Francis De Groot cutting the ribbon at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1932

At the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932, Francis De Groot, a member of the ultra-right-wing New Guard group, rode a borrowed horse out of the crowd and slashed the ribbon with his cavalry sword. De Groot was arrested and fined £5.

More than 1600 people worked on the bridge during the nine years of its construction, providing much-needed jobs for Sydney during the Great Depression.