1958 in Australia
Encyclopedia
Incumbents
- MonarchMonarchy in AustraliaThe Monarchy of Australia is a form of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Australia. The monarchy is a constitutional one modelled on the Westminster style of parliamentary government, incorporating features unique to the Constitution of Australia.The present monarch is...
– Elizabeth II - Governor-GeneralGovernor-General of AustraliaThe Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
– Sir William SlimWilliam Slim, 1st Viscount SlimField Marshal William Joseph "Bill"'Slim, 1st Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC, KStJ was a British military commander and the 13th Governor-General of Australia.... - Prime MinisterPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
– Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
State premiers
- Premier of New South Wales – Joseph CahillJoseph CahillJohn Joseph Cahill was Premier of New South Wales in Australia from 1952 to 1959. He is best remembered as the Premier who approved construction on the Sydney Opera House, and for his work increasing the authority of local government in the state.-Early years:Joe Cahill, as he was popularly known,...
- Premier of Queensland – Frank NicklinFrank NicklinSir George Francis Reuben Nicklin, KCMG, MM was Premier of the Australian state of Queensland from 1957 to 1968, and the first Country Party Premier since 1932.-Early life and career:...
- Premier of South Australia – Thomas Playford IVThomas Playford IVSir Thomas Playford, GCMG was a South Australian politician. He served continuously as Premier of South Australia from 5 November 1938 to 10 March 1965, the longest term of any elected government leader in the history of Australia. His tenure as premier was marked by a period of population and...
- Premier of Tasmania – Robert CosgroveRobert CosgroveSir Robert Cosgrove KCMG was an Australian politician, trade unionist, and twice Premier of Tasmania from 18 December 1939 to 18 December 1947 and 25 February 1948 to 26 August 1958....
(until 26 August), then Eric ReeceEric ReeceEric Elliott Reece, AC was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975.-Biography:... - Premier of Victoria – Henry BolteHenry BolteSir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :...
- Premier of Western AustraliaPremier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
– Albert HawkeAlbert HawkeAlbert Redvers George Hawke was the 18th Premier of Western Australia.Hawke was born to James Renfrey Hawke and Eliza Ann Blinman Pascoe, both of Cornish descent, in Kapunda, South Australia...
State governors
- Governor of New South Wales – Sir Eric WoodwardEric WoodwardLieutenant General Sir Eric Winslow Woodward KCMG, KCVO, CB, CBE, DSO was an Australian military officer and Viceroy...
- Governor of Queensland – Sir Henry Abel SmithHenry Abel SmithColonel Sir Henry Abel Smith KCMG KCVO DSO was a British Army officer and a Governor of Queensland.-Biography:He was born in London, on 8 March 1900, the son of Francis Abel Smith and wife Madeline St. Maur Seymour...
(from 18 March) - Governor of South Australia – Sir Robert GeorgeRobert GeorgeAir Vice Marshal Sir Robert Allingham George KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB, MC was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force and Governor of South Australia from 23 February 1953 until 7 March 1960. He was born in the County of Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, on 25 July 1896, and educated at Invergordon and...
- Governor of Tasmania – Sir Ronald Cross, 1st Baronet (until 4 June)
- Governor of Victoria – Sir Dallas BrooksDallas BrooksBrooks made his first-class debut for the Royal Navy against Cambridge University in 1919 as a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium. The same season Brooks made his debut for Hampshire against Surrey in the County Championship...
- Governor of Western AustraliaGovernor of Western AustraliaThe Governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of Australia's Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor performs important constitutional, ceremonial and community functions, including:* presiding over the Executive Council;...
– Sir Charles GairdnerCharles GairdnerGeneral Sir Charles Henry Gairdner, GBE, KCMG, KCVO, CB was a British Army general during World War II and was Governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, and Governor of Tasmania from 1963 to 1968.-Early life:...
Events
- 14 January – Qantas AirwaysQantasQantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
introduces a round-the-world air service from Australia to London. - 20 January – The Royal Australian Naval CollegeHMAS CreswellHMAS Creswell is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy, a part of the Australian Defence Force, and consists of the Royal Australian Naval College , The RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range and an administrative support...
is moved back to Jervis Bay TerritoryJervis Bay TerritoryThe Jervis Bay Territory is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia. It was surrendered by the state of New South Wales to the Commonwealth Government in 1915 so that the Federal capital at Canberra would have "access to the sea"....
from Flinders Naval DepotHMAS Cerberus, VictoriaHMAS Cerberus is the Royal Australian Navy's primary training establishment, located adjacent to Crib Point on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is also an official bounded locality of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula...
in Victoria. - 28 January to 11 February – Harold MacmillanHarold MacmillanMaurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
visits Australia, the first Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
to do so while in office. - 14 February to 7 March – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother visits Australia for the second time.
- 21 March – John McEwenJohn McEwenSir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia...
replaces Arthur FaddenArthur FaddenSir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:...
as federal leader of the Country PartyNational Party of AustraliaThe National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
. - 24 March – The Cahill ExpresswayCahill ExpresswayThe Cahill Expressway is the first true freeway constructed in Sydney, Australia. It starts from the Eastern Distributor and Cross City Tunnel in Woolloomooloo, and runs through a series of sunken cuttings and tunnels between the Royal Botanical Gardens and The Domain...
in Sydney opens, the first true freeway in Australia. - 3 April – A cycloneCycloneIn meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
destroys most of the town of BowenBowen, QueenslandBowen is a town on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bowen had a population of 7,484.-Geography:Bowen is located on the north-east coast of Australia, at exactly twenty degrees south of the equator. In fact, the twentieth parallel crosses the main street...
in Queensland. - 15 April – Monash UniversityMonash UniversityMonash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
is founded in Melbourne, Victoria. - 11 May – Construction of Australia's largest man-made lake, Lake EucumbeneLake EucumbeneLake Eucumbene is a man-made lake on the Eucumbene River in the Snowy Mountains of Southern New South Wales in Australia. The lake was created by the damming of the river as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. The dam was built between 1956 and 1958....
on the Eucumbene RiverEucumbene RiverThe Eucumbene River rises in the northern part of the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, and flows south. Its flow is blocked by Eucumbene Dam, the largest dam in the Snowy Mountains Scheme...
in the Snowy MountainsSnowy MountainsThe Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
, is completed. - 31 May – Henry BolteHenry BolteSir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG was an Australian politician. He was the 38th and longest serving Premier of Victoria.- Early years :...
's Liberal government is re-elected in Victoria. - 19 July – The last tramTramA 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...
service runs in Perth. - 26 August – Robert CosgroveRobert CosgroveSir Robert Cosgrove KCMG was an Australian politician, trade unionist, and twice Premier of Tasmania from 18 December 1939 to 18 December 1947 and 25 February 1948 to 26 August 1958....
retires as Premier of Tasmania, and is replaced by Eric ReeceEric ReeceEric Elliott Reece, AC was Premier of Tasmania on two occasions: from 26 August 1958 to 26 May 1969, and from 3 May 1972 to 31 March 1975.-Biography:...
. - 30 September – The ANZAC Day Act 1958 receives Royal AssentRoyal AssentThe granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
, making ANZAC DayANZAC DayAnzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
(25 April) a national public holiday in Australia. - 26 October – The wreckage of the Australian National AirwaysAustralian National AirwaysAustralian National Airways was Australia's predominant carrier from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s.-The Holyman Airways Period:On 19 March 1932 Flinders Island Airways began a regular aerial service using the Desoutter Mk.II VH-UEE Miss Launceston between Launceston, Tasmania and Flinders...
Avro 10 aircraft, VH-UMF Southern Cloud, is found. The aircraft had been missing since 1931 - 22 November – A federal electionAustralian federal election, 1958Federal elections were held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election...
is held. The LiberalLiberal Party of AustraliaThe Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
-Country coalitionCoalition (Australia)The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
led by Robert MenziesRobert MenziesSir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....
defeats H. V. EvattH. V. EvattHerbert Vere Evatt, QC KStJ , was an Australian jurist, politician and writer. He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1948–49 and helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
's Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
with 74 seats to 45 in the House of RepresentativesAustralian House of RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
, a majority unprecedented since FederationFederation of AustraliaThe Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
, gained from preferences from the Democratic Labor PartyDemocratic Labor Party (historical)The Democratic Labor Party was an Australian political party that existed from 1955 until 1978.-History:The DLP was formed as a result of a split in the Australian Labor Party that began in 1954. The split was between the party's national leadership, under the then party leader Dr H.V...
.
Unknown dates
- Johnny O'KeefeJohnny O'KeefeJohn Michael O'Keefe, known as Johnny O'Keefe was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include "Wild One" , "Shout!" and "She's My Baby"...
has his first hit with Wild One - Radio station 2UE2UE2UE is a commercial radio station in Sydney, Australia owned by Fairfax Media. It is Sydney's and Australia's oldest commercial radio station, first broadcasting on 26 January 1925 on 1025 kHz AM before moving to 950 kHz in 1935 when virtually all Australian radio stations were assigned new...
publishes the first Australian Top 40
Science and technology
- 26 January – The HIFARHIFARHigh Flux Australian Reactor was Australia's first nuclear reactor. It was built at the Australian Atomic Energy Commission Research Establishment at Lucas Heights....
nuclear reactorNuclear reactorA nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
at Lucas HeightsLucas Heights, New South WalesLucas Heights is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lucas Heights is located 31 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire....
goes critical for the first time.
Unknown dates
- Australian engineer Dr. David Warren of Melbourne's Aeronautical Research Laboratories constructs the world's first flight recorderFlight recorderA flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
("black boxBlack Box (transportation)The term black box is a placeholder name used casually to refer to a collection of several different recording devices used in transportation: the flight recorders in aircraft, the event recorder in railway locomotives, the event data recorder in automobiles, message case in ships, and other...
").
Arts and literature
- 11 December – The National Institute of Dramatic ArtNational Institute of Dramatic ArtThe National Institute of Dramatic Art is an Australian national training institute for students of theatre, film, and television, based in the Sydney suburb of Kensington. It is supported by the federal Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. NIDA is located adjacent...
(NIDA) opens in SydneySydneySydney 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...
. - William Edwin PidgeonWilliam PidgeonWilliam Edwin Pidgeon, aka Bill Pidgeon and WEP, was an Australian painter who won the Archibald Prize three times....
wins the Archibald PrizeArchibald PrizeThe Archibald Prize is regarded as the most important portraiture prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who died in 1919...
with his portrait of journalist Ray Walker - Eric SmithEric Smith (artist)Eric John Smith is an award-winning Australian artist. Smith has won many of Australia's major art prizes multiple times including the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times; the Wynne Prize twice; the Sulman Prize three times; and the Blake Prize for Religious Art six times.-Life and...
wins the Blake Prize for Religious ArtBlake Prize for Religious ArtThe Blake Prize for Religious Art is an annual art prize in Australia.The prize was established in 1949 as an incentive to raise the standard of religious art. Founded by Mr R. Morley, the Reverend Michael Scott SJ, Rector of Newman College, University of Melbourne, and lawyer Mrs M. Tenison, it...
with his work The Moment Christ Died - Randolph StowRandolph StowJulian Randolph Stow was an Australian writer.-Life:Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, Randolph Stow attended Guildford Grammar School and the University of Western Australia. He lectured in English Literature at the University of Adelaide, the University of Western Australia and the...
wins the Miles Franklin AwardMiles Franklin AwardThe Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize for the best Australian ‘published novel or play portraying Australian life in any of its phases’. The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin , who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career ...
for To the IslandsTo the IslandsTo the Islands is a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Australian author Randolph Stow.-References:***... - Russel Ward releases The Australian Legend
Television
- 1 November – The first episode of BandstandBandstand (Australia)Bandstand was an Australian musical/variety television show which screened from November 1958 to 1972. It was produced at the studios of TCN-9 in Sydney and eventually became a national program as Nine Network expanded into other Australian cities in the early 1960s.Bandstand was created by Nine...
goes to air on TCN-9TCNTCN stands for:* Take Care Now, a private company providing out-of-hours medical cover in England* TanenbaumCHAT North Campus, a private Hebrew high school in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada* TCN-9, a Sydney television station...
, hosted by Brian Henderson. - 22 November – The Australian federal election, 1958Australian federal election, 1958Federal elections were held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election...
is the first to be televised.
Sport
- Athletics
- 23 March – John Russell wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:40:30 in SydneySydneySydney 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...
- 6 August – Herb ElliottHerb ElliottHerbert James "Herb" Elliott AC MBE is a former Australian athlete, one of the world's greatest middle distance runners...
sets a world record for the one-mile dash (3:54.5) at Morton StadiumMorton StadiumMorton Stadium, or the National Athletics Stadium, is an athletics stadium in Santry, in the north of Dublin City. Often called Santry Stadium, it is the centre for athletics events in Ireland, and home track of Clonliffe Harriers. It was home to Sporting Fingal FC...
in Dublin, IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
- 23 March – John Russell wins his second men's national marathon title, clocking 2:40:30 in Sydney
- Cricket
- New South WalesNew South Wales BluesThe New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
wins the Sheffield ShieldPura CupThe Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
- New South Wales
- Football
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Brothers defeated ValleysFortitude Valley DiehardsThe Fortitude Valley Diehards were an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley.-History:...
22-7 - New South Wales Rugby League premiershipNew South Wales Rugby League premiershipThe New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League from 1908 until 1994, the premiership was the state's and later the country's elite rugby league competition...
: St. GeorgeSt. George DragonsThe St George Dragons was an Australian Rugby league football club in St George, Sydney, New South Wales that played in Australia's top-level Rugby league competition from New South Wales Rugby Football League in 1921 until 1998; in 1999 they formed a joint venture with the Illawarra Steelers,...
defeated Western SuburbsWestern Suburbs MagpiesThe Western Suburbs Magpies are an Australian rugby league football club based in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1908, Wests, as they are commonly referred to, were one of the nine foundation clubs of the first New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia...
20-9 - South Australian National Football League premiership: won by Port AdelaidePort Adelaide Football ClubThe Port Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, which plays in the Australian Football League and the South Australian National Football League...
- Victorian Football League premiership: CollingwoodCollingwood Football ClubThe Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...
defeated MelbourneMelbourne Football ClubThe Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Demons, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League , based in Melbourne, Victoria....
82-64
- Brisbane Rugby League premiership: Brothers defeated Valleys
- Golf
- Australian OpenAustralian Open (golf)The Australian Open is one of the principal annual golf tournaments on the PGA Tour of Australasia, and also the OneAsia Tour since its formation in 2009. The event was first played in 1904 and takes place toward the end of each year...
: won by Gary PlayerGary PlayerGary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
- Australian Open
- Horse Racing
- Sir Blink wins the Caulfield CupCaulfield CupThe Caulfield Cup, one of Australia's richest Thoroughbred horse races and the richest of its type in the world is held annually by the Melbourne Racing Club. The race is a handicap like the Melbourne Cup, which means that horses that compete in the Caulfield Cup are capable of running on the...
- Yeman wins the Cox PlateCox PlateThe W.S. Cox Plate is an Australian Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne every October by the Moonee Valley Racing Club to honour W.S. Cox, the club's founder. For three-year-olds and over, the race is considered to be the Weight for Age championship of Australasia...
- Skyline wins the Golden Slipper
- Baystone wins the Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe 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...
- Sir Blink wins the Caulfield Cup
- Motor Racing
- The Australian Grand PrixAustralian Grand PrixThe 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...
was held at BathurstBathurst, New South Wales-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
and won by Lex DavisonLex DavisonAlexander Nicholas Davison was a racing driver who won the Australian Grand Prix four times between 1954 and 1961 and won the Australian Drivers' Championship in 1957...
driving a FerrariFerrariFerrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
- The Australian Grand Prix
- Tennis
- Australian Open men's singles: Ashley Cooper defeats Malcolm AndersonMalcolm AndersonMalcolm "Mal" J. Anderson was a top-ranking Australian tennis player from the middle 1950s to the early 1970s....
7-5 6-3 6-4 - Australian Open women's singles: Angela MortimerAngela MortimerFlorence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett is a former World No. 1 British female tennis player. She was born in Plymouth, Devon, England...
defeats Lorraine CoghlanLorraine CoghlanLorraine Coghlan Robinson is a female former tennis player from the state of Victoria in Australia. In 1956 she won the Australian Championships Girls Singles title. Coghlan teamed with Bob Howe to win the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1958...
6-3 6-4 - Davis CupDavis CupThe Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
: AustraliaAustralia Davis Cup teamThe Australian Davis Cup team is the second most successful team ever to compete in the Davis Cup, winning the coveted title on 23 separate occasions, second behind the United States with 32....
is defeated by the United States 3-2 in the 1958 Davis Cup1958 Davis CupThe 1958 Davis Cup was the 47th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 36 teams would enter the competition, 24 in the Europe Zone, 7 in the Americas Zone, and 5 in the Eastern Zone....
final
- Australian Open men's singles: Ashley Cooper defeats Malcolm Anderson
- Yachting
- Solo takes line honours and Siandra wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht RaceSydney to Hobart Yacht RaceThe Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, Australia on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart. The race distance is approximately...
- Solo takes line honours and Siandra wins on handicap in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
Births
- 6 February – Simon BakerSimon Baker (athlete)Simon Francis Baker is a retired male race walker from Australia, who represented his native country in four consecutive Olympic Games: 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996.-Achievements:-References:*...
, race walker - 20 March – Phil AndersonPhil AndersonPhilip Grant Anderson OAM is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who was the first non-European to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France.-Origins:...
, cyclist - 12 April – Glenn PatchingGlenn PatchingGlenn Patching was an Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres backstroke event at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He represented his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1976.-References:*...
, swimmer - 5 May – Robert DiPierdomenicoRobert DiPierdomenicoRobert "Dipper" DiPierdomenico is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL of Italian descent and a member of the VFL/AFL Italian Team of the Century...
, footballer and media personality - 7 May – Alan JohnAlan JohnAlan John is an Australian composer. He studied music at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1980. His compositions include original music for various plays, films and TV series , and the musical theatre works Jonah Jones, Orlando Rourke, and the musical Snugglepot and...
, composer - 11 May – Peter AntoniePeter AntoniePeter Thomas Antonie OAM is a former rower from Australia of high acclaim, having competed in a large number of international events...
, rower - 11 May – Phil SmythPhil SmythPhilip John Smyth AM is an Australian former basketball player and former three time championship winning head coach of the National Basketball League's Adelaide 36ers.-Professional career:...
, basketball player - 3 July – Gary BuckenaraGary BuckenaraGary Buckenara played Australian rules football for the Hawthorn Football Club in the VFL during the 1980s.Buckenara first played senior football for Subiaco in the WAFL from 1979 to 1981. Subiaco agreed to lease him for three years for $210,000 and after a court case began his career at Hawthorn...
, Australian Rules footballer - 6 July – Gary HumphriesGary HumphriesGary John Joseph Humphries has been a member of the Australian Senate representing the Australian Capital Territory for the Liberal Party of Australia since 2003...
, politician - 13 July – Richard Glover, journalist, author and radio personality
- 15 July –Phil GouldPhil GouldPhil Gould is an Australian rugby league broadcaster, journalist, administrator and former player and coach. Since the 1990s he has had a prominent role in Channel 9's coverage of rugby league, as a commentator on their match-day coverage, and appears on The Sunday Footy Show and The Sunday Roast...
, rugby league identity - 13 October – Jim KrakouerJim KrakouerJames Gordon "Jim" Krakouer was an Australian rules footballer in the 1980s for North Melbourne and St Kilda in the VFL and Claremont in the WAFL...
, Australian Rules footballer - 6 November – Rocco Ferrentino (b. 1958), Australian Entrepreneur
- 31 December – Geoff MarshGeoff MarshGeoffrey Robert Marsh is a former Australian cricketer, coach and selector. He played 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day Internationals for Australia as an opening batsman...
, cricketer
Deaths
- 8 April – Ethel TurnerEthel TurnerEthel Turner was an Australian novelist and children's writer.She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah Jane Burwell with two daughters . A year later, Sarah Jane married Henry Turner, who was twenty years older and had six...
(b. 1872), writer - 13 September – Russell MockridgeRussell MockridgeRussell Mockridge was a racing cyclist from Geelong, Victoria, Australia. He died during a race, in collision with a bus....
(b. 1928), cyclist - 14 October – Douglas MawsonDouglas MawsonSir Douglas Mawson, OBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer and Academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Ernest Shackleton, Mawson was a key expedition leader during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.-Early work:He was appointed geologist to an...
(b. 1882), polar explorer - 30 November – Hubert WilkinsHubert WilkinsSir Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer.-Early life:...
(b. 1888), polar explorer