Portal:Queensland

Qantas was founded in Winton, Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited by Paul McGuiness, Hudson Fysh, Fergus McMaster and Arthur Baird. Initially the airline operated air mail services subsidised by the Australian government, linking railheads in western Queensland. Between 1926 and 1928 Qantas built several aircraft in Longreach and made the inaugural flight of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, departing from Cloncurry. Qantas Empire Airways Limited (QEA) was formed by Qantas and Britain's Imperial Airways in 1934. They flew internationally from May 1935, when the service from Darwin was extended to Singapore. As operations expanded with flying boat service World War disrupted air travel until 1943. In 1947, QEA was nationalised, with the Australian Labor government buying the shares. In the same year the airline took delivery of Lockheed 749 Constellations and these took over the trunk route to London. In 1958, Qantas became the second round-the-world airline, flying Super Constellations westward from Australia to London through Asia and the Middle East.

In 1956, Qantas ordered the Boeing 707-138 jet airliner and the first was delivered in June 1959. The first jet service operated by Qantas was on 29 July 1959 from Sydney to San Francisco via Nadi and Honolulu. On 5 September 1959 Qantas became the third airline to fly jets across the North Atlantic. In 1966, the airline diversified its business by opening the 450 room Wentworth Hotel in Sydney. In 1967, the airline placed orders for the Boeing 747 and Qantas Empire Airways changed its name to Qantas Airways. When Cyclone Tracy devastated the town of Darwin at Christmas 1974, Qantas established a world record for the most people ever embarked on a single aircraft when it evacuated 673 people on a single Boeing 747 flight. In March 1979, Qantas operated its final Boeing 707 flight from Auckland to Sydney, and became the only airline in the world to have a fleet that consisted of Boeing 747s only.

NightOwl Convenience Stores is a franchised system of stores based in Brisbane, Australia. The first store opened in 1975 and was located in the Auchenflower suburb of Brisbane. The store pre-dated Seven Eleven opening in Australia by 12 months. The store traded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Established by a former Woolworth's Store Manager, the Auchenflower branch offered an extensive range of traditional supermarket grocery items-together with fresh fruit, vegetables and hot BBQ Chickens. Popular with the growing Student and Yuppy community in the district. The business concept was franchised in 1987.

In 1995, NightOwl was floated on the stock exchange and was bought out by Retail Services Limited in 1996. RSL is a diversified holdings group mainly based in the retail sector, this helped take NightOwl nationwide. In 2011, the group had 63 stores including three of the new format 'NightOwl Super Stores'. (Full article...)

• ... that in its two years of existence, the Hunter River Railway Company initiated construction on what would eventually become the Great Northern Railway connecting Sydney to Queensland?
• ... that Lachlan Murdoch was forced to resign as a director of Prime Media Group because the company owned a radio station on Queensland's Sunshine Coast?

• ...that the Teviot Range derives its name from the River Teviot in Scotland and was named by Allan Cunningham in 1828?
• ...that in 2009, Wet'n'Wild Water World (pictured) had more than 1 million visitors, making it the most visited water park in the country?
• ...that at the time of his retirement in 2007, Peter Beattie was the longest-serving state premier in the country?
• ...that the name of the Brisbane suburb Moggill is derived from the Aboriginal word 'Magil', meaning water dragon?

Main: Queensland

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