29th August: Melbourne

The city of Melbourne, Australia, was founded on this date in 1835. Here's what you need to know:

1. The city was originally going to be called Batmania, after John Batman, one of its founders. It was named "Melbourne" by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Richard Bourke, in honour of the British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.
2. It's a cosmopolitan and diverse city. The population is around four and a half million and includes the highest Italian and Greek populations outside Italy and Greece, the oldest Chinese settlement in the western world – there has been a Chinatown in Melbourne since 1851, and the largest number of Holocaust survivors outside Israel. Melbourne is also the home of the first Lesbian and Gay radio station in the world, which started broadcasting in 1993. Even the weather is diverse – it is said to be possible to experience four seasons in one day.
3. It is said to be the fox capital of the world, with somewhere between six and twenty-six foxes per square kilometre in the metropolitan area.
4. Two of Australia's most iconic products originated in the city of Melbourne. Fosters Lager was originally produced in Melbourne by two Americans. Dr. Cyril P Callister invented Vegemite here in 1922, and Melbourne is still home to the only Vegemite factory in the world.
5. Other things Melbourne has given the world: the eight hour working day (thanks to stonemasons in 1855); the Black Box flight recorder (invented in 1958 by Dr David Warren at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne) and the privately owned theme park (Luna Park is the oldest in the world. It was also the home of the first literary club in Australia (the Yorick Club) and Australia's first set of Traffic Lights. The world's first feature film, The Story of the Ned Kelly Gang was filmed in Melbourne in 1906.
6. The city is home to the world's largest stained glass ceiling - 51 metres (167.3 feet) long by 15 metres (49.2 feet) wide, in the National Gallery of Victoria, and the largest tram system outside Europe (and fourth largest in the world.
7. It is illegal in Melbourne to trade with a pirate, drive a Goat or a Dog attached to a vehicle, carry out unauthorised rain-making activity (like seeding clouds – not sure whether rain dances are included), offer a reward for the return of lost or stolen property “with no questions asked”, or sing an obscene song within earshot of another person.
8. Melbourne was the capital city of Australia for 26 years between 1901 and 1927.
9. Melbourne is sometimes described as the most sports obsessed city in the world, and certainly has a sporting heritage. Australian rules football, a mixture of soccer, Gaelic football and rugby was invented here by Tom Wills in 1858, and the city hosted the first Olympic Games in the Southern Hemisphere in 1956. The Olympic tradition of all the athletes parading around the stadium together as part of the opening and closing ceremonies originated here. It came about after a teenager called John Ian Wing wrote to the Olympic Committee to suggest they did this as a sign of global unity. Finally on the subject of sport, an Ashes match against England in 2013 holds the world record for the highest attendance at a Cricket match when 91,092 people turned out to watch.
10. Melbourne has been voted one of the best cities of the world to live in since 2002, and has topped the list since 2011. Not only are housing, healthcare and economic criteria excellent but there are more cafes and restaurants here per person than in any other city. Also, since 1966, the pubs no longer close at 6pm.

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