Debut for schoolboy ET
A breakfast of eight Weet-Bix and then off to school on his old bike was the routine for Cronulla's bright new rugby league star Andrew Ettingshausen in 1983.
Already nicknamed ET, the 18-year-old Ettingshausen, who was a year 12 student at De La Salle College, Cronulla, was chosen in first grade after only four reserve grade matches.
He played his first game in the top grade against Newtown and went on to play 328 games for the Sharks, as well as representing NSW and Australia.
He retired at the end of the 2000 NRL season, holding the record for the most games at a single club. The record stood for ten years before being overtaken by Darren Lockyer.
The airport tunnel
A photo in the Leader's archives shows General Holmes Drive well before the airport tunnel was built.
The photo was taken looking along the road from the airport towards Brighton-Le-Sands.
A 1965 photo shows work work well under way to construct the tunnel and extend the airport runway into Botany Bay.
Six and a half million cubic yards of sand were dredged from the bay to form the extension.
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Awesome performance
A look of awe is on the face of a young schoolmate, who was among those to welcome Bexley teenager Kathy Wainright when she arrived at Danebank Church of England Girls' School at Hurstville in 1965 after breaking the world women's 800 metres freestyle swimming record on the weekend.
Wainwright, 16, went on to break the record twice in the space of a fortnight.
In 1966, she set a new world record in the 440 yards freestyle with a time of 4mins. 39.6 secs. at the 8th Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
Five years in cave
A University of Sydney graduate, who was reported missing by his parents five years earlier, was found living in a cave in Royal National Park in 1968.
"The man walked into a self-imposed exile on Christmas Eve 1963," the Leader reported.
"He has lived the life of a hermit since then in a wild, almost inaccessible area of the park.
"He told police who found him he had spoken to no more than six persons in this time."
The man, who had previously worked as a civil engineer, had become almost a legendary figure.
He was seen occasionally at dawn by park rangers but disappeared when they approached.
First bypass surgery
The first cardiac bypass surgery at St George Hospital was performed in 1985.
Francesco Bertoz, 50, of Sans Souci, was pictured on the front page of the Leader arm wrestling Premier Neville Wran 10 days after becoming the first bypass patient.
"Before I had this done I was 20 per cent alive and 80 per cent dead," Mr Bertoz said. "Now I'm all alive again".
He was particularly pleased his wife and children had been saved the long trek to another hospital a lot further away.
The Alley Gang
A group known as the Alley Gang attracted attention in 1983 for their verbal sprays against locals as well as visitors to North Cronulla.
They would gather in the car park of the Cronulla Hotel (Northies), which became known as Pay-out Corner, and make derogatory comments about anyone who came within range, including mums and dads leaving the Cronulla Labor and Working Men's Club.
