Pre-European settlement

• At least 5,000 years of settlement by various Aboriginal nations that were existing then

19th century

• 1800 – James Grant
  James Grant (navigator)
  James Grant was a British Royal Navy officer and navigator in the early nineteenth century. He made several voyages to Australia and Tasmania, and was the first to map parts of the south coast of Australia.-Early life:...
  
   explores the south-east of Australia
• 1801 – John Murray
  John Murray (Australian explorer)
  John Murray was a seaman and explorer of Australia. He was the first European to discover Port Phillip, the bay on which the cities of Melbourne and Geelong are situated....
  
   sails into Port Phillip
  Port Phillip
  Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
  
   in the Lady Nelson
• 1803 – Charles Robbins and Charles Grimes
  Charles Grimes
  Charles Grimes was an English-born surveyor who did some valuable work in colonial Australia. He served as surveyor-general of New South Wales and discovered the Yarra River in what is now the state of Victoria. He is perhaps best known for being the surveyor who mapped the route of the Hobart...
  
   explore the entirety of Port Phillip and discover the Yarra River
  Yarra River
  The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
  
   in the Buffalo
• 1803 – David Collins
  David Collins (governor)
  Colonel David Collins was the first Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Van Diemens Land, founded in 1804, which in 1901 became the state of Tasmania in the Commonwealth of Australia.-Early life and military career:...
  
   sent from Sydney
  Sydney
  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
  
   to establish a settlement for the British Government. Unaware of previous discoveries, Collins settles near present-day Sullivan Bay
  Sullivan Bay, Victoria
  Sullivan Bay lies 60 km due south of Melbourne on Port Phillip, one kilometre east of Sorrento, Victoria. It was established as a short-lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant Colonel David Collins. The site was chosen because of its strategic location near the entrance of the Bay...
  
   on the Mornington Peninsula
  Mornington Peninsula
  The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion...
  
  . This settlement is abandoned five months later.
• 1834 – The Henty
  Edward Henty
  See also Western District Edward Henty ,was a pioneer and first permanent settler in the Port Phillip district , Australia....
  
   family establish first long-term Europe
  Europe
  Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
  
  an settlement in Victoria at Portland
  Portland, Victoria
  The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...
  
  
• 1835 – John Batman
  John Batman
  John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
  
   sails to the mouth of the Yarra from Tasmania
  Tasmania
  Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
  
   in the Rebecca
• 1835 – John Batman 'buys' the 2,430 km² that Melbourne would be founded on from the local Aboriginal nation, the Wurundjeri
  Wurundjeri
  The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
  
  . The Batman Deed is now widely recognised to be more of a treaty than a sale.
• 1835 – Melbourne is founded by John Batman
  John Batman
  John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...
  
   and John Pascoe Fawkner
  John Pascoe Fawkner
  John Pascoe Fawkner was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land , to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize...
  
  
• 1836 – William Lonsdale
  William Lonsdale (colonist)
  William Lonsdale supervised the founding of the official settlement at Port Phillip from 1836 and went on to serve under the Superintendent La Trobe from 1839 to 1854.-Early life:...
  
   built the first government block, declaring Melbourne the capital of the Port Phillip district
• 1837 – 28 March -The Hoddle Grid of streets for the central business district
  Central business district
  A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
  
   is surveyed by Robert Hoddle
  Robert Hoddle
  Robert Hoddle was a surveyor of Port Phillip in the 1830s, and the creator of the Hoddle Grid, the street grid system upon which inner city Melbourne is based. He was also an accomplished artist and depicted scenes of the Port Philip region as well as New South Wales...
  
  
• 1837 – 1 June – First inner-city land sale
• 1838 – Melbourne is declared a legal port and administrative centre, opening the way for vastly increased immigration
• 1838 – Melbourne Cricket Club
  Melbourne Cricket Club
  The Melbourne Cricket Club is a sporting club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is regarded as the oldest sporting club in Australia....
  
   is founded
• 1838 – Second inner-city land sale
• 1839 – Third inner-city land sale. Quarrying of bluestone began out of the Melbourne Corporation Quarry at Clifton Hill.
• 1840 – First petition for the separation of Port Phillip District from New South Wales drafted by Henry Fyshe Gisborne
  Henry Fyshe Gisborne
  Henry Fyshe Gisborne was the first Commissioner for Crown Lands of the Port Phillip District, founder of Flemington Racecourse and petitioner for Victoria's separation from New South Wales.-Early career:...
  
   and presented to Governor George Gipps
  George Gipps
  Sir George Gipps was Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship was during a period of great change for New South Wales and Australia, as well as for New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales for much of this...
  
  .
• 1841 – First seaport and market
  Market
  A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
  
   are opened
• 1842 – Melbourne Municipal Corporation Act was passed in Sydney. Melbourne City Council is formed.
• 1845 – First Princes Bridge constructed connecting both sides of the Yarra
• 1847 – Melbourne declared a city by Queen Victoria on 25 June.
• 1847 – Melbourne Building Act was passed in 1847 based on Sydney act of 1833.
• 1848 – Melbourne Hospital founded (from 1935 the hospital is called The Royal Melbourne Hospital
  Royal Melbourne Hospital
  The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
  
  )
• 1851 – Beginning of the Victorian gold rush
  Victorian gold rush
  The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...
  
   with discovery of gold
  Gold
  Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
  
   at Buninyong
• 1851 – Victoria becomes a colony, separate from New South Wales
  New South Wales
  New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
  
  
• 1851 – First state Lieutenant-Governor
  Governors of Victoria
  The Governor of Victoria is the representative in the Australian state of Victoria of its monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
  
   Charles La Trobe
  Charles La Trobe
  Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...
  
   inaugurated
• 1852 – City's first gas works is opened
• 1853 – The University of Melbourne
  University of Melbourne
  The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
  
   is founded
• 1854 – The Melbourne Terminus (first Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...
  
   building) is completed
• 1854 – First steam railway journey in Australia from Melbourne Terminus (on the current site of Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...
  
  ) to Sandridge (later Port Melbourne)
• 1854 – Melbourne Exhibition held in conjunction with Exposition Universelle (1855)
  Exposition Universelle (1855)
  The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855.The exposition was a major...
  
  
• 1854 – The State Library of Victoria
  State Library of Victoria
  The State Library of Victoria is the central library of the state of Victoria, Australia, located in Melbourne. It is on the block bounded by Swanston, La Trobe, Russell, and Little Lonsdale streets, in the northern centre of the central business district...
  
   is founded
• 1854 – First telegraph service, to Williamstown
  Williamstown, Victoria
  Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....
  
  
• 1854 – The first Town Hall is completed
• 1855 – First state Governor
  Governors of Victoria
  The Governor of Victoria is the representative in the Australian state of Victoria of its monarch, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia. The Governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
  
   Sir Charles Hotham
  Charles Hotham
  Sir Charles Hotham, KCB, RN was Lieutenant-governor and, later, Governor of Victoria, Australia from 22 June 1854 to 10 November 1855.-Early life:...
  
   inaugurated
• 1855 – The Melbourne Museum
  Melbourne Museum
  Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
  
   is founded
• 1856 – Stonemasons win the Eight hour day
• 1857 – First reservoir water supply (at Yan Yean Reservoir
  Yan Yean Reservoir
  Yan Yean Reservoir is the oldest water supply for the city of Melbourne, Australia. It is built on the Plenty River a tributary of the Yarra River, 30 km north of the city. A 9.5 metre embankment holds back 30,000 megalitres of water...
  
  ) tapped outside city limits
• 1857 – Queen Victoria Market
  Queen Victoria Market
  The Queen Victoria Market is a major landmark in Melbourne, Australia, and at around seven hectares is the largest open air market in the Southern Hemisphere. The Market is significant to Melbourne's culture and heritage and has been listed on the Victorian Heritage Register...
  
   is founded
• 1857 – Australia's first country railway from Geelong to Melbourne is built
• 1857 – City streets first lit by gas lighting
• 1858 – 7 August – a game of football played between Melbourne Grammar School
  Melbourne Grammar School
  Melbourne Grammar School is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, located in South Yarra and Caulfield, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
  
   and Scotch College
  Scotch College, Melbourne
  Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
  
  
• 1858 – First inter-city telegraph services, to Adelaide and Sydney
  Sydney
  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
  
  
• 1859 – 14 May – Melbourne Football Club
  Melbourne Football Club
  The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
  
  , Australia's oldest football club, is founded
• 1859 – Spencer Street Station
  Southern Cross Station
  Southern Cross is a major railway station and transport hub in Melbourne Docklands, Victoria, Australia. It is located on Spencer Street between Collins and La Trobe Streets at the western edge of the central business district...
  
   (then Batman's Hill Station) and Princes Gate Station completed
• 1859 – Construction of the General Post Office
  General Post Office, Melbourne
  The Melbourne General Post Office , is a former post office in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
  
   begins
• 1859 – First Melbourne Trades Hall building opened.
• 1860 – The Burke and Wills expedition
  Burke and Wills expedition
  In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
  
   departed from Royal Park
  Royal Park, Melbourne
  Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks . It is located north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria, Australia, in the suburb of Parkville....
  
  .
• 1861 – National Gallery of Victoria
  National Gallery of Victoria
  The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
  
   is founded
• 1861 – First Melbourne Cup
  Melbourne Cup
  The Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
  
  
• 1861 – Victorian Exhibition held
• 1861 – Melbourne's population reaches 125,000
• 1862 – Melbourne Zoo
  Melbourne Zoo
  The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is north of the centre of Melbourne. It is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram...
  
   founded
• 1863 – Batman's Hill levelled
• 1865 – Melbourne overtakes Sydney to become Australia's most populous city
• 1866 – Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia held
• 1867 – The current Town Hall
  Melbourne Town Hall
  Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...
  
   begins construction
• 1869 – The Royal Mint
  Melbourne Mint
  The Melbourne Mint, in Melbourne, Australia, was a branch of the British Royal Mint. Until 1916 it minted only gold sovereigns, and all Australian coins between 1927 and 1967...
  
   is completed
• 1874 – The Supreme Court
  Supreme Court of Victoria
  The Supreme Court of Victoria is the superior court for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1852, and is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited jurisdiction within the state...
  
   building is completed
• 1875 – Victorian Intercolonial Exhibition held
• 1877 – First Test cricket
  Test cricket
  Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
  
   match, between Australia and the MCC, at the MCG. First season of the Victorian Football Association.
• 1878 – Xavier College, in Kew
  Kew, Victoria
  Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
  
  , is founded after the increased need of boarding space for the oldest Jesuit School in Melbourne, St. Pat's.
• 1879 – Ruyton Girls' School
  Ruyton Girls' School
  Ruyton Girls' School , is a non-denominational, independent, day school for girls, located in the inner-eastern Melbourne suburb of Kew, Victoria, Australia....
  
  , also in Kew
  Kew, Victoria
  Kew is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Boroondara. At the 2006 Census, Kew had a population of 22,516....
  
   is founded by Charlotte Anderson. Its land includes the heritage listed Henty House, built by the seminal Hentys of Sussex.
• 1880 – Royal Exhibition Building
  Royal Exhibition Building
  The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage Site-listed building in Melbourne, Australia, completed in 1880. It is located at 9 Nicholson Street in the Carlton Gardens, flanked by Victoria, Nicholson, Carlton and Rathdowne Streets, at the north-eastern edge of the central business district...
  
   opened
• 1880 – Melbourne International Exhibition
  Melbourne International Exhibition (1880)
  The Melbourne International Exhibition was held from 1 October 1880 until 30 April 1881. It was the second international exhibition to be held in Australia , the first being held the previous year in Sydney...
  
   held
• 1883 – The historic Yarra-Yarra Falls (near Queens Bridge) removed using explosives
• 1884 – Victorian International Exhibition held
• 1885 – First cable tram
  Tram
  A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
  
   line opens in the Melbourne cable tramway system
  Melbourne cable tramway system
  The Melbourne cable tramway system was a cable car public transportation system operated from 1885 to 1940 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
  
  
• 1885 – Victorians' Jubilee Exhibition
• 1887 – The current Town Hall is completed
• 1888 – Victorian Juvenile Industrial Exhibition and Centennial International Exhibition held
• 1890 – The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works
  Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works
  The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was a public utility board in Melbourne, Australia set up to provide water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment functions for the city...
  
   is formed
• 1894 – City streets first lit by electric lighting
• 1897 – First season of the Victorian Football League
• 1897 – First part of the mains sewage system becomes operational

20th century

• 1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook narrow-gauge railway (now Puffing Billy Railway) opens
• 1900 – Construction of the current Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...
  
   building begins
• 1901 – The Commonwealth of Australia
  Constitutional history of Australia
  -Emergence of the Commonwealth of Australia:After European settlement in 1788, Australia was politically organised as a number of separate British colonies, eventually six in all...
  
   is formed. Melbourne becomes national capital
• 1902 – Sydney
  Sydney
  Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
  
   recovers title from Melbourne as Australia's most populous city
• 1903 – The City Baths are opened
• 1905 – First Australian Open
  Australian Open
  The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...
  
   championship
• 1905 – Melbourne Continuation School
  Melbourne Continuation School
  The Melbourne Continuation School was Victoria's first state secondary school, which was established in 1905 from the initiative of Director of Education, Frank Tate. The school was founded on the old National Model School in Spring Street, with principal Joseph Hocking. The opening of the school...
  
  , Victoria's first state secondary school, is founded in Spring Street
  Spring Street, Melbourne
  Spring Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north-south, and is the easternmost street in the Hoddle Grid. The street travels from Flinders Street in the south, to La Trobe Street and the Carlton Gardens in the north...
  
  
• 1906 – First electric tram service commences
• 1907 – The General Post Office
  General Post Office, Melbourne
  The Melbourne General Post Office , is a former post office in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
  
   is completed
• 1910 – Current Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...
  
   building is completed
• 1913 – The Domed Reading Room of the State Library is opened
• 1916 – Strict height limit of 32 feet (40 metres) imposed on all buildings
• 1916 – Introduction of 6:00pm closing
  Six o'clock swill
  The six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 p.m. A culture developed of heavy drinking...
  
   for all hotels (abolished in 1966)
• 1919 – Electric suburban train services commence on the Broadmeadows line
• 1923 – W-class Melbourne trams introduced.
• 1923 – 1923 Victorian Police strike
  1923 Victorian Police strike
  The 1923 Victorian Police strike occurred in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. On the eve of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in November 1923, half the police force in Melbourne went on strike over the operation of a supervisory system using labour spies...
  
  
• 1924 – First radio station 3AR
  Radio National
  ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
  
   (now known as Radio National.)
• 1927 – Federal Parliament is moved to Canberra
  Canberra
  Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
  
  , the new national capital
• 1928 – Melbourne City Council installs the city's first set of traffic light
  Traffic light
  Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
  
  s at Collins and Swanston streets
• 1940 – Last cable tram service ends operation
• 1943 – Russell Street Police Headquarters
  Russell Street Police Headquarters
  Russell Street Police Headquarters in Melbourne, Australia was for many years the headquarters of the Victoria Police before they were moved to William Street in about 1990. The main multi-storey brick building located on the west of the site was constructed 1940-1943 in the Art Deco style by...
  
   building is completed
• 1954 – April—Victorian Railways closes the Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook narrow-gauge railway (now Puffing Billy Railway)
• 1954 – First Moomba
  Moomba
  Moomba is Australia's largest free community festival and one of the longest running festivals in Australia. Held annually in the city of Melbourne, Australia, Moomba is celebrated during the Labour Day long weekend , and has been celebrated since 1955...
  
   parade
• 1954 – Proposal to destroy much of East Melbourne and Jolimont to make way for an inner city ringroad.
• 1955 – City's first parking meter
  Parking meter
  A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street parking policy, usually related to their traffic and...
  
  s are installed
• 1955 – ICI
  Orica
  Orica is a multinational corporation that manufactures various chemical products. It is the largest supplier of mining explosives in the world. -History:...
  
   building given special exception from CBD height limits
• 1956 – First television station HSV-7
  HSV-7
  HSV is a television station in Melbourne. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, and its first and oldest station, having been launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne....
  
  
• 1956 – The Olympic Games
  1956 Summer Olympics
  The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
  
   held in Melbourne
• 1957 – Plot ratio height limits introduced to CBD (dependent upon floor space and light angles), plazas and open space. By laws introduced for compulsory carspace for all new city buildings. 1.45 m setbacks for 'Little' streets introduced to widen footpaths.
• 1959 – Sidney Myer Music Bowl
  Sidney Myer Music Bowl
  The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain, close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct...
  
   opened
• 1961 – Proposal to demolish Flinders Street station
  Flinders Street Station
  Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...
  
   and replace it with office blocks.
• 1962 – The Puffing Billy Railway is re-opened as a tourist attraction
• 1966 – Abolition of 6:00pm closing
  Six o'clock swill
  The six o'clock swill was an Australian and New Zealand slang term for the last-minute rush to buy drinks at a hotel bar before it closed. During a significant part of the 20th century, most Australian and New Zealand hotels shut their public bars at 6 p.m. A culture developed of heavy drinking...
  
  of hotels (introduced in 1916)
• 1967 – first woman city councillor Clare Cascarret
• 1969 – Proposal to demolish the Regent Theatre
  Regent Theatre, Melbourne
  The Regent Theatre is a 2162 seat theatre in Melbourne, Australia. It is listed by the National Trust of Australia and is on the Victorian Heritage Register.-History:...
  
   for multi-storey development.
• 1970 – (15 October) 35 construction workers die when a span of the West Gate Bridge
  West Gate Bridge
  The West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city and Melbourne's western suburbs with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city...
  
   collapses
• 1974 – Underground Rail Loop begins construction
• 1975 – Z-class
  Trams in Melbourne
  The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...
  
   tram introduced
• 1975 – 1 March, Colour television introduced.
• 1982 – The City Loop subway is opened
• 1983 – (8 February) The Melbourne dust storm and (16 February) Ash Wednesday fires
  Ash Wednesday fires
  The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia on 16 February 1983. Within twelve hours, more than 180 fires fanned by winds of up to 110 km per hour caused widespread destruction across the states...
  
   occur
• 1985 – Port Melbourne and St Kilda train lines are converted to light rail
  Light rail
  Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
  
  
• 1985 – B-class
  Trams in Melbourne
  The Melbourne tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria, Australia. , the network consisted of of track, 487 trams, 28 routes, and 1,773 tram stops. It was therefore the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the...
  
   trams introduced
• 1986 – Car-bombing
  Russell Street Bombing
  The Russell Street Bombing refers to the 27 March 1986 bombing of the Russell Street Police Headquarters complex in Russell Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
  
   outside the Russell Street Police Headquarters kills one police officer
• 1986 – Rialto Towers
  Rialto Towers
  The Rialto Towers is the second-tallest reinforced concrete building and the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere, when measured to its roof...
  
   completed and becomes the city's tallest building as well as the tallest in the southern hemisphere
  Southern Hemisphere
  The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
  
  
• 1986 – Pablo Picasso
  Pablo Picasso
  Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
  
  's Weeping Woman is stolen from National Gallery of Victoria by activists
  Activism
  Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
  
  . Returned a week later
• 1987 – Hoddle Street Massacre
  Hoddle Street massacre
  The Hoddle Street massacre is a spree killing that occurred on the evening of Sunday, 9 August 1987 in Hoddle Street, Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.The shootings resulted in the deaths of seven people, and serious injury to 19 others...
  
  , killing 7 and injuring 19.
• 1987 – Queen Street Massacre
  Queen Street massacre
  The Queen Street massacre was a spree killing suicide that occurred on 8 December 1987 at the Australia Post offices at 191 Queen Street in Melbourne, Australia...
  
  , killing 8 and injuring 5.
• 1990 – Southbank promenade opens, paving the way for urban renewal
  Urban renewal
  Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
  
   in Southbank
  Southbank, Victoria
  Southbank is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia located direct south of the Yarra River opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the...
  
  
• 1991 – Melbourne experiences a severe economic slump; City property markets crash and CBD vacancy rates reach all time high.
• 1992 – Pedestrianisation of Swanston Street
  Swanston Street, Melbourne
  Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is historically one of the main streets of central Melbourne, laid out in 1837 as part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district...
  
   creates Swanston Street Walk
• 1992 – Postcode 3000
  Postcode 3000
  Postcode 3000 was a planning policy for Melbourne, Australia coordinated by the City of Melbourne and supported by the state government, then under the newly elected Premier Jeff Kennett ....
  
   policy attracts residents to the city centre, warehouses and offices are converted into apartments and CBD vacancy rates drop.
• 1994 – Opening of the Melbourne Observation Deck in Rialto Towers
• 1994 – Tasty nightclub raid
  Tasty nightclub raid
  The Tasty nightclub raid refers to an incident on 7 August 1994 during which 463 patrons of the Tasty nightclub event in Melbourne, Australia were detained for seven hours, strip searched and cavity searched, and in some cases brutalised, by armed members of Victoria Police.- Tasty :The Tasty...
  
  
• 1995 – Host City to the World Police and Fire Games
• 1996 – Development of the Docklands
  Melbourne Docklands
  Docklands is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia occupying an area extending up to 2 km west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District . Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
  
   area begins
• 1996 – Construction of the CityLink
  CityLink
  CityLink is a system of tolled urban Highways in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The company Transurban was awarded the contract to augment two existing freeways and construct two new Toll roads—labelled the Western and Southern Links—directly linking a number of existing freeways to...
  
   freeways begins
• 1996 – Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre
  Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre
  The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre is the name given to two adjacent buildings next to the Yarra River in South Wharf, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia...
  
   opens
• 1996 – Melbourne wins right to host Australian Grand Prix
  Australian Grand Prix
  The Australian Grand Prix is a motor race held annually and is held to be the pinnacle of motor racing in Australia. The Grand Prix is the oldest surviving motor racing competition held in Australia having been held 76 times since it was first run at Phillip Island in 1928. Since 1985 the race has...
  
   at Albert Park Lake
• 1997 – The new site for Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex, Melbourne's first gambling
  Gambling
  Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
  
   centre opens.
• 1999 – Bolte Bridge
  Bolte Bridge
  The Bolte Bridge is a large twin Cantilever bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD...
  
   open for traffic.

21st century

• 2000 – New Melbourne Museum
  Melbourne Museum
  Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
  
   officially opened.
• 2000 – The CityLink freeways open, including two new
  Domain Tunnel
  The Domain Tunnel is a road tunnel located in Melbourne, Australia, which carries traffic westbound from the Monash Freeway to the West Gate Freeway, running under the Yarra River and Kings Domain...
  
   tunnels
  Burnley Tunnel
  The Burnley Tunnel is a tollway tunnel in Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia, which carries traffic eastbound from the West Gate Freeway to the Monash Freeway. It is part of the CityLink Tollway operated by Transurban. Running under the Yarra River and the inner suburbs of Richmond and Burnley, the...
  
  , a new cross-harbour bridge
  Bolte Bridge
  The Bolte Bridge is a large twin Cantilever bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River and Victoria Harbour in the Docklands precinct to the west of the Melbourne CBD...
  
  , and electronic tolling
  E-TAG
  e-TAG is an electronic toll collection system used on tollways throughout Australia. Based upon the DSRC protocol, it was originally developed by Transurban for use on their CityLink tollway in the early 1990s, with the system since adopted by all electronic tolled roads, bridges and tunnels in...
  
  .
• 2000 – Docklands Stadium (later renamed Colonial Stadium, then Telstra dome, currently Etihad Stadium) completed.
• 2000 – 6 March—Bourke Street redevelopment.
• 2002 – Controversial Melbourne 2030
  Melbourne 2030
  The Metropolitan Strategy Melbourne 2030 is a Victorian Government strategic planning policy framework for the metropolitan area of Greater Melbourne, intended to cover the period 2001-2030. During this period the population of the metropolitan area is expected to grow by a million people to over 5...
  
   planning policy introduced. Aimed to increase population in designated 'activity centres' and curb urban sprawl
  Urban sprawl
  Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
  
  . Promises to increase public transport usage to 20% of motorised trips by 2020.
• 2003 – 2003 Melbourne thunderstorm
  2003 Melbourne thunderstorm
  The 2003 Melbourne thunderstorm was a severe weather event that occurred over the city of Melbourne, Australia, and surrounding areas of Victoria, from 1 December to 6 December 2003...
  
  .
• 2004 – Melbourne Victory FC is formed.
• 2005 – 2005 Melbourne Thunderstorm
  2005 Melbourne Thunderstorm
  The 2005 Melbourne Thunderstorm was a severe weather event that occurred between 2 February and 3 February 2005 which produced 120 mm of rain in Melbourne, the highest total since records began. Every suburb in Melbourne, parts of eastern Victoria and the Geelong/Bellarine Peninsula were...
  
  .
• 2006 – Commonwealth Games
  2006 Commonwealth Games
  The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
  
   held.
• 2007 – 2007 FINA Swimming World Championships are held.
• 2008 – New Eastlink freeway completed.
• 2008 – M1 upgrade begins
• 2009 – Victorian bushfires around Melbourne—worst fires in the history of the city
• 2010 – Severe Thunderstorm
  2010 Victorian storms
  The 2010 Victorian storms were a series of storms that passed through much of the Australian state of Victoria on 6 March and 7 March 2010. One of the most severe storms passed directly over Greater Melbourne, bringing lightning, flash flooding, very large hail and strong winds to the state's capital...
  
  6 March, once in a century storm with 10 cm hail stones.
• 2010 – Melbourne Celebrates 175th Birthday
• 2011 – Queen Elizabeth II visits Melbourne