The Eur… 1895: Launceston becomes first southern hemisphere city to get electric light after first Tasmanian, 1897: Formation of Southern Tasmania Football Association, 1898: Tasmanians vote four to one in favor of, 1898: Municipal police forces become part of new statewide government force, 1898: Electric street lighting begins in Hobart, 1900: More Tasmanian troops leave for Second Boer War, 1900: End of whaling operations from Hobart, 1901: First elections for Federal Parliament, 1901: Zeehan conference leads to formation of Tasmanian Workers Political League (forerunner to, 1902: Last Tasmanian troops return from the Boer War, 1903: Women get House of Assembly voting right (the already had it for federal polls), 1903: Hobart-Launceston telephone line opens, 1903: Two ships leave Hobart on relief expedition to free British explorer, 1904: Legislation allows Tasmanian women to become lawyers, 1904: Formation of Tasmanian National Association (forerunner to, 1904: Native flora and fauna reserve declared at, 1905: Hobart General Post Office building opens, 1906: Marconi Co. demonstrated a wireless telegraphy service between, 1907: New public library, built with money from American philanthropist, 1907: Hare-Clark voting system extended to all of Tasmania, 1908: Queen Alexandra Maternity Hospital opens in Hobart, 1909: First statewide use of Hare-Clark voting system elects first Labor government, led by John Earle; government lasts only one week, with return of conservatives, 1910: Carters' wage strike paralyses Hobart for a week, ends with win for workers, 1910: Legislation sets maximum 48-hour working week and minimum wages in several trades, 1911: Philip Smith teachers' college opens at Domain, Electric trams begin running in Launceston, 1912: Hobart City Council takes over tramway service, 1913: First government high schools open in Hobart and Launceston, 1913: Hobart City Council buys tram service, 1914: A. Delfosse Badgery makes Tasmania's first flight from Elwick in a plane he built himself, 1914: First Tasmanian troops leave to fight in, 1914: State government buys hydro-electric company, 1915: Tasmanian legislation establishes Australia's first special authority to create and manage parks and reserves, 1916: In Tasmania's worst rail disaster, driver and six passengers die, 31 survive injuries, after Launceston-Hobart express crashes near. 1836: First Catholic Church was built—St John the Evangelist's Church in Richmond. 1830: Samuel Anderson, Pioneer Settler, arrives in Hobart aboard the Lang, employed as book keeper with Van Diemens Land Co. Will go on to establish the third permanent settlement in Victoria at Westernport. 1856: New two-house Parliament opens after elections, 1858: First meeting of Hobarts Marine Board, Australia's oldest, 1858: Hobart and Launceston councils form municipal police forces, 1858: Parliament passes Rural Municipalities Act, 1859: Worries about public health prompt Hobart Town Council to appoint health officer, 1860: British troops sail from Hobart for, 1862: Hobart's post office moves to rebuilt courthouse on corner of Macquarie St and Murray St, 1863: Opening of Tasmanian Museum on present site, 1864: First shipment of trout and salmon ova arrives from England, 1868: With Education Act, Tasmania becomes first Australian colony to have compulsory state education system, administered by local school boards, 1871: Opening of Launceston–Deloraine railway, Tasmania's first—(, 1871: James "Philosopher" Smith discovers tin at, 1873: Work begins on private operated Hobart–Launceston, 1874: Launceston rioters protest against rates levy for Deloraine railway, 1875: Hobart Hospital begins professional training of nurses, 1877: Port Arthur penal settlement closed, 1880: Tasmania gets first telephone with line from city centre to Mount Nelson signal station, 1880: Start of Derwent Sailing Boat Club (later, 1881: William Shoobridge organises first trial shipment of apples from Hobart to Britain, 1881: Hobart officially replaces 'Hobart Town' as capital's name, 1882: Married Women's Property Act allows wives to own property in their own right, 1883: Government opens first Hobart and Launceston telephone exchanges, 1883: Discovery of gold at "Iron Blow" at, 1885: Education Department created, centralising control of schools, 1885: Mersey and Deloraine Railway opened—4′6″ gauge, 1885: Oatlands to Parattah Railway opened, 1885: Formation of the Mt Lyell Prospecting Association, 1886: Government takes over Tasmanian Museum and Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, 1886: Federal Council of Australasia discusses Federation at its first assembly held in Hobart, 1886: Public Health Act creates local boards of health, 1887: Establishment of The Friends School in Hobart by the Society of Friends (, 1887: Italian entrepreneur Diego Bernacchi floats company to develop, 1890: Government takes over Hobart-Launceston railway, 1890: Legislation provides for payment of Tasmanian parliamentarians, 1891: Bank of Van Diemen's Land collapses, economic depression follows, 1892: George FitzGerald founds FitzGeralds department store chain, now owned by, 1893: Private company begins electric tramway in Hobart, first in an Australian capital city, 1893: Government establishes Tasmanian Tourist Association, 1894: Hobart international exhibition opens, 1894: Government introduces flat-rate income tax system. 1818: Government opens flour mill in Hobart, 1818: Soldiers and convict kill bushranger Michael Howe on banks of Shannon River. The first settlement was by the British at Risdon Cove on the eastern bank of the Derwent estuary in 1803. The whites treated the Aboriginal people as subhumans, seizing their hunting grounds, depleting their food supply, attacking the women, and killing the men. The land mass now known as Tasmania was cut off and the Aboriginal people living here were isolated. Revelations to the contrary could transform modern conservation. Tasmania was inhabited by an Indigenous population, the Aboriginal Tasmanians, and evidence indicates their presence in the territory, later to become an island, at least 35,000 years ago. Coastal people relied on the sea for much of their diet. Plomley and Rhys Jones, settled on a figure of 3000 to 4000. At the time of the British occupation and colonisation in 1803 the Indigenous population was estimated at between 3000 and 10,000. Tasmania's convict history tells a tale of crime, punishment, hardship and survival in some of the harshest, yet most beautiful places on earth. 1895: The premiers conference in Hobart discusses proposals for federal constitution and plebiscite. An alternative settlement was established by Capt. 1826 was also the year that the Legislative Council met formally for the first time. Historian Lyndall Ryan's analysis of population studies led her to conclude that there were about 7000 spread throughout the island's nine nations; Nicholas Clements, citing research by N.J.B. The first settlement was by the British at Risdon Cove on the eastern bank of the Derwent estuary in 1803, by a small party sent from Sydney, under Lt. John Bowen. The wine and food are acclaimed around the world. Hobart experienced a disease epidemic which was blamed on rivulet pollution. George Augustus Robinson started his mission to protect Aborigines and take them to a settlement on Flinders Island. The Tasmanians made bark canoes to travel to offshore islands to harvest muttonbirds and seals during summer and autumn. At the time of British settlement in 1803, the indigenous population was estimated at between 5,000 and 10,000 people. Each of those cities has many times the population of the whole of Tasmania. Also in that year, the Richmond Bridge, Australia's oldest existing bridge, was opened and a party of soldiers and convicts establishes Maria Island penal settlement. 1835: Samuel Anderson leaves Launceston to establish third permanent Victorian settlement at Bass in Western Port. 2. 1856 – Van Diemen’s Land’s name was changed to Tasmania. 1948: Robert Cosgrove resumes premiership after acquittal on corruption and bribery charges, 1948: ABC forms Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra on permanent basis, 1948: Antarctic research station established on, 1949: Government introduces compulsory X-rays in fight against tuberculosis, 1949: Tasmanian politician Dame Enid Lyons, widow of former prime minister Joseph Lyons, becomes first woman to reach federal ministry rank, as Executive Council vice-president, 1951: Italian and German migrants arrive to work under contract for, 1952: Government ends free hospital scheme, 1952: Single state licensing body formed for hotels and clubs, 1953: Tasman Limited diesel train service begins between Hobart and northern towns, 1953: Housing Department created to manage public housing, 1954: Hobart Rivulet area damaged as severe floods affect southern and eastern Tasmania, 1954: Metropolitan Transport Trust formed, 1954: Spouses of property owners get right to vote in Legislative Council elections, 1955: Royal commission appointed to inquire into, 1955: House of Assembly gets first two women members, Liberals Mabel Miller and Amelia Best, 1955: Hobart becomes first Australian city to get, 1955: First ingot poured at Bell Bay aluminium refinery, 1955: Labor Party's federal conference in Hobart brings, 1956: University of Tasmania Council dismisses Professor Sydney Orr, alleging improper conduct by him with female student; Orr launches unsuccessful court action against university for wrongful dismissal, 1956: Tasmania gets first woman mayor, Dorothy Edwards of Launceston, 1957: Water Act establishes Rivers and Water Supply Commission, 1958: Hobart waterside works block two Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) members, father Frank Hursey and son Denis, from working in dispute over their objection to paying union levy that would partly go to ALP; police guard Hurseys after court order; Supreme Court awards them damages, 1959: High Court verdict in Hursey case upholds unions' right to levy members for political purposes, expel those who refuse to pay, 1960: Hobart trams cease, succeeded by electric, 1960: First meeting of Inland Fisheries Commission, 1960: Opening of new State Library headquarters, 1960: First city parking station opens in Argyle Street, 1961: Construction of Hobart-Sydney ferry terminal begins, 1963: University of Tasmania completes move to, 1965: Official opening of Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, 1967: Tasmanian joins other states in approving full constitutional rights for Aboriginal people, 1967: Hydro-Electric Commission tables plans in State Parliament to dam, 1968: Full adult franchise introduced for Legislative Council elections, 1968: Hobart trolley buses cease, replaced by diesel vehicles, 1968: Savage River iron ore project officially opens, 1969: Tasmanians vote Labor Party out after 35 years in office, Liberal-Centre Party forms coalition government, 1969: Worst floods in 40 years hit Launceston, 1970: Parliament legislates for permanent daylight saving time, 1970: State marine research laboratories at, 1971: First state Aboriginal conference held in Launceston, 1972: Conservationists lose battle to prevent flooding of, 1972: Liberal-Centre Party coalition government collapses, 1972: Tasmanian College of Advanced Education opens in Hobart, 1972: Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre opens at Tasmanian Aboriginal Information Centre, 1974: Three die when boiler explosion demolishes laundry at Mt St Canice Convent, Sandy Bay, 1974: Tasmanian workers under state wages board awards get four weeks annual leave; woman awarded equal pay, 1974: Hobart suburban rail services cease, 1975: Hotels allowed to open for Sunday trading, 1976: Members of Aboriginal community ritually cremate, 1976: Freight equalisation scheme subsidises sea cargo to and from state, 1977: Repaired Tasman Bridge reopens to traffic, 1977: Royal visit, during which Aboriginal activist, 1977: Tasmanian Film Corporation launched, 1978: Australian National Railways takes over Tasmanian rail system; Tasman Limited ceases operations, ending regular passenger train services in state, 1978: Hydro-Electric Commission proposes power scheme involving, 1979: Tasmanian College of Advanced Education moves to Launceston, 1979: Hobart gets increased Saturday morning shopping, 1979: Government expands South-West conservation area to more than one-fifth of state's total area, 1982: Tasmanians elect Liberals as government in their own right for first time in state's history, 1983: Tasmanian Aboriginal Land Council established, 1984: Official opening of Wrest Point Convention Centre, 1985: Municipal rationalisation advances with Launceston taking over St Leonards and Lilydale, 1987: High Court decision bans logging in Lemonthyme, southern forests, 1988: International fleet of about 200 sailing, cruise and naval ships from about 20 countries calls at Hobart as part of Australian, 1988: Tasmanian Sporting Hall of Fame opens, 1991: Savings Bank of Tasmania and Tasmanian Bank amalgamate as Trust Bank, 1993: Tasmania's unemployment rate reaches 13.4%, 1994: End to 80 years of dam building as state's last power station, Tribute, opens near, 1994: HMAS Huon naval base decommissioned, 1995: All-day Saturday shop trading begins, 1995: Government announces legislation to transfer 38 km, 1995: States unemployment rate falls to 9.6% as number of Tasmanians in work sets record, 1997: Tasmania becomes first state to formally apologise to Aboriginal community for past actions connected with the ', 1997: Hobart Ports Corporation succeeds marine board, 1997: State Parliament repeals two century-old laws that together made all male homosexual activity criminal, 1997: Official opening of Hobart's Aquatic Centre, 1997: Nixon report recommendations include single chamber State Parliament with 27 members, government asset sales, 1998: Federal Government sells Hobart and Launceston airports, 1998: Parliament reduced from 54 members to 40–25 Members of the. 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