Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
even charted part of its coastline. In
1606 William Jansz was sent by the
Dutch East India Company to open
up a new route to the Spice Islands,
and to find New Guinea, which was
supposed to be rich in gold. He landed
on the north coast of Queensland and
fought with local Aborigines. Between
1616 and 1640, many more Dutch
ships made contact with Australia as
they hugged the west coast of what
they called “New Holland,” after sail-
ing with the westerlies (west winds)
from the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1642, the Dutch East India
Company, through the Governor
General of the Indies, Anthony Van
Diemen, sent Abel Tasman to search
out and map the great south land.
During two voyages, he charted the
northern Australian coastline and dis-
covered Tasmania, which he named
Van Diemen's Land.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH
In 1697, English pirate William
Dampier published a book about his
adventures. The text mentions Shark
Beach on the northwest coast of Aus-
tralia as the place his pirate ship made
its repairs after robbing ships on the
Pacific Ocean. Sent to further explore
by England's King William III,
Dampier returned and found little to
recommend.
Capt. James Cook turned up in
1770 and charted the east coast in his
ship HMS Endeavor. He claimed the
land for Britain and named it New
South Wales, probably as a favor to
Thomas Pennant, a Welsh patriot and
botanist who was a friend of the
Endeavour 's botanist, Joseph Banks. On
April 29, Cook landed at Botany Bay,
which he named after the discovery of
scores of plants hitherto unknown to
science. Turning northwards, Cook
passed an entrance to a possible harbor,
which appeared to offer safe anchorage,
and named it Port Jackson after the
1875 Silver found at Broken Hill,
New South Wales.
1889 Australian troops fight in the
Boer War in South Africa.
1895 Banjo Paterson's “The Man from
Snowy River” published.
1901 The six states join together
to become the Commonwealth of
Australia.
1902 Women gain the right to vote.
1911 Australian (non-Aboriginal)
population reaches 4,455,005.
1915 Australian and New Zealand
troops massacred at Gallipoli.
1927 The federal capital is moved
from Melbourne to Canberra.
1931 The first airmail letters are deliv-
ered to England by Charles Kingsford
Smith and Charles Ulm.
1931 The Arnham Land Aboriginal
Reserve is proclaimed.
1932 Sydney Harbour Bridge opens.
1942 Darwin bombed; Japanese min-
isubmarines found in Sydney Harbour.
1953 British nuclear tests at Emu in
South Australia lead to a radioactive
cloud that kills and injures many
Aborigines.
1956 Olympics held in Melbourne.
1957 British atomic tests conducted at
Maralinga, South Australia. Aborigines
again affected by radiation.
1962 Commonwealth government
gives Aborigines the right to vote.
1967 Aborigines granted Australian
citizenship and are counted in census.
1968 Australia's population passes 12
million following heavy immigration.
1971 The black, red, and yellow Abo-
riginal flag flown for the first time.
1973 Sydney Opera House completed.
1976 The Aboriginal Land Rights
(Northern Territory) Act gives some
land back to native people.
1983 Ayers Rock given back to local
Aborigines, who rename it Uluru.
1983 Australia wins the Americas
Cup, ending 112 years of American
domination of the event.
1986 Queen Elizabeth II severs the
Australian Constitution from Great
Britain's.
continues
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