Australia and Sport in the 20th Century By Ethan Kelly Period: Jan 1, 1900 to Dec 31, 1999 Australia & Sport Jan 1, 1901 Federation May 31, 1914 World War I begins May 31, 1919 World War 1 ends May 31, 1919 World Wide influenza epidemic killed 11 552 Australians Jan 31, 1929 The Great Deperession affected Australia May 31, 1930 Bradman scored 334 runs, highest score by an Australian in test Cricket May 31, 1930 First Commercial radio & television between England & Aust May 31, 1930 Phar lap won the Melbourne Cup May 31, 1938 Australia hosted its first Empire Game (Commonwealth Games) Sep 3, 1939 World War 2 begins Feb 19, 1942 Darwin was bombed by the Japanese May 31, 1945 World War 2 ended May 31, 1956 Melbourne hosted XVI Olympic Games Australia came third in thre medal tally. World tennis and swimming was dominated by Australians. Period: Jan 1, 1957 to Jan 1, 2001 Channel 7 was the only broadcaster of VFL/AFl May 31, 1959 2 out of 3 homes had televisions and radios Jul 8, 1961 Rod Laver wins Wimbledon May 31, 1962 Australia was involved in the Vietnam War Jun 7, 1972 The Ashes was broadcast live via satellite for the first time Jun 7, 1977 Kerry Packer launched Channel 9's World Series Cricket. This impacted on how sport and television was used together Jun 7, 1978 Wimbledon & Melbourne cup were broadcast live for the first time Jun 1, 1980 Active Australia starts with Aussie Sports Jun 7, 1995 PayTV was launched in Australia
