AC/DC

      

 AC/DC are an Australian hard rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who have remained constant members. Commonly classified as hard rock or blues rock, they are also considered pioneers of heavy metal and are sometimes classified as such, though they have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll".

They are also australians

Russell Crowe 

Date of birth: April 7, 1964 

Birthplace: Wellington, New Zealand.

He is of Polynesian, English, Scottish and Norwegian descent. Crowe is mostly known for movies like The Quick and the Dead, The Insider, Proof of Life, Master and commander, Cinderella man, American Gangster, Body of Lies, State of Play and Robin Hood.

One of the most famous films is Gladiator 

Hugh Jackman 

Date of birth:  October 12, 1968 

Birthplace: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to English parents. 

He is mostly known for the role of wolverine in X-Men. Some of his other movies include: Swordfish, Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, Flushed Away, Happy Feet and Australia.

Fun Facts:

1. Jackman is left handed

2. One of his lifelong goals is to play Pharaoh in a Broadway production

3. His stunt double for Van Helsing and X-Men was his brother in law

 Nicole Kidman 

Date of birth: June 20, 1967 

Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii. Though Nicole wasn’t born in Australia, her parents are in fact Australians and when Nicole was 4, the family returned to their native land. 

Kidman is mostly known for movies such as Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge!, The Others, The Hours, Cold Mountain, The Stepford Wives, Bewitched and The Golden Compass.

Fun Facts:

1. Writes short stories in her free time and hopes to publish them one day

2. Is a pianist

4. Is allergic to strawberries

Cate Blanchett 

Date of birth: May 14, 1969 

Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia. 

Blanchett is mostly known for her award winning role in Elizabeth as Queen Elizabeth II, as well as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Other movies include The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Aviator and Robin Hood.

Fun Facts:

1. Kept and bronzed her elf ears from The Lord of the Rings

2. Enjoys making lists and crossing items off as she accomplishes them

3. Is extremely Eco-friendly

Fact: Tasmania is the southernmost state of Australia and is made up of a group of 334 islands, including Flinders, King and Bruny. (Photo: Josh Foster)

Celebrities from Australia

These people are famous all over the world. And all of them come from Australia.

Miranda Kerr

Age: 28

Date of Birth:  April 20th, 1983

Birth Location: Sydney, Australia and raised in the small town of Gunnedah, New South Wales

Profession: Model, mostly known as being a Victoria’s Secret Angel since 2007

Current Love Interest: Married Orlando Bloom in 2010 and had a son named Flynn Christopher Blanchard Copeland Bloom in 2011

Sharni Vinson

Age: 28

Date of Birth:  July 22nd, 1983

Birth Location: Sydney, Australia

Profession: Actress. Known for Australian soap opera Home and Away and playing Natalie in Step Up 3D.

Fun Fact: Started dancing when she was 3

Callan McAuliffe

Age: 17

Date of Birth: January 24th, 1995

Birth Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Profession: Actor. Best known for playing Sam in I Am Number Four. Also has 2 big movies coming up, The Great Gatsby with Leo DiCaprio and Paradise Lost with Bradley Cooper

Chris Hemsworth

Age: 28

Date of Birth: August 11th, 1983

Birth Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Profession: Actor. Best known for the movie Thor and has several movies coming up, such as The Cabin in the Woods, Red Dawn, The Avengers, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Rush

Mia Wasikowska

Age: 22

Date of Birth:  October 14th, 1989

Birth Location: Canberra, Australia

Profession: Actress. Known for HBO’s In Treatment, as well as the movies Jane Eyre, The Kids Are All Right and Alice in Wonderland 

Xavier Samuel

Age: 28

Date of Birth: December 10th, 1983

Birth Location: Hamilton, Victoria, Australia

Profession: Actor. Best known for playing Riley in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse but has a few movies coming up: Drift with Sam Worthington, Bait with Julian McMahon and The Grandmothers with Naomi Watts.

Kylie Minogue

Age: 43

Date of Birth: May 28th, 1968

Birth Location: Melbourne, Australia

Profession: Singer and actress. Known for songs like Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and In Your Eyes, as well as movies like Street Fighter, Cut and Moulin Rouge.

Eric Bana

Age: 42

Date of birth:  August 9, 1968 

Birth location:  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 

Profession: Actor. Mostly known for playing Rachel McAdams’ love interest in The Time Traveler’s Wife. His other movies include Black Hawk Down, Finding Nemo, Hulk, Troy, Munich, The Other Boleyn Girl, Star Trek and Funny People.

Fun Facts:

1. His first jobs include washing cars, pushing trolleys and serving drinks at a hotel

Just for fun

Fact 1: When they are newly born a kangaroo joey is only about as long as a paper clip. (Photo:Tracey Paddison Photography)

Australian Food Quiz

Try this australian food quiz. Check how much you can guess. http://alldownunder.com/australian-quiz/aussie-food-2.htm
You can follow the link to learn more about the food and the recipes.

Test your geography knowledge

Test your geography knowledge
http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/ausquiz.html

Aborigines

The name "aborigine" derives from the Latin, 

meaning "original inhabitants." There are approx. 

400,000 aborigines living in Australia.

Aboriginal Australia

Who Are Aborigines?

"The Dreamtime"

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/aboriginal1.html

The first Australians

        Aboriginals were the real founders of Australia because they came to this land thousands of years before white people discovered it. When white people came to Australia, they came to a land that already belonged to the Aboriginals. No one knows exactly where the Aboriginals lived before they came to Australia. It is known that Aboriginals came from somewhere in South-East Asia and that they left their homes and traveled to Australia in canoes or on rafts. Australian aboriginal culture is the oldest living culture in the world – at least 40,000 years old.

“This is our land. It goes back, a long way back, into the Dreamtime, into the land of our Dreaming. We made our camp here, and now all that is left of our presence are the ashes and the bones of the dead animals the young men had killed. Soon even our footprints will be carried away by the wind.”

Interesting to know!

Australia was not always in the location and shape it is recognized today. Millions of years ago, it was part of the great land mass called Gondwanaland. Later on, the continent of Australia began to drift away from this great land mass and around the Mesozoic era, dinosaurs roamed the land.

This era is referred to as prehistory rather than history because of the scarcity of written records of human events in Australia of that time.

Hope you've coped with the geography. Now let's move to Australian HISTORY.
This time only a brief look into the past of the country.  Check this TIMELINE http://www.timeforkids.com/destination/australia/history-timeline

Geography fast facts:

Total Size: 7,686,850 square km 

Size Comparison: slightly smaller than the US contiguous 48 states 

World Region or Continent: Oceania

General Terrain: mostly low plateau with deserts; fertile plain in southeast 

Geographical Low Point: Lake Eyre -15 m 

Geographical High Point: Mount Kosciuszko 2,229 m 

Climate: generally arid to semiarid; temperate in south and east; tropical in north 

Major cities: Sydney 4.429 million; Melbourne 3.853 million; Brisbane 1.97 million; Perth 1.599 million; CANBERRA (capital) 384,000 (2009) 

Hi, everyone!
Let's have a closer look at the geography of this mysterious country. First of all study the map:

These are the topics we are going to cover in the trivia:

• Geography (land, administrative devision, big cities, landscapes, etc.)
• History
• Climate
• People
• Culture (music, art, theatre)

This place is really worth visiting!!! 

If you need some brief information on Australia you can follow this:
http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/australia.html

      Australia is a fascinating country. It is full of unusual animals, amazing culture and music.

     We invite you to take part in a trivia dedicated to AUSTRALIA. It will be held on January 28, 2013.

28 января состоится Викторина по теме "Австралия. Обратная сторона земли".