KidZone History: Australia

40,000BC - The first Aboriginal people arrive on the Australian continent. By 20,000BC the population has covered most of the land

1528AD - Portuguese explorers likely discovered the Australian land mass

1642AD - Dutch explorer Abel Tasman explored the Australian coast, discovering Tasmania and providing knowledge of the North coast

1770AD - Captain James Cook lands in Australia, an exploration that led to settlement

1788AD - A Penal colony is founded at Sydney. The Aboriginal population at this time numbers many hundreds of thousands

1829AD - The state of Western Australia is established

1836 - The state of Southern Australia is established

1877 - The first cricket test match is played between England and Australia

1901AD - Australia is unified as one country and the Commonwealth of Australia

1911AD - Canberra is founded to be the capital city of Australia

1914AD - World War One begins. Australia commits hundreds of thousands of troops but suffers heavy losses at Gallipoli

1929AD - The Great Depression hits Australia hard, resulting in an uneven recovery

1939AD - World War Two begins. Australian forces fight with Britain in Europe and with the USA in Asia

1948AD - An immigration scheme encouraging Europeans to move to Australia begins

1950AD - Australia commits troops to the United Nations effort during the Korean War

1956AD - The Melbourne Olympics occur putting Australia on the world sporting map

1965AD - Australia commits troops to the USA effort in the Vietnam War

1967AD - Aboriginal peoples are allowed to participate in censuses and federal government is granted the power to create laws for these peoples

1986AD - The Australia Act makes Australian law completely independent from Britain

1999AD - Referendum on Australia becoming a republic is defeated 55 to 45%

2005AD - Racially motivated violence hits Sydney

2008AD - The Australian government apologises for past wrongs against Aborginal and Indigenous peoples