-
-
On the 15th Century, Chinese sailors visited the area near Darwin. Evidence of this visit is a Ming statuette found there.
-
Dutchman Willem Jansz and the people on his ship Duyfken explored the western coast of Cape York Peninsula.They were the first Europeans to have contact with Australian Aboriginal people. The two groups clashed.They called the land New Holland.
-
Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, cartographer and navigator. He is well known in Australia for being the first European to achieve contact with the eastern coastline of Australia. In 1770 Cook arrived by boat in Botany Bay, Sydney and claimed possession of the whole east coast of Australia for the British Crown
-
Between 1778 and 1850, 806 ships of convicts were shipped to Australia from England. The first 11 of these ships are now known as “The First Fleet”. The fleet consisted of three store ships, six convict ships, two men o-war ships with a total of 756 convicts.
-
Australia’s first bank was established in 1817, as the Bank of New South Wales, under a charter of incorporation provided by Governor Lachlan Macquarie.
-
In 1817, the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie recommended that new Holland should change its name to Australia. In 1824, New Holland was officially changed to Australia.
-
Gold is discovered in Australia, with major strikes near Bathurst in NSW and Ballarat in Victoria (although the town itself did not exist yet). People flock to the goldfields in search of a fortune, including many migrants from Europe, the UK and Asia.
-
Men are given the right to vote - as long as they are white, own a home or are renting a property.
-
The Kelly Gang are at their strongest over the next two years, committing major robberies and, finally, the murder of three police officers.
-
Queen Victoria proclaims the Commonwealth of Australia on the 16th of September.
-
On the 1st of January 1901 the British parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian states to govern in their own right as part of the Commonwealth of Australia making Australia an independent country.
-
Swimming was introduced as an event for women in 1912 at the Stockholm Olympics. Before then, women were not allowed to be Olympians. Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie were the first Australian women to compete in the Olympics – 1912.
-
WWI began when Britain and Germany went to war in August 1918. With a population of only 5 million in Australia, 146.809 men enlisted, 60,000 men died and 56,000 men were wounded.
-
Australia was in the middle of the Great Depression, with one-third of the workforce unemployed.
-
Australia's involvement in World War Two begins. The 19th of February of 1942 Japanese air raid attacked the city of Darwin.
-
The Olympics are held in Melbourne, and television broadcasts begin in Australia.
-
Aboriginal Australian were granted full rights as Australian citizens. More than 90% of Australians voted 'Yes' in the referendum.
-
35 people were killed by a lone gunman at Port Arthur in Tasmania and becase of this guns became regulated in Australia.
