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40,000 BCE
The first Aborigines came to Australia from South - east Asia
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Captain cook found Australia and claimed it
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Arthur Phillip founds a penal settlement in sydney
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South Australia established, with Adelaide as its capital.
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Australia and England play the first-ever cricket Test match in Melbourne
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The country is unified
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Canberra is founded and designate as the capital
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Outbreak of World War 1
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Australian soldiers take part in the Gallipoli Campaign in Turkey
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World War I comes to an end
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World War II begins. Australia joins on the side of the Allies World War II begins. Australia joins on the side of the Allies
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World War II comes to an end. Australia is a founding member of the United Nations
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The Sydney Opera House is opened
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Australia becomes fully independent from the United Kingdom
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The summer Olympics are held in Sydney
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Eighty-eight Australians are killed in the terrorist bombing of a nightclub in Bali
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The country experiences extreme drought
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The government officially apologizes for previous treatment of the indigenous people including the "Lost Generation"
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Julia Gillard is elected prime minister. She is the first woman to hold the office
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Islamist Man Haron Monis takes 18 people hostage in Sydney cafe; two hostages and gunman die when police storm premises
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Malcolm Turnbull steps aside after an unsuccessful right-wing challenge to his leadership, allowing the conservative but pragmatic finance minister Scott Morrison to take over as prime minister and Liberal Party leader