The Builders Arms: The Black Pub of Melbourne
by The Builders Arms in Collingwood is a popular local pub. It also played a key role in the history of Melbourne, and the push for Indigenous rights.
How the Yarra Changed Its Course
The Yarra River is an intrinsic part of Melbourne; but did you know its current course is a man-made construct, very different to how it flowed out to sea originally?
The Cremorne Pleasure Garden
Victoria’s first amusement park was the ‘Cremorne Pleasure Garden’ on the banks of the Yarra, the lifelong dream of an obsessive English confectioner.
The Field Show
The first exhibition at the NGV was a bold choice: strange, cutting edge art from a group of unknown artists. Welcome to ‘The Field’ show.
Cole’s Book Arcade
Melbourne was once the home of the world’s biggest bookstore, home to more than a million books. Welcome to Cole’s Book Arcade.
The First Abstract Art
Abstract art angers people. It is weird, it is about nothing, it doesn’t take any skill. Fittingly, the first abstract artist was an eccentric Russian …
The ‘May Day’ Holiday
It was a pagan holiday, a Christian holiday, a public holiday, a day for dancing and feasting, and International Worker’s of the World Day. Welcome to May Day: May First.
The Lyrid Meteor Shower
Every April 22nd, the night skies in both hemispheres are lit up with a streaky series of fiery trails. This is the Lyrid Meteor Shower.
The Great Trades Hall Robbery
You can still see the bullet holes from the Trades Hall Robbery in 1915, the remnants of a shootout between bandits and police.
Liardet’s Beach
Sailor, artist, businessman and iconoclast, Wilbraham Liardet was one of early Melbourne’s most unique early inhabitants.