ABC Rewind

In the 1960s very few people had heard of the word autism, and even fewer knew what it was. In this first episode of a two part series on the history of autism in Australia, we explore how families fought for a place for their children and made a case for change.

In 1974, when the star entertainer Frank Sinatra said the wrong things at the wrong time to the wrong people, a tall poppy was cut down to size in true Australian style.

In April 1942 a Japanese bomber dropped four large mail bags on Port Moresby. They contained nearly 400 letters written by Australian POWs imprisoned in Rabaul. Why did the Japanese make this mail drop?  And what happened to the men after they wrote them?

Nearly one hundred years after it was created, the minute's silence is still used to mark tragedies from war to celebrity death. But few know it was an Australian soldier's idea.

The unlikely story of the Norwegian father of the Australian fishing industry and his untimely disappearance below the waves of the Southern Ocean.