Aus History

Aus History
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Snippets of Australia's forgotten past

  1. 15/03/2023

    High-country living, the Coolamine Homestead - Kosciuszko National Park [AH012]

    Coolamine Homestead is a wonderful example of a heritage homestead and it can be found on the Cooleman Plains in Kosciuszko National Park. It is a rare, surviving example of a permanent pastoral outstation that retains hand built slab buildings and yards. National Parks info - https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/historic-buildings-places/coolamine-homestead Artisans of Australia, film about the restoration work - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcoTnER4Efg All modern photographs of the site © Andrew Hennell, used with permission.

    5 min

  2. 13/03/2023

    NSWGR 6029 Beyer Peacock Garratt steam locomotive [AH016]

    6029 is a four-cylinder, simple, non-condensing, superheated, articulated 4-8-4+4-8-4 Garratt steam locomotive, of the AD60 class, built by Beyer, Peacock and Company, Manchester, England, for the New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR).

    8 min

  3. 13/03/2023

    Destroyed - The rise and fall of Australia's Wonderland theme park [AH015]

    Australia's Wonderland officially opened on 7 December 1985. Over the next 18 years it grew to be one of Sydney's most popular and loved attractions, before the new owners simply closed it. Find out how and why, and leave a comment if you ever visited Australia's Wonderland.

    10 min

  4. 12/03/2023

    War comes to Australia - the Japanese attack on Sydney and Newcastle [AH014]

    In late May and early June 1942, during World War II, Imperial Japanese Navy submarines made a series of attacks on the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle. Visit Australian War Memorial - https://www.awm.gov.au/visit Royal Australian Navy Naval Heritage Centre - https://www.navy.gov.au/ran-heritage-centre Fort Scratchley - https://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/fort-scratchley/fort-scratchley-home More information Navy - https://www.navy.gov.au/history/feature-histories/japanese-midget-submarine-attack-sydney-harbour Sea Museum - https://www.sea.museum/2017/06/14/midget-submarine-attack-on-sydney-31-may-1-june-1942 ANZAC Memorial - https://www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/our-stories/our-stories/japanese-submarines-sydney-harbour Woolahra council - https://www.woollahra.nsw.gov.au/library/local_history/world_war_2/stories_from_woollahra/shelling_of_the_eastern_suburbs A brilliant book on the subject is 'A Very Rude Awakening - The Night The Japanese Midget Subs Came To Sydney Harbour' by: Peter Grose - https://amzn.to/3HrFJy0

    7 min

  5. 11/03/2023

    From sheep farm to leading astronomy centre - Parkes radio telescope [AH013]

    The CSIRO's Parkes Radio Telescope was commissioned on a former sheep farm in 1961. It was the most advanced radio telescope on the planet at the time, with many innovative features that have since become standard in all large-dish antennas, and it has maintained it's cutting edge technology and research ever since. Based in part on an article by John Sarkissian, CSIRO, first published in The Conversation, and on our own research. Visitors Centre - https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/atnf/parkes-radio-telescope/parkes-observatory-visitors-centre/hours-location How the Parkes dish works - https://research.csiro.au/pulseatparkes/parkes-radio-telescope/ Parkes shire visitors centre - https://www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/tourism

    7 min

  6. 28/01/2023

    Canberra Bushfires 2003 – how it happened

    The 2003 Canberra bushfires caused severe damage to the suburbs and outer areas of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, during 18–22 January 2003. Almost 70% of the Australian Capital Territory's (ACT) pastures, pine plantations, and nature parks were severely damaged, and most of the Mount Stromlo Observatory was destroyed. After burning for a week around the edges of the ACT, the fires entered the suburbs of Canberra on 18 January 2003. Over the next ten hours, four people died, over 490 were injured, and 470 homes were destroyed or severely damaged, requiring a significant relief and reconstruction effort. With actual video of firefighters dealing with the firestorm as it hit.

    8 min

  7. 28/01/2023

    The day NASA hit Australia

    12 July 1979, the burning wreckage of a space station the size of a three-bedroom house hurtled towards the west coast of Australia.

    6 min

  8. 28/01/2023

    Australia's homegrown fighter that couldn't fight, the CAC boomerang

    The Commonwealth Boomerang was designed and built in Australia in response to the impending Japanese invasion of the Australian mainland. It's main issue was that it sucked as a fighter! But it could attack the ground, and found a use in the war.

    7 min
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Snippets of Australia's forgotten past

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  • Creator
    Aus History
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    Aus History