X-Nico

98 unusual facts about Victoria


1861 in Australia

8 July - The Geelong College is established by Reverend Alexander James Campbell in Newtown, Victoria.

1896 Carlton Football Club season

Carlton's primary home ground in 1896 was the University Cricket Ground, within the grounds of the University of Melbourne in Carlton; but, home matches were also moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Jolimont, and to the Richmond City Reserve in Richmond.

1957 Night Series Cup

Games were played at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne, as it was the only ground equipped to host night games.

3NRG

The station was established to provide local news, information and community access to the township of Sunbury, in outer north west metropolitan Melbourne, as well as to the surrounding localities of Diggers Rest, The Gap, Couangult and Toolern Vale.

93.9 Bay FM

It commenced broadcasting from an old industrial estate in Corio, Geelong in 1989.

Alma Park, St Kilda East

In 1859, the construction of the then Brighton railway line from St Kilda severed the park into two.

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'.

Cardinia Transit

926 PakenhamWestfield Fountain Gate via Lakeside, Beaconsfield station & Berwick (Daily)

Carlton B. Ardery, Jr.

Ardery, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, went directly from high school into U.S. Army Air Force flight training, graduating in 1943 as a second lieutenant at Aloe Field, Victoria, Texas.

CCGS Bartlett

The homeport of CCGS Bartlett is CCG Base Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.

Charles Nuttall

Nuttall, son of James Charles Nuttall, was born at Fitzroy, Victoria.

City of Whittlesea

18% of its land area was ceded to entities created in 1994 — the Doreen and Arthurs Creek districts were lost to the new Shire of Nillumbik, while Kinglake West went to Shire of Murrindindi and Somerton to the City of Hume.

Clifton Springs

Clifton Springs, Victoria, a coastal town overlooking Corio Bay, approximately 20 km east of Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Craig Lowndes

Born in Melbourne, Lowndes began his racing career at age nine, driving go-karts at a track in the nearby town of Whittlesea.

Cranbourne, Victoria

The greater Cranbourne area consists of Cranbourne, Cranbourne North, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne South, Cranbourne West.

There are other privately owned and managed facilities, such as the Briars Equestrian Centre in Clyde.

Daphne Pollard

Daphne Pollard (19 October 1892 in Fitzroy, Melbourne – 22 February 1978 in Los Angeles) was an Australian actress in American films, mostly short comedies.

Death of Jill Meagher

At around 10:00 pm on 28 September, five days after Meagher's disappearance, he led police to where her body was buried in a shallow grave at Black Hill Road in Gisborne South.

Division of Indi

Other towns in the electorate include Rutherglen, Mansfield, Beechworth, Bethanga, Myrtleford, Corryong, Tallangatta, Euroa and a number of other small villages (notably including the ski resort of Falls Creek).

Djargurd Wurrung

The Djargurd wurrung are Indigenous Australian people who traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite, extending to Mount Emu and Cressy in the North, and to Cobden and Swan Marsh in the South in central Victoria and are still represented in the region.

Doriemus

Doriemus is now at Living Legends, the International Home of Rest for Champion Horses in Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale, Victoria.

Doris McRae

She soon enrolled in the University of Melbourne as an arts student, and by September 1914 was teaching at Faraday Street State School in Carlton.

Drouin to Warragul Trail

The Drouin to Warragul Trail or Two Towns Trail is a cycling and walking path between Drouin and Warragul.

Duigan pusher biplane

The aircraft was constructed by John Duigan with help from his brother, Reginald, on their family farm at Mia Mia.

Duke Trophy

They started skating at St Moritz Ice Palais in St Kilda in June 1946 and both eventually represented Victoria in interstate competition.

Dyson's Bus Services

520 GreensboroughDoreen via Greensborough Plaza, Greensborough station & Yarrambat (Daily)

Eden Park Kangaroo Cull

During October 2010 the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE (NMIT) applied for and received a 12-month permit from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment for the Eden Park Kangaroo Cull - to cull 300 Eastern Grey Kangaroos on its 320 hectare Eden Park Vineyard and farm and Northern Lodge equine stud.

Elizee De Garis

Ordained in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1880, he married Elizabeth Buncle on 2 February 1881 and was formally ordained as a minister in 1882 for Durham Ox and Kerang.

Empire Bay, New South Wales

The name was changed because there was already a post office named Sorrento in Victoria and Empire Bay was chosen because there was no other such name in the Commonwealth.

Ethiopian Australian

There were two Ethiopian Pentecostal churches in the Melbourne area as of 2001, as well as an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Maribyrnong.

Eucalyptus sideroxylon

It is a very popular ornamental and street tree, Ferntree gully road in Melbourne has an avenue of Muggas planted.

Fairfield, Greater Victoria

Fairfield is a neighbourhood of Victoria, BC.

Fantome-class survey motor boat

All eight vessels were constructed by Pro Marine at Seaford, Victoria.

Fernwood, Greater Victoria

Fernwood is a neighbourhood near downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, bounded by the neighbourhoods of Jubilee, North Park, Fairfield, Downtown, Oaklands and Harris Green.

Fields of Omagh

Fields Of Omagh retired after his second Cox Plate win, and now resides at Living Legends, the International Home of Rest for Champion Horses located in Woodlands Historic Park, Greenvale, Victoria, Australia.

Frederick Azzopardi

Azzopardi was first elected in 1997 as the Deputy Mayor for Victoria, Gozo's Capital, and later in 1998 contested the General Elections when he was elected in the House of Representatives of Malta.

Frederick Illingworth

After his resignation from the Legislative Assembly in August 1907, he must have returned to Victoria, for he died at Brighton, Victoria on 8 September 1908, and was buried in Melbourne Cemetery.

George Pakos

He began work at the same time as a water-metre tecnnician for the city of Victoria, a job he continued for over 25 years.

Harness Racing Victoria

Tabcorp Park opened a new racing complex at Melton, which incorporates a 1,000 metre track as well as a host of amenities such as restaurants, gaming machines, hotel accommodation and conference facilities.

Heathmont, Victoria

The distant Mount Dandenong and Dandenong Ranges are visible from much of this shopping strip, offering a somewhat 'Californian' feel to the environment.

Herald Sun Tour

The first King of the Mountain and Sprint champion was Jack (John) McDonough from Coburg.

Herbert Hyland

Numerous roadways are named after Hyland, including Hyland Street, South Yarra and the Hyland Highway.

Heston Phoenix

:Sold in Australia, on 5 July 1936 it crashed in bad weather near Melton, Victoria.

History Teachers' Association of Victoria

Collingwood Football Club became a difficult venue once poker machines were installed, and after a long search a move was made to the Veneto Club in Bulleen.

HMAS Goorangai

On the night of 20 November, Goorangai was crossing the mouth of Port Phillip Bay to anchor at Portsea for the night.

Hugh Victor McKay

McKay died at Rupertswood, a mansion in Sunbury, Victoria (notable as the birthplace of the Ashes) on 21 May 1926 and was survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons.

John Hepworth

From 1977 to 1978 he was the assistant priest in the Colac parish and, from 1978 to 1980, was the rector of the South Ballarat parish based in Sebastopol.

Karen Simpson Nikakis

Nikakis was raised in the central Victorian town of Mansfield, surrounded by the mountains of the Victorian Alps.

Keith Faure

Keith George Faure (born June, 1951), from Norlane, Victoria, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters.

Kirriemuir

Bon Scott of AC/DC was born in nearby Forfar and lived in Kirriemuir for a short time from 1947 until 1950 when his family emigrated to Australia, where the family lived in the suburb of Sunshine for four years before moving to Fremantle, Western Australia.

Koolasuchus

A jawbone was found in 1978 in a fossil site known as the Punch Bowl near the town of San Remo.

Lorri Bagley

Bagley made her television debut at a young age appearing on Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, and had made a name for herself as a model in Europe by the age of fourteen, modelling for the likes of Dior, Chanel and Issey Miyake as well as modelling for Victoria's Secret for five years.

Louis Buvelot

He lived for some years in Latrobe Street East, and then moved to George Street, Fitzroy.

Mary Gaunt

Mary was the eldest daughter of William Henry Gaunt, a Victorian county court judge, and was born in Chiltern, Victoria.

Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication

Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication (MCN) is located in Clayton, Victoria, next to the Australian Synchrotron.

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.

Mephan Ferguson

To enable this expansion he brought the Glasgow Iron works in West Melbourne.

Michael Atchison

He was born in Sandringham, Victoria and moved to South Australia with his family in 1939.

Minnie Bell Sharp

In 1919, the now impoverished and decidedly eccentric Sharp announced her candidacy for the constituency of Victoria—Carleton in the first post-war Canadian federal election.

Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Works on Paper Award

The award and its concomitant exhibition are hosted by the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, located in Mornington, Australia.

Murrayville Community College

Murrayville Community College is a State P-12 School located in the north western corner of the Mallee in Murrayville, Victoria.

National Hockey Association

In that same off-season, the Patrick brothers built two arenas in Vancouver and Victoria and formed the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA).

Neon Jungle

In October the girls then announced they would be supporting Jessie J. On the November 12, 2013 it was announced that Neon Jungle would be a performer at the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

No. 107 Squadron RAAF

 107 Squadron ferried its Kingfishers to the RAAF's Flying Boat Repair Depot at Lake Boga, Victoria during August 1945; the last Kingfishers departed St Georges Basin on the 29th of the month.

Olive Zakharov

Zakharov also remained involved in her local community; she used her political connections to help save her historic neighbourhood in Port Melbourne from demolition, and at one point painted "NOT FOR SALE" on her roof in order to promote the message.

Peter Ladner

He later worked at newspapers on Vancouver Island and was editor of the Victoria alternative weekly Monday Magazine from 1981 to 1986.

Phresh Out the Runway

Rihanna performed "Phresh Out the Runway" for the first time at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show alongside "Diamonds", on November 7, 2012.

Pier to Pub

The Lorne Pier to Pub is an annual, 1.2-km open water swimming race held in January at Lorne, a town located on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.

Pirate radio in Australia and New Zealand

On 5 October, the Australian Communications and Media Authority reported that it shut down an unlicensed AM radio station operating on 1485 kHz from Chadstone following a complaint.

Real Racing 3

The game includes ten real world racetracks, plus a geographically accurate but fictional street race through Firemonkeys' home of Southbank, Melbourne.

Redan

Redan is also a southern suburb of the regional city of Ballarat in central western Victoria, Australia.

Robert Murray Smith

Smith died at his home in Toorak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 31 August 1921 predeceased by his wife and a son, survived by three daughters.

Roy Cameron

He was educated at state schools in local villages including Mitiamo, Lancefield, Dunkeld and finally (from 1911 to 1917) at Kyneton, although from 1913 to 1917 he was occupied with compulsory military service.

Rushall Garden

Rushall Garden is a community garden situated on former railway land in Fitzroy North, Victoria in inner suburban Melbourne, Australia.

Saintly

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

Seymour-FM

The station was originally intended as a local service for Seymour and nearby Puckapunyal.

Sheep shearer

Henry Salter (1907–1997) MBE won the first organised shearing contest at Pyramid Hill in 1934 and in 1953 was a machine shearing champion.

Skipping Girl Vinegar

The band comprises siblings Mark and Sare Lang and their respective childhood friends Chris Helm and Amanthi Lynch, and are named after the Audrey the Skipping Girl Vinegar sign, located in Abbotsford, Victoria.

Slayain

Slayain are an Australian rock band, formed in Frankston, Victoria, in 2005.

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.

Sweet and Wild

The album's fourth track "What You Are" was chosen to be part of the runway-soundtrack for the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Ted Tripp

Tripp moved to Melbourne in 1938 and on 30 July married Ruby May Bullock at Carlton.

The Deakins

Over their 10 year journey, performing live concerts and dance venues mainly in Melbourne, Geelong, through to Torquay circuits and later, appearing on television’s rock shows Kommotion and the GO!!

The Triangles

Eleanor Horsburgh, Julie Conway, Katherine Simpson (née James), Matt Gormann and Robert Simpson met as school friends in Boronia, a suburb of Melbourne.

Thomas Grigg

Born in Maldon to miner Thomas Henry Grigg and Elizabeth Jones, he attended state school before becoming a miner in 1902.

Upfield

Upfield, Victoria, an outer northern suburb of Melbourne, Australia

Ursula Frayne

Six weeks after her arrival in Melbourne Frayne had raised loans to pay off the mortgages on her convent in Nicholson Street, Fitzroy. Speedy development followed and considerable construction of buildings for social and educational work was undertaken, peaking in the erection of the first wing of the present ‘Academy’ for £6000 in 1870.

Val Royal

He stood from 2003 through 2006 at Oak Lodge Stud in County Kildare, Ireland and was shuttled to Eliza Park stud near Kerrie, Victoria, Australia for the Southern Hemisphere breeding seasons.

Valhalla Cinema, Melbourne

In 1987, the Valhalla relocated from Richmond to High Street, Westgarth after the sale of their original venue (it was later demolished).

Victoria-la-Vallée

It moved south taking in parts of Victoria County north of the Aroostook River and north taking in the areas around and including the Town of St-Leonard.

Victoria, Oriental Mindoro

Rachel Anne M. Bustamante, a.k.a. Shey Bustamante - Miss Oriental Mindoro 2009, First runner up in Mossimo Bikini Contest (2009), Binibining Pilipinas 2010 Contestant and a Pinoy Big Brother: Teen Clash 2010 Housemate.

Appeared in ABS-CBN Primetime Dramas and Shows, ASAP, MMK, Sabel, Angelito: Batang Ama, Nasaan Ka Elisa?

Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun

Steel, important for the building of industry, railroads and some war goods, and generally profitable to produce;

Virgil Reilly

Virgil Gavan Reilly, was born on 29 November 1892, the son of the local postmaster in Creswick, Victoria.

Walhalla Goldfields Rail Trail

The Walhalla Goldfields Rail Trail is a 7 kilometre rail trail which follows the former route of the narrow gauge Walhalla railway line between Erica and Thomson station, near Walhalla in Victoria's east.

Warburton Hospital

Warburton Hospital was a private Adventist hospital in Warburton, Victoria in Australia.

Watersun Swimwear

Operating a retail outlet with manufacturing at the back of a small shop in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Watersun employed young new designers to gain notoriety with swimwear designs in a very conservative post-war Australia.

Whitfield, Victoria

It is close to the township of Cheshunt and the localities of Rose River and Dandongadale.


2006–07 Eastern Victoria Great Divide bushfires

The Eastern Victoria Great Divide bushfires, also known as the Great Divide Complex, were a series of bushfires that commenced in the Victorian Alps in Australia on 1 December 2006 due to lightning strikes and continued for 69 days.

Acharya Brojendra Nath Seal College

Acharya Brojendra Nath Seal College or ABN Seal, earlier Victoria College, is a co-educational college in Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India.

Anglers Rest, Victoria

The name Anglers Rest is descriptive, indicating that the location is a good spot for anglers, being close to the confluence of several noted trout fishing rivers, the Cobungra River, the Bundara River, the Big River, and the Mitta Mitta River.

Arthur Cross

Arthur Henry Cross (1884–1965), British recipient of the Victoria Cross

Arthur Knight

Arthur George Knight (1886–1918), Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross

Australian heritage law

Australian heritage laws exist at the national (Commonwealth) level, and at each of Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia state levels.

Australian Plague Locust Commission

With 19 staff members at its headquarters in Canberra and field offices in Narromine, Broken Hill and Longreach, the Commission is funded half by the Commonwealth government and half by the Australian states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

Brad Green

Braddon Green (born 1959), first-class cricketer for Victoria and Devon

Brooke Anderson

Brooke Victoria Anderson (born May 13, 1978) was a co-host of The Insider, and is now a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.

Bunyip North, Victoria

Bunyip North is a bounded rural locality in Victoria, Australia.

Byres Road

During the period when Hillhead and Partick were independent burghs, Byres Road was known by its original name of Victoria Street.

Charlotte Grayson

In Reckoning, after a cold goodbye with her mother, she finds out that Victoria was a victim in a plane crash.

Constitution Hill, London

It was the scene of three assassination attempts against Queen Victoria—in 1840 (by Edward Oxford), 1842 (by John Francis) and 1849 (by William Hamilton).

Cutteslowe Park, Oxford

This linked Water Eaton and Oxford, and a short section of this path (at the bottom of Harpes Road, Islip Road and Victoria Road in North Oxford) is called Water Eaton Road.

Dennis Charter

Charter began his music industry career in 1967 working at live band club venues in Melbourne such as Sebastian's and Berties and writing for Go-Set Go-Set magazine before establishing live music venues and promoting concerts of his own around Melbourne and throughout country regions of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia.

Di Leo

Jeffrey R. Di Leo, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English and Philosophy at the University of Houston–Victoria

East African Railways and Harbours Corporation

Also in 1961 EAR&H introduced the new Lake Victoria ferry RMS Victoria.

Edward Donald Bellew

Edward Bellew's Victoria Cross is believed to have been stolen from the Royal Canadian Military Institute, Toronto, between January 1975 and 22 July 1977.

Edwin St Hill

Against Tasmania he had first-innings figures of four for 57 and against Victoria he took six wickets in the game.

Electoral district of Bass

It is covers a diverse range of terrority, from outer suburban Pakenham to the rural towns of Lang Lang and Nar Nar Goon to the coastal tourist centres of Phillip Island and Inverloch.

Environmental planning

The Environment Effects Act 1978 was the first environmental planning control in Victoria, and it assessed the environmental impact of significant developments via an Environmental Effects Statement (EES).

Evan Durbin

Durbin became Labour MP for Edmonton, 1945–1948, and was amongst those invited to Hugh Dalton's "Young Victors Dinner" held at St Ermin's Hotel, off Victoria Street SW1.

Francis Newton Parsons

His Victoria Cross is displayed at The Essex Regiment Museum, Chelmsford, Essex, England.

Frankston High School

The names for each of the houses come from early explorers of Victoria and the Port Phillip region - George Bass, William Collins, Matthew Flinders, and John Murray.

Geoff Watt

Geoff Watt (died 1969) was a local distance runner from Warragul, Victoria of some international note who died from exposure in 1969 while training on Mount Erica in Baw Baw National Park.

Henry Douglas

Henry Edward Manning Douglas (1875–1939), British soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross

Henry Robson

Henry Howey Robson (1894–1964), English recipient of the Victoria Cross

Humphrey Lloyd

Mount Humphrey Lloyd, a mountain in Victoria Land, Antarctica, named for the provost of Trinity College

James A. Smith

James Alexander Smith (1881–1968), British soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross

Johnny Jarrett

Following this removal, Patten was located by his father and the pair fled from New South Wales, to the safety of Barmah in Victoria.

Jon Hume

In May 2012 Hume was featured on the Hook N Sling song "Surrender," which he co-wrote from his studio in rural Victoria (The Stables Recording Studio).

Kevin Lincoln

In 1990, a survey exhibition of his paintings and drawings was mounted by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, which toured Tasmania and Victoria.

Laverton North Power Station

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

Murphy's Romance

Sally Field and director Martin Ritt had to fight Columbia Pictures in order to cast Garner, who was viewed at that point as primarily a television actor despite having enjoyed a flourishing film career in the 1960s (and more recently having co-starred in the box office hit Victor/Victoria opposite Julie Andrews two years earlier).

Nabarlek

The nabarlek is found in three distinct population areas: in Arnhem Land (including Groote Eylandt); between the Mary and Victoria Rivers in the Top End; and the coastal Kimberley region of Western Australia, including some islands in the Bonaparte Archipelago.

Nanohaloarchaea

The reconstruction of two highly unusual archaeal genomes by de novo metagenomic assembly of multiple, deeply sequenced libraries via multi-locus phylogenetic analyses, from surface waters of Lake Tyrrell, a hypersaline lake in north-west Victoria, Australia, has led to the creation of a major novel euryarchaeal lineage, distantly related to halophilic archaea of class Halobacteria.

Old Gippstown

It is currently used by a number of local groups, and is one of the newest Masonic Lodges in Victoria.

Pantages Theatre

the McPherson Playhouse in Victoria, BC was originally opened as a Pantages Theatre in 1914

Progradungula otwayensis

Progradungula otwayensis, commonly known as the odd-clawed spider, is a species of cribellate spider endemic to the Great Otway National Park of Victoria, Australia.

Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden is also descended from Queen Victoria and not Christian IX, but he is her descendant twice, as his parents were second cousins because they were both great-grandchildren of Victoria.

Serendip Sanctuary

Originally used for farming and other purposes, it was purchased in 1959 by the state government of Victoria for wildlife research and the captive management and breeding of species threatened in Victoria, such as the Brolga, Magpie Goose, Australian Bustard, and Bush Stone-curlew.

Soniya Mehra

After the release of Victoria 203 which was a commercial flop, Soniya took a long gap of three years and she is now attempting to make her comeback in 2010 with the film Basra starring Abhay Deol and directed by Navdeep Singh.

South Australian wine

Located in south central Australia, South Australia is bordered by the four other mainland states, (Western Australia to the west, Queensland to the north east, New South Wales to the east, Victoria to the south east), the Northern Territory to the north, and the Great Australian Bight forms the region's southern coastline.

Victoria Park, Cardiff

The park was created as a municipal recreation ground by Cardiff City Council through a city charter between 1897 and 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee marking her record sixty years on the throne.

William Henry Page

In 1899 G.A. Gomme and H. Arthur Doubleday launched the Victoria County History through Archibald Constable & Co, in which Doubleday was a partner.

William Tricker

He introduced a water lily with 6-feet pads from South America, which he named Victoria trickeri, although it is now known as Victoria cruziana.

Wingan Inlet

On the return trip, the party encountered marooned sailors along the Victorian coast from the wreck of the ship Sydney Cove south of Victoria at Preservation Island, Tasmania.

Wunghnu railway station

Wunghnu is a closed railway station on the Goulburn Valley railway in the township of Wunghnu, Victoria, Australia.