The oldest koala ever in captivity was Sarah, who died in 2001 aged 23 years old. Sarah was born in 1978 and lived at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Queensland, Australia. The average age for a koala is 12 years in the wild and 16 in captivity. The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is also the oldest of the type in the world. The sanctuary also boasts the largest number of koalas in captivity, 134 (as of 30 April 2002), and claims to have the first Continue reading →

In August 2000 Australian scientists announced their discovery of minute oil droplets within fluid inclusions inside mineral grains in rocks that date back some 3.2 billion years. The ancient oil must have formed from the decayed remains of organisms that lived during this period

The oldest IBD outdoor bowls world champion was Henry ‘Wal’ Browning (Australia) who won the 2007 World Championship at Harbord Bowling Club, Sydney, Australia, on 25 October 2007, aged 79 years 169 days. The IBD (International Bowls for the Disabled) is the official federation for disabled competition in outdoor and indoor bowls. They are officially recognised by World Bowls, the international able-bodied federation for the sport. Wal won the world championships in the B2-3 discipline.

Sun Picture Theatre, an open air theatre in Broome, Western Australia, Australia, first opened on 9 December 1916. It played silent films until 1933, when it showed its first “talkie” Monte Carlo (USA 1930) with Jeanette MacDonald (USA) and Jack Buchanan (USA). Patrons today still sit on deckchair benches.

Australian artist, Smoky Dawson (b. 19 March 1913), recorded a new album of original songs, ‘Homestead Of My Dreams’, at the age of 92 years 156 days when the album was released on 22 August 2005. Smoky began recording in 1941. Smoky’s birth name was: Herbert Henry Dawson. Although some sources believe he was born in 1914, the above date is what we believe to be correct.

The combined age of the 10 dancers from the touring chorus line of The Tivoli Lovelies (Australia), based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is 746 years 147 days as of 12 October 2004. Lila Wells (nee Ross b. 15 December 1931) 72 years 302 days Elizabeth Arnold (nee Saffin b. 27 Janaury 1932) – 72 years 259 days Irene Stichling (nee Simpson b. 3 February 1927) 77 years 252 days Betty Foot (nee Norman b. 16 March 1929) 75 years 210 days Pat Wallace (b. 26 Continue reading →

The oldest rugby league player is Dennis Gleeson (Australia, b.17 August 1936), who was 70 years and 9 days old when he played for the State Rail Apprentice RLFC in the NSW Tertiary Student Rugby League Competition, at the Peter Hislop Oval, Auburn, Australia, on 26 August 2006. Dennis wore the number 12 jersey and played as a forward. He has been playing for the State Rail Apprentice tertiary team since the 1998 season. Dennis was registered for the whole 2006 season and played on Continue reading →

The world’s oldest colony of genetically identical trees is the stand of Huon pine (Lagarostrobus franklinii) on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. The stand is believed to be over 10,500 years old, although no individual tree is that age. The oldest individual trees of this variety are 4,000 years old. In fact any individual tree is unlikely to ever exceed 3-4,000 years old.   Please note that reports of a creosote bush found in 1980 in the desert near Palm Springs, California – which Continue reading →

Otto Comanos (Australia) (b. 16 November 1913, Greece), took up windsurfing upon retirement in 1986 and regularly windsurfs two to three times a week in and around the lakes of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The title of ‘world’s rarest trading card’ is split between two quite distinct cards: the 1996 World Champion and the Shichifukujin Dragon. Only one specimen of each card exists anywhere in the world. The 1996 World Champion was given to Tom Chanpheng (Australia) in 1996 and all other copies of it, along with the printing plates, were ceremoniously destroyed at the end of that year’s World tournament. The Shichifukujin Dragon, created to celebrate the opening of the DCI Tournament Center in Tokyo, Japan, is also Continue reading →