly

Saintly now resides at Living Legends, the international home of rest for champion horses (open to the public) in Greenvale, Melbourne, Australia.

See Ya 'Round

A live album was released a year later featuring songs from the three Melbourne shows of this tour and the 1982 Time and Tide tour.

Simon Perry

Perry's major public commissions include Threaded Field, Docklands Stadium, Melbourne (1999-2000), On Tap, Caroline Springs, Melbourne (2007), and the much loved Public Purse (1994).

South Melbourne

Sydney Swans, Australian rules football club formerly known as South Melbourne Football Club

St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne

Initially conceived as a branch of the Sydney institution of the same name the hospital was intended to be a charitable institution, which was hoped would help bolster Melbourne's minimal health care.

Stinson Model A

On the morning of 31 January 1945 Tokana was on the Essendon to Kerang leg of its regular service when the port wing separated in flight between Redesdale and Heathcote, fifty miles north of Melbourne.

Susan Alberti

DANSU Group successfully completed substantial commercial, industrial and property development projects, especially in Melbourne's south eastern suburbs, including Hallam, Dandenong, and surrounds.

Tate Adams

Dolmen published his first book of engravings, Soul Cages, and on returning to Melbourne he completed linocuts to illustrate the Dolmen press reprint of Riders to the Sea.

The Casanovas

Born to Run was featured on the soundtrack of video game publisher EA Sports' title, Rugby 06, as well as being the main song for Melbourne based video game developers IR Gurus' title, AFL Premiership 2006, whilst Shake It was used in three Videogames: F1 2011 (Codemasters), WRC 4 (Evolution Studios) and This is Football 2005 (London Studio) .

The Herald and Weekly Times

These mastheads had a 150 year (The Herald) and 68 year (The Sun News-Pictorial) history in Melbourne, respectively; HWT had bought The Sun News-Pictorial in 1925.

Thomas James Tait

Born in Melbourne, Quebec, the son of Melbourne McTaggart Tait, Tait entered the service of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1880, and by 1903 he was manager of transportation with Canadian Pacific Railway company.

Waverley Park

The game was between Melbourne and Hawthorn and the game was described as the most epic played at VFL Park, with Hawthorn winning from a goal kicked after the siren, by Gary Buckenara.

William David Smith

Canadian concert pianist, Yaroslav Senyshyn, has performed some of his works in North America, Europe and most recently in Melba Hall, Melbourne, Australia.

William Snell Chauncy

In 1868 Chauncy was appointed road superintendent at Goulburn, New South Wales with one of his responsibilities being improvements to the main Sydney to Melbourne Road (now the Hume Highway).

William Wedge Darke

Darke brought a wooden caravan from Sydney and set up camp with his family near Robert Russell's wood and daub hut on the south side of the Yarra River in what is now central Melbourne.

Zelman Cowen

He was Emeritus Professor of Law at Melbourne and the Tagore Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta.

Zelman Symphony

The Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra (Zelman Symphony) is the longest-running amateur orchestra in Melbourne, Australia.

Zhang Jingna

She was active in the team for six years, notable achievements include breaking a record in the 10m Air Rifle event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships 2005 in Melbourne, and a bronze in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, awarding her the title of Sports Girl of the Year for 2006 by the Singapore National Olympic Council.