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- 50,000BC : The first inhabitants are thought to have arrived in Australia.
- .
- are thought to have reached the southernmost part of the continent—what is now Tasmania .
- '', under Captain Willem Janszoon , explores the western coast of Cape York Peninsula . The first recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil.
- sails through the Torres Strait , between Australia and New Guinea , along the latter's southern coast. He may well have sighted the northernmost extremity of Australia, although this is not recorded. Torres reported 'shoals', some of which may have been the northernmost atolls of the Great Barrier Reef. The name 'Coste Dangereuse', for the tropical Queensland coast, appears on French charts.
- in the ''Eendracht'' makes the second recorded landfall by a European, at Dirk Hartog Island on the western coast of Australia. Leaves behind the Hartog Plate .
- navigates the Gulf Of Carpentaria aboard the ''Pera'' and ''Arnhem'' . The ''Arnhem'' crosses the Gulf to reach and name Groote Eylandt .
- explores the west coast of Tasmania , lands on its east coast and names the island Anton Vandiemenslandt .
- explores the west coast of Australia.
- charts the southwestern coast of Australia, making landfall at Rottnest Island and the site of the present-day city of Perth .
- on the Derwent River in Van Diemen's Land by Lt Bowen.
- 1804: Vinegar Hill Convict Rebellion
- 1804: The settlement is moved to Sullivan's Cove in Van Diemen's Land (now Hobart in Tasmania ) by Colonel David Collins .
- completes the first Circumnavigation of the continent.
- cross the Blue Mountains .
- charts the Lachlan River .
- .
- , now the city of Brisbane .
- 1824: Bathurst and Melville Island s are annexed.
- charts the Darling River .
- 1829 : The whole of Australia is claimed as British territory.
- , having charted the Murray River .
- 1830 - The city of Perth is founded.
- 1831: Sydney Herald (later to become The Sydney Morning Herald ) first published.
- is founded in Van Dieman's Land.
- and John Pascoe Fawkner establish a settlement at Port Phillip , now the city of Melbourne .
- Proclaimed
- is discovered at Burra in South Australia .
- becomes a penal colony.
- 1850: Australia's first university, the University Of Sydney , is founded.
- .
- 1851: The Victorian Gold Rush starts when gold is found at Summerhill Creek and Ballarat .
- ceases.
- separates from New South Wales .
- reaches the centre of the continent.
- expedition occurs.
- , founding a settlement there.
- takes control of the new Northern Territory .
- ceases.
- 1867: Gold is discovered at Gympie, Queensland .
- 1872: Overland Telegraph Line linking Darwin and Adelaide opens.
- is first sighted by Europeans, and named Ayers Rock.
- 1879 : The first congress of trade unions is held.
- Ned Kelly is hanged.
- 1880: Parliamentarians in Victoria become the first in Australia to be paid for their work.
- - Melbourne railway
- 1883: Silver is discovered at Broken Hill
- team is established, defeating Britain in the first Ashes Series .
- , Brisbane , Melbourne and Sydney .
- 1889: Sir Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration .
- 1890 : The Australian Federation Conference calls a constitutional convention.
- .
- 1891: The first attempt at a federal constitution is drafted.
- 1891: The Convention adopts the constitution, although it has no legal status
- 1891: A severe depression hits Australia
- .
- (the "people's convention") calls on the colonial parliaments to pass enabling acts, allowing the election of delegates to a new constitutional convention aimed at drafting a proposal and putting it to a referendum in each colony.
- and Western Australia , agree to implement the Corowa proposals.
- 1895: '' Waltzing Matilda '' is first sung in public, in Winton, Queensland
- 1895: Banjo Patterson publishes '' The Man From Snowy River ''
- (the second "people's convention") meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution
- present). They agree to adopt a constitution based on the 1891 draft, and then revise and amend it later that year.
- 1898 : The Convention agrees on a final draft to be put to the people.
- 1898: After much public debate, the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian referendums are successful; the New South Wales referendum narrowly fails. Later New South Wales votes "yes" in a second referendum, and Queensland and Western Australia also vote to join.
- 1899: The decision is made to site the national capital in New South Wales , but not within 100 miles of Sydney .
- 1899: The Australian Labor Party holds office for a few days in Queensland, becoming the first trade union party to do so anywhere in the world.
- 1940 - A team of scientists, under Howard Florey , develops Penicillin
- 1941 - Labor comes to power under John Curtin
- )
- 1942 - National Daylight Saving is introduced as a war time measure.
- 1942 - The UK ''Statute of Westminster'' is formally adopted by Australia. The Statute formally grants Australia (along with New Zealand , South Africa , and the Irish Free State ) the right to pass laws that conflict with UK laws.
- 1943 - Australia wins its first Oscar , with cinematographer Damien Parer being honoured for his coverage of the war
- 1944 - The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is introduced, providing subsidised medicine to all Australians
- 1945 - Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations
- 1945 - The Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race is held for the first time
- 1945 - Curtin dies in office and is succeeded by Ben Chifley
- 1946 - Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme
- 1946 - An Australian, Norman Makin , is voted in as the first President of the United Nations Security Council .
- 1948 - Australian Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly .
- 1948 - Australia becomes a signatory to the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights .
- 1949 - Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins
- 1949 - Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are also given the right to vote in Federal Elections.
- 1949 - The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements.
- 1949 - Menzies returns to power as leader of the new Liberal Party
- 1962 - Indigenous Australians gain the right to vote in all states except Queensland; Australia enters the Vietnam War
- 1965 - Indigenous Australians gain right to vote in state of Queensland
- 1966 - The ban on the employment of married women in the Commonwealth Public Service is lifted; Menzies retires as Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister and is succeeded by Harold Holt ; Decimal Currency introduced.
- 1967 - large areas of Hobart and south-eastern Tasmania are devastated by bushfires on 7 February that kill 62 people; Prime Minister Holt drowns and is succeeded by John Gorton ; Aboriginal Australians gain the right to citizenship after a referendum to allow the federal government to legislate for them is supported by over 90% of the population; Sydney is rocked by a series of brutal underworld killings; Talkback Radio is introduced; British comedian Tony Hancock commits Suicide in Sydney; Gough Whitlam becomes leader of the Labor Party
- 1968 - Australia signs the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; Aboriginal boxing champion Lionel Rose defeats Masahiko "Fighting" Harada in Japan to become the world bantamweight champion; Australia's first Liver Transplant operation is performed in Sydney;
- 1983 - Australia wins the America's Cup ; Bob Hawke defeats Fraser and leads Labor back to government
- 1985 - The government grants the freehold title of a large area of land in central Australia, including prominent landmarks Uluru and Kata Tjuta , to the Mutitjulu people, who in turn give them a 99-year lease
- 1986 - The ''Australia Act'' removes the right of appeal from State courts to the British Privy Council, making the High Court the final court of appeal in Australia. The Act also removes all remaining rights of the UK parliament to pass law for Australia.
- 1987 - Hoddle Street Massacre kills 7 victims and injures 19
- 1987 - Queen Street Massacre kills 8 victims and injures 5
- 1988 - Australia celebrates its bicentenary, with large celebrations and major funding for capital works projects
- 1988 - The new Parliament House opens
- 1989 - A 5.6 Magnitude Earthquake strikes Newcastle on 28 December , killing 13 and injuring more than 160 people.
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