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In 1770, Englishman Lieutenant James Cook charted the Australian east coast in his ship HM Barque Endeavour . Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of England on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming eastern Australia 'New South Wales'.
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Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet, comprising 11 ships and around 1,350 people, arrived at Botany Bay between 18 and 20 January 1788. However, this area was deemed to be unsuitable for settlement and they moved north to Port Jackson on 26 January 1788, landing at Camp Cove, known as 'cadi' to the Cadigal people.
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George Howe publishes the first issue of the weekly The Sydney Gazette and The New South Wales Advertiser, Australia's first newspaper.
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Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland marking the end of the first successful expedition across the Blue Mountains.
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The Legislative Council of New South Wales sits for the first time.
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The whole of Australia was claimed as British territory. The settlement of Perth was founded. Swan River Colony was declared by Charles Fremantle for Britain.
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Batman's Treaty is created between John Batman and Wurundjeri elders to secure the land around Port Phillip Bay for the establishment of Melbourne. The treaty was later declared void by the Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke.
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South Australia and Adelaide are founded.
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he 50th anniversary of the colony of New South Wales was celebrated with a regatta on Sydney Harbour and other festivities.
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Edward Hargraves finds gold near Bathurst, starting the first of many Australian gold rushes.
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The name Tasmania officially adopted to replace Van Diemen's Land which was felt to have too many convict connotations.
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A Victorian branch of the Royal Australian Mint opens in Melbourne.
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Louisa Lawson founded the Dawn Club, which became the hub of the women's suffrage movement in Sydney.
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The Constitution of Australia comes into force, as the federation of Australia is complete. John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, is appointed as the first Governor-General, and Edmund Barton as the first Prime Minister.
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The First Australian Exhibition of Women's Work is held at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne.
