Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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APPENDIX . AUSTRALIA IN DEPTH
even charted part of its coastline. In
1606 William Jansz was sent by the
Dutch East India Company to open
up a new route to the Spice Islands,
and to find New Guinea, which was
supposed to be rich in gold. He landed
on the north coast of Queensland and
fought with local Aborigines. Between
1616 and 1640, many more Dutch
ships made contact with Australia as
they hugged the west coast of what
they called “New Holland,” after sailing
with the westerlies (west winds)
from the Cape of Good Hope.
In 1642, the Dutch East India Company,
through the Governor General of
the Indies, Anthony Van Diemen, sent
Abel Tasman to search out and map the
great south land. During two voyages,
he charted the northern Australian
coastline and discovered Tasmania,
which he named Van Diemen’s Land.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE BRITISH
In 1697, English pirate William
Dampier published a book about his
adventures. In it, he mentions Shark
Beach on the northwest coast of Australia
as the place his pirate ship made
its repairs after robbing ships on the
Pacific Ocean. Sent to further explore
by England’s King William III,
Dampier returned and found little to
recommend.
Captain James Cook turned up in
1770 and charted the east coast in his
ship HMS Endeavor. He claimed it for
Britain and named it New South
Wales, probably as a favor to Thomas
Pennant, a Welsh patriot and botanist
who was a friend of the Endeavour’s
botanist, Joseph Banks. On April 29,
Cook landed at Botany Bay, which he
named after the discovery of scores of
plants hitherto unknown to science.
Turning northwards, Cook passed an
entrance to a possible harbor where he
noted there appeared to be safe anchorage.
He named it Port Jackson after the
Secretary to the Admiralty, George
Jackson, but didn’t explore it much.
Back in Britain, King George III was
■ 1860 The white population of
Australia reaches more than one
million.
■ 1875 Silver found at Broken Hill,
New South Wales.
■ 1889 Australian troops fight in the
Boer War in South Africa.
■ 1895 Banjo Patterson’s The Man from
Snowy River published.
■ 1901 The six states join together to
become the Commonwealth of
Australia.
■ 1902 Women gain the right to vote.
■ 1911 Australian (non-Aboriginal)
population reaches 4,455,005.
■ 1915 Australian and New Zealand
troops massacred at Gallipoli.
■ 1927 The federal capital is moved
from Melbourne to Canberra.
■ 1931 The first airmail letters are
delivered to England by Charles
Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.
■ 1931 The Arnham Land Aboriginal
Reserve is proclaimed.
■ 1932 Sydney Harbour Bridge opens.
■ 1942 Darwin bombed; Japanese
mini-submarines found in Sydney
Harbour.
■ 1953 British nuclear tests at Emu in
South Australia lead to a radioactive
cloud that kills and injures many
Aborigines.
■ 1956 Olympic Games held in
Melbourne.
■ 1957 British atomic tests conducted at
Maralinga, South Australia. Aborigines
again affected by radiation.
■ 1962 Commonwealth government
gives Aborigines the right to vote.
■ 1967 Aborigines granted Australian
citizenship and are counted in census.
■ 1968 Australia’s population passes 12
million following heavy immigration.
■ 1971 The black, red, and yellow
Aboriginal flag flown for the first time.
■ 1973 Sydney Opera House
completed.
■ 1976 The Aboriginal Land Rights
(Northern Territory) Act gives some
land back to native people.
■ 1983 Ayers Rock given back to local
Aborigines, who rename it Uluru.
■ 1983 Australia wins the Americas
Cup, ending 112 years of American
domination of the event.