History:
Subtopics
Kodak Snapshots
A snapshot into the 120 year history of Kodak manufacturing in Australia, told through Museum Victoria's collection.
CSIRAC - the world's oldest intact first-generation electronic computer
When it was built CSIRAC was at the cutting edge of the new field of computing.
Pumping Station
The fascinating story of one of Australia's most important industrial heritage sites.
Backyard ballistics: Australia's first DIY satellite
A DIY guide to reaching outer space.
Great Melbourne Telescope
Great Melbourne Telescope project website. The goal is to restore the telescope to working order so that it may be used for educational and public viewing.
Marvellous Melbourne
Melbourne is a young city by world standards, but it has layers of history. Discover how each era shaped the city we see today.
Our addiction to plastic
Lifting the lid on plastic: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Vaccines: saving millions one dose at a time
How the history of vaccine development shaped our ability to respond to worldwide pandemics.
HV McKay crate
Lid lifted on mystery artefact.
Audio-Visual Material in the Kodak Heritage Collection at Museums Victoria
This audio-visual material in the Kodak collection is evocative and valuable in the study of Kodak’s history.
Fashion Redux at Melbourne Museum
Major fashion names used the Museums State Collection, in collaboration with Melbourne Fashion Festival, to create a completely unique look.
Anne Bermingham, a scientific pioneer of radiocarbon dating
Meet the woman who started Australia’s first radiocarbon dating lab.
Sylvia Whincup, a prolific collector and groundbreaking mineralogist
Sylvia amassed a collection of thousands of specimens and 167 new species.
10 really big things in the Museums Victoria State Collection
With millions of objects to choose from, what are the some of the biggest things?
Birthday honours: 21 of our favourite things about the Melbourne Museum
Fascinating facts about Melbourne’s favourite museum.
If books could kill: poison, heavy metal and literature
Poisonous books are a legacy of fashion and industrial practices that prioritised beauty above all else. And the heavy metals left behind are still causing headaches for libraries and museums to this day.
Unboxing the museum: Ye Olde Xmas Program
Have you every wondered what Christmas in Melbourne was like in the 19th century.
Forbidden objects in the museum's collection
What do a doll, religious text, gun, and surprised-looking cat have in common?
Scienceworks is 30!
Jump on board for a look back at Scienceworks’ past, and some secrets, as we celebrate its 30th birthday.
Steam power is not just a relic of the past
Considered by some to be an old and outdated technology, steam is still used widely in the 21st century.
The electric vehicle future was promised decades ago, what happened?
Once lost from history, the electric vehicle's time has come again.
How poo shapes a city (and other scatalogical stories)
What do Melbourne’s laneways, the Spotswood Pumping Station at Scienceworks, and termite mounds all have in common?
A glimpse into the past, to enlighten the future of biodiversity on Earth
What can we learn from the first scientific descriptions of animals and the Earth’s biodiversity, written hundreds of years ago?
How much has cycling changed over the last 100 years?
Does the cycling equipment and advice of an Australian champion, like Hubert Opperman, stand the test of time?
Deaccessioning: Why do museums remove objects from collections?
The public collections found in museums across the world are a historic record. But that does not mean everything stays there forever.
These pieces of atomic glass are the remnants of the first nuclear bombs
Forged in the fury of nuclear explosions, like Oppenheimer’s Trinity test and British bombs at Maralinga, atomic glass is more than a curio in museum collections.