Australian History

» Australian History

Also see: Australia's Prime Ministers

1770 Captain Cook lands at Botany Bay, and calls the eastern coastline New South Wales. 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet arrive, with convicts. 1793 The first free settlers arrive. 1803 Matthew Flinders circumnavigates the mainland. 1840 Abolition of convict transportation to New South Wales. 1851 Gold discovered in Victoria and New South Wales. 1897-8 New and separate Australian Constitution prepared. 1899 Constitution approved by ballot of the people. 1900 Federation of Australian Colonies-British approval. Melbourne becomes temporary capital of the new nation. 1901 January 1: Australia declared an independent Commonwealth within the British Empire. Local voting for local parliament. 1908 Canberra (midway between Melbourne and Sydney) chosen as the permanent Federal Capital. 1914 Australia enters World War I. 1915 More than 8,000 Australian soldiers lost in battle of Gallipoli in Turkey, 62,000 Australian lives lost in World War I. 1920 QANTAS (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services) founded. 1928 Royal Flying Doctor Service established. 1939 Australia enters World War II. 1942 Darwin bombed by the Japanese on February 19,1943. 1947 Australian government buys all shares in QANTAS. 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne. 1965 Australian soldiers sent to the Vietnam conflict. 1967 Referendum sees 90 percent of Australians say "yes" to the right of Aborigines to vote. 1973 Opening of the Sydney Opera House.

Australia Day on Video by ITN.co.uk 1975 Governor-General John Kerr sacks Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. 1983 Australia II wins the America's Cup yacht race. 1984 Tim MacCartney Snape and Greg Mortimer become the first Australians to reach the summit of Mt Everest. 1986 Lindy Chamberlain is released from jail after 3 years. 1988 Australia celebrates it's bicentannary and the World Expo is held in Brisbane. 1993 Native Title Act passed to help Aborigines press land claims. 1995 Qantas is privatised by the then Prime Minister Paul Keating. 2000 Olympic Games held in Sydney. GST introduced. 2001 Ansett Airlines, HIH and OneTel collapse. Australia's cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman dies at 92. 2002 Large parts of NSW, QLD and Victoria declare drought. 85 Australians, are killed after a car bomb explodes outside a Kuta nightclub in Bali. 2003 Australia signs 30-billion dollar gas agreement with China, one of the largest of its kind in the world and Australia's single biggest export deal. 2004 Australia wins 17 gold medals, 16 silver and 16 bronze in the Athens Olympic Games.

More Australian History Resources: http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/australianhistory/