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Captain James Cook charts the east coast in his ship HM Endeavor. Cook claims it as a British possession and names eastern Australia "New South Wales".
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British Navy captain Arthur Phillip founds a penal settlement at Sydney. He had arrived with a fleet of 11 vessels, carrying nearly 800 convicts. The Aboriginal population at the time is thought to number several hundred thousand.
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The country is unified. The Commonwealth of Australia comes into being on 1st January.
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Canberra is founded and designated as the capital.
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Outbreak of World War I. Australia commits hundreds of thousands of troops to the British war effort.
