{"slug": "australia", "label": "Australia", "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia", "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q408", "qid": "Q408", "description": "country in Oceania", "entries": 39, "years": 35, "span": [1606, 2025], "span_label": ["1606 CE", "2025 CE"], "topics": [{"title": "Exploration & Expansion", "count": 7}, {"title": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "count": 6}, {"title": "Culture & Society", "count": 6}, {"title": "Science & Discovery", "count": 4}, {"title": "Disasters & Accidents", "count": 4}, {"title": "Economy & Finance", "count": 3}, {"title": "Conflict & Security", "count": 3}, {"title": "Climate & Environment", "count": 2}, {"title": "Health & Medicine", "count": 2}, {"title": "Crime & Justice", "count": 1}, {"title": "Deaths", "count": 1}], "related": [{"slug": "new-south-wales", "label": "New South Wales", "shared": 4}, {"slug": "united-kingdom", "label": "United Kingdom", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "canada", "label": "Canada", "shared": 3}, {"slug": "japan", "label": "Japan", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "london", "label": "London", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "new-zealand", "label": "New Zealand", "shared": 2}, {"slug": "europe", "label": "Europe", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "north-america", "label": "North America", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "china", "label": "China", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "myanmar", "label": "Myanmar", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "indonesia", "label": "Indonesia", "shared": 1}, {"slug": "cambodia", "label": "Cambodia", "shared": 1}], "items": [{"year": 1606, "year_label": "1606 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "February 26", "text": "February 26 – Sailing on the Dutch ship Duyfken, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon and the crew make the first confirmed sighting of Australia by a European, reaching the Cape York Peninsula, at the Pennefather River near what becomes Weipa, Queensland. The Duyfken follows by exploring the western coast.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369561009#January–March", "title": "1606", "revid": 1369561009, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1644, "year_label": "1644 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "January 30", "text": "January 30 – Dutch explorer Abel Tasman departs from Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Jakarta in Indonesia) on his second major expedition for the Dutch East India Company, to map the north coast of Australia. Tasman commands three ships, Limmen, Zeemeeuw and Braek, and returns to Batavia at the beginning of August with no major discoveries.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369560996#January–March", "title": "1644", "revid": 1369560996, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1688, "year_label": "1688 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "January 5", "text": "January 5 – Pirates Charles Swan and William Dampier and the crew of the privateer Cygnet become the first Englishmen to set foot on the continent of Australia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373154069#January–March", "title": "1688", "revid": 1373154069, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1770, "year_label": "1770 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "April 18", "text": "April 18 (April 19 by Cook's log) 18:00 – First voyage of James Cook: English explorer Captain James Cook and his crew become the first recorded Europeans to encounter the eastern coastline of the Australian continent. Land is sighted at Point Hicks, and named after Lieutenant Hicks who first observes landform at 6am.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1368310921#April–June", "title": "1770", "revid": 1368310921, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1823, "year_label": "1823 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "February 15", "text": "February 15 (approx.) – The first officially recognised gold is found in Australia, by surveyor James McBrien at Fish River, near Bathurst, New South Wales, predating the Australian gold rushes.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1361959841#January–March", "title": "1823", "revid": 1361959841, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1824, "year_label": "1824 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "September 26", "text": "September 26 – The earliest reference by the British government to an official renaming of its South Pacific Ocean territory as \"Australia\" comes in a dispatch titled \"Taking Possession of Melville and Bathurst Islands\", as the Admiral Sir Gordon Bremer refers to \"the North Coast of New Holland or Australia\".", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359333471#July–September", "title": "1824", "revid": 1359333471, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1833, "year_label": "1833 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "August 31", "text": "August 31 – The chartered ship Amphitrite sinks off Boulogne-sur-Mer while transporting 108 British female convicts and 12 children from Woolwich in England to New South Wales in what is now Australia. All of the passengers die, along with 13 of the 16 crew, leaving 3 survivors.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369983797#July–September", "title": "1833", "revid": 1369983797, "section": "Events › July–September"}}, {"year": 1840, "year_label": "1840 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "March 12", "text": "March 12 – Paweł Strzelecki reaches Australia's highest summit, Mount Kosciuszko.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360387586#January–March", "title": "1840", "revid": 1360387586, "section": "Events › January–March"}}, {"year": 1855, "year_label": "1855 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "May 1", "text": "May 1 – Van Diemen's Land is separated administratively from the Australian province of New South Wales and granted self-government.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1358982600#April–June", "title": "1855", "revid": 1358982600, "section": "Events › April–June"}}, {"year": 1872, "year_label": "1872 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "July 19", "text": "July 19 – Explorer William Gosse reaches Uluru in central Australia and names it Ayers Rock.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371307490#July", "title": "1872", "revid": 1371307490, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 1880, "year_label": "1880 CE", "section": "Crime & Justice", "date": "June 28", "text": "June 28 – Australian police capture bank robber Ned Kelly, after a gun battle at Glenrowan, Victoria.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371273111#June", "title": "1880", "revid": 1371273111, "section": "Events › June"}}, {"year": 1885, "year_label": "1885 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": "July 16", "text": "July 16 – BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary), a worldwide mining and natural gas producer is founded in New South Wales, Australia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1366156062#July", "title": "1885", "revid": 1366156062, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 1897, "year_label": "1897 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "January 7", "text": "January 7 – A cyclone destroys Darwin, Australia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1362850810#January", "title": "1897", "revid": 1362850810, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 1899, "year_label": "1899 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "April 24", "text": "April 24 – The Scottish ship Loch Sloy is wrecked off the coast of Australia's Kangaroo Island, drowning 32 people on board.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371393177#April", "title": "1899", "revid": 1371393177, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1901, "year_label": "1901 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "January 1", "text": "January 1 – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia; Edmund Barton becomes the first Prime Minister of Australia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373318021#January", "title": "1901", "revid": 1373318021, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 1913, "year_label": "1913 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "March 20", "text": "March 20 – The city of Canberra, the centre of the Australian Capital Territory, becomes the official capital of the Commonwealth of Australia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373505613#March", "title": "1913", "revid": 1373505613, "section": "Events › March"}}, {"year": 1952, "year_label": "1952 CE", "section": "Deaths", "date": "February 6", "text": "February 6 – Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the British Dominions: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon. The princess, who is on a visit to Kenya when she hears of the death of her father, King George VI, aged 56, takes the regnal name Elizabeth II.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373187098#January–February", "title": "1952", "revid": 1373187098, "section": "Events › January–February"}}, {"year": 1966, "year_label": "1966 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "May 25", "text": "May 25 – No. 9 Squadron RAAF becomes part of the 4,500 strong Australian Task Force assigned to duties in Vietnam, leaving for Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370246126#May", "title": "1966", "revid": 1370246126, "section": "Events › May"}}, {"year": 1968, "year_label": "1968 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "January 31", "text": "January 31 – Nauru president Hammer DeRoburt declares independence from Australia, Britain and New Zealand.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371310387#January–February", "title": "1968", "revid": 1371310387, "section": "Events › January–February"}}, {"year": 1970, "year_label": "1970 CE", "section": "Climate & Environment", "date": "April 21", "text": "April 21 – The Principality of Hutt River \"secedes\" from Australia (it remained unrecognised by Australia and other nations, and is dissolved in 2020).", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370420699#April", "title": "1970", "revid": 1370420699, "section": "Events › April"}}, {"year": 1975, "year_label": "1975 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": "October 31", "text": "October 31 – The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 takes effect in Australia.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369955775#October", "title": "1975", "revid": 1369955775, "section": "Events › October"}}, {"year": 1976, "year_label": "1976 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "January 16", "text": "January 16 – A locomotive crashes into the rear of a commuter train in Glenbrook, Australia, killing one person onboard and injuring ten others in the 1976 Glenbrook rail accident.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372603253#January", "title": "1976", "revid": 1372603253, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 1985, "year_label": "1985 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "February 5", "text": "February 5 – Australia cancels its involvement in U.S.-led MX missile tests.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369963057#February", "title": "1985", "revid": 1369963057, "section": "Events › February"}}, {"year": 1989, "year_label": "1989 CE", "section": "Disasters & Accidents", "date": "August 13", "text": "August 13 – 1989 Alice Springs hot air balloon crash: An accident near Alice Springs, Australia kills thirteen people.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369557705#August", "title": "1989", "revid": 1369557705, "section": "Events › August"}}, {"year": 1996, "year_label": "1996 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "March 17", "text": "March 17 – Sri Lanka wins the Cricket World Cup by beating Australia in the final.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371596794#March", "title": "1996", "revid": 1371596794, "section": "Events › March"}}, {"year": 1998, "year_label": "1998 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "May 26", "text": "May 26 – Australia holds its first National Sorry Day.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373236679#May", "title": "1998", "revid": 1373236679, "section": "Events › May"}}, {"year": 1999, "year_label": "1999 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "June 20", "text": "June 20 – Australia defeats Pakistan by 8 wickets at Lord's Cricket Ground in London in the 1999 Cricket World Cup Final, securing their second World Cup title.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369767946#June", "title": "1999", "revid": 1369767946, "section": "Events › June"}}, {"year": 2003, "year_label": "2003 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "July 24", "text": "July 24 – The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, led by Australia, begins after ethnic violence engulfs the island country.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371470479#July", "title": "2003", "revid": 1371470479, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 2011, "year_label": "2011 CE", "section": "Science & Discovery", "date": "February 26", "text": "February 26 – The Nintendo 3DS has its first release in Japan, following later releases in Europe on March 25, North America on March 27, and Australia on March 31.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372940525#February", "title": "2011", "revid": 1372940525, "section": "Events › February"}}, {"year": 2018, "year_label": "2018 CE", "section": "Exploration & Expansion", "date": "March 25", "text": "March 25 – Qantas launches direct non-stop Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights between Perth Airport and Heathrow Airport, making it the first commercially non-stop service between Australia and the United Kingdom.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373090883#March", "title": "2018", "revid": 1373090883, "section": "Events › March"}}, {"year": 2020, "year_label": "2020 CE", "section": "Health & Medicine", "date": "December 20", "text": "December 20 – COVID-19 pandemic: A highly infectious new strain of SARS-CoV-2 spreading in Europe and Australia provokes international border closures.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371633312#December", "title": "2020", "revid": 1371633312, "section": "Events › December"}}, {"year": 2020, "year_label": "2020 CE", "section": "Conflict & Security", "date": "November 19", "text": "November 19 – The Brereton Report into Australian war crimes during the War in Afghanistan is released.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371633312#November", "title": "2020", "revid": 1371633312, "section": "Events › November"}}, {"year": 2021, "year_label": "2021 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "December 6", "text": "December 6 – The United States announces a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in response to China's human rights record. Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia join shortly after.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372689859#December", "title": "2021", "revid": 1372689859, "section": "Events › December"}}, {"year": 2022, "year_label": "2022 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": "December 2", "text": "December 2 – The G7 and Australia join the EU in imposing a cap of $60 a barrel on Russian crude oil, designed to \"prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against Ukraine.\"", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371998228#December", "title": "2022", "revid": 1371998228, "section": "Events › December"}}, {"year": 2022, "year_label": "2022 CE", "section": "Economy & Finance", "date": "January 1", "text": "January 1 – The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the largest free trade area in the world, comes into effect for Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371998228#January", "title": "2022", "revid": 1371998228, "section": "Events › January"}}, {"year": 2022, "year_label": "2022 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "September 22", "text": "September 22 – October 1 – The 2022 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup is held in Sydney, Australia. In the final, the United States wins 83–61 against China.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371998228#September", "title": "2022", "revid": 1371998228, "section": "Events › September"}}, {"year": 2023, "year_label": "2023 CE", "section": "Culture & Society", "date": "July 20", "text": "July 20–August 20 – The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand. In the final, Spain wins 1–0 against England.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372811827#July", "title": "2023", "revid": 1372811827, "section": "Events › July"}}, {"year": 2023, "year_label": "2023 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "November 10", "text": "November 10 – In the Falepili Union treaty, Australia grants \"special\" freedom of movement and defence rights to Tuvaluans for residence and employment for climate reasons.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372811827#November", "title": "2023", "revid": 1372811827, "section": "Events › November"}}, {"year": 2025, "year_label": "2025 CE", "section": "Geopolitics & Diplomacy", "date": "September 21", "text": "September 21 – The UK, Canada, and Australia announce their formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state, with France also doing so the next day.", "cite": {"url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372865033#September", "title": "2025", "revid": 1372865033, "section": "Events › September"}}]}