Some stories are just too good, or too tragic, to be contained to the city or town they occurred in.
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There have been many examples over the years of people doing extraordinary things or committing forbidden acts that the national and international media have picked up.
The region is then thrust into the spotlight, for better or worse, putting Wagga and the wider Riverina on the map for an array of people and events.
The city is known for its sporting prowess, and having an entrant in most reality television shows in the country.
Many parts of the Riverina have succumb to the tragic and celebrated the happy and quirky.
As part of its 150th birthday coverage, we are taking a look back at some of the stand-out events from the past century-and-a-half that have made national or international headlines.
Did we miss any? Feel free to add more by emailing nbarlow@fairfaxmedia.com.au.
- 1871 – Wagga lawyer William Gibbes claimed to be the long-lost Roger Tichborne from England. A trial commenced in 1871.
- 1879 – Andrew George Scott, aka Captain Moonlite, held up Wantabadgery Station on November 15. He was hanged on January 20, 1880.
- 1920 – Sister Ligouri tried to escape the convent and was arrested on the ground of insanity.
- 1935 – Christopher James Bolger’s body was found in a water tank under a verandah at property ‘Mt Austin’.
- 1937 – Wagga’s Sheila Martin named Miss Australia.
- 1945 – A training accident at Kapooka resulted in the death of 26 men.
- 1954 – The Queen visited Wagga on February 13, 1954 as part of their royal tour of the Commonwealth.
- 1965 – The Bee Gees play at the PCYC in Wagga.
- 1993 – Mark Taylor and Michael Slater open the batting for Australia.
- 1996 – Paul Kelly and Wayne Carey captain the AFL grand final teams of Sydney Swans and North Melbourne, respectively.
- 2005 – Wagga’s first quads are born and twins David and Greg enter Big Brother as one contestant and win the series.
- 2009 – Ruby-Lea Burke killed in a dog attack in Whitton.
- 2010 – A Wagga solicitor is involved in a law suit against Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, for plagiarism.
- 2012 – Wagga man, Harrison Geier, is among the ‘Peru 6’.
- 2014 – The Hunt family were found dead.
- 2015 – Leeton teacher Stephanie Scott is killed in April and fugitives Gino and Mark Stocco lead police on a chase through the Riverina in October.
- 2018 – Former Wagga MP Daryl Maguire resigns after a scandal.
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