In March 1995, Silverchair’s debut album Frogstomp hit like a shockwave, propelling three 15-year-olds from Newcastle, NSW, to global stardom and selling nearly three million copies worldwide.

Deborah Wright, NBN CEO, thanks viewers and all NBN employees in marking 50 years of television in Newcastle at the end of NBN News on 4 March 2012. 

NBN celebrates 50 years during an NBN News bulletin on 4 March 2012. 

Large crowds gather at a Newcastle shopping mall in 1969 to see 'Skippy' with her handler, Scotty Denholm. Skippy's popularity saw huge crowds turn out on this national tour.

Blackrock (1997) was inspired by the tragic events surrounding the murder of teenager Leigh Leigh.

A futuristic cone-head hairstyle is a popular style at this convention, as well as multi-coloured hair dyes ranging from dusty green to bright pink.

Two-thousand steelworkers collect their final paycheques and walk out of Newcastle’s BHP steelworks for the last time. Men break down and cry. Many have laboured here all their working lives.

While making a preliminary survey of the Hunter River in 1797, Lieutenant John Shortland reported finding coal in the region.

This newsreel item from 1941 shows a canoe derby on Throsby Creek, Newcastle. It was of a fund-raising event to aid the purchase of a Spitfire aircraft during the Second World War.

Newcastle’s maritime history includes over 200 vessels wrecked in and around the mouth of the Hunter River.