Topic | History | The Sydney Morning Herald

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

History

Advertisement
Family makes shock discovery of unknown Captain Flinders portrait
Exclusive
Visual art

Family makes shock discovery of unknown Captain Flinders portrait

The painting, worth more than $1 million, has gone on public display for the first time this week ahead of a reburial service for the explorer, the first person to circumnavigate Australia.

  • by Rob Harris

Latest

Bone found at Balmoral Beach reveals origins of Australia’s apex predator

Bone found at Balmoral Beach reveals origins of Australia’s apex predator

When Sally Wasef sent a bone found in an exclusive Sydney enclave off for carbon testing, she thought it would be a couple of hundred years old. She was wrong.

  • by Catherine Naylor
Ray of hope for beach shack owners in the Royal National Park
Exclusive
Heritage

Ray of hope for beach shack owners in the Royal National Park

The beach communities at Little Garie, Era and Burning Palms in Australia’s oldest national park are heritage listed. Their licences expire in March 2027, and the government is yet to decide what happens after that.

  • by Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Mystery surrounding treasures from Sydney shipwreck may finally be solved
Exclusive
Heritage

Mystery surrounding treasures from Sydney shipwreck may finally be solved

Items recovered from the wreck including figurines of baby birds have survived the plundering of treasure hunters.

  • by Tim Barlass
I thought my husband was dead. Then 30 years later, a letter arrived in the mail

I thought my husband was dead. Then 30 years later, a letter arrived in the mail

Amid the chaos of the Red Army advance in Latvia in 1944, Milda and Rudis Masens were separated. After five years in displaced persons camps hoping for news of Rudis, the young mother settled in Newcastle, NSW, and eventually remarried.

  • by As told to Andra Putnis
When rats ruled The Rocks and fear stalked the streets of Sydney
Exclusive
Healthcare

When rats ruled The Rocks and fear stalked the streets of Sydney

The year was 1900 and public enemy number one in Sydney was the plague-infected rat.

  • by Tim Barlass
Advertisement
Stonehenge spray-painted orange in latest action by climate protesters

Stonehenge spray-painted orange in latest action by climate protesters

The incident came just a day before thousands are expected to gather at the roughly 4500-year-old stone circle to celebrate the summer solstice.

  • by Brian Melley
Viking labourers a right carry on, says Barber of Windsor
Opinion
Column 8

Viking labourers a right carry on, says Barber of Windsor

First pillage, then picket.

Queen Victoria had a dog called Looty. What does that tell you?
Opinion
Opinion

Queen Victoria had a dog called Looty. What does that tell you?

Marc Fennell has attracted a global audience with his podcast and series Stuff the British Stole. Luckily for Fennell, there’s no shortage of contraband.

  • by Peter FitzSimons
‘We will not walk away’: Biden doubles down on support for Ukraine at D-Day anniversary

‘We will not walk away’: Biden doubles down on support for Ukraine at D-Day anniversary

In Normandy, the world’s leaders gathered to pay homage to the men who stormed the beaches to end Adolf Hitler’s conquest of Europe. Hear audio from the day in 1944.

  • by Rob Harris
No more ‘Homo stupidus’: Why Neanderthals are getting a makeover
Explainer
Evolution

No more ‘Homo stupidus’: Why Neanderthals are getting a makeover

They were shrewd, complex and creative, and we shared the planet with them (and other types of humans) for thousands of years. So why did the Neanderthals die out and not us?

  • by Angus Holland