While Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606. The Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline.
The theory of Portuguese discovery of Australia claims that early Portuguese navigators were the first Europeans to sight Australia between 1521 and 1524, well before the arrival of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606 on board the Duyfken who is generally considered to be the first European discoverer.
The historical ties that bind the Netherlands and Australia date back to the early 17th Century. A small Dutch ship called the Duyfken entered the pages of Australian history when it became the first European vessel to make a recorded visit to the south land's shore in 1606.
In a book titled 1421: The Year China Discovered the World Gavin Menzies claims that in the 1420's several fleets of Chinese ships sailed around the world, making contact with many countries before Europeans explored them, including Australia.
The first known landing in Australia by Europeans was in 1606 by Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon on Australia's northern coast. Later that year, Spanish explorer Luís Vaz de Torres sailed through, and navigated, what is now called Torres Strait and associated islands.
The islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the first peoples of Australia, meaning they were here for thousands of years prior to colonisation.
Records show that about 18 Chinese settlers had immigrated to Australia before 1848. The earliest known Chinese immigrant to arrive in Sydney is reported to have been Mak Sai Ying. Born in Guangzhou (Canton) in 1798, he arrived as a free settler in New South Wales in 1818 and purchased land at Parramatta.
The Shang Dynasty (1600–1046 BC)
The Shang Dynasty was the first dynasty with historical records remaining. The earliest form of Chinese writing — oracle bones — were found to tally with later accounts of the Shang Dynasty. Chinese civilization truly began along the Yellow River in the Shang era.
Papermaking, printing, gunpowder and the compass - the four great inventions of ancient China-are significant contributions of the Chinese nation to world civilization.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the Indigenous peoples of Australia. They are not one group, but rather comprise hundreds of groups that have their own distinct set of languages, histories and cultural traditions (AIHW 2015).
' Between 1606 and 1756 there were four known Dutch voyages in which a total of eight ships sailed along the North Queensland coast and made contact with the Aborigines. These encounters with the Aborigines were frequent and often resulted in violent conflict.
Matthew Flinders is a towering figure in Australian history the first to chart our coastline and the leading champion for naming the country Australia. In 1801 he was made commander of the expedition of his life the first close circumnavigation of Terra Australis.
The first Aboriginal people arrived on the north west coast of Australia between 65,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Only a historical accident prevented Australia's settlement by the French, who persistently explored this region in fierce rivalry with the British, as both nations attempted to establish trade opportunities above and below the Equator.
Many European voyages had previously visited and mapped parts of Australia. Cook was not surprised to sail into view of what he called the "east coast of New Holland"
Tianchao and Tianxia. Tianchao (天朝; pinyin: Tiāncháo), translated as "heavenly dynasty" or "Celestial Empire;" and Tianxia (天下; pinyin: Tiānxià) translated as "under heaven," are both phrases that have been used to refer to China.
The name 'China' comes from the Sanskrit Cina (derived from the name of the Chinese Qin Dynasty, pronounced 'Chin') which was translated as 'Cin' by the Persians and seems to have become popularized through trade along the Silk Road.
The full given name of China today is 'Zhonghua Renmin Gong He Guo,' or People's Republic of China.
While Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606. The Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed on the western side of Cape York Peninsula and charted about 300 km of coastline.
The oldest human fossil remains found in Australia date to around 40,000 years ago – 20,000 years after the earliest archaeological evidence of human occupation. Nothing is known about the physical appearance of the first humans that entered the continent about 50,000 years ago.
Australia's first car race winner, James Robert Crooke, staged and then won, Australia's first motor race on 12 March 1904, on the horse racing track at Sandown Park, Melbourne,Victoria, Australia.
It is generally held that Australian Aboriginal peoples originally came from Asia via insular Southeast Asia (now Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, and the Philippines) and have been in Australia for at least 45,000–50,000 years.
Aboriginal origins
Humans are thought to have migrated to Northern Australia from Asia using primitive boats. A current theory holds that those early migrants themselves came out of Africa about 70,000 years ago, which would make Aboriginal Australians the oldest population of humans living outside Africa.
Aboriginal people are known to have occupied mainland Australia for at least 65,000 years. It is widely accepted that this predates the modern human settlement of Europe and the Americas.