Anzac Day is a day that happens once a year in Australia and New Zealand. It is celebrated by both countries on 25th April every year. It was to commemorate (honour) the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Now though, it celebrates all "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served."
Anzac Day is also observed in the Cook Islands, Niue, Pitcairn, and Tonga. In the past, it was a national holiday in Papua New Guinea or Samoa.
Tom Roberts
Thomas William "Tom" Roberts (9 March 1856 – 14 September 1931) was an Anglo-Australian artist. He was an important member of the Heidelberg School.
Roberts parents were newspaper editors. The family moved to Australia in 1869. They lived in Collingwood. He worked as a photographer's assistant through the 1870s. He studied art at night under Louis Buvelot. He became friends with Frederick McCubbin. He returned to England for three years of full-time art study at the Royal Academy Schools from 1881 to 1884.
Through the 1880s and 1890s he worked in Victoria. He married 35 year old Elizabeth (Lillie) Williamson in 1896. They had a son, Caleb. Many of his most famous paintings come from this period.
He spent World War I in England helping at a hospital. In Australia, he built a house at Kallista, near Melbourne. This was a happy period in Roberts' life.
Elizabeth died in January 1928. Tom remarried, to Jean Boyes, in August 1928. He died in 1931 of cancer in Kallista near Melbourne. He is buried near near Longford, Tasmania.
Roberts painted a lot of fine oil landscapes and portraits. His most famous works, in his time, were two large works, "Shearing the Rams" and "The Big Picture". Roberts had a theme of showing country people working. Many examples of Roberts' work can be seen at the National Gallery of Australia. "The Big Picture" is at Parliament House, Canberra.
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation system in south-east Australia. It has sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts. It was built between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir William Hudson. It is the largest engineering project in Australia.
Australian cinema
Cinema of Australia means the system of production, distribution, and showing of movies in Australia. Making movies in Australia started in 1906. "The Story of the Kelly Gang" was the earliest feature movie ever made. Since then, many movies have been made in Australia. Many have got international praise. Many actors and moviemakers started their careers in Australian movies.
Commercially successful Australian movies have included Paul Hogan's "Crocodile Dundee", Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge!" and Chris Noonan's "Babe". Other award winning productions include "Picnic at Hanging Rock", "Gallipoli", "The Tracker", "Shine" and "Ten Canoes". Famous Australian trained actors include Errol Flynn, Peter Finch, Rod Taylor, Mel Gibson, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger.
The Australian movie history has been called 'boom and bust'. This is because at times there are very few movies made and other times many movies are made.
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter (born 20 March 1958) is an American actress. She was born in Conyers, Georgia. Hunter starred in "The Piano" for which she won the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe Award.
Hunter was also nominated for Oscars for her roles in "Broadcast News", "The Firm", and "Thirteen". She has won two Emmy Awards.
Hunter has acted in many other movies. They include "Copycat", "Living Out Loud", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "Home for the Holidays", "The Incredibles", "Thirteen", and "".
Hunter's most outstanding television series was for the drama series "Saving Grace (TV series)", for which she won the Grace Allen Award, and was nominated for seven other awards.
Music of Australia
The music of Australia is the music made in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of modern Australia. This includes its earlier Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian music is a part of a 40–60,000 year history which made the didgeridoo. Combinations of Indigenous and Western styles show Australian additions to world music. Some people who do this are Yothu Yindi, Christine Anu and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu. During its early western history, Australia was made of many British colonies. Australian folk music and bush ballads such as Waltzing Matilda were influenced by Anglo-Celtic culture. Classical forms came from those of Europe. Current Australian music covers many trends. They are often similar to those of the US, the UK, and similar nations. There are oftem similarities in the Australian rock and Australian country music genres.
Notable Australian musicians include: the opera singers Dame Nellie Melba and Dame Joan Sutherland; country music stars Slim Dusty (Australia's biggest selling domestic artist) and John Williamson; solo artists John Farnham and Olivia Newton-John, folk-rocker Paul Kelly; Dance group The Avalanches; jazz guitarist Tommy Emmanuel; pioneer rocker Johnny O'Keefe, global folk-rock band The Seekers, global rock and pop bands Men At Work, The EasyBeats, Bee Gees, Air Supply, Crowded House, AC/DC, INXS, Little River Band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Midnight Oil, Dragon, Silverchair, Youth Group, You Am I and Powderfinger; the "pop princess" Kylie Minogue, Pendulum, Pop Rock duo Savage Garden and alternative music stars the John Butler Trio and Xavier Rudd. Other popular artists and groups include The Choirboys, Chantoozies, Cheetah, Sharon O'Neill, Marc Williams, Peter Andre, Goanna, Australian Crawl, Rose Tattoo, Colleen Hewett, Keith Urban, The Angels, Ted Mullry Gang, Hush, The Mixtures, Helen Reddy, and Diana Trask.
Australian literature
Australian literature is the written or literary work made in the area or by the people of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early western history, Australia was many British colonies. Therefore, its literary tradition is linked with English literature. Since 1788, the character of a new continent came into the literature. Themes included Aboriginality, "mateship", egalitarianism, democracy, migrant and national identity, distance from other Western nations and proximity to Asia, the complexities of urban living and the "beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.
Notable Australian writers have included the novelists Marcus Clarke, Miles Franklin, Patrick White, Thomas Keneally, Morris West and Colleen McCullough, the bush poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, historians Manning Clark and Geoffrey Blainey, the playwright David Williamson and leading expatriate writers Barry Humphries, Robert Hughes, Clive James and Germaine Greer.
483
Year 483 (CDLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 874 (DCCCLXXIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 501 (DI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 515 (DXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 497 (CDXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 549 (DXLIX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 623 (DCXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 548 (DXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 547 (DXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 875 (DCCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 1004 (MIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
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Year 1060 (MLX) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
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