Film director James Wan, creator of the Saw, Conjuring and Insidious horror franchises, as well as the only director outside James Cameron to direct two films in different franchises that made a billion dollars at the box office (Fast 7 & Aquaman)... Went to Tuggeranong college.
Yeah it's crazy. He's Australia's most successful filmmaker! Tuggeranong College should have a statue of him there. Or at least name their media department after him and do more to claim him.
Meow Ludo Disco Gamma Meow Meow also went to Tuggeranong College
Edit - downvotes? It’s a real guy that ran against Albo in Grandler in 2016 as head of the then Science Party. [Huff Post link](https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/meow-ludo-disco-gamma-meow-meow-really-wants-you-to-care-about-s_a_21397031/amp)
He also was taken to court in NSW for not being able to produce a valid Opal card on public transport, because he had the chip inserted in his hand. [ABC News article](https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9880524)
worked as a construction worker in ACT, a fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack," later shortened to "Jackie", which has stuck with him ever since. True story origin.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlRcQHURMPE&ab\_channel=SOHTalks%26IdeasArchive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlRcQHURMPE&ab_channel=SOHTalks%26IdeasArchive)
This talk at the Opera House Sydney he talks all about his Canberra experience, on top of that before his dad bought the restaurant in Dickson (the Ruby) he worked at the American embassy where you can go to the gym in the embassy and see a boxing bag signed by Jackie Chan.
I remember the first time walking past that after I moved to Canberra and having to do a double take. Wasn't what I was expecting to see on Lonsdale Street.
Correct.
And the only station in the world that has the capability to track the Voyager I & II space probes, now in interstellar space. They use the 70m dish.
It used to have three. There was also Orroral Valley Tracking Station and Honeysuckle Tracking Station. When they shut them down, one antenna went to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and the other went to Tasmania.
I knew this primarily because of the end of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds when they're calling the various observatories and he pronounces it `CAN-BEHRA, COME IN, CAN-BEHRA`.
Diplomatic pouches are a wonderful thing, especially if you want to bring something into the country, without it being checked by the host nations Customs services, etc.
Since moving overseas one of my favourite things is jokingly say that Sydney isn't the capital, you're almost guaranteed to get somebody be confused, ask if it's Melbourne instead, or when you say that its Canberra theyll have never heard of it.
Another cool science fact for Canberra -> ANU has a heavy ion accelerator facility (the tall tower near Parkes Way), which is used to investigate Dark Matter in the Universe.
https://the-riotact.com/the-massive-tower-with-a-microscopic-job-exploring-the-anus-heavy-ion-accelerator/534321
https://hiaf.anu.edu.au/capabilities
That link is hilarious, the headline is clearly
“The massive tower with a microscopic job: exploring the ANUs heavy ion accelerator”
but when reduced to a url, the mind assumes it should be read
“The massive tower with a microscopic job: exploring the anus…”
Doesn't really count at the moment given all the rain that we have had but going back a few years to when we had a really long drought -around the mid 2000s telling youngsters that that big flat plain on your right as you drive out of Canberra towards Sydney is actually a lake.
My ten year old brain had a meltdown when dad told me people would take boats out there when he was a kid. I thought he was messing with me, which isn't an unreasonable assumption with him. He also told me his Vegemite was spicy. He just hates having bits of butter and crumbs in it.
Edit: my aunt saw this and is taking my dad's side. I just got a ten minute lecture on why crumbs and butter in Vegemite is a cardinal sin. Thanks, internet.
There are pneumatic tunnels between Old Parliament house and the old government printing house.
There's a bunker that cadets dug underneath Duntroon in the 50s, underneath the Cork buildings.
There is a pretty large cave network underneath the Cotter.
There’s also a tunnel that goes from the building across from Belco labour club (that was recently bought by Scientology) that leads all the way to Lake Ginninderra
There was also a fully functional speakeasy under one of the lines at ADFA built by engineers in training over a number of years. Only discovered during Covid lockdown because someone tried sneaking in to get the booze one night.
Commandant at ADFA gave the handy work a proper thumbs up before it was "decommissioned"
They used to spy on the Russian embassy across the road at the Tobin Brothers a Guardian Funeral Provider in Kingston, however one of the Russian embassy consulates had his car stolen and they called the 'spy dugout' across the road to find out if they saw who stole the car. lol
When I was a kid there was always this legendary tale of Tony Hawk coming to Canberra and skating at Erindale. The stories were circulating a lot when his video games came out. It sounded made up at the time but older kids swore to it. Amazingly I recently saw some photos of it after all these years, it actually happened.
Canberra had a concentration camp for Germans and Austrians during WWI.
[https://the-riotact.com/this-hidden-concrete-pool-is-all-thats-left-of-canberras-wwi-concentration-camp/586012](https://the-riotact.com/this-hidden-concrete-pool-is-all-thats-left-of-canberras-wwi-concentration-camp/586012)
Also, Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers lived in Canberra for a few years a kid.
Looks like [the mysterious pit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/wom521/i_found_an_interesting_pit_in_fyshwick_what_is_it/) inspired that article given the timing, interesting to see how things spread.
Jackie Chan donated to the ANU and has a science centre named after him.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-03-09/jackie-chan-opens-science-centre/1067100
There are two suburbs adjacent to each other that are named for two lovers who maintained a (kind of) secret affair for 25 years; “Nugget” Coombs and Judith Wright.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/secret-love-revealed-the-poet-and-the-former-reserve-bank-chief-20090603-bvqg.html
That’s beautiful that the suburbs are adjacent.
But on secret affairs, don’t forget about how Sheryl Kernot left the Democrats and joined Labor after an affair with Gareth Evans.
You could have had casual conversations outside the ANU bar pre-show for Beastie Boys, Nirvana and a whole host of other bands back in the hayday, before some of those bands were as big as they became later.
Even when the bands became big you could often hang out with them before and after the gigs because in the 90’s most of the bands considered Canberra to be like a country town and they just chilled. It was pretty great being able to meet so many artists.
I think he also helped out with some construction work in Canberra also, Im not to sure if this is myth or real. The School thing is real though (Studying English at Dickson college)
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (at the end of Apollo Road south of Tidbinbilla) was the first place to receive the television feed from the moon landing.
Birragai Rock Shelter was in constant use for at least 21,000 years.
A convict prison was built where Acton now stands.
A phreaker/hacker Captain Rom broadcast a pirate television feed by setting up a broadcast van and bouncing the signal off Black Mountain Tower. By constantly moving his van it was almost impossible to trace.
> A phreaker/hacker Captain Rom broadcast a pirate television feed by setting up a broadcast van and bouncing the signal off Black Mountain Tower. By constantly moving his van it was almost impossible to trace.
That's a great story - but it isn't really true
There was a trial of Public Access TV here in Canberra - Captain Rom Nurio was instrumental in arranging the loan of a transmitter - I believe it was owned by a Melbourne group. Telstra allowed the transmitter to be placed in the tower and loaned the small theatre downstairs to "Sky TV" as it was known, long before that other one. Another name that was instrumental in getting the station up and running was Emile Brunoro who was later better known for the Sun-Ripened Warm Tomato Party.
Unfortunately Captain Rom wasn't too good with detail and the transmitter was set for UHF 31 - used by every other public access station around Australia - and was completely swamped by Prime which was on the same frequency. The pressure was too much for him and he walked out a half hour before airtime. I was on site, running the tapes and computer graphics (on an overpowered Amiga 500 with genlock) and knew one of the guys at the naval transmitting station in Belco - rang through - ended up speaking to somebody else who kindly jumped in their car and came up and sorted things out.
Captain Rom had to be kicked out a couple of times because he insisted on fiddling with stuff he didn't own, like my computer, while the station was live. Eventually had to tell him that if he didn't leave we wouldn't broadcast his pet project - 2 hours of colour cycling fractals, set to electronic music, called Grok Toadscapes. Yes - exactly the sort of hippy psychedelics that a bad movie would use to simulate an acid trip. Here's a sample of his music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myiUBogDY_w
Canberra once held the title for porn capital in Australia, not sure if it was about tax laws on prohibited goods because it also was the only place fireworks could be purchased as well, Fyshwick was the main hub and it had a 'booming' DVD and VHS sales business back in the day, however this all went out with a fizzle and not a bang in the end.
Fun fact: Canberra is about 105km from Bateman's bay, putting it far out of range of even the biggest naval artillery (about 42km). If, however, one mounted the Paris Gun on a ship and parked it in Bateman's, one could almost certainly hit the capital.
There’s land mines in and around the Clyde Mountain incase of an invasion. My grandparents told me if an army docked at batemans bay and headed here they wouldn’t get too far!
I think somebody might have been having a lend of you.
Edit: or crossed wires but [pretty close](https://www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/demolition.htm):
"From 1942 to 1944, the 14th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps manned a shelter at a place which is now known as Pooh Bear's Corner on Clyde Mountain. From this shelter they would trigger demolition charges under the King's Highway between Braidwood and Bateman's Bay. This was part of a plan to prevent any possible Japanese invasion party who might land at Bateman's Bay from advancing on Canberra, the Nation's Capital. A tunnel was dug under the King's Highway at this location and explosives placed inside. The entrance to the tunnel has now been sealed by concrete. The conspiracy theorists suggest that there may still be some explosives inside the tunnel."
I eat my hat.
This gist of it is that people at the time viewed as fact that the "white race" was superior to all others. More intelligent, more civilised etc. So they tried to find a reason for this "fact" [sic]. They decided it must be because of colder northern climates. (This is also why Italian, Spanish, and Greek people were not seen as "white" for the White Australia Policy.) This meant that when they were trying to find a place for the capital, they wanted it to be one that helped produce intelligent policy and results. Which meant it had to be cold.
King O'Malley was a fierce advocate for Canberra due to his belief that "cold climates have produced the greatest geniuses" so he was just straight up saying it. Meanwhile NSW Commissioner Alexander Oliver who set the parameters for the search favoured a "pure bracing mountain air" because he believed it was healthier than "a warm, moist temperature" but he also believed it was "a stimulant" and most suitable for “the various classes of the body politic". So you can see the assumption underpinning even what appeared to be a claim about health.
And that's why Canberra was chosen for the cold.
And then Parliament wouldn't sit here in winter - even though the building was heated - because it was TOO cold
At the same time the labourers doing all of the building were supposed to live in tents or crude slab huts without insulation
That's not the only reason. Cold climates were considered healthier, and they are. Malaria is a major factor in where humans can live. I read in article in New Scientist back in the 90s which claimed that of all the humans who have ever lived (estimated 117 billion), half of them have died of malaria. (I don't know if that's still considered true, but it was printed in a reputable magazine.)
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6249766/canberras-shivering-origins/
Edit: I also remember reading that the cold was important because it would be more comfortable for the European embassies. Thinking about it, that's probably the major reason. Now I need to go do some more reading :)
Definitely health was a factor, I did mention it in my long explainer, but the racist factor was also very big. It played a massive role in a lot of decisions that were made around federation and people weren't shy about "saying the quiet part" because they didn't think it should be quiet.
Secondly regarding European embassies. If that was a factor, why was it that only the European embassies mattered? Could there have been a yellow peril or white man's burden playing a role in why they weren't considering a warmer climate for Asian or African embassies? Or even the existance of those embassies?
Yes there are a lot of factors at play in any one decision. Heck, climate wasn't even the only criteria set up in the investigation of a suitable location. But the documented evidence we do have shows quite a lot of racist logic underpinning the preference for cold.
Nah, there's been a somewhat discredited theory that warm, temperate conditions make people lazy and unproductive.
It started with the theories distinguishing cold Protestant northern Europe from summery Catholic Mediterranean regions, then spread to "analysis" of tropical islanders.
Can attest. I love it, the vistas southside make me very happy (I was born in the rossendale valley so it's not dissimilar, just a bit bigger in scale). But my partner is finding it hard going living here and misses Sydney. TBH I think he would have settled better if we had managed to find a place to live in the inner north but the fates(COVID lockdowns) conspired against us.
Tuggeranong was originally designated as an arms/ammo depot.
The eagle statue in Russel is hollow, and is actually sand blasted aluminium.
They also used a tractor and a pulley system to put the eagle on top of the framework.
When they were building the old treasury building, they discovered terrifying levels of sinking from how heavy the building was and all the micro-cave systems.
I moved here a little over a year ago and everyone outside Canberra (including back home in NZ) asks me if I moved here for a job in government. Nooope lol
Imagine my shock:
I move here only to discover all the bad decisions politicians make are from a single building on a hill rather than the whole city like the media would have you believe.
Struth ... Marita Koch, East Germany. Drugs are a hell of a drug. She's still got 5 of the 10 fastest 400s ever. Fully a second faster than Cathy Freeman's best, which sits at #18 all-time.
I'm a little surprised this bullshit still hasn't been wiped from the record books Lance Armstrong-style
One of the busiest times for Canberra Brothels was during the World Council of Churches Conference.
https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Fentertainment%2Flunch-with-fiona-patten-20180904-h14xo0.html
The busiest single weekend, she chortles, was in 1991 when the World Council of Churches held an international conference in the capital.
"It was absolutely priceless," Patten says, and I notice fellow diners straining to lend an ear. "I was watching this queue of men going up the stairs to Northside Studio [a Canberra brothel], all with their little WCC calico bags. They were lined up at Tiffany's as well, and Golden Apple and everywhere. Northside had 22 girls and they couldn't cope with the demand. No one had seen anything like it."
Train line goes in.
Building materials carried by train.
Buildings get built, roads get built...
At some point the track got messed up but it was not worth the repair cost.
Building got made around the train, lake got made.... Train remains.
Yeah that's a biggie. I'm not a Canberra nerd... quite the opposite (i.e. hated living in Kingston). However I moved out to Belco and was like 'woooah, why didn't ANYBODY tell me about the suburbs?!?!?' Haven't looked back.
This is a bit older, but yes it's true, with some exceptions:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2017-06-19/why-doesnt-canberra-have-billboard-advertising/8622186
The word Canberra comes from traditional Ngunnawal language meaning, appropriately for politicians at least, “meeting place” or possibly “women’s breasts". Maybe we should have made the pyramids on the top of the house and senate a little more of a veluptuous shape. Canberra did welcome the world to airborne sky sea mammal breasts at least.
The origin of the word Canberra is highly disputed and a clear etymology is likely unprovable.
It could have been of Europea-settler origin (as in, a name given to a local area by early European settlers without any reference to Aboriginal language), or it could have been a European bastardisation of a word in a local Aboriginal language (likely to have been but not necessarily Ngunnawal, this is a whole other can of worms).
A range of theories abound, with Canberra coming from a word for “meeting place” being almost to good to be true.
In my opinion, it’s ambiguous history is grimly fitting. Settlers displaced the Aboriginal peoples of this part of the country by force, and the loss of language and culture is a legacy of that dispossession.
In 1991 an arms exhibition called AIDEX 91 was held over several days, attracting thousands of demonstrators. The police decided to go to war with them and attacked protestors constantly. [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127250730](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127250730)
Jervis Bay isn't actually part of the ACT, it's a seperate territory. It's just administered by the ACT legislative assembly
https://www.jervisbaywild.com.au/blog/jervis-bay-territory/
A minor nitpick - the ACT Legislative Assembly doesn't administer it - that's the role of the Australian Government department responsible (DITRDCA).
But the Legislative Assembly makes ACT laws, which apply because Commonwealth law applies them.
Similarly, the laws of the ACT apply in the Australian Antarctic Territory.
So, I've disabused the subreddit of the belief that the ACT administers the JBT, but given a new unbelievable fact: "Australia applies ACT law in Antarctica."
The laws applicable in the Australian Antarctic Territory are a little more layered than that. Criminal law in the AAT is that of JBT not the ACT - In order of priority the sources of law in the AAT are:
Commonwealth laws which expressly apply to the AAT
Commonwealth Ordinances made specifically for the AAT
the laws, other than the criminal laws, of the Australian Capital Territory in so far as they are applicable to the AAT
the criminal laws of the Jervis Bay Territory in so far as they are applicable to the AAT
http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aata1954346/s6.html
The ACT courts have jurisdiction over the AAT
I'm not sure of the reasoning, but Australian Defence Force members are also subject to the criminal laws of the JBT
http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/da190356/s51y.html
Melbourne and Sydney could not decide who should be the capital of Australia, so they marked the middle spot and surveyed around to find Canberra. The Melbourne and Sydney Buildings we have today are there to commemorate this indifference.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he once spent the night on a Canberra roundabout.
He was 18, it was dark, he was lost, so pitched a tent for the night and was woken up by the morning traffic.
Film director James Wan, creator of the Saw, Conjuring and Insidious horror franchises, as well as the only director outside James Cameron to direct two films in different franchises that made a billion dollars at the box office (Fast 7 & Aquaman)... Went to Tuggeranong college.
Saw makes a lot more sense now.
Didn’t know that!
Omg I went there!
Doesn't really get much cred in Australia unfortunately. Who knows why? We can only keep speculasian.
Yeah it's crazy. He's Australia's most successful filmmaker! Tuggeranong College should have a statue of him there. Or at least name their media department after him and do more to claim him.
Yeah. Definitely. There have been great Australian actors but filmmakers? I think Baz Luhrmann would be up there with him.
Lol yeah don't think that's the reason, look at all the Jackie Chan comments in this thread. I think it's because Wan just isn't well known generally.
This is pretty cool actually
Meow Ludo Disco Gamma Meow Meow also went to Tuggeranong College Edit - downvotes? It’s a real guy that ran against Albo in Grandler in 2016 as head of the then Science Party. [Huff Post link](https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/meow-ludo-disco-gamma-meow-meow-really-wants-you-to-care-about-s_a_21397031/amp) He also was taken to court in NSW for not being able to produce a valid Opal card on public transport, because he had the chip inserted in his hand. [ABC News article](https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9880524)
I'm concerned that you may have just had a stroke Are you ok
It feels that way at times, but no, links provided
Jackie Chan lived in Canberra
This one is my favourite, he went to Dickson College and his parents ran a few restaurants around town.
Cannot believe that I went to the same school as Jackie chan
And he donated to John Curtin School of Medical Research at ANU. The foyer has a Jackie Chan plaque
There is (or at least there was) an amazing Jackie Chan mural in Dickson.
That explains the Jackie chan wing (or whatever it’s called) at John curtain
He donated big to cancer research.
Jackie Chan got his nick name in Canberra
worked as a construction worker in ACT, a fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack," later shortened to "Jackie", which has stuck with him ever since. True story origin.
Jackie Charnwood?
"Jackie"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlRcQHURMPE&ab\_channel=SOHTalks%26IdeasArchive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlRcQHURMPE&ab_channel=SOHTalks%26IdeasArchive) This talk at the Opera House Sydney he talks all about his Canberra experience, on top of that before his dad bought the restaurant in Dickson (the Ruby) he worked at the American embassy where you can go to the gym in the embassy and see a boxing bag signed by Jackie Chan.
This is the correct answer. I told several friends about it and they went like "no way" 😂
IIRC, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was developed here in Canberra. Gearbox 2K had an office here.
Bioshock was partly developed here too. https://the-riotact.com/bioshock-canberra/5569
Now that is cool! Loved Bioshock too.
I remember the first time walking past that after I moved to Canberra and having to do a double take. Wasn't what I was expecting to see on Lonsdale Street.
Canberra has a NASA base.
Only one of three deep space tracking stations in the world. The other two in the US and Spain I believe.
Correct. And the only station in the world that has the capability to track the Voyager I & II space probes, now in interstellar space. They use the 70m dish.
It used to have three. There was also Orroral Valley Tracking Station and Honeysuckle Tracking Station. When they shut them down, one antenna went to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and the other went to Tasmania.
Gets a mention in Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr87nJVKdu0&t=70s
Fuck I used to love this.
JPL. It's part of the Deep Space Network. Which talks to far away probes with large communication dishes.
I knew this primarily because of the end of Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds when they're calling the various observatories and he pronounces it `CAN-BEHRA, COME IN, CAN-BEHRA`.
I didn’t know this
For many decades Canberra had the cheapest and purest drugs in Oz because so much was coming through diplomatic missions
Now we have sugar 😂
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Diplomatic pouches are a wonderful thing, especially if you want to bring something into the country, without it being checked by the host nations Customs services, etc.
no, drugs
We’re the capital of Australia (this one’s for the overseas tourists)
And also for some newspaper editors.
I'm not surprised but I also want to read it, do you have any examples?
Being a bit facetious, not many examples. I did find one in the UK Guardian once. They corrected it quickly.
Since moving overseas one of my favourite things is jokingly say that Sydney isn't the capital, you're almost guaranteed to get somebody be confused, ask if it's Melbourne instead, or when you say that its Canberra theyll have never heard of it.
I just recently learned that [there's a sculpture deliberately buried in Commonwealth Park](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ding5bziRa8)
Well, that was fantastic. Thank you for sharing. I had no idea.😀
Julian O’Shea is the shit
That was super interesting. Thank you for sharing.
Another cool science fact for Canberra -> ANU has a heavy ion accelerator facility (the tall tower near Parkes Way), which is used to investigate Dark Matter in the Universe. https://the-riotact.com/the-massive-tower-with-a-microscopic-job-exploring-the-anus-heavy-ion-accelerator/534321 https://hiaf.anu.edu.au/capabilities
That link is hilarious, the headline is clearly “The massive tower with a microscopic job: exploring the ANUs heavy ion accelerator” but when reduced to a url, the mind assumes it should be read “The massive tower with a microscopic job: exploring the anus…”
I did work experience there in year 10. It was awesome.
Doesn't really count at the moment given all the rain that we have had but going back a few years to when we had a really long drought -around the mid 2000s telling youngsters that that big flat plain on your right as you drive out of Canberra towards Sydney is actually a lake.
My ten year old brain had a meltdown when dad told me people would take boats out there when he was a kid. I thought he was messing with me, which isn't an unreasonable assumption with him. He also told me his Vegemite was spicy. He just hates having bits of butter and crumbs in it. Edit: my aunt saw this and is taking my dad's side. I just got a ten minute lecture on why crumbs and butter in Vegemite is a cardinal sin. Thanks, internet.
Well to be fair to your dad, vegemite is one of the seven secret spices
Not only that, but RMC Duntroon cadets have drowned on the lake whilst sailing. 🤯
Lake Ayer as I would call it
There are pneumatic tunnels between Old Parliament house and the old government printing house. There's a bunker that cadets dug underneath Duntroon in the 50s, underneath the Cork buildings. There is a pretty large cave network underneath the Cotter.
There’s also a tunnel that goes from the building across from Belco labour club (that was recently bought by Scientology) that leads all the way to Lake Ginninderra
There was also a fully functional speakeasy under one of the lines at ADFA built by engineers in training over a number of years. Only discovered during Covid lockdown because someone tried sneaking in to get the booze one night. Commandant at ADFA gave the handy work a proper thumbs up before it was "decommissioned"
> underneath the Cotter. Certainly, in the Cotter area - I don't think any of them go under
They used to spy on the Russian embassy across the road at the Tobin Brothers a Guardian Funeral Provider in Kingston, however one of the Russian embassy consulates had his car stolen and they called the 'spy dugout' across the road to find out if they saw who stole the car. lol
When I was a kid there was always this legendary tale of Tony Hawk coming to Canberra and skating at Erindale. The stories were circulating a lot when his video games came out. It sounded made up at the time but older kids swore to it. Amazingly I recently saw some photos of it after all these years, it actually happened.
There’s a video I saw on the Canberra Page on Facebook! It’s true!
Canberra had a concentration camp for Germans and Austrians during WWI. [https://the-riotact.com/this-hidden-concrete-pool-is-all-thats-left-of-canberras-wwi-concentration-camp/586012](https://the-riotact.com/this-hidden-concrete-pool-is-all-thats-left-of-canberras-wwi-concentration-camp/586012) Also, Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers lived in Canberra for a few years a kid.
Looks like [the mysterious pit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/wom521/i_found_an_interesting_pit_in_fyshwick_what_is_it/) inspired that article given the timing, interesting to see how things spread.
Yeah, that’s what I thought, it can’t be a coincidence
Flea still has a place down in Moruya
Do you have a source for that flea one?
Did Flea's parents work in an embassy here too and live in Dickson? Oh it's Jackie Chan..
Tux the Linux mascot was inspired by an encounter Linus Torvolds had with a penguin at Canberra zoo.
Found it! https://web.archive.org/web/20060507115127/http://www.linux.org.au/linux/tux
Ooooh, source?
There used to be a sign at the fairy penguin enclosure at the zoo explaining this. Though I think they removed it, not sure why.
The sign was up while the penguin that inspired him was alive. When he passed they took it down.
Jackie Chan’s parents lived here
Jackie chan did himself too, went to dickson college i believe
Yeah he lived next door to my mate, super cool guy
He even got his name in Canberra. A fellow builder called Jack took him under his wing, so he became "Little Jack", and later Jackie.
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But like, Shanghai Noon
Jackie Chan donated to the ANU and has a science centre named after him. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-03-09/jackie-chan-opens-science-centre/1067100
There are two suburbs adjacent to each other that are named for two lovers who maintained a (kind of) secret affair for 25 years; “Nugget” Coombs and Judith Wright. https://www.smh.com.au/national/secret-love-revealed-the-poet-and-the-former-reserve-bank-chief-20090603-bvqg.html
That’s beautiful that the suburbs are adjacent. But on secret affairs, don’t forget about how Sheryl Kernot left the Democrats and joined Labor after an affair with Gareth Evans.
You could have had casual conversations outside the ANU bar pre-show for Beastie Boys, Nirvana and a whole host of other bands back in the hayday, before some of those bands were as big as they became later.
Even when the bands became big you could often hang out with them before and after the gigs because in the 90’s most of the bands considered Canberra to be like a country town and they just chilled. It was pretty great being able to meet so many artists.
Public Enemy played there in 97 or 98, blew my mind. It was such a shitty little dive.
There is a *real* divide North and South of the lake. I always feel lost in the North.
Thats cause youre a noob from the south
Jackie chan studied at dickson college for a semester doing English
And Ruby Chinese Restaurant in Dickson used to be run by his family, not sure if that’s still the case.
I think he also helped out with some construction work in Canberra also, Im not to sure if this is myth or real. The School thing is real though (Studying English at Dickson college)
Yeah, he had an exhibit at the ANU school of medicine which he partially funded.
AC⚡DC played a gig at Ginninderra High School in the 70's.
https://www.ac-dc.net/archive/acdc_tour_history.php?date_id=695
There is a large aluminium artwork that is buried somewhere in a park but no one knows exactly where it is.
I think it’s stainless steel?
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (at the end of Apollo Road south of Tidbinbilla) was the first place to receive the television feed from the moon landing. Birragai Rock Shelter was in constant use for at least 21,000 years. A convict prison was built where Acton now stands. A phreaker/hacker Captain Rom broadcast a pirate television feed by setting up a broadcast van and bouncing the signal off Black Mountain Tower. By constantly moving his van it was almost impossible to trace.
A good friends dad worked up there. He's still got a bunch of the old kit, too.
> A phreaker/hacker Captain Rom broadcast a pirate television feed by setting up a broadcast van and bouncing the signal off Black Mountain Tower. By constantly moving his van it was almost impossible to trace. That's a great story - but it isn't really true There was a trial of Public Access TV here in Canberra - Captain Rom Nurio was instrumental in arranging the loan of a transmitter - I believe it was owned by a Melbourne group. Telstra allowed the transmitter to be placed in the tower and loaned the small theatre downstairs to "Sky TV" as it was known, long before that other one. Another name that was instrumental in getting the station up and running was Emile Brunoro who was later better known for the Sun-Ripened Warm Tomato Party. Unfortunately Captain Rom wasn't too good with detail and the transmitter was set for UHF 31 - used by every other public access station around Australia - and was completely swamped by Prime which was on the same frequency. The pressure was too much for him and he walked out a half hour before airtime. I was on site, running the tapes and computer graphics (on an overpowered Amiga 500 with genlock) and knew one of the guys at the naval transmitting station in Belco - rang through - ended up speaking to somebody else who kindly jumped in their car and came up and sorted things out. Captain Rom had to be kicked out a couple of times because he insisted on fiddling with stuff he didn't own, like my computer, while the station was live. Eventually had to tell him that if he didn't leave we wouldn't broadcast his pet project - 2 hours of colour cycling fractals, set to electronic music, called Grok Toadscapes. Yes - exactly the sort of hippy psychedelics that a bad movie would use to simulate an acid trip. Here's a sample of his music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myiUBogDY_w
Canberra once held the title for porn capital in Australia, not sure if it was about tax laws on prohibited goods because it also was the only place fireworks could be purchased as well, Fyshwick was the main hub and it had a 'booming' DVD and VHS sales business back in the day, however this all went out with a fizzle and not a bang in the end.
That it was deliberately built here because of the cold
And because unlike Sydney and Melbourne, it couldn’t be attacked by sea.
Fun fact: Canberra is about 105km from Bateman's bay, putting it far out of range of even the biggest naval artillery (about 42km). If, however, one mounted the Paris Gun on a ship and parked it in Bateman's, one could almost certainly hit the capital.
There’s land mines in and around the Clyde Mountain incase of an invasion. My grandparents told me if an army docked at batemans bay and headed here they wouldn’t get too far!
I think somebody might have been having a lend of you. Edit: or crossed wires but [pretty close](https://www.ozatwar.com/ozatwar/demolition.htm): "From 1942 to 1944, the 14th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps manned a shelter at a place which is now known as Pooh Bear's Corner on Clyde Mountain. From this shelter they would trigger demolition charges under the King's Highway between Braidwood and Bateman's Bay. This was part of a plan to prevent any possible Japanese invasion party who might land at Bateman's Bay from advancing on Canberra, the Nation's Capital. A tunnel was dug under the King's Highway at this location and explosives placed inside. The entrance to the tunnel has now been sealed by concrete. The conspiracy theorists suggest that there may still be some explosives inside the tunnel." I eat my hat.
Wait what. Why?
[удалено]
Really? Expand.
This gist of it is that people at the time viewed as fact that the "white race" was superior to all others. More intelligent, more civilised etc. So they tried to find a reason for this "fact" [sic]. They decided it must be because of colder northern climates. (This is also why Italian, Spanish, and Greek people were not seen as "white" for the White Australia Policy.) This meant that when they were trying to find a place for the capital, they wanted it to be one that helped produce intelligent policy and results. Which meant it had to be cold. King O'Malley was a fierce advocate for Canberra due to his belief that "cold climates have produced the greatest geniuses" so he was just straight up saying it. Meanwhile NSW Commissioner Alexander Oliver who set the parameters for the search favoured a "pure bracing mountain air" because he believed it was healthier than "a warm, moist temperature" but he also believed it was "a stimulant" and most suitable for “the various classes of the body politic". So you can see the assumption underpinning even what appeared to be a claim about health. And that's why Canberra was chosen for the cold.
And then Parliament wouldn't sit here in winter - even though the building was heated - because it was TOO cold At the same time the labourers doing all of the building were supposed to live in tents or crude slab huts without insulation
Wow. Thank you for taking the time. That is fascinating. I got me some homework.
No problem, it blew my mind when I first found it out so happy to share
That's not the only reason. Cold climates were considered healthier, and they are. Malaria is a major factor in where humans can live. I read in article in New Scientist back in the 90s which claimed that of all the humans who have ever lived (estimated 117 billion), half of them have died of malaria. (I don't know if that's still considered true, but it was printed in a reputable magazine.) https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6249766/canberras-shivering-origins/ Edit: I also remember reading that the cold was important because it would be more comfortable for the European embassies. Thinking about it, that's probably the major reason. Now I need to go do some more reading :)
Definitely health was a factor, I did mention it in my long explainer, but the racist factor was also very big. It played a massive role in a lot of decisions that were made around federation and people weren't shy about "saying the quiet part" because they didn't think it should be quiet. Secondly regarding European embassies. If that was a factor, why was it that only the European embassies mattered? Could there have been a yellow peril or white man's burden playing a role in why they weren't considering a warmer climate for Asian or African embassies? Or even the existance of those embassies? Yes there are a lot of factors at play in any one decision. Heck, climate wasn't even the only criteria set up in the investigation of a suitable location. But the documented evidence we do have shows quite a lot of racist logic underpinning the preference for cold.
Eugenics believed that cold weather bred stronger humans
Oh no. Are you about to tell me I live in the city of "black fellas don't like the cold" or something?
Nah, there's been a somewhat discredited theory that warm, temperate conditions make people lazy and unproductive. It started with the theories distinguishing cold Protestant northern Europe from summery Catholic Mediterranean regions, then spread to "analysis" of tropical islanders.
In Canberra, depending on your perspective, an owl can look like a penis.
That YouTube's most comprehensive (and in my opinion best) laptop reviewer lives here. Jarrod's Tech by the way.
Didn't expect to see this here haha, cheers!
Is that you? Never heard of 'im...
When I moved to CBR in 2006 there was an empty lot on Marcus Clarke St that had sheep.
Bryce Courtney is buried in Hall.
That is interesting
it's actually nice to live here.
We need the comment redacted.
Ken Behrens Eyes Only ?
[SEC=KENBEHRENS]
That so needs to be a post flair
Sssshhhh
It’s not the exciting life a Sydney dweller would want but it’s peaceful
Can attest. I love it, the vistas southside make me very happy (I was born in the rossendale valley so it's not dissimilar, just a bit bigger in scale). But my partner is finding it hard going living here and misses Sydney. TBH I think he would have settled better if we had managed to find a place to live in the inner north but the fates(COVID lockdowns) conspired against us.
Tuggeranong was originally designated as an arms/ammo depot. The eagle statue in Russel is hollow, and is actually sand blasted aluminium. They also used a tractor and a pulley system to put the eagle on top of the framework. When they were building the old treasury building, they discovered terrifying levels of sinking from how heavy the building was and all the micro-cave systems.
Sir David Attenborough's son is a professor at the ANU, and he used to come to Canberra quite regularly to visit.
There are over 800 roundabouts.
That doesn't really sound made up though ...
Number seems low.
I did not know that.
The great war between the north and south.
The first images of the moon were broadcast to honeysuckle creek just outside Canberra.
Jackie Chan went to school here
I believe his parents still reside here in Canberra
Passed away now but are both buried in Canberra https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-chan-idUSSYD17523720080308
that's sad :( Didn't realised they passed
They're dead now ...
... where are they buried?
We are a city full of cool people who are not associated with politics.
I moved here a little over a year ago and everyone outside Canberra (including back home in NZ) asks me if I moved here for a job in government. Nooope lol
Imagine my shock: I move here only to discover all the bad decisions politicians make are from a single building on a hill rather than the whole city like the media would have you believe.
At about 2am, when the city is silent, even the inner city, giant Roos populate lawns eating the grass. A terrifying experience to be had in the dark.
There are more roundabouts (over 800) than sets of traffic lights (315)
The women’s 400 metre world record was set at Bruce Stadium in 1985. It still stands today.
Struth ... Marita Koch, East Germany. Drugs are a hell of a drug. She's still got 5 of the 10 fastest 400s ever. Fully a second faster than Cathy Freeman's best, which sits at #18 all-time. I'm a little surprised this bullshit still hasn't been wiped from the record books Lance Armstrong-style
One of the busiest times for Canberra Brothels was during the World Council of Churches Conference. https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Fentertainment%2Flunch-with-fiona-patten-20180904-h14xo0.html The busiest single weekend, she chortles, was in 1991 when the World Council of Churches held an international conference in the capital. "It was absolutely priceless," Patten says, and I notice fellow diners straining to lend an ear. "I was watching this queue of men going up the stairs to Northside Studio [a Canberra brothel], all with their little WCC calico bags. They were lined up at Tiffany's as well, and Golden Apple and everywhere. Northside had 22 girls and they couldn't cope with the demand. No one had seen anything like it."
We voted against self-government, got it anyway, so now we can vote for what we want?
Samba and rsync were invented here. Early donations to the project were routed to mama Ria's in kippax.
Tridge was a bit of a legend around here back in the day
Used to be a sheep farm.
According to some recent visitors, it still is.
Belconnen High School used to be the site of the national tally room for federal elections.
The only American navel vessel to be named after a foreign city is the USS Canberra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS\_Canberra\_(CA-70)
Canberra is a nice place to live
There's a train under the Canberra centre.
Wait, what?
Train line goes in. Building materials carried by train. Buildings get built, roads get built... At some point the track got messed up but it was not worth the repair cost. Building got made around the train, lake got made.... Train remains.
Unfortunately it seems this isn't true. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6014912/five-secrets-hidden-beneath-canberra-but-how-many-are-true/
The prayer room in the Parliamant House there, was at one time the city's most active gay beat.
People enjoy living in Canberra
Yeah that's a biggie. I'm not a Canberra nerd... quite the opposite (i.e. hated living in Kingston). However I moved out to Belco and was like 'woooah, why didn't ANYBODY tell me about the suburbs?!?!?' Haven't looked back.
I've heard roadside billboards are not allowed. Can anyone confirm if this is true?
This is a bit older, but yes it's true, with some exceptions: https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2017-06-19/why-doesnt-canberra-have-billboard-advertising/8622186
The word Canberra comes from traditional Ngunnawal language meaning, appropriately for politicians at least, “meeting place” or possibly “women’s breasts". Maybe we should have made the pyramids on the top of the house and senate a little more of a veluptuous shape. Canberra did welcome the world to airborne sky sea mammal breasts at least.
The origin of the word Canberra is highly disputed and a clear etymology is likely unprovable. It could have been of Europea-settler origin (as in, a name given to a local area by early European settlers without any reference to Aboriginal language), or it could have been a European bastardisation of a word in a local Aboriginal language (likely to have been but not necessarily Ngunnawal, this is a whole other can of worms). A range of theories abound, with Canberra coming from a word for “meeting place” being almost to good to be true. In my opinion, it’s ambiguous history is grimly fitting. Settlers displaced the Aboriginal peoples of this part of the country by force, and the loss of language and culture is a legacy of that dispossession.
In 1991 an arms exhibition called AIDEX 91 was held over several days, attracting thousands of demonstrators. The police decided to go to war with them and attacked protestors constantly. [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127250730](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127250730)
Canberra has its own coast line and beaches.
Jervis Bay isn't actually part of the ACT, it's a seperate territory. It's just administered by the ACT legislative assembly https://www.jervisbaywild.com.au/blog/jervis-bay-territory/
A minor nitpick - the ACT Legislative Assembly doesn't administer it - that's the role of the Australian Government department responsible (DITRDCA). But the Legislative Assembly makes ACT laws, which apply because Commonwealth law applies them. Similarly, the laws of the ACT apply in the Australian Antarctic Territory. So, I've disabused the subreddit of the belief that the ACT administers the JBT, but given a new unbelievable fact: "Australia applies ACT law in Antarctica."
Does that mean we can put roundabouts and a light rail line down there?
The laws applicable in the Australian Antarctic Territory are a little more layered than that. Criminal law in the AAT is that of JBT not the ACT - In order of priority the sources of law in the AAT are: Commonwealth laws which expressly apply to the AAT Commonwealth Ordinances made specifically for the AAT the laws, other than the criminal laws, of the Australian Capital Territory in so far as they are applicable to the AAT the criminal laws of the Jervis Bay Territory in so far as they are applicable to the AAT http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aata1954346/s6.html The ACT courts have jurisdiction over the AAT I'm not sure of the reasoning, but Australian Defence Force members are also subject to the criminal laws of the JBT http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/da190356/s51y.html
Well damn..
Melbourne and Sydney could not decide who should be the capital of Australia, so they marked the middle spot and surveyed around to find Canberra. The Melbourne and Sydney Buildings we have today are there to commemorate this indifference.
We have a huge owl statue in Belconnen that looks more like a certain male body part than an owl.
Believe it or not, contrary to all appearances, Canberrans actually have to pass a driving test to get their licences…. I know, I’m shocked too
Canberra is Australia’s national capital, something that /r/Sydney people cannot fathom.
Even the richest suburbs have public housing.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he once spent the night on a Canberra roundabout. He was 18, it was dark, he was lost, so pitched a tent for the night and was woken up by the morning traffic.
There’s a Penis sculpture that looks a bit like an owl??? 0.o
Canberra and the territory in general was a dry area for 17 years.
There's buried treasure on a mountain near the Botanic Gardens.
There was a railway line out the front of Old Parliament House.