Timeline of Events
57,000-51,000 BC- Australia is first discovered by people. This is significant because this is the first time humanity had found Australia (Roberts).
1606- Captain Willem Janszoon landed the first European ship on Australia. This event was significant because it marked the discovery of all European continents in history and would cause colonization in Australia, making a negative impact on the people in Australia (RDENSW).
1788- Captain James Cook's first fleet consisting of 11 ships arrives in Australia with 1500 people and half of them being convicts. They land in Sydney Harbor, which was colonized for penalizing British criminals. This is significant because it brought many people from Britain into Australia with the majority of them being criminals. The impact it had on Australia was that Britain forced its way into Australia, taking the land and resources. It caused a huge amount of colonization, negatively impacting Aboriginal people in Australia (Tourism Australia).
1804- Australia gets it's name. This is significant because it changes the previous name of New Holland to the name everyone knows today (WA Now and Then).
1901- Australia becomes an independent nation. This is significant because it created the Commonwealth of Australia, their constitution and impacted many people's lives as they were now a part of a nation independent from Britain (PEO).
1914- The first World War. This War had a huge negative impact on Australia. The male population was already under 3 million, and about 400,000 went to war. This caused 60,000 to die, while many more were injured. This caused the creation of "the Anzac ethos of courage and spirit" (DFAT).
1940s-1960s- The Boom period of Australia after World War II. The economy of Australia had gotten dramatically better during this time. Many schemes such as the Hydro-electric Power scheme and the Snowy Mountains scheme were built during this era that greatly contributed to Australia's economy (DFAT).
1967- The Australian Government passes legislation on the behalf of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people and to include them in censuses. This event showed that Australia was progressing towards equality (DFAT).
This website is extremely useful for finding out more about the history of Australia:
http://www.nla.gov.au/australiana/australian-history-selected-websites
Resources
Rural and Distance Education in Australia (RDENSW). "WILLEM JANSZOONc. 1570 - after 1629 First authenticated discoverer of Australia" Web.
http://rde.nsw.edu.au/rm/stage2_Modules/who_was_first/jansz.htm
Tourism Australia. "Australia's History" 2013 Web.
http://www.australia.com/about/culture-history/history.aspx
Parliamentary Education Office. "Federation" Feb 28, 2013 Web.
http://www.peo.gov.au/students/fact_sheets/federation.html
Australian Government. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "Australian history: selected websites" Web.
http://www.nla.gov.au/australiana/australian-history-selected-websites
Australian Government. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "Ancient heritage, modern society" Web.
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/34535/20060515-0000/www.dfat.gov.au/aib/history.html
Roberts, Richard G. "The human colonisation of Australia: optical dates of 53,000 and 60,000 years bracket human arrival at Deaf Adder Gorge, Northern Territory" 1994 Web.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0277379194900809
WA Now and Then. "Australia (The naming of)" Sep 25, 2013 Web.
http://www.wanowandthen.com/Australia-the-naming-of.html