50 million years ago Australia isolated
Australia becomes a separate land mass, isolating its living creatures. They evolve into many species unique to the area

60,000 years ago Humans cross to Australia
The first human inhabitants of Australia make the crossing from southeast Asia

1642 Tasman in Tasmania
Abel Tasman makes landfall in the Macquarie Harbour area in the island now known after him, Tasmania

1788 First Fleet reaches Australia
After a journey of eight months from England the First Fleet reaches Australia, anchoring in Botany Bay

1788 Convicts settled in Sydney Cove
Arthur Phillip, selecting a suitable coastal site for the first penal colony in Australia, names the place Sydney Cove

1790 Second fleet reaches Sydney
A second fleet arrives in Sydney, bringing more convicts and a regiment, the New South Wales Corps, to keep order

1798 Bass finds his strait
British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name

1804 Hobart founded
The city of Hobart is founded on the southern coast of Tasmania

1829 Settlement established at Perth
James Stirling explores up the Swan River in western Australia to find a site for the settlement which he names Perth

1831 Aborigines cleared from Tasmania
The last surviving Aborigines of Tasmania are moved by the British to a small island where they soon die out

1835 Melbourne thrives on sheep
Melbourne, founded by settlers from Tasmania, develops as the centre of a sheep-rearing community

1836 Site selected for Adelaide
A site is selected for Adelaide and emigration begins from Britain to south Australia

1851 Gold rush in Australia
The Australian gold rush begins with the discovery of gold fields at Ballarat and a few months later at Bendigo

1854 Gunfight at Eureka stockade
Australian gold diggers, angered by the requirement to purchase a licence, make a defiant stand at the Eureka stockade

1861 Racial violence at Lambing Flat
Chinese immigrants to Australia are the victims of violent racial attacks at Lambing Flat

1862 Stuart crosses Australia
John McDouall Stuart reaches the north coast of Australia at Van Diemen's Gulf seven months after setting off from Adelaide

1862 Burke and Wills return in caskets
The bones of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills are brought back to Melbourne after the heroic failure of their attempt to cross Australia

1870 Telegraph across Australia
Adelaide and Darwin are linked across the entire Australian continent by the Overland Telegraph Line

1895 "Waltzing Matilda"
Australia has a catchy new song in "Waltzing Matilda", written by Banjo Paterson to music by Christina Macpherson

1900 Salvation Army's Soldiers of the Cross
Australia's Salvation Army produces an ambitious presentation of film and slides in Soldiers of the Cross

1901 Australia is independent
Six separate Australian colonies combine to form the independent Commonwealth of Australia

1901 Immigration restricted in Australia
Australia passes an Immigration Restriction Act to underpin the White Australia policy

1906 Kelly Gang on screen
The Story of the Kelly Gang, produced in Australia, is the first feature-length film, with a running time of nearly an hour

1908 Site of Canberra selected
Parliament in Australia chooses Canberra as the site of the nation's new capital

1913 Winning design for Canberra announced
A young American architect, Walter B. Griffin, wins the competition to design Canberra

1915 Australia's Sentimental Bloke
Australian author C.J. Dennis creates the Sentimental Bloke, featuring first in a book of poems and four years later in a film

1917 Australia Felix
Australia Felix is the first in Henry Handel Richardson's trilogy of novels about her father

1922 D.H. Lawrence's Kangaroo
D.H. Lawrence takes a house in Sydney, where he writes the bulk of his novel Kangaroo

1928 Bradman scores a century
In only his third Test match, 20-year-old Australian cricketer Donald Bradman scores a century

1928 Flying Doctors
An Aerial Medical Service is launched in Queensland, Australia, subsequently becoming the Flying Doctor Service

1930 Phar Lap wins Melbourne Cup
The New Zealand racehorse Phar Lap wins huge popularity after an easy victory in the Melbourne Cup

1932 Sydney Harbour Bridge
One of the defining landmarks of Sydney, in Australia, is opened – the single-span steel arch bridge across the city's harbour

1934 Christina Stead's first novel
Australian author Christina Stead publishes a first novel based on her own family, Seven Poor Men of Sydney

1938 Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira
The Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira wins success with the first exhibition of his watercolours

1939 Menzies is Australian prime minister
Robert Menzies, leader of the United Australia Party, becomes Australia's prime minister

1939 Patrick White's first novel
Australian author Patrick White publishes his first novel, Happy Valley

1941 Menzies resigns in Australia
Australian prime minister Robert Menzies is forced to resign after losing the confidence of his cabinet

1942  February 19 Darwin bombed
Japanese aircraft attack Australia, bombing Darwin's harbour and air force base

1942  May 31 Enemy submarines in Sydney harbour
Three Japanese midget submarines penetrate Sydney harbour in Australia

1946 Nolan paints Ned Kelly
Australian painter Sidney Nolan begins a series of paintings on the theme of Ned Kelly

1948 Australia encourages immigration
Australia, aiming for a 2% population increase each year, takes steps to encourage European immigration

1948 Bradman retires on 99.94 average
Donald Bradman retires from Test cricket with a tantalizing career average of 99.94 runs

1949 Menzies is again Australia's prime minister
Robert Menzies returns as Australia's prime minister, and remains in the post for an unbroken sixteen years

1955 Edna Everage
Edna Everage, created by Australian satirist Barry Humphries, makes her first appearance in a Melbourne revue

1957 Love, Marriage and Death of a Half-Caste
Australian artist Arthur Boyd begins his series of paintings about an aboriginal stockman, Love, Marriage and Death of a Half-Caste

1957 Voss
In Voss Australian author Patrick White creates an epic novel about a disastrous attempt to cross the continent

1959 Brabham wins Formula One
Australian Grand Prix driver Jack Brabham wins the first of his three Formula One titles

1960 Control or Colour Bar?
The pamphlet Control or Colour Bar? demands reform of White Australia policy

1963 Court and Fletcher win grand slam
Australian tennis players Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher achieve the grand slam in mixed doubles

1966 Aboriginal land rights movement
Gurindji people at the Wave Hill station walk out in protest, launching the Aboriginal land rights movement in Australia

1969 Laver wins second Grand Slam
Australian tennis player Rod Laver is the first to win the Grand Slam a second time

1970 Bicycle and Other Poems
Australian author David Malouf is first published as a poet, with his collection Bicycle and Other Poems

1970 The Female Eunuch
Australian feminist Germaine Greer publishes The Female Eunuch as a wake-up call to women

1970 Margaret Court wins second grand slam
Australian tennis player Margaret Court achieves the grand slam in singles, adding it to her previous grand slam in doubles

1971 Goolagong wins at Wimbledon
19-year-old Aboriginal tennis player Evonne Goolagong wins the singles title at Wimbledon

1972 Aborigines pitch a Tent Embassy
Aborigines pitch a Tent Embassy on Australia Day outside parliament in Canberra to highlight political injustices

1972 Whitlam wins Australian election
Gough Whitlam is Australia's prime minister after Labor party victory

1973 Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House opens with a performance by Australian Opera of Prokofiev's War and Peace

1973 Patrick White wins Nobel Prize
Patrick White is the first Australian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

1974 Cyclone Tracy
Cyclone Tracy devastates the Australian city of Darwin on Christmas Day, destroying 80% of the domestic buildings

1975 Whitlam dismissed
There is political turmoil in Australia after the governor-general, Sir John Kerr, dismisses prime minister Gough Whitlam

1975 Fraser appointed interim premier in Australia
Australian governor-general Sir John Kerr appoints Liberal leader Malcolm Fraser as caretaker prime minister

1975 Fraser wins Australian election
Malcolm Fraser becomes the Australian prime minister, winning the first of three general election victories

1981 Stolen Generations of Aboriginal children
Stolen Generations, by Peter Read, reveals the scandal of Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their parents

1982 Schindler's Ark
Australian novelist Thomas Keneally publishes Schindler's Ark and wins the Booker Prize

1984 Lillee's 351 Test wickets
Australian bowler Dennis Lillee's total of 351 Test wickets sets a new record

1985 Illywhacker
Peter Carey publishes Illywhacker, a novel narrated by a 139-year-old Australian

1985 Ayers Rock becomes Uluru
Ayers Rock is returned to the Mutitjulu people and given its Aboriginal name, Uluru

1987 The Fatal Shore
Robert Hughes describes the penal system of colonial Australia in The Fatal Shore

1988 Oscar and Lucinda
Australian author Peter Carey's novel Oscar and Lucinda wins the Booker Prize

1992 Mabo Case
The Mabo Case in Australia establishes Aboriginal common law land rights

1996 Howard wins Australian election
Liberal leader John Howard heads the winning coalition in Australia's general election

1996 Wik decision in Australia
In the Wik Decision the Australian High Court gives strong support to Aboriginal land rights

1997 Bringing Them Home confirms abuse
The Australian report Bringing Them Home confirms widespread forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their parents