Queensland's history—1900s

1997

• The first electric Tilt Train service runs from Brisbane to Rockhampton. With a top speed of 165km/h, and the ability to tilt 5 degrees in each direction, the Tilt Train is the fastest train in Australia.

1996

• Queensland-born and educated immunologist Professor Peter Doherty shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his Swiss colleague Professor Rolf Zinkernagel for discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells.
• The first high speed CityCat service begins in Brisbane.

1995

• Queensland wins the Sheffield Shield for the first time—68 years after joining the national cricket competition.
• Just outside Cairns, stretching 7.5km, Skyrail is one of the state's top tourist attractions.

1994

• Cathy Freeman carries both the Australian and Aboriginal flags at the Commonwealth Games in Canada after winning 2 events.

1992

• The push for native title strengthens because of the favourable Mabo High Court ruling over Torres Strait Island land claims by Eddie Mabo and others.
• South Bank Parklands in Brisbane open.

1991

• The first Indy (car race) outside the United States is held at Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast.
• Warner Bros. Movie World opens at Oxenford.

1989

• The Australian Labor Party (ALP) returns to power after 32 years, led by Wayne Goss.
• A daylight saving trial begins. In 1992, the majority of Queensland voters reject daylight saving in a referendum and it is abolished.

1988

• Queen Elizabeth II officially opens World Expo '88, a central feature of the national bicentennial celebrations.
• The Daintree Rainforest is World Heritage listed.
• Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame opens at Longreach.

1987

• The Fitzgerald Inquiry starts. It reforms the public service, the police service, electoral processes and government accountability over several years. Some politicians and the Police Commissioner are convicted and jailed.
• Queensland's largest dam, the Burdekin Falls Dam (south-west of Ayr) is completed, with a capacity 4 times that of Sydney Harbour.

1982

• The Commonwealth Games come to Brisbane—the largest major sporting event held in Queensland. Australia wins the overall gold medal tally.
• The iconic Cloudland Ballroom at Bowen Hills is demolished overnight, following the demolition of Brisbane's historic Bellevue Hotel 3 years earlier. These events changed the way Queenslanders saw and valued their heritage.

1981

• The Great Barrier Reef is World Heritage listed.

1980

• Queensland beats New South Wales 20–10 in the first State of Origin game in front of a packed Lang Park.

1975

• The State Emergency Service is established.

1974

• The Brisbane flood-the worst flood since 1893—leads to major flood mitigation works. The Wivenhoe Dam is built.

1973

• Surf clothing company Billabong is founded on the Gold Coast by surfer and surfboard shaper Gordon Merchant and his partner.
• Arsonists James Finch and John Stuart are jailed for fire-bombing the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub on St Pauls Terrace in Brisbane—the worst mass murder in Australia until the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

1971

• Queenslander Neville Bonner becomes the first Indigenous person to be elected to Federal Parliament as a Senator for Queensland.

1969

• Brisbane's tram service is abolished.

1968

• Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen starts his premiership, which lasts until 1987 (19 years), making him the longest serving premier in Queensland history.

1965

• Merle Thornton and Rosalie Bogner chain themselves to the bar rail at Brisbane's Regatta Hotel to protest against men-only bars in Queensland pubs (the law changed in 1970).

1964

• The Beatles arrive in Brisbane and are met by 10,000 excited fans.

1962

• The Bruce Highway linking Brisbane and Cairns is completed. This encourages growth in tourism as Queenslanders take advantage of shorter travel times to places such as the Whitsunday Islands.
• Rockhampton-born ‘Rocket’ Rod Laver wins the tennis Grand Slam (the only man to win it twice—again in 1969).

1961

• Brisbane changes forever under the leadership of Lord Mayor Clem Jones (until 1975), whose city council introduces town planning and massive development programs.

1959

• Queensland's centenary celebrations are held, including a royal tour by Princess Alexandra.
• The Cooktown Orchid becomes Queensland's floral emblem.

1954

• Queen Elizabeth II is met by hysterical crowds on her visit to Queensland during her Australian tour.

1953

• Best known for house calls to the sick and elderly, Blue Care becomes the Blue Nursing Service—an initiative of members of the Methodist Mission at West End.

1951

• The School of the Air starts (education via radio) for children in remote areas.

1946

• Free public hospital treatment is available to Queenslanders for the first time.

1944

• Fred Paterson becomes the first and only Communist to gain a seat in Queensland Parliament. From 1944 to 1950, Paterson is the Member for Bowen.

1942

• Japanese flying boats bomb Townsville (26–29 July) and Mossman (31 July). There were no fatalities and only 1 minor injury is recorded.

1940

• The Story Bridge opens—it is Brisbane's most iconic bridge named after John Douglas Story.

1939

• World War II starts with Germany's invasion of Poland (the war ends in 1945).
• Dr James Mayne and sister Mary Emilia give their entire estate to The University of Queensland for medical education.

1930

• A preparatory year of schooling is added to state primary schools. Abolished in 1953, it is re-introduced in 2007.
• Charles Kingsford Smith breaks Bert Hinkler's solo record from England to Australia and lands at Eagle Farm, Brisbane.

1929

• Irene Longman becomes the first woman elected to Queensland Parliament, winning the Brisbane seat of Bulimba for the Country National Party.
• First 'talkies' screen at the Tivoli in Brisbane.

1928

• The Royal Flying Doctor Service is founded by Reverend John Flynn in response to an emergency call. John Flynn is today commemorated on the Australian $20 note.

1927

• Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is the world's first koala sanctuary and the first to breed captive koalas.

1925

• Dors Hassell stars in Charles Chauvel's first movie, The Moth of Moonbi, made by Australian Film Production, and shot mainly in the Brisbane bush (released January 1926).

1924

• The winking Mr Fourex, atop of the Milton brewery in Brisbane, makes his first appearance.

1922

• Queensland abolishes the Upper House, becoming the only state parliament in Australia to have 1 house.

1920

• Qantas-Australia's first airline—is established by 4 World War I veterans at Winton.

1917

• Prime Minister Billy Hughes forms the Australian Federal Police after local police refuse to arrest the men responsible for throwing eggs at him during a pro-conscription rally in Warwick.

1915

• Premier TJ Ryan leads the first Queensland ALP government to govern without the need of non-labor Members of Parliament (MPs). Labor is in power from 1915–1957 (except during 1929–1932).

1914

• World War I is declared (the war ends in 1918).
• Yatala Pie Shop opens.

1911

• The University of Queensland opens its doors to students.
• The first alternative treatments for polio are pioneered in Queensland and remain in use across the world today.

1909

• Queensland surf lifesavers rescue a group of young women in the first recorded rescue, at Greenmount Beach, Coolangatta.

1908

• Witches Falls at Mt Tamborine is proclaimed Queensland's first national park.
• Rugby League is established as a separate sport from Rugby Union.

1905

• Queensland women are granted the right to vote.

1903

• Under the Jacaranda is painted by R. Godfrey Rivers, a leading Queensland artist. This is a popular painting among visitors to the Queensland Art Gallery.

1901

• The colony of Queensland becomes a state of the new Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January.