Timeline of Melbourne history

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

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18th century

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

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19th century

1800 - James Grant explores the south-east coast 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, who (incorrectly) feared that the French wished to settle in the lucrative shipping lane. Unaware of previous discoveries, Collins settles near present-day Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. This settlement is soon abandoned
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 km&sup2 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
1837 - June 1 - First official survey and inner-city land sale
1837 - The Hoddle Grid of streets for the central business district is laid out by Robert Hoddle
1838 - Melbourne is declared a legal port and administrative centre, opening the way for vastly increased immigration
1838 - Second inner-city land sale
1839 - Third inner-city land sale
1841 - First seaport and market are opened
1842 - Melbourne City Council is formed
1851 - Beginning of the Victorian gold rush with discovery of gold in Ballarat
1851 - Victoria becomes a separate colony from New South Wales
1851 - First state Lieutenant-Governor Charles La Trobe inaugurated
1852 - City's first gas works is opened
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 University of Melbourne is founded
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
1857 - First reservoir water supply (at Yan Yean) tapped outside city limits
1857 - Queen Victoria Market 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
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
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 ever Test cricket match
1880 - Royal Exhibition Building opened
1880 - Melbourne International Exhibition held
1884 - Victorian International Exhibition held
1885 - First cable tram line begins operating
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
1897 - First season of the Victorian Football League

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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
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
1919 - Electric suburban train services commence on the Broadmeadows line
1923 - W-class trams introduced
1924 - first radio station 3AR
1927 - Federal Parliament is moved to Canberra, the new national capital
1930 - Melbourne City Council installs city's first set of traffic lights
1940 - Last cable tram service ends operation
1943 - Russell Street Police Headquarters building is completed
1954 - April - Victorian Railways closes the Puffing Billy Railway
1955 - City's first parking meters are installed
1956 - First television station HSV-7
1956 - The Olympic Games held in Melbourne
1962 - The Puffing Billy Railway is re-opened as a tourist attraction
1970 - October 15 - 35 construction workers die when a span of the West Gate Bridge collapses
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, the city's current tallest building, is completed
1986 - Pablo Picasso's Weeping Woman is stolen from National Gallery of Victoria by activists. Returned a week later
1992 - Pedestrianization of Swanston Street creates Swanston Street Walk
1994 - Opening of the Melbourne Observation Deck in Rialto Towers
1996 - Development of the Docklands area begins
1996 - Construction of the CityLink freeways begin

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21st century

2000 - The CityLink freeways open, including two new tunnels, a new cross-harbour bridge, and electronic tolling
2000 - Docklands Stadium (renamed Colonial Stadium, now Telstra Dome) completed
2000 - March 6 - Bourke Street pedestrian extension opened
2001 - Melbourne's population reaches 3,366,542 (2001 census)
2001 - Low-floor C- and D class trams introduced
2002 - October 26 - Federation Square opens
2002 - NewQuay, a precinct of the Docklands development opens
2003 - December - Rennovation of the National Gallery of Victoria International is completed
2004 - Central City Studios, a precinct of the Docklands development opens
2005 - Eureka Tower, the city's new tallest building, to be completed
2006 - The Commonwealth Games to be held in Melbourne
2015 - Expected completion of the Docklands development

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Timeline of Melbourne history

18th century

19th century

20th century

21st century

See also