History
- 1835
- Melbourne established by Batman.
- 1850
- Gold discovered near Ballaraat
- 1851
- Separation - Victoria established as a seperate colony from New
South Wales.
- 1850-1890
- Boom times for Melbourne as gold money pays for the building of the
majority of the city. Railways, road, wide streets, trams and population
expansion.
- 1890's
- Recession
- 1900's
- Boer War in Sth Africa. Australian troops readied, but never
actually sent overseas.
- 1914-1918
- WW - I
- 1920's
- Melbourne is knownas "little Chicago". Prohibition is not generally
established, but some suburbs are 'dry', and pubs can only open for 6hrs
at most.
Illegal grog shops, run from terrace houses in Fitzroy and Collingwood
abound, and are the centres for gang activity. Firefights and driveby shooting
become common.
- 1926
- Ash Wednesday I
1/3 of Victoria and nuch of the north and western suburbs of Melbourne
are burnt to the ground. Forestry, cattle and related industries do no recover
for at least two years.
- 1929
- Black Friday.
- October - stockmarket crashes. World Wide depression until after
WW-II. This period shaped the attitudes of many people who are now in their
50's and 60's.
- 1930's
- Great depression.
- Unions grow in power and influence.
- 1938 - 1945
- World War II - "Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Europe"
- 1945 - 1955
- Perversely, rather than suffering a post-war boom, Geelong's economy
begins to falter and collapse, mostly due to poor business decisions amongst
local businessmen.
- 1950 - 1965
- 1.7 million European immigrants flood into Australia, mostly to
Melbourne.
Racial tensions, especially in areas like Geelong and the western
suburbs on Melbourne, begin to build.
- 196?
- Vietnam War
- 1968
- Anti-vietnam war demonstrations are broken up by the police. Police
beat to death several Italian-born demonstrators. Tensions explode and riots
break out all over the city. Firebombing attacks, looting, etc continue for
a week before calm is restored.
- 1968 - 1970
- Anti-prejeudice and -racism sentiments begin to amongst continuing
antagonism between various ethnic groups and australian born citizens. Many
of the anti-vietnam supporters are also anti-racism.
- 1970
- Massive anti-vietnam, anti-prejeudice ralley (70,000+ people) in
Melbourne (similar ralleys in all other capital cities in the same week).
Police and militia gathered to prevent a re-occurence of the 1968
riots precipitate the violence. Anti-riot police, wielding tear gas, high
pressure hoses and armour assault the 70,000 strong crowd in the late
afternoon. Confusion reigns in the city for two days. At the end of the
violence, estimated casualties come to 1,000 and property damage is
estimated to be in excess of $10M. State government enacts anti-ralley
legislation for the CBD, although numerous legal challenges lead to it being
rescinded in 1974.
- 1970's
- 1st generation immigrant descendants reach their maturity and mixing
of these youths and australian-descended citizens lead to the ethnic groups
slowly gaining acceptance. Cultures merge and form the present multicultural
background.
- 1983
- Alan Gianco, a 2nd generation Greek/Italian, leads the Labour party
to an overwhelming victory over liberal candidates. His rise is a testement
to the changes over the last ten years. His leadership eventually pulls the
state into a budget surplus, and this money is sunk mostly back into welfare
and public works.
- 1987
- Shortly after elections return Gianco to power with an even greater
majority, he announces his intention to resculpt the city into a new 21st
Century city. His plans include reveloping the dockside aress, improving
the outer suburbs facilities, greening Melbourne, free mungbeans, etc.
- Within the week, he is dead. Gianco is reported to have died of a
severe heartattack and is suceeded by a stream of bumbling fools. His budget
surplus becomes a deficit, etc.
- 1991
- Jeff Kennet and his liberal government are voted in by a majority
equal to Gianco's first term.