Australia and New Zealand had quite separate indigenous histories, settled at different times by very different peoples – Australia from Indonesia or New Guinea around 50,000 years ago, New Zealand from islands in the tropical Pacific around 1250–1300 CE.Jun 20, 2012
The Portuguese probably sighted the Western Australian coast during the 1520s, but authenticated European discovery followed the move of the Dutch East India Company into the Indian Ocean in the early 17th century.
It was the English explorer Matthew Flinders who made the suggestion of the name we use today. He was the first to circumnavigate the continent in 1803, and used the name 'Australia' to describe the continent on a hand drawn map in 1804. The National Library holds a reproduction.
On January 26, 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip guides a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales, effectively founding Australia.
Abel Tasman was a great explorer who discovered Australia and New Zealand long before James Cook. Discover what he did in his Australasian Adventures.
Tasmania, the Name. In 1642 Abel Janszoon Tasman named his 'first sighted land' after his Dutch superior Anthony Van Diemen.
The location of Governor Arthur Phillip's first landing and the flag-raising ceremony in Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788 has been an issue of dispute and uncertainty among historians since the 19th century.
From 1788, Australia was treated by the British as a colony of settlement, not of conquest. Aboriginal land was taken over by British colonists on the premise that the land belonged to no-one ('terra nullius'). Possession of Australia was declared on the basis of unilateral possession.
The first European record of setting foot in Australia was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606 — his was the first of 29 Dutch voyages to Australia in the 17th century.Apr 19, 2020
The minimum widely accepted time frame for the arrival of humans in Australia is placed at least 48,000 years ago. Many sites dating from this time period have been excavated. In Arnhem Land the Malakunanja II rock shelter has been dated to around 65,000 years old.
After observing the transit of Venus in Tahiti and mapping the North and South Islands of New Zealand, the Endeavour sailed west. The crew first sighted the mainland of Australia on 19 April 1770. James Cook and some of his crew landed at Kamay Botany Bay on 29 April 1770.
January 26, 1788, is the day Captain Arthur Phillip landed on Australian soil with the First Fleet of British ships. He raised the British flag at Sydney Cove to claim New South Wales as a British Colony. This day marks the beginning of a long and brutal colonisation of people and land.
The French who came to Australia after 1788, generally came in search of opportunity or new horizons. The State Library of New South Wales' collections are rich in the records of early French explorers of Australia and the Pacific region.
Britain's first contact with Australia came with Captain Cook's voyage in the ship Endeavour. He landed in Australia in 1770 and claimed it as a British territory. The process of colonisation began in 1788.
The name Australia (pronounced /əˈstreɪliə/ in Australian English) is derived from the Latin australis, meaning "southern", and specifically from the hypothetical Terra Australis postulated in pre-modern geography.
"1421", a best-selling book by Gavin Menzies, a former British naval officer, suggests that the great 15th-century treasure fleets of the Ming dynasty, captained by the famed Muslim eunuch Zheng He, landed in Australia and even as far afield as the Americas.Aug 12, 2014
Christopher Columbus never discovered Australia. In fact, Christopher Columbus never sailed beyond the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the
"There's stacks of evidence that they were there," he argues. "Wrecks, plants found in Australia by the first Europeans which had come from China, carved stones, kangaroos in the Chinese emperor's zoo, Chinese jade, figurines and ceramics."Nov 25, 2002
After British colonisation, the name New Holland was retained for several decades and the south polar continent continued to be called Terra Australis, sometimes shortened to Australia.
Slavery in Australia has existed in various forms from colonisation in 1788 to the present day. Australia was held to the Slave Trade Act 1807 as well as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery in the British Empire.
Before 1900, there was no actual country called Australia, only the six colonies – New South Wales, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia. While these colonies were on the same continent, they were governed like six rival countries and there was little communication between them.
The first settlement, at Sydney, consisted of about 850 convicts and their Marine guards and officers, led by Governor Arthur Phillip. They arrived at Botany Bay in the "First Fleet" of 9 transport ships accompanied by 2 small warships, in January, 1788.
The nations of Indigenous Australia were, and are, as separate as the nations of Europe or Africa. The Aboriginal English words 'blackfella' and 'whitefella' are used by Indigenous Australian people all over the country — some communities also use 'yellafella' and 'coloured'.
He traveled to many far away places, going all the way to the African coast and establishing trade relations with over 25 countries. He brought back all sorts of interesting items including animals such a giraffe and camels.May 11, 2021
It is likely that the Chinese have had some knowledge of Australia since the 13th century or before. In c. 1300, Marco Polo made reference to the reputed existence of a vast southern continent. Professional historians do not accept these relics as proof that the Portuguese discovered Australia.
The 1901 census recorded 311 Portugal-born in Australia. The Portugal-born population in Australia began to grow in 1950 when immigrants from Madeira arrived in Western Australia and assisted in establishing a fishing community in Fremantle.
CANBERRA (Reuters) - More than 40 percent of Australia, an area the size of India, remains untouched by humans, making the country as critical to the world's environment as the Amazon rainforests, a study said on Wednesday.Aug 26, 2008
Matthew Flinders (March 16, 1774 - July 19, 1814) was an English explorer, naval officer and navigator who circumnavigated (sailed entirely around) Australia and mapped much of its coastline.
Some evidence suggests that Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to visit Australia. Three hundred years later, a few Portuguese were among the earliest settlers in Australia. Emanuel and Ana Serrão and their infant daughter arrived in Sydney in 1824, and moved to Warrnambool with their family in 1852.
The Macassan trepang or bêche-de-mer fishery dates back to at least the 1700s, when fishers from the trading port of Makassar and its environs, in the southwestern arm of the island of Sulawesi, made an annual journey to the coasts of the Kimberley and Arnhem Land, known as Kayu Jawa and Marege' respectively.
During this period, Portugal was the first European power to begin building a colonial empire as Portuguese sailors and explorers discovered an eastern route to India (that rounded the Cape of Good Hope) as well as several Atlantic archipelagos (like the Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde) and colonized the African coast
As such a nation, created through law, Australia is 117 years old.Jan 22, 2018
