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Captain James Cook lands in Botany Bay
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. -
The First Fleet
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.The six convict ships were called: The other ships of the Fleet were:Alexander H.M.S SiriusScarborough H.M.S SupplyLady Penrhyn The FishburnFriendship The BorrowdaleCharlotte The Golden Grove -
Matthew Flinders navigates around the coast Australia
Matthew Flinders was a navigator that sailed around the coast of Australia and was the first of many navigators to map the “unknown land”.The unknown land’s chart was complete in 1803 by governor King, However, it was not published because Flinders had not named most of the land marks and inlets. He had numeberd them in order so that he could name them later. He didn’t. However, the few land marks that were named are Mt. Lofty, Cape Catastrophe, Memory Cove and Kangaroo island. -
Australia's first bank.
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 1982 the name was then change to the bank we know today, Westpac Banking Corporation. Westpac helped to shape all banking in Australia. -
New Holland changed name to Australia
In 1817, the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie recommended that new Holland should change it’s name to Australia. However, in 1824, New Holland was officially changed to Australia. Australia was the name that Matthew Flinders used to call NSW. -
Sydney Herald first published
Sydney Morning Herald is a daily newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. It’s the first and continuous published newspaper in Australia. It is published 6 days a week. SMH used to be credited for being high-standard, but in recent year, the quality of journalism has declined. The first issue of the Sydney Herald Sun was 4 pages long. -
Melbourne Founder
Melbourne was founded in the reign of King William IV, on 30th of August 1835. No one can claim that they founded Melbourne. However, important people that contributed to the founding of Melbourne are: John Batman, John Fawkner, John Lancey, William Buckley and Charles Grimes. -
Adelaide Established
Adelaide, the capital of SA was founded on the 28th of December 1836. It was found by a group of people that found a gumtree. This gum tree is now located in Glenelg (near the beach). If this gumtree wasn’t found, then SA wouldn’t be the state we know today, -
The first University in Australia (University of Sydney) founded
The University of Sydney Act was signed on the 1st of October 1850. William Charles Wentworth, member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, was an important founder to the university. He believed that establishing a university was essential to educate other people to become the leaders of the colony. -
The Gold Rush
In 1851 the Great Australian Gold Rush started when prospector Edward Hammond Hargraves claimed to have discovered a “grain of gold” in a waterhole near Bathurst, New South Wales. Hargraves named the town where he found the gold “Ophir”, reported his discovery to the authorities and was appointed a “Commissioner of Land”. During the Gold Rush period thousands of people rushed to Australia in search of gold. The Gold Rush ended in 1861. -
Victoria Separates from New South Wales
The British act of separating Victoria and New South Wales, giving it a name and a new Constitution for the new colony. It wasn’t signed until 5th of August 1850 by Queen Victoria. It then was enabled to pass the legislation by the New South Wales Legislation Council on the 1st of July 1851 and is the formal establishment of Victoria. -
Last Convicts Shipped to Tasmania
Last convicts are shipped to Tasmania – From 1812, convict has been shipped from England directly to Tasmania. On August the 10th 1853, St. Vincent arrive in Hobart from England, it was the last convict to be shipped to Tasmania. -
1856 – Van Diemen’s Land changed name to Tasmania
The Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, was the first European to discover Tasmania and named it Anthoonij van Diemenslandt in the name of Anthony van Diemen. In 1803, Van Diemen’s Land became a penal colony of the British. In 1824, Van Diemen’s Land became a colony with its own rights. In 1856, Van Diemen’s Land achieved self-government with its own government and was named Tasmania in honour of Abel Tasman. -
First Australian Rules game invented
In 1858 cricketers Thomas Wills and his cousin, Henry Harrison, and two others W.J Hammersley and J.B Thompson, invented the game to keep themselves fit during winter. Even though the game was invented so long ago, it is still a major part of Australian culture. Thousands of people watch the games every week. -
Burke and Wills expedition across Australia.
Burke and Wills were famous explorers. They were known for going on an expedition across the whole of Australia. In 1860, they left Melbourne with a great start. They had 18 men, 27 camels and 27 tonnes of equipment with them. In just over a year the expedition ended in tragedy. Only one person, John King survived the expedition. -
Stolen Generation.
In 1869 the Children of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander descents were taken away from their parents by state government or agencies. They were taken to supposedly make Australia more “pure”. It is estimated that about 100,000 indigenous children were taken from their families. -
Ayers rock first in sight of the Europeans
On the 19th of July 1873, Ayers rock was sighted by the surveyor William Gosse, he was the first European to discover the rock and named it after Chief Secretary of SA, Sir Henry Ayers. -
first Melbourne cup public holiday
Since 1877, Melbourne cup has been a public holiday in Melbourne. On the first day of races the Flemington grandstand was fully with its total capacity of 7,000 by 11am. -
The first intercolonial congress of trade unions is held
In October 1879, the first intercolonial congress of trade union was organised by the Trades and Labour Council of New South Wales was held in Sydney. 39 speakers attended and they mainly represented the New South Wales based unions. 2 main resolutions were pasted: against assisted immigration and Chinese immigration -
Ned Kelly Hanged
Edward (Ned) Kelly is Australia’s own Robin Hood. He was a ranger of the Australian outback, sentenced to jail many times. One of which was a 3 year sentence for receiving a stolen horse that he had no idea was stolen. On June 27th 1880, the Kelly gang attacked Glenrowan, they forced the railway workers to rip up the line and cut all the telegraph wires. Many hostages were taken during the day. By the end of the day a massive fight had occurred. Resulting in three of the gang members killed, and -
Queen Victoria proclaims the commonwealth of Australia on the 16th of September.
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Australian Federation Formed
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. -
First Federal Flag designed.
In 1901 the federal government of Australia held a competition to design the new flag of Australia. The prize was 200 pounds. Overall 32,823 people submitted designs. The winner wasn’t actually picked by the government, it was sent to the king of England to decide which flag he would like for Australia. -
Alfred Deakin elected Prime Minister
Alfred Deakin (1856-1919) was a leader when the Australian Federation formed. Later he then became the second ever prime minister of Australia. Towards the end of the 19th century he was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal forms. He also played a massive part in the establishing of irrigation in Australia. -
High Court of Australia first seated
High Court of Australia established in 1901 by section 71 of the Constitution, however, it’s not seated until 1903. The roles of High Court of Australia are to interpret and apply laws. The High Court of Australia is located in Canberra. -
The last full-blooded Tasmanian aboriginal dies
The last full-blooded Tasmanian aboriginal diesFanny Cochrane Smith was born in December 1834 and died as the last full-blooded Tasmanian Aboriginal on the 24th of February 1905. She is also considered to be the last person that is able to speak Tasmania’s Indigenous Language fluently. -
The first powered aeroplane flies in Australia
While making a trip around Australia in a Voisin biplane, Harry Houdini was the first person to ever fly a controlled plane in Australia. -
Australia sends Women to the Olympics for the first time
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. They won a silver and gold medal in 100m freestyle swimming. -
Walter Burley Griffin wins the new design for Canberra
Walter Griffin was the original designer for the city of Canberra. He entered his plan into a completion along with 137 other entrants. If Walter B Griffin never won the competition, imagine what Canberra would be like now!!! -
World War 1 begins
WWI began when Britain and Germany went to war in August 1918. With a population of only 5 million, 146809 men enlisted, 60,000 men died and 156,000 men were wounded. -
WW1 ends
