Australia Historical timeline By chall81 Jan 1, 1770 James Cook claims Australia Jan 1, 1808 Rum Rebellion Jan 1, 1817 First bank is opened Jan 1, 1824 Name is changed Jan 1, 1829 All of Australia is claimed Jan 1, 1843 First Parliamentary Elections Jan 1, 1850 First University is founded Jan 1, 1851 Victorian gold rush Jan 1, 1854 Eureka Stockade Jan 1, 1855 Men obtain right to vote in South Australia Jan 1, 1857 Men obtain right to vote in Victoria Jan 1, 1858 Sydney and Melbourne linked by electric telegraph Jan 1, 1858 Men obtain right to vote in New South Wales Jan 1, 1869 Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children taken from homes Jan 1, 1879 First Congress of Unions Jan 1, 1880 Parliamentarians in Victoria are first to be paid for their work Jan 1, 1883 Silver is discovered at Broken Hill Jan 1, 1890 Federation Conference calls a Constitutional Convention Jan 1, 1891 Convention adopts the constitution Jan 1, 1893 Corowa Conference Jan 1, 1894 South Australia allowed women to vote and stand for office Jan 1, 1901 Australia becomes a federation Jan 1, 1901 Edmund Barton becomes the 1st Prime Minister Jan 1, 1914 Soldiers sent to 1st World War Jan 1, 1918 1st World War ends Jan 1, 1929 Great Depression hits Sep 1, 1939 Enter 2nd World War Jan 1, 2010 Julia Gillard becomes first female Prime Minister