Australian History Timeline
- 70,000 BC: Aborigines are thought to have immigrated to Australia
- 42,000 BC: Aboriginal engravings are found in South Australia dating back to this time.
- 35,000 BC: Aborigines are thought to have reached Tasmania.
- 2000 BC: The Dingo is the first domesticated animal to reach Australia.
- 1300 AD: Marco Polo discusses an great unexplored southern land.
- 1616 AD: Dirk Hartog, a Dutch explorer, sails to Western Australia.
- !688 AD: William Dampier, English explorer, arrives on the west coast of Australia.
- 1770: Captain James Cook lands on the more hospitable east coast of Australia and claims it for Britain.
- 1804: Hobart Town is established in Van Diemens Land which is now known as Tasmania.
- 1833: Port Arthur opens as a penal settlement in Tasmania.
- 1851: The gold rush begins near Bathurst in New South Wales.
- 1853: The last convicts are shipped to Tasmania.
- 1868: The last convicts are transported to Australia.
- 1873: Ayers Rock is first sighted by Europeans.
- 1876: The last full blooded Tasmanian aboriginal, Truganini, dies.
- 1901: The Commonwealth of Australia becomes a reality.
- 1914-1918: Australian troops fight in World War 1.
- 1920: QANTAS is formed as a local airline.
- 1923: Vegemite is first produced.
- 1927: The first Federal Parliament is held in Canberra.
- 1932: Sydney Harbour Bridge opens.
- 1933: Western Australia produces a referendum for secession from England but it is rejected by Parliament.
- 1939-1945: Australian troops fight in World War 2.
- 1948: The first all Australian car is produced-the Holden.
- 1956: Melbourne hosts the Olympics.
- 1965: Australian troops sent to the Vietnam War.
- 1971: Neville Bonner becomes the first Aboriginal to be a Member of Parliament.
- 1973: The Sydney Opera House opens.
- 1981: Asian immigration increases.
- 1983: Australia wins the America's Cup.
- 1988: Bicentenary: The new Parliament House opens in Canberra.
- 2000: The Sydney Olympics held.