Melbourne Trivia

Two questions from the Crowded House song "Weather With You".. 1. Where is 57 Mount Pleasant Street? 2. What does "walking round the roof singing stormy weather" mean? Answers 1. 57 Mount Pleasant Street, Liverpool is the registry office wh Read more..

You've might have heard someone say telling furphies or that was a bit of a furphy and wondered what they meant or where the expression came from. FURPHY | FURPHIES | FURFY The word furphy is a uniquely Australian idiom, a way of saying that some Read more..

Melbourne has more than its fair-shair of Australian firsts... One of the first women only gyms, in Victoria and possibly Australia, was established by Harriet Elphinstone-Dick, who lived from 1858 to 1902. Also known as Harriet Rowell, she was an Read more..

A special group of bike lovers greets riders at the north gate of Carlton Gardens most Sunday's with a free bike fix service. Weather permitting, the service includes a full checkover, chain lube, inflated tyres, brakes checked and copius amounts Read more..

Did you know there was once five Beatles not four? The only time it ever happened was in Melbourne on the 14th June, 1964. The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr had collapsed and was hospitalized on June 3rd with tonsilitis prior to the tour beginnin Read more..

The savoury snack CHIKO Roll is an Australian icon right up there with Australian Rules Football, kangaroos and Holdens, was developed by Francis McEnroe from Bendigo. The Chiko Roll first appeared at the Wagga Wagga Show in 1951 and by 1965 was Read more..

She has graced magazine covers, had wine named after her and poems written to her. She has experienced fame and adoration and has won high acclaim from critics. Her career began, like the many models after her, in Paris but she was created and moul Read more..

What is a C R O G G Y? A croggy is a ride on the handlebars of a mates push bike. Now we understand Croggy is not a Melbourne bit of trivia, but we do remember as Melburnian's either having a croggy or giving a mate a croggy around the back st Read more..

Melbourne is the only city in the world that has five international standard sporting facilities (including three with retractable roofs) on the fringe of its central business district. Each year Melbourne plays host to tens of thousands of inter Read more..

The Dim Sim was developed in Melbourne by Chinese chef William Wing Young for his restaurant "Wing Lee" around 1945. A dim sim is a Chinese-inspired meat dumpling-style snack that consists of pork or other meat, cabbage and flavourings, encased i Read more..

The emblems of Victoria include... Floral emblem: Pink Heath Animal emblem: Leadbeater's Possum Bird emblem: Helmeted Honey-eater Marine Faunal Emblem: Weedy Seadragon Sadly, the Leadbeater's Possum and Helmeted Honey-eater are considered to Read more..

With the recent visit by Tiger Woods to Melbourne, the question was asked on radio this morning, "who is the most 'famous' person to have visited Melbourne?". The list was impressive although there was no clear winner.. -:- Muhamid Ali -:- Pri Read more..

On March 18, 1910 whilst on a visit to Australia and in a Voisin biplane (purchased for US$5,000 in Hamburg, Germany prior to the trip, Harry Houdini made the first controlled, powered flight of an airplane in Australia, at Digger's Rest in Victoria, Read more..

The Four'N Twenty Meat Pie is Victoria's best selling meat pie invented in Bendigo by LT. McLure in 1947. The meat pie is enormously popular in Australia and considered a tradition to eat a the footy . Strong demand for the pie saw production gro Read more..

Please can you get an opinion on the attached photo as it was taken by a friend who visited the Old Melbourne Gaol and no-one knows how this ghost-looking person got in the photo! Photo Copyright: Natalie Jones, UK Many thanks Joanne Sweene Read more..

The first Google Earth 'alphabet', featuring all 26 letters has been created from satellite images of Melbourne and Victorian features and buildings. Rhett Dashwood, a graphic designer from Melbourne spent several months beginning October 2008 to Read more..

Here is a curious Melbourne based web site with loads of handy 'local' information. Affectionately known as the Black Hole, because once you enter, you can't escape its magnetic appeal! Kids Links Australian Slang Interesting VICTORIA Links Read more..

Why does one of Melbourne's busiest roads share 3 names, Hoddle Street, Punt Road and Hoddle Highway. Hoddle Highway (route 29) is a highway linking CityLink and the Eastern Freeway. The name "Hoddle Highway" is almost completely unknown to most Read more..

If you plan to drive in Melbourne, watch out for the "hook turn" signs (above) and be prepared to turn right from the leftmost lane. How to Hook Turn In Steps 1 Approach and enter the intersection from as near as possible to the left. 2 Move fo Read more..

The world record for the largest human wheelbarrow race was broken in 2008 on September 9th when Melbourne’s own Carey Baptist Grammar School in Kew set out to break the previous record that had been held by a high school in Singapore. With the st Read more..

Australia's great ideas and vision can be seen by the many Melbourne inventions that have helped improve the lives of people all over the world. Made In Melbourne :: Melbourne Inventions For more information about each invention, see links at Read more..

Why is that people either love Melbourne or hate Melbourne, but there does not seem to be any in-between. With its cosmopolitan charm, most Australians appear to love Melbourne, except for people from Sydney who don't just hate Melbourne, they lo Read more..

National Gallery of Victoria conservators are restoring Melbourne 1888 by Frederick McCubbin, but half of it is missing and they want your help to find it. In a quite remarkeable story, the NGV acquired its half as a gift from the artist's son, Hu Read more..

Melborn and Sideny" - The Idlers Five (CBS, 1968) -- Australian Top 40 hit, March 1968 Vocal folk quintet The Idlers Five enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1960s, but they are now virtually forgotten. They are by no means alone in this -- as Read more..

Like many cities, Melbourne has its share of clocks that Melburnian's simply know where to find when they need to tell the time. Melbourne CBD Flinders Street Station: Our best known clocks are the Flinders Street Station clocks, although t Read more..

The City of Melbourne's Armorial Bearings (or arms) were first granted to the Corporation of the City of Melbourne by Letters Patent of the Kings of Arms dated 30 January 1940. They were based on the device approved by the Council of the Town of Melb Read more..

The City of Melbourne's flag features the coat of arms, with the bull, whale, ship and the fleece hanging from a red ring. They are in the four quarters of the Cross of St George, with the Royal Crown in the centre of the cross. Source: City Read more..

At first glance, this is a rather plain photograph of Sandridge (now Port Melbourne) taken in 1873 except if you look closer you will see something quite remarkable. A rotary clothes line! That's 73 years 'before' the Hills hoist developed by La Read more..

As visitors to Melbourne travel along the CityLink motorway heading into the Melbourne CBD, they’re confronted by 39 giant red poles lining the road, and an enormous yellow pillar tilted precariously over the traffic below. Officially named the ‘ Read more..

The style of dance Melbourne Shuffle had its origins in the 70's and continues to spread with a passion across the world's dance floors into the 90's. The Melbourne Shuffle movements are typical jazz dance steps incorporated with a modern twist. Read more..

According to the Tetlow Index, Melbourne's oldest pub is the Duke of Wellington Hotel on the corner of Flinders and Russell Streets built in 1850 and licenced in 1853. The next oldest surviving hotel is Mac's Hotel built in 1853, the early gold es Read more..

Melbourne's parks and gardens contain a wide variety of native animals... A study in Royal Park in 1999 revealed the presence of significant fauna species including the large forest bat, gold-headed cristicola, purple-crowned lorikeet, Richard's P Read more..

I am often asked "what is the oldest surviving building in Melbourne" in my travels and came across an article about the history of Melbourne on the monash.edu.au web site. Before the Gold Rushes below is only part of the original article but does Read more..

Seeing this iconic picture postcard of Ron Clarke lighting the Olympic cauldron at the M.C.G in 1956 reminded me of two bits of trivia. Firstly, the well known fact that Ron Clarke had burnt his forearm while reaching in to light the flame, but Read more..

We simply wanted to see if we could get the term Our Melbourne [ourmelbourne] ranked as a search term @ Google or Yahoo. It was suggested that Our Melbourne or www.ourmelbourne.com.au would have been an interesting alternative name for OnlyMelbour Read more..

Ice-cream will definitely be on the menu when Peters, an Australian brand as recognisable as Vegemite and Four'n Twenty, celebrates its centenary with a lunch for its 500 staff on Tuesday. Peter's was founded in 1907 by American migrant Fred Pete Read more..

STRIKING REDHEAD ICON CELEBRATES 60th ANNIVERSARY Every Australian knows and trusts the Redheads brand and their leading lady, affectionately known as Miss Redheads; a contemporary beauty that has done it all, from her humble beginnings in Richmon Read more..

Enjoy signs of Melbourne.. Sign over a Gynaecologist’s Office: Dr. Jones, at your cervix ************************** In a Podiatrist's office: Time wounds all heels ************************** On a Septic Tank Truck: Y Read more..

Victoria's landmass of 228,000 square kilometres is about the size of the United Kingdom or a little smaller than the US state of California. By comparison, Australia's size is roughly equal to mainland USA and a little larger than continental Eu Read more..

We have long wondered how many songs have been inspired by our marvellous Melbourne with lyrics about suburbs, place names and objects. Anyone growing up in Melbourne remembers Balwyn Calling from Skyhooks or Who hasn't waited for a loved one Unde Read more..

Tarax was the brand-name of an independent Melbourne soft drink bottler and a market innovator including sponsorship of the Tarax Happy Show and the development of new packaging, such as the steel can. Producing a wide range of flavours including Read more..

Trugo is a sport invented in the railway repair workshops of Newport in the Western suburbs of Melbourne by railway workers in the 1920s. There are only 2 "games" that can be claimed to have been invented in Melbourne. Trugo like Australian Rul Read more..

Eye-witness accounts in Melbourne early morning on 30 June 1908 of a cylindrical object travelling extremely fast from south-south-east to south-east. Where was it headed? The answer appears to be the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean off the north coa Read more..

It is 50 degrees, dusty and very cramped. We are in a service tunnel under Parkville's Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) which supplies steam to the Children's Hospital nearby. The tunnel is more than 400 metres long and can only be accessed by goin Read more..

We intially had a giggle when we were asked how many tunnels were under Melbourne, but we decided not to have tunnel-vision (hehe) and we soon found there was more to it. A little research into tunnels under Melbourne, we were surprised to discove Read More..

A Melbourne man named Fred Walker had the bright idea of using yeast extract to create a wonderful source of vitamin B and a tasty new spread named VEGEMITE. A little known fact is every jar of Vegemite 'ever made' has come from the Melbourne fact Read more..

3AW's breakfast shows Ross and John took callers with new names for existing suburbs in Melbourne. Scum-bry for Sunbury Crazy burn for Craigieburn Freakston for Frankston Chernobyl Park for Noble Park Wonthaggi - Moe by the sea Dandebon Read more..

WHAT’S in a street name? Residents in many suburbs may wonder about the curious names of some of their streets and how they came to be. An area south of Riversdale Rd along Elgar Rd, opposite Wattle Park in Melbourne’s mid-eastern suburbs, was su Read more..

We receive many enquiries asking what happened to, so here is an over-view of the most commonly asked What Happened To? By the way, if you have one, then ask away below... YELLOW PERIL VAULT was a controversal public sculpture by Ron Robertson Read more..

We came across two versions of "what it means to be Australian"... 1. What it means to be Australian Being Australian is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkis Read more..

The question of "why are shoes hanging by the laces from power lines?" has popped up a number of times, we decided to do a little research. Shoes hanging from power lines suggestions ! - Drug dealer nearby - Time-honored tradition on the las Read more..

Wobbies World is a defunct amusement park which operated from about 1970 to the late 1990's in the Melbourne suburb of Forest Hill. The park was quite small in area and targeted mainly to the simple expectations of young children. The park consist Read more..

Want that house hold accessory that will leave your guests jaws dropping, then what you need is a Woofer Speaker System. Made by Dutch designer Sander Mulder, these functional speakers engineered by a professional audio studio produce 60 watt - 1 Read more..

Melbourne is not only known for many Australian firsts, but also for world FIRSTS, paving the way in many areas and proving that Melbourne truly is a remarkable city... The new Melbourne Convention Centre has been awarded a 6 Star Green Star envir Read more..

Have we got a new challenger for the world's shortest 'highway' in Melbourne. For many years Chandler Highway was considered the worlds shortest highway, but we noticed on Google maps that part of City Road in Southbank is actually named Yarra B Read more..