Ten Things You Probably Didn't Know About . . .
Canberra
By David Whitley

ONE
When the provisional national parliament opened in 1927, it was lumped in the middle of a barren-looking paddock.

TWO
While many of Canberra’s streets and suburbs are named after politicians, Callister St in Theodore pays tribute to a true Australian legend: Dr Cyril Callister, the inventor of Vegemite.

THREE
137 entries were received from 15 different countries to design Australia’s new capital city in 1912.

FOUR
In the language of the Ngunnawal people, Canberra supposedly means either “meeting place” or “women’s breasts.” The former is generally thought correct, although a look at Mt Ainslie and Black Mountain from the right angle could suggest otherwise.

FIVE
While American Walter Burley Griffin took all the credit for designing the city, his wife Marion did all the drawings presented to the assessors.

SIX
Before Canberra was finally settled upon, MPs and senators had recommended Albury, Tumut, Orange and Dalgety as the site for the capital.

SEVEN 
Lake Burley Griffin was nearly a disaster – the initial filling was attempted during a drought, which attracted swarms of mosquitoes.

EIGHT
If the wrong name had been picked from the list of nominations, our capital could now be known as Sydmelperadbrisho, Kangaremu or Gonebroke.

NINE
The 40m Douglas Fir that forms the capital’s biggest flagpole was a rather cumbersome gift from Canada. For want of anywhere else big enough, it had to spend several days submerged in Sydney Harbour for quarantine reasons.

TEN
The Captain Cook Memorial Jet on Lake Burley Griffin can send water up to 147m into the air.