1900 in Australia

Events

3 January – Electric lighting is installed on Adelaide streets.
25 January – State Labour politicians meet in Sydney to formally found the federal Labour party.
25 March – The S.S. Glenelg is wrecked off the Victorian coast, resulting in 31 deaths.
March to May – Record rainfall and flooding affect the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia
9 May – The Sierra Nevada is wrecked off Portsea, Victoria; 23 lives are lost.
2 July – Snow falls to extremely low levels in New South Wales, being recorded as low as Forbes.
5 July – The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (UK) is passed.
24 July – Neville Howse rescues a fallen ally under heavy fire during the Second Boer War, becoming the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross.
8 August – The first Australian contingents of naval volunteers set sail for China to assist British and international troops during the Boxer Rebellion.
17 October – Natural gas is found at Roma in Queensland
27 October – Notorious murderer Jimmy Governor is apprehended near Wingham, New South Wales.
15 December – Upon his arrival in Australia, the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, commits the so-called Hopetoun Blunder.

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Literature

Births

8 January – Merlyn Myer, Australian philanthropist (died 1982)
25 January – Harold Raggatt, public servant (died 1968)
12 February – Sir Ragnar Garrett, army officer (died 1977)^[1]
7 March – Sir Lorimer Dods, medical pioneer (died 1981)
29 March – John McEwen, caretaker Prime Minister (1967–1968) (died 1980)
26 April – Alice Berry, social activist (died 1978)^[2]
29 April – Amelia Best, politician (died 1979)^[3]
4 July – Belinda Dann, centenarian, longest-lived member of the Stolen Generation (died 2007).^[4]
29 July – Mary V. Austin, community worker and political activist (died 1986)^[5]
1 August – Otto Nothling, rugby union and cricket player (died 1965)^[6]
16 August – Ida Browne, geologist and palaeontologist (died 1976)^[7]
9 October – Frank O'Grady, Australian public servant (d. 1981)^[8]
19 October – Bill Ponsford, cricketer (died 1991)
20 October – Jack Lindsay, writer (died 1990)
3 December
- Karna Maria Birmingham, artist, illustrator and print maker (died 1987)^[9]
- Albert Hawke, Premier of Western Australia (1953–1959) (died 1989)
10 December – Eric Costa, politician (died 1976)

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Incumbents