History may not be as socially important in 2020 as in yesteryear, but it can still be fun to watch – if condensed into bite-size pieces that is.
That is what the folks at Budget Direct did, creating a time-lapse video detailing the development of Sydney across the last 250 years.The map begins in 1770, the year Captain James Cook landed in Botany Bay. By 1788 a penal colony has sprung up, but that's about all.
Real development doesn't begin till 1822 when a fully-fledged city begins to emerge, including the construction of the Royal Botanic Garden.
It's the second half of the 19th Century when Sydney's outer reaches expand further south and west with the discovery of gold.
By the turn of the 20th century, trams and railways became major sources of transport.
Like the rest of the world, the 1900s saw rapid industrial and urban development. Sydney Harbour Bridge opens in 1932, while the Opera House is finishes construction in 1972.
When the city celebrates the 200th anniversary of the landing of the First Fleet in 1988, Sydney's population has swollen to 3.4 million (having more than doubled in 30 years).
