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4000 BCE
40,000 BC - The first Aborigines arrive from south-east Asia. By 20,000 BC they have spread throughout the mainland and Tasmania.
the first Aboriginal people arrived -
Captain James Cook charts the east coast in his ship HM Endeavour. Cook claims it as a British possession and names eastern Australia "New South Wales".
captain James cook discovered Australia -
captain Arthur Phillip settle in sydney cove carrying nearly 800 convicts.
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The gold was found at multiple locations leading to the gold rushes throughout the decade
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Australia becomes the first country to introduce the secret ballot - or 'Australian ballot' - for elections.
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Canberra is founded and designated as the capital.
Canberra was founded and designated as the capital of Australia -
Outbreak of World War I.
Outbreak of World War I. Australia commits hundreds of thousands of troops to the British war effort.Their participation - alongside New Zealanders - in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey in 1915 leads to heavy casualties. The Gallipoli landings help cement a sense of identity in the young nation. -
The Great Depression following the Wall Street Crash hits Australia hard. Recovery is uneven, and the Labor government is defeated in the election in 1931.
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Australia follows Britain's lead and declares war on Nazi Germany.
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he US declares war on Japan. Australia turns to the US for help in its defence after the Japanese take Singapore. Australia allows the US to base its supreme command for the Pacific war on its territory.
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Australia begins a scheme for immigration from Europe. Over the next 30 years, more than two million people arrive, about one-third of them from Britain, and hundreds of thousands from Italy, Greece and Germany.
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Australia commits troops to the UN forces in the Korean war.
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Olympic Games held in Melbourne.