The first electric Tilt Train service runs from Brisbane to Rockhampton. With a top speed of 165km/h, and the ability to tilt 5 degrees in each direction, the Tilt Train is the fastest train in Australia.
1996
Queensland-born and educated immunologist Professor Peter Doherty shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his Swiss colleague Professor Rolf Zinkernagel for discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.
The first high-speed CityCat service begins in Brisbane.
1995
Queensland wins the Sheffield Shield for the first time—68 years after joining the national cricket competition.
Just outside Cairns, stretching 7.5km, Skyrail is one of the state's top tourist attractions.
1994
Cathy Freeman carries both the Australian and Aboriginal flags at the Commonwealth Games in Canada after winning 2 events.
1992
The landmark High Court case, Mabo v Queensland (no.2) on 3 June overturns the concept of terra nullius. This lawsuit achieved victory as Queensland’s first successful land rights case.
The Fitzgerald Inquiry starts. It reforms the public service, the police service, electoral processes and government accountability over several years. Some politicians and the Police Commissioner are convicted and jailed.
Queensland's largest dam, the Burdekin Falls Dam (south-west of Ayr) is completed, with a capacity 4 times that of Sydney Harbour.
The iconic Cloudland Ballroom at Bowen Hills is demolished overnight, following the demolition of Brisbane's historic Bellevue Hotel 3 years earlier. These events changed the way Queenslanders saw and valued their heritage.
Protests against uranium mining during Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s reign as Premier provides a pretext for the government to ban street marches in Queensland for the first time in September. The legislation is met with strong opposition from church leaders, trade unionists, civil libertarians and academics.
The Brisbane flood—the worst flood since 1893—leads to major flood mitigation works. The Wivenhoe Dam is built.
1973
Surf clothing company Billabong is founded on the Gold Coast by surfer and surfboard shaper Gordon Merchant and his partner.
Arsonists James Finch and John Stuart are jailed for fire-bombing the Whiskey-Au-Go-Go nightclub on St Pauls Terrace in Brisbane—the worst mass murder in Australia until the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
1971
Queenslander Neville Bonner becomes the first Indigenous person to be elected to Federal Parliament as a Senator for Queensland.
The Bruce Highway linking Brisbane and Cairns is completed. This encourages growth in tourism as Queenslanders take advantage of shorter travel times to places such as the Whitsunday Islands.
Rockhampton-born ‘Rocket’ Rod Laver wins the tennis Grand Slam (the only man to win it twice—again in 1969).
1961
Brisbane changes forever under the leadership of Lord Mayor Clem Jones (until 1975), whose city council introduces town planning and massive development programs.
Queensland celebrates the first Centenary of Separation in December. Highlights of the celebrations include the presentation of Miss Queensland to the Deputy Premier and re-enactments of Governor Bowen’s arrival at the Botanical Gardens.
The Cooktown Orchid becomes Queensland's floral emblem.
Best known for house calls to the sick and elderly, Blue Care becomes the Blue Nursing Service, an initiative of members of the Methodist Mission at West End.
1946
Free public hospital treatment is available to Queenslanders for the first time.
1944
Rhodes Scholar, Fred Paterson, becomes the first and only member of a Communist party ever to be elected to parliament in Australia.
1942
Japanese flying boats bomb Townsville (26 to 29 July) and Mossman (31 July). There are no fatalities and only one minor injury is recorded.
1941
American troops are first deployed to Brisbane in March to the reception of enthusiastic crowds, and later in December following simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbour and the Philippines.
1940
The Story Bridge, Brisbane's most iconic bridge, first opens and is named after John Douglas Story.
1939
World War II starts with Germany's invasion of Poland (the war ends in 1945).
Dr James Mayne and sister Mary Emilia give their entire estate to The University of Queensland for medical education.
1935
Cane toads are deliberately introduced to Queensland from Hawaii to reduce the number of French’s Cane and Greyback Cane beetles that were destroying the roots of sugar cane plants.
1934
Somerset Dam is built due to the need for a more substantial and consistent water supply to meet future demands.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service is founded by Reverend John Flynn in response to an emergency call. John Flynn is today commemorated on the Australian $20 note.
Brisbane-born pioneer aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his colleagues completed the first air crossing of the Pacific, from San Francisco to Brisbane.
1927
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary at Fig Tree Pocket is the world's first koala sanctuary and the first to breed captive koalas.
1925
Dors Hassell stars in Charles Chauvel's first movie, The Moth of Moonbi, made by Australian Film Production, and shot mainly in the Brisbane bush (released January 1926).
1924
The winking Mr XXXX, atop the Milton brewery in Brisbane, makes his first appearance.
Qantas – Australia’s first airline is established on 16 November by 4 World War I veterans at Winton.
1917
Prime Minister Billy Hughes forms the Australian Federal Police after local police refuse to arrest the men responsible for throwing eggs at him during a pro-conscription rally in Warwick.
In March, the Queensland Patriotic Fund requests permission to hold an inaugural art union to raise money for the Australian Soldiers’ Repatriation Fund. Termed the ‘Golden Casket’, the first prize was equivalent to 30 years of a skilled tradesman’s wage.
1916
The proposal to introduce conscription divided government opinion throughout Australia. Queensland’s Labor Government remained committed to a volunteer army. The weight of public opinion resulted in Queensland and New South Wales voting against conscription in the 1916 referendum.
1915
Premier TJ Ryan leads the first Queensland ALP government to govern without the need of non-Labor Members of Parliament (MPs). Labor is in power from 1915–1957 (except during 1929–1932).
1914
World War I is declared (the war ends in 1918).
Yatala Pie Shop opens.
1912
A dispute, concerning union badges on Brisbane tramway workers’ uniforms, spreads across 43 unions with the Strike Bulletin describing it as 'the first simultaneous strike in the world'.
The University of Queensland is the first university in the state, officially founded on April 16. Teaching starts in 1911 in Old Government House in George Street, Brisbane.
1909
Queensland surf lifesavers rescue a group of young women in the first recorded rescue, at Greenmount Beach, Coolangatta.
Rugby League is established as a separate sport from Rugby Union.
1907
On 18 May 1907, women voted for the first time in a Queensland state election.
1906
Pacific Islanders who had arrived to work as servants in Queensland are deported due to the adoption of White Australia Policy legislation adopted in 1901.
Under the Jacaranda is painted by R. Godfrey Rivers, a leading Queensland artist. This is a popular painting among visitors to the Queensland Art Gallery.
1901
The colony of Queensland becomes a state of the new Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January.
The Queensland Heritage Collection at QAGOMA encompasses the work of artists in all media, both historical and contemporary, and aims to establish a distinctive regional identity for Queensland.
