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Overexposed! (Australia Day 2014), By David Edwards, CC Wikipedia

10 Most Famous Historical events that happened in Australia

Australia is a highly developed country with a high-income economy since it has the world’s thirteenth-largest economy, tenth-highest per capita income, and eighth-highest Human Development Index. It also ranks amongst the highest in the world for quality of life, democracy, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties, safety, and political rights. Therefore Australia has been shaped by the various historical events that have taken place over time. The 10 most famous historical events that have happened in Australia include the following;

1. Gold discovery

The discovery of gold in Victoria in 1851 revolutionized Australia as an influx of migrants arrived, and the wealth of the nation increased dramatically. At its peak, two tonnes of gold poured into Melbourne’s Treasury Building each week. Convict colonies were transformed into modern cities, and Australia’s multicultural identity began to take root. It was one of the biggest gold rushes in history since, within a year, more than 500,000 people rushed to the gold fields of Australia.

2. Federation of Australia 

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New Colonies of Queensland, New South Wales Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia agreed to unite and form the Commonwealth of Australia, thus establishing a system of federalism in Australia.

Therefore on 1st January 1901, the Constitution of Australia was put into effect and united the British colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia as the collective states of the Commonwealth of Australia. Eight months later, the first Australian flag was hoisted above Parliament.

3. Port Arthur Massacre

Port Arthur Bay, Port Arthur was the location of most of the shootings. By EurovisionNim – Own work,

 Port Arthur massacre that happened between 28–29 April 1996 was a mass shooting by a lone gunman in which he killed  35 people and 23 others were wounded in Port Arthur, Tasmania. The murderer, Martin Bryant, pleaded guilty and was given 35 life sentences without the possibility of parole.

It was therefore the deadliest shooting rampage in Australian history, and in response, the government introduced tight gun control laws that are among the strictest in the world.

4. Cathy  Freeman became an Olympic champion

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman became an Olympic champion after winning gold in the 400 meters with a time of 49.11 seconds. Freeman was the second Australian Aboriginal Olympian, and she carried both the Aboriginal and Australian flags during her victory lap. She is ranked as the ninth fastest woman of all time.

Freeman was the first Australian Indigenous person to become a Commonwealth Games gold medalist at age 16 in 1990. The year 1994 was her breakthrough season. At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada, Freeman won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m. She also won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics and came first at the 1997 World Championships in the 400 m event. In 1998, Freeman took a break from running due to injury. She returned from injury in form with first place in the 400 m at the 1999 World Championships. She announced her retirement from athletics in 2003.

5. Medibank orientation 

In 1975, the Whitlam government introduced Medibank, which became Medicare in 1984. Medicare is a commonwealth-funded universal healthcare scheme that covers bulk billing GPs, hospital treatments, and subsidized prescription medication for all Australian citizens and permanent residents. The system is regarded as one of the best in the world.

6. First female prime minister Julia Gillard

is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only female prime minister in Australian history.

On 24th June 2010, Julia Gillard, the 27th Prime Minister of Australia and the country’s first female prime minister, was sworn into office by Quentin Bryce, Australia’s first female governor-general. Gillard remains the only woman to have held positions as deputy prime minister and prime minister in Australia.

7. Australia Day

Overexposed! (Australia Day 2014), By David Edwards, CC Wikipedia

The First Fleet, commandeered by Captain Arthur Phillip, sailed into Botany Bay on 18th January 1788. It was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships, and six convict means of transport. It left from Portsmouth, England, on 13 May 1787 with over 1400 people who were convicts, marines, sailors, civil officers, and free settlers. The journey took over 250 days to arrive in Botany Bay.

The event marked the start of British settlement, and Australians now commemorate it as Australia Day on the 26th of January. It is also referred to as Invasion Day by some, including Indigenous Australians.

8. Archaeological discovery

Luminescence dating carried out on archaeological evidence found in Kakadu has definitively proven that Indigenous Australians have occupied the country for at least 65,000 years. Scientists also used carbon dating to determine that the Mungo Man, discovered in Mungo National Park, New South Wales, lived between 40,000 – 68,000 years ago. 

9.First European Willem Janszoon

Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon is believed to be the first European to land, see and map Australian soil. In 1606, Janszoon arrived on the West coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. On his second voyage in 1618, he reportedly landed on the Western Australian coast, two years after Dirk Hartog made landfall on the island that now bears his name. Therefore during his voyage of 1605–1606, he became the first European known to have seen the coast of Australia.

10. Mary Mackillop

Sister Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), Australian nun, foundress of the congregation of Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, By N.N., Public Domain, Wikipedia

 Mary MacKillop was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a  by the Catholic Church,  the patron saint of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane,  and the first Australian to be recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint. On 19 February, Mary MacKillop is declared by Pope Benedict XVI to be a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, the first Australian so declared. Formal canonization will take place in October 2010.