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History of Australia

By dianac11

  • 1770

    1770
    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".

  • 1836

    1836
    South Australia established, with Adelaide as its capital.

  • 1856

    1856
    Australia becomes the first country to introduce the secret ballot - or 'Australian ballot' - for elections.

  • 1911

    1911
    Canberra is founded and designated as the capital.

  • 1929

    1929
    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.

  • 1948

    1948
    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.

  • 1956

    1956
    Olympic Games held in Melbourne.

  • 1983

    1983
    Bob Hawke becomes prime minister after his Labor Party secures a landslide victory.

  • 2001

    2001
    Australia celebrates 100 years since its inauguration as the Commonwealth of Australia.

  • 2002

    2002
    Australia mourns as 88 of its citizens are killed in a night club bombing in Bali, Indonesia, which some call Australia's September 11. The attacks - which killed 202 people in total - are blamed on al-Qaeda-linked Islamists.