Top 10 Aus­tralia facts

Dispute between Sydney and Melbourne. Debates over Federation in the late 19th century were dominated by a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital. A compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in New South Wales, at least 100 miles (160 km) from Sydney.

Platypus. The venom produced in the crural glands of the male platypus is not lethal to humans. However, it produces excruciating pain which does not respond even to morphine; sometimes the pain develops into a long-lasting hyperalgesia that can persist for months. Some biologists suggest that the venom may work directly on the brain's pain receptors. Other venomous mammals are small insectivores and vampire bats, which produce toxic saliva.

In Australia. Australia has several well developed downhill ski resorts in the high country of the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Canberra is situated around two hours from the New South Wales ski-fields, while Melbourne is just 120 km from Mount Baw Baw.

3500 years ago. Dingos were introduced to Australia from Southern Asia with one of the waves of human settlement thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to their wild Asian gray wolf parent species. They developed features and instincts that distinguish them from all other canines.

Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, is named after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. Adelaide was the daughter of George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Wildfires. These images were assembled from data acquired over nine days in April 2012 and 13 days in October 2012. This means fires and other lighting (such as ships) could have been detected on any one day and integrated into the composite picture, despite being temporary phenomena - giving the appearance of a massive blaze.

Japan. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Japanese Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines, each with a two-member crew, entered Sydney Harbour, and attempted to sink Allied warships, ultimately killing 21 sailors.

Australia previously held the distinction of holding a world record for most goals and highest winning margin in a IIHF World Championship game; they defeated New Zealand by a score of 58–0 in 1987, breaking the record held by Canada (47 goals against Denmark) since 1949. However this was surpassed in 2008 by the Slovakian women's team (82 goals against Bulgaria).

Willem Janszoon. Janszoon reached the Gulf of Carpentaira (north of Australia) and made a landfall in 1606. However, he found the land swampy and the people inhospitable. He called the land he had discovered “Nieu Zeland” after the Dutch province of Zeeland, but the name was not adopted and was later used by Abel Tasman for New Zealand.

In Australia. The Dingo Fence in Australia is the longest fence and one of the longest structures in the world. It stretches over 5600 kilometres across two southeastern Australian states, Queensland and South Australia. The fence was made to keep Dingos out of southeast Australia and particularly to protect the sheep of southern Queensland.