1000 Maori people settle in New Zealand

1000 Polynesians begin to build stone temples

1100 First statues erected on previously constructed platforms in Easter Island

1100 Beginnings of organized societies in Hawaiian Islands

1100 Earliest settlements by Polynesians in Pitcairn Island

1150 Maoris begin to settle in the river mouth areas in the north of the South Island, New Zealand, notably at Wairau Bar

1200 Tui Tonga monarchy builds coral platform for ceremonial worship on island of Tonga in South Pacific

1250 Beginnings of intensive valley irrigation schemes in Hawaiian Islands

1300 Hawaiian peoples start to develop class structure as a result of economic growth through agriculture

1300 Stone temple complexes, or "marae", erected on Rarotonga, Cook Islands, and on Moorea Island in the Society Islands

1300 Huge stone statues erected on Easter Island

1350 Maoris flourish in the North Island, New Zealand; first terrace-type fortifications, called "pa", built

1400 Tonga people build major ceremonial centre at Mu'a, on the largest island in the Tongatapu Group, South Pacific Ocean

1400 Widespread cultivation of wet taro in Hawaiian islands

1500 A village of oval stone houses is built on Easter Island

1511 Portuguese navigators begin to explore the Pacific

1519-1522 Ferdinand Magellan attempts voyage around the world: he navigates the Pacific, but later dies; his crew completes the voyage

1521 Several writers have argued that Australia was first discovered by a Portuguese expedition at this time. However other historians disagree and the evidence remains contentious

1525 Diego Ribeiro, official mapmaker for Spain, makes first scientific charts covering the Pacific

1525 Portuguese probably visit Caroline Islands, northeast of New Guinea, and nearby Palau Islands

1526 Portuguese land on Papua New Guinea

1550 Maoris in both the North and South Islands of New Zealand build fortified enclosures called "pa"

1567 Alvaro de Menda–a, Spanish sailor, sets sail from Callao in Peru westwards across the Pacific; he reaches the Ellice Islands and Solomon Islands, east of New Guinea; in 1569 he arrives back in Callao

1595 Menda–a visits Marquesas Islands and then Nderic (Santa Cruz)

1600 Beginning of building of "tupa", stone towers with inner chambers, on Easter Island

1600 In Tonga, dominant political leadership passes from Tu'i Tonga dynasty to Tu'i Konokupolu dynasty

1606 Luis Vaez de Torres from Spain sails around New Guinea and reaches the straits now named after him

1606 The Dutch East India Company (VOC) ship Duyfken, under Captain Willem Janszoon, explores the western coast of Cape York Peninsula. This was the first recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil

1606 Pedro Fernandes de Queirós believed that he had found the southern continent. He named it La Australia del Espiritu Santo (The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit). He actually was on Vanuatu

1606 Portuguese or Spanish seaman Luis Váez de Torres sails through the Torres Strait, between Australia and New Guinea, along the latter's southern coast. He may well have sighted the northernmost extremity of Australia, although this is not recorded. Torres reported 'shoals', some of which may have been the northernmost atolls of the Great Barrier Reef.

1616 Dutch captain Dirk Hartog in the Eendracht makes the second recorded landfall by a European, at Dirk Hartog Island on the western coast of Australia. Leaves behind the Hartog Plate.

1623 Dutch captain Jan Carstensz navigates the Gulf of Carpentaria aboard the Pera and Arnhem. The Arnhem crosses the Gulf to reach and name Groote Eylandt.

1642-1644 Abel Tasman reaches Tasmania and New Zealand

1680 Statue building ends on Easter Island; resources and then population decline, and this leads to civil war

1688 English explorer William Dampier explores the west coasts of Australia.

1696 Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh charts the southwestern coast of Australia, making landfall at Rottnest Island and the site of the present-day city of Perth.

1700 First contact between Tahitians and Europeans; they meet in Opunohu Valley on Moorea Island

1722 Dutch navigator Roggeveen reaches Samoa Islands and Easter Island in the Pacific

1750 Aboriginal culture continues to flourish

1767 British Captain Samuel Wallis is the first European to reach Tahiti; six months later, French navigator Bougainville visits the islands

1768-1771 First of British Captain James Cook's three voyages to Pacific

1770 English Lieutenant James Cook's expedition in HM Bark Endeavour charts the eastern coast, and claims it for the British Crown. Australia dubbed "terra nullius" i.e., according to the European legal precepts of the era, it was "owned" by no-one.

1770 Spanish sailors reach Easter Island

1772-1775 Captain Cook's second voyage to the Pacific

1776-1779 Cook's third voyage; on his way through the Pacific he lands in Hawaii and is clubbed, or stabbed, to death by islanders Comte la Perouse, French navigator, leads expedition to Pacific and northwest America; touches Japan; he is lost at sea in 1788

1787-1789 Voyage of Lieutenant William Bligh in the Bounty to the Pacific to find breadfruit plants; crew mutiny and put him to sea

1788 The British First Fleet, led by Governor Arthur Phillip arrives in New South Wales to found first European settlement and penal colony at Sydney. Colony includes "all the islands adjacent in the Pacific Ocean" and running westward to the 135th meridian east. This claim included the islands of New Zealand, which were administered as part of New South Wales.

1788 British settlement founded at Norfolk Island.

1790 Bligh returns to England

1790 Beleaguered Second Fleet arrives. Colony gripped by food crisis.

1792 Two French ships, La Recherche and L'Espérance, anchor at Recherche Bay, near the southernmost point of Tasmania at a time when England and France were racing around the globe to be the first to discover and colonise Australia.

1792 Governor Philip returns to England, accompanied by his friend Bennelong and a companion who became the first Australian born person to sail to Europe.

1793 First free British settlers reach Australia

1797 Sydney Cove wrecked and some survivors travelled from Bass Strait to Port Jackson allowing for the rescue of others but also furthering knowledge of the geography of Australia.

1798 George Bass and Matthew Flinders sail from Sydney and circumnavigate Tasmania, thus proving it to be an island. (to 1799)

1799 Major civil war in Tonga

1801-1803 Matthew Flinders completes the first circumnavigation of the continent (still known as "New Holland")

1804 A settlement is founded at Risdon on the Derwent River in Van Diemen's Land by Lieutenant Bowen.

1804 Castle Hill convict rebellion also known as the second Battle of Vinegar Hill

1804 The Risdon settlement is moved to Sullivan's Cove (now Hobart) by Colonel David Collins.

1808 The Rum Rebellion

1810 Kamehameha I becomes king of all Hawaii

1813 Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth cross the Blue Mountains.

1813 Matthew Flinders refers to New South Wales by the name "Australia".

1815 Russia tries to make landings in Hawaiian Islands

1817 John Oxley charts the Lachlan River

1817 Australia's first bank, the Bank of New South Wales, opens in Macquarie Place, Sydney (it became Westpac in 1982).

1817 Governor Lachlan Macquarie petitioned the British Admiralty to use the name "Australia" instead of "New Holland"

1818 Oxley charts the Macquarie River.

1819 Pomare II establishes Society Islands' first legal code

1819 Death of Kamehameha I of Hawaii; his heir, Kamehameha II, abolishes system which restricted contact between men and women

1821 Protestant missionaries arrive in Cook Islands

1824 Kamehameha II of Hawaii visits England and dies there

1824 A penal colony is founded at Moreton Bay, now the city of Brisbane.

1824 Bathurst and Melville Islands are annexed.

1824 Permission granted to change the name of the continent from "New Holland" to "Australia"

1824 Hume and Hovell expedition travels overland to Port Phillip Bay, discovers Murray River (to 1825)

1825 Dutch annexe Irian Jaya, western part of New Guinea

1825 New South Wales western border is extended to 129° E. Van Diemen's Land is proclaimed.

1828 Charles Sturt charts the Darling River.

1829 The whole of Australia is claimed as British territory. The settlement of Perth is founded. Swan River Colony is declared by Charles Fremantle for Britain.

1830 Tahitian Protestant missionaries arrive in Fiji

1830 Malietoa Vaiinupo of Savai'i becomes king of Samoa

1830 Sturt arrives at Goolwa, having charted the Murray River.

1831 Charles Darwin sets out on five-year voyage to Pacific for scientific research

1831 Sydney Herald (later to become The Sydney Morning Herald) first published.

1832 Swan River Colony has its name changed to Western Australia.

1833 The penal settlement of Port Arthur is founded in Van Diemen's Land.

1834 French Catholic missionaries arrive in Mangareva in Tuamotu Islands in South Pacific

1835 John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner establish a settlement at Port Phillip, now the city of Melbourne.

1835 William Wentworth establishes Australian Patriotic Association (Australia's first political party) to demand democracy for New South Wales.

1836 Province of South Australia proclaimed with its western border at 132° E.

1837-1840 Frenchman Jules Dumont d'Urville attempts to chart coast of Antarctica; from 1838-42, Lt Charles Wilkes leads US exploring expedition to Antarctica

1838 First Prussian settlers arrive in South Australia; the largest group on non-British migrants in Australia at the time.

1839 Paul Edmund Strzelecki becomes first European to ascend and name Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko.

1840 Australia's first municipal authority, the City of Adelaide, is established, followed by Sydney City Council.

1840 British and Maoris in New Zealand sign Treaty of Waitangi

1840 Kamehameha III begins constitutional monarchy in Hawaii; first written Hawaiian constitution

1841 New Zealand is proclaimed as a separate colony, no longer part of New South Wales.

1842 Copper is discovered at Kapunda in South Australia.

1842 France annexes the Marquesas Islands and makes Tahiti protectorate

1843 Australia's first parliamentary elections held for the New South Wales Legislative Council (though voting rights are restricted to males of certain wealth or property).

1845 The ship Cataraqui is wrecked off King Island in Bass Strait. It is Australia's worst civil maritime disaster, with 406 lives lost.

1845 Copper is discovered at Burra in South Australia.

1848 Hawaiian King Kamehameha III gives his people shares in the islands

1850 Western Australia becomes a penal colony.

1850 Australian Colonies Government Act [1850] grants representative constitutions to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, colonies set about writing constitutions which produced democratically progressive parliaments

1850 Australia's first university, the University of Sydney, is founded.

1851 Victoria separates from New South Wales.

1851 The Victorian gold rush starts when gold is found at Summerhill Creek and Ballarat.

1851 Forest Creek Monster Meeting of miners at Chewton near Castlemaine

1852 Francis Cadell, in preparation for the launch of his steamer service, explored the Murray River in a canvas boat, travelling 1,300 miles (2,100 km) downstream from Swan Hill.

1853 France annexes New Caledonia

1853 First paddle steamers on Murray River on the spring flood. From South Australia, the Lady Augusta captained by Francis Cadell, reached Swan Hill while Mary Ann captained by William Randell, made it as far as Moama (near Echuca).

1854 Eureka stockade; brief miners' revolt at Ballarat

1855 The transportation of convicts to Norfolk Island ceases.

1855 All men over 21 years of age obtain the right to vote in South Australia.

1856 Van Diemen's Land name changed to Tasmania.

1857 Victorian Committee reported that a 'federal union' would be in the interests of all the growing colonies. However, there was not enough interest in or enthusiasm for taking positive steps towards bringing the colonies together.

1857 Victorian men achieve the right to vote.

1858 Sydney and Melbourne linked by electric telegraph.

1858 New South Wales men achieve the right to vote.

1859 SS Admella wrecked off south-east coast of South Australia with the loss of 89 lives.

1859 Australian rules football codified, Melbourne Football Club founded

1859 Queensland separates from New South Wales with its western border at 141° E.

1860 John McDouall Stuart reaches the centre of the continent. South Australian border changed from 132° E to 129° E.

1860 R O Burke and W J Wills cross Australia from south to north

1860-1870 Second Maori War in New Zealand

1861 skiing in Australia introduced by Norwegians in the Snowy Mountains goldrush town of Kiandra

1861 Gold discovered in Otago, New Zealand

1862 Stuart reaches Port Darwin, founding a settlement there. Queensland's western border is moved to 139° E.

1863 South Australia takes control of the Northern Territory which was part of the colony of New South Wales.

1864 First French convicts sent to New Caledonia

1865 First Chinese labourers arrive in Hawaii

1865 New Zealand seat of government transferred from Auckland to Wellington

1867 Gold is discovered at Gympie, Queensland.

1867 Saint Mary MacKillop founds Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

1868 The transportation of convicts to Western Australia ceases.

1869 Children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent are removed from their families by Australian and State government agencies. This lasts 100 years. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_generation

1869 Germany acquires land in Caroline Islands

1870 Gold Rush in New Caledonia

1871 Cakobau, most important leader of Bau, one of Fiji Islands, establishes a national monarchy in Fiji

1872 Overland Telegraph Line linking Darwin and Adelaide opens.

1873 Uluru is first sighted by Europeans, and named Ayers Rock.

1874 Prince David Kalakaua becomes ruler of Hawaii (to 1891)

1875 SS Gothenburg strikes Old Reef off North Queensland and sinks with the loss of approximately 102 lives.

1875 Adelaide Steamship Company is formed.

1878 New Caledonian peoples rebel against French

1878 First horse-drawn trams in Australia commenced operations in Adelaide.

1879 The first congress of trade unions is held.

1879 Britain establishes a naval station in Samoa

1880 Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly, is hanged; becomes a folk hero

1880 Parliamentarians in Victoria become the first in Australia to be paid for their work.

1880 France annexes Tahiti as a colony

1882 First water-borne sewerage service in Australia commenced operations in Adelaide.

1883 The opening of the Sydney–Melbourne railway

1883 Silver is discovered at Broken Hill

1885-1886 Goldfields opened up in Papua New Guinea

1887 An Australian cricket team is established, defeating England in the first Ashes series. First direct Inter-colonial passenger trains begin running between Adelaide and Melbourne.

1888 Louisa Lawson founds The Dawn: A Journal for Australian Women.

1889 The completion of the railway network between Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

1889 Sir Henry Parkes delivers the Tenterfield Oration.

1889 Malietoa Laupepa king of Samoa; is recognized by Britain, United States, and Germany, ÒjointsupervisorsÓ of Samoa

1890 The Australian Federation Conference calls a constitutional convention.

1891 A National Australasian Convention meets, agrees on adopting the name "the Commonwealth of Australia" and drafting a constitution. The first attempt at a federal constitution is drafted. The Convention adopts the constitution, although it has no legal status

1891 A severe depression hits Australia

1892 Gold is discovered at Coolgardie, Western Australia.

1893 The Corowa Conference (the "people's convention") calls on the colonial parliaments to pass enabling acts, allowing the election of delegates to a new constitutional convention aimed at drafting a proposal and putting it to a referendum in each colony.

1893 Votes for women introduced in New Zealand

1894 South Australia becomes the first Australian colony, and the second place in the world, to grant women the right to vote, as well the first Parliament in the world to allow women to stand for office.

1895 The premiers, except for those of Queensland and Western Australia, agree to implement the Corowa proposals.

1895 Waltzing Matilda is first sung in public, in Winton, Queensland

1895 Banjo Paterson publishes The Man from Snowy River

1896 The Bathurst Conference (the second "people's convention") meets to discuss the 1891 draft constitution

1897 In two sessions, the Second National Australasian Convention meets (with representatives from all colonies except Queensland present). They agree to adopt a constitution based on 1891 draft, and then revise and amend it later that year. Catherine Helen Spence became the first female political candidate for political office, standing for election as a representative for South Australia.

1897 New Zealand introduces eight-hour working day; old age pensions, 1898

1898 The Convention agrees on a final draft to be put to the people. After much public debate, the Victorian, South Australian and Tasmanian referendums are successful; the New South Wales referendum narrowly fails. Later New South Wales votes "yes" in a second referendum, and Queensland and Western Australia also vote to join.

1898 United States annexes Hawaii

1899 Australia and New Zealand troops sent to Boer War

1899 The decision is made to site the national capital in New South Wales, but not within 100 miles of Sydney.

1899 The Australian Labor Party holds office for a few days in Queensland, becoming the first trade union party to do so anywhere in the world.

1900 Several delegates visit London to resist proposed changes to the agreed-upon constitution. The constitution is passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom as a schedule to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, and is given royal assent

1900 Phosphate-rich Ocean Island annexed by British

1900 New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands

1901 Britain gets control over Tonga's external relations

1901 Australia becomes a federation on 1 January. Edmund Barton becomes Prime Minister; the 7th Earl of Hopetoun becomes Governor-General. The first parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne. Immigration Restriction act was introduced- The White Australian Policy. The Australian National Flag was flown for the first time

1902 The Franchise Act guarantees women the right to vote in federal elections (by this stage, most states had already done this). However, it excludes most non-European ethnic groups, including Aboriginal people, unless already registered to vote on State roles.

1902 King Edward VII approved the design of the Australian flag.

1902 Breaker Morant is executed for having shot Boers who had surrendered

1903 The High Court of Australia is established with Samuel Griffith as the first Chief Justice.

1903 The Defence Act gives the federal government full control over the Australian Army

1903 Alfred Deakin elected Prime Minister

1904 A site at Dalgety, New South Wales chosen for the new national capital

1904 Chris Watson forms the first federal Labor (minority) government

1904 Fijian delegates sit in legislative council for Fiji

1905 British New Guinea becomes the possession of Australia, and is named Papua

1906 Britain and France rule over New Hebrides

1907 New Zealand becomes a dominion

1907 First elections for national assembly in Philippines

1908 Dorothea Mackellar publishes My Country

1908 The Dalgety proposal for the national capital is revoked, and Canberra is chosen instead

1909 The first powered aeroplane flight in Australia is made.

1909 Creation of separate Labour party in New Zealand

1910 First victory for Labor party under Andrew Fisher in Australian general election

1911 Universal military training established in New Zealand

1911 The Royal Australian Navy is founded

1911 The Northern Territory comes under Commonwealth control, being split off from South Australia

1911 The first national census is conducted.

1911 Australian Capital Territory proclaimed.

1912 Australia sends women to the Olympic Games for the first time

1912 Walter Burley Griffin wins a design competition for the new city of Canberra

1913 Wallis Islands become a French protectorate

1913 Foundation of United Federation of Labour and Social Democratic party in New Zealand

1913 The foundation stone for the city of Canberra is put in place

1914 Australian soldiers are sent to the First World War. This was first time Australians had fought under the Australian flag, as opposed to that of Britain's

1915 Britain annexes Gilbert and Ellice islands

1915 Australian soldiers land at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey on 25 April.

1915 Jervis Bay Territory comprising 6,677 hectares surrendered and becomes part of the Australia Capital Territory.

1915 Surfing is first introduced to Australia

1915 Billy Hughes became Prime Minister

1916-1918 Efforts to introduce national army conscription in Australia defeated in referenda

1916 Hotels are forced to close at 6 p.m., leading to the beginning of the "six o'clock swill"

1916 Australia suffers heavy casualties in the Western Front Battle of the Somme..

1916 The Returned Sailors' and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia, the forerunner to the Returned and Services League of Australia is founded

1916 The Labor government under Billy Hughes splits over conscription. First referendum on conscription is rejected

1917 Filipino National Guard organized in Philippine Islands

1917 Second referendum on conscription is rejected. Transcontinental railway linking Adelaide to Perth is completed.

1917 Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade launches last cavalry charge in modern warfare to capture Beersheba from the Ottoman Turks.

1918 Battle of Amiens: Australian troops spearhead 8 August offensive against Hindenberg Line: the "black day of the German Army". On 12 August, Australian commander General Sir John Monash is knighted in the field of battle by King George V

1918 First World War ends – 60,000 Australians dead.

1918 The Darwin Rebellion takes place, with 1,000 demonstrators demanding the resignation of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, John A. Gilruth.

1918 Queen Salote becomes queen of Tonga

1918 Influenza epidemic kills one fifth of population of Western Samoa

1919 Dry dock completed at Pearl Harbor in US territory of Hawaii

1919 Prime Minister Billy Hughes signs Treaty of Versailles: the first signing of an international treaty by Australia. Australia obtains League of Nations mandate over German New Guinea.

1920 New Zealand given mandate over Samoa

1920 Formation of a federal Country Party in Australia

1920 New Zealand becomes member of League of Nations

1920 The airline Qantas is founded

1921 Australia given mandate over German New Guinea

1921 Edith Cowan becomes the first woman elected to an Australian parliament

1922 The Smith Family charity is founded in Sydney

1923 Vegemite is first produced

1926 The first Miss Australia contest is held

1927 The tenth parliament is formally opened in Canberra, finalising the move to the new capital

1928 Bert Hinkler makes the first successful flight from Britain to Australia, and Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first flight from the United States to Australia. The Shrine of Remembrance is built.

1929 Uprising of Mau people of Samoa against New Zealand government

1929 Western Australia celebrates its centenary

1929 Labor returns to office under James Scullin. The Great Depression hits Australia.

1930 Batsman Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings

1930 Phar Lap wins his first Melbourne Cup

1931 Foundation of United Australia Party (UAP)

1931 Sir Douglas Mawson charts 4,000 miles of Antarctic coastline and claims 42% of the icy mass for Australia

1932 The Sydney Harbour Bridge opens

1932 The Labor government falls and Joseph Lyons becomes Prime Minister

1933 Australia takes control of large sector of Antarctica

1933 Western Australia votes at a rerefendum to secede from the Commonwealth, but the vote is ignored by both the Commonwealth and British governments

1935 First Labour government elected in New Zealand; many reforms follow

1936 Arbitration court of New Zealand fixes basic wage for man and wife and three children

1936 The last Thylacine dies

1937 Formation of New Zealand National Party, in opposition to Labour Party

1937 The radio series Dad and Dave begins

1938 Sydney hosts the Empire Games, the forerunner to the Commonwealth Games

1939 April, Prime Minister Lyons dies in office and is replaced by Robert Menzies and the first Menzies Government

1939 September, Australia enters the Second World War following the German Invasion of Poland. The 2nd Australian Imperial Force is raised.

1939 The first flight is made by an Australian-made warplane, the Wirraway

1939 Victoria is devastated by the Black Friday bushfires

1940 A team of scientists, under Howard Florey, develops penicillin

1940 Fascist Italy enters war, Royal Australian Navy engages Italian Navy in the early stages of the Battle of the Mediterranean.

1941 Japanese attack US fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; United States enters World War II

1941 3 Divisions of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force join operations in the Mediterranean. After initial successes against Italy, 2nd AIF suffered defeat against the Germans in Greece, Crete, and North Africa.

1941 Apr–Aug, Australian garrison (Rats of Tobruk) halt advance of Hitler's panzers for the first time during the Siege of Tobruk.

1941 Menzies resigns and John Curtin becomes Prime Minister in the Curtin Government of 1941–45.

1942 Naval victory of US fleet over Japanese fleet off Midway Island in the Pacific

1942 Feb, Fall of Singapore. 15,000 Australians become Prisoners of War of the Japanese

1942 Japanese air raids – almost 100 attacks against sites in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland (to 1943). Bombing of Darwin sees largest attack on Australia by a foreign power.

1942 The Royal Australian Navy and 6th and 7th Divisions of 2nd AIF are recalled from Mediterranean Theatre to participate in the anticipated Battle of Australia.

1942 Sparrow Force engages in guerilla campaign in Battle of Timor (to 1943)

1942 Battle of the Coral Sea – United States and Royal Australian Navy halt advance of the Japanese towards Port Moresby (Australian Territory of Papua)

1942 Battle of Kokoda Trail – Australian soldiers halt Japanese march on Port Moresby

1942 Aug–Sep, Australian forces inflict the first defeat on the Imperial Japanese Army in the Battle of Milne Bay.

1942 Jul–Nov, Australia's 9th Division plays crucial role in the First and Second Battle of El Alamein, which turned the North Africa Campaign in favour of the Allies.

1942 National daylight saving is introduced as a war time measure.

1942 The UK Statute of Westminster is formally adopted by Australia. The Statute formally grants Australia the right to pass laws that conflict with UK laws.

1943 Australia wins its first Oscar, with cinematographer Damien Parer honoured for Kokoda Front Line! documentary.

1943 2,815 Australian Pows die constructing Japan's Burma-Thailand Railway

1943 Australian forces engage Japan in New Guinea, Wau, and the Huon peninsula. (to 1944)

1944 Cowra breakout, mass escape of Japanese prisoners of war occurs in NSW.

1944 Japanese inflict Sandakan Death March on 2,000 Australian and British prisoners of war – only 6 survive. The single worst war crime perpetrated against Australians.

1944 Australian forces battle Japanese garrisons from Borneo to Bougainville.

1945 the Liberal Party of Australia is established with Robert Menzies as its first leader.

Australian forces lead Battle of Borneo

1945 7 May, Nazi Germany surrenders

1945 July, Prime Minister Curtin dies and is replaced by Ben Chifley and the Chifley Labor Government

1945 14 August, Japan Surrenders

1945 Australia becomes a founding member of the United Nations

1945 The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is held for the first time

1946 United States tests atomic bomb at Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands; continuing US and French nuclear testing on Pacific islands causes massive resentment

1946 Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell introduces the major post-war immigration scheme

1946 Norman Makin, is voted in as the first President of the United Nations Security Council.

1948 Minister for External Affairs, Dr. H.V. Evatt is elected President of the United Nations General Assembly.

1948 Australia becomes a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

1949 Construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme begins

1949 All indigenous ex-servicemen and any Indigenous Australians who are eligible to vote in State Elections (NSW, VIC, SA and TAS) are given an unrestricted right to vote in Federal Elections.

1949 The Nationality and Citizenship Act is passed. Rather than being identified as subjects of Britain, the Act established Australian citizenship for people who met eligibility requirements.

1949 Menzies returns to power as leader of the new Liberal Party Menzies Government.

1950 Australian troops are sent to the Korean War to assist South Korea. (to 1953)

1951 Voters reject a referendum to change the Constitution to allow the Menzies Government to ban the Communist Party

1951 Australia signs the ANZUS treaty with the United States and New Zealand

1952 First nuclear test conducted in Australian territory by the United Kingdom off the coast of Western Australia.

1954 Elizabeth II and Prince Philip make a royal visit; the Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov defects, leading to the Petrov Affair and another split in the Labor Party

1955 Democratic Labor Party splits from Australian Labor Party over concerns of Communist influence in the labour movement

1955 Australia becomes involved in Malayan Insurgency

1955 Hotels in New South Wales no longer have to close at 6 p.m., ending the "six o'clock swill"

1956 Television in Australia is launched.

1956 Melbourne holds the Olympics

1956 performing artist Barry Humphries introduces Edna Everage to the Australian stage

1957 the song "Wild One" makes Johnny O'Keefe the first Australian rock'n'roller to reach the national charts.

1957 Slim Dusty's Australian country music hit Pub With No Beer becomes the first Australian song to attain international chart success.

1959 The Antarctic Treaty limits exploitation of Antarctica

1962 Western Samoa becomes independent

1962 Robert Menzies' Commonwealth Electoral Act provided that all Indigenous Australians should have the right to enrol and vote at federal elections, removing remaining restrictions applying in QLD, WA and NT.

1962 Malayan Insurgency ends

1964 The Beatles tour Australia; 82 sailors die when HMAS Voyager sinks after collision with HMAS Melbourne; the editors of Oz magazine are charged with obscenity; PM Robert Menzies announces the reintroduction of compulsory military service for men aged from 18-25 years old; First troops sent to Vietnam War.

1965 Indigenous Australians gain right to vote in state of Queensland

1966 The ban on the employment of married women in the Commonwealth Public Service is lifted; Menzies retires as Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister and is succeeded by Harold Holt.

1966 Decimalisation; on 14 February the Australian currency is changed to dollars and cents, with the Australian Dollar replacing the Australian pound.

1967 Large areas of Hobart and south-eastern Tasmania are devastated by bushfires on 7 February that kill 62 people; Prime Minister Holt drowns and is succeeded by John Gorton; the constitution is changed to allow Aboriginal Australians to be included in the population count and for the federal government to legislate for them; Sydney is rocked by a series of brutal underworld killings; talkback radio is introduced; British comedian Tony Hancock commits suicide in Sydney; Gough Whitlam becomes leader of the Labor Party; Ronald Ryan becomes the last person legally executed in Australia.

1968 Australia signs the nuclear non-proliferation treaty; Aboriginal boxing champion Lionel Rose defeats Masahiko "Fighting" Harada in Japan to become the world bantamweight champion; Australia's first liver transplant operation is performed in Sydney;

1969 French conceptual artist Christo 'wraps' Little Bay in Sydney; renowned author-artists Norman Lindsay and May Gibbs die; the Australian production of the rock musical Hair premieres in Sydney; top pop groups The Easybeats and The Twilights break up; Tim Burstall directs2000 Weeks, the first all-Australian feature released since Charles Chauvel's Jedda in 1958

1970 More than 200,000 people participate in the largest demonstrations in Australian history, against the Vietnam War

1970 Tonga and Fiji gain independence from Britain

1971 Neville Bonner becomes the first Aborigine to become an Australian Member of Parliament; John Gorton resigns and is succeeded by William McMahon

1972 The 1971 Springbok tour sparks protest all throughout Australia. Premier of Queensland Joh Bjelke-Petersen declares a state of emergency in QLD in response to escalating protest.

1972 Daylight Saving is introduced to New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory.

1972 The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission rules that women doing the same job as men have the right to be paid the same wage.

1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy erected in response to the Coalition government's approval of exploration licences and mining tenements on reserves

1972 The first Labor government since 1949 is elected under the leadership of Gough Whitlam

1972 Australia recognizes the People's Republic of China

1972 Queensland abandons Daylight Saving.

1973 The Sydney Opera House is opened

1973 The White Australian Policy (established 1901) is officially dismantled

1973 Vietnam War ends

1973 The federal voting age is dropped from 21 to 18

1973 Unionists save the historic "The Rocks" area of Sydney from demolition by introducing "Green Bans"

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

1974 Darwin is devastated by Cyclone Tracy. Advance Australia Fair recognised as Australia's national song, but not as national anthem.

1975 A constitutional crisis occurs when Malcolm Fraser blocks supply, bringing the nation to a standstill until Governor-General John Kerr dismisses Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on 11 November 1975. Fraser wins elections and becomes Prime Minister

1975 The 'Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Act removes the right to appeal High Court decisions to the British Privy Council. Appeals to the Privy Council direct from State Supreme Courts remain until 1988.

1975 South Australia becomes the first state in Australia to legalise homosexuality between consenting adults in private.

1975 Whitlam government introduced the Aboriginal Land (NT) Bill into Parliament. The bill proposed land rights in the Northern Territory based on land claimed on grounds of need as well as traditional affiliation and traditional landowners maintaining control over mining and development.

1975 Papua New Guinea gains independence from Australia

1975 Asian immigration to Australia increases sharply; it continues to be high, making Australia more multicultural

1976 The Australian Capital Territory legalises homosexuality between consenting adults in private.

1977 Granville rail disaster killed eighty-three people

1978 First Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

1979 Australian women win the right to maternity leave

1979 Kakadu National Park and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are both proclaimed.

1980 Baby Azaria Chamberlain disappears from a campsite at Uluru (Ayers Rock), reportedly taken by a dingo. The Coalition wins the 1980 Australian federal election.

1980 Australia and New Zealand go through economic recession; both develop trade links with Asia

1981 A referendum is held in Tasmania to vote for whether or not the Franklin Dam should be built.

1982 Commonwealth Games held in Brisbane. The National Gallery of Australia is opened.

1983 Australia wins the America's Cup; Bob Hawke defeats Fraser and leads Labor back to government. The Australian Dollar is floated. The Ash Wednesday fires kill 71 people.

1984 Advance Australia Fair is proclaimed as Australia's official national anthem. The one dollar coin is introduced. Labor wins the 1984 Australian federal election. Medicare is established.

1984 New Zealand declared a nuclear-free zone; in 1985 Rainbow Warrior sunk by pro-nuclear agents

1985 The government grants the freehold title of a large area of land in central Australia, including prominent landmarks Uluru and Kata Tjuta, to the Mutitjulu people, who in turn give them a 99-year lease. The last state to do so (New South Wales) abolishes capital punishment.

1986 The Australia Act removes the right of appeal from State courts to the British Privy Council, making the High Court the final court of appeal in Australia. The Act also removes all remaining rights of the UK parliament to pass law for Australia. Anita Cobby murder in Sydney. Russell Street Bombing in Melbourne. Crocodile Dundee is released in Australia.

1986 Treaty of Rarotonga sets up South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone

1987 Hoddle Street Massacre kills 7 victims and injures 19, Queen Street Massacre kills 8 victims and injures 5. Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigns as Premier of Queensland after 19 years at the top.

1988 Australia celebrates its bicentenary, with large celebrations and major funding for capital works projects. The new Parliament House opens. Federal referendums on 4-year parliamentary terms, recognition of local government and other issues are defeated. Brisbane hosts World Expo '88.

1989 Newcastle Earthquake kills 13 people. ACT gains self-Government. The Kempsey bus crash and Grafton bus crash kill a total of 56 people.

1989 Queensland commences three-year trial of Daylight Saving.

1989 Rosemary Follett (Australian Labor Party) becomes the first Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory and the first woman to become head of government in an Australian state or territory.

1990 Royal Australian Navy deployed in preparation for the First Gulf War. Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female premier of an Australian state. Labor wins the 1990 federal election.

1991 Prime Minister Bob Hawke is replaced by Paul Keating. Seven people die in the Strathfield massacre. Prominent heart surgeon Victor Chang is gunned down. The Coode Island chemical storage facility in Melbourne explodes, leaving a toxic cloud hanging over the city for days.

1992 The High Court delivers the Mabo Decision, which rules that indigenous native title does exist. This effectively extinguishes the concept of terra nullius. New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner resigns.

1992 Queensland holds a Referendum on Daylight Saving, which is defeated with a 54.5% 'no' vote.

1993 Keating defeats John Hewson in the 1993 federal election; the Australian Greens stand candidates for the first time.

1995 The Northern Territory legalises voluntary euthanasia, but it is overruled by the federal government when Liberal MP Kevin Andrews proposes the "Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996"

1996 The High Court hands down the Wik Decision, which holds that indigenous native title can survive the granting of pastoral leases.

1996 Liberal John Howard becomes Prime Minister, defeating Paul Keating after a record 13 years of Labor government

1996 Howard Government leads all Australian states and territories agree to introduce uniform gun laws following the deaths of 35 people in the Port Arthur massacre

1997 Expelled Liberal MP Pauline Hanson forms the One Nation Party

1997 On 1 May 1997 Tasmania legalises homosexuality.

1997 Eighteen people die when the Bimbadene and Carinya Lodges collapse at Thredbo Alpine Village at 11.30 p.m. on 30 July

1998 A major strike results when Patrick Stevedores attempt to introduce non-union labour to reduce the influence of the Maritime Union of Australia

1998 The Australian Stock Exchange is demutualized and floated as a public company, becoming the world's first stock exchange to be listed on an exchange.

1999 Both houses of the federal parliament pass a Motion of Reconciliation signifying both recognition of and regret at past mistreatment of indigenous Australians.

1999 A referendum on changing to a republic is unsuccessful

1999 Howard Government deploys Australian forces to East Timor to lead the INTERFET mission, following violence in wake of East Timorese vote for independence.

2000 27th Olympic Games held in Sydney.

2000 Howard Government introduces a Goods and Services Tax.

2001 Australia celebrates centenary of Federation;

2001 Western Australia adopts a uniform Age of consent of 16.

2001 Australian forces deployed to War to topple Taliban for supporting Al Qaeda

2001 February - Sir Donald Bradman, Australia's most famous cricketer, dies at the age of 92.

2001 May - Churches rebuke Prime Minister John Howard for failing properly to acknowledge suffering of thousands of Aborigines under past assimilation policy. Howard has refused to apologise to "Stolen Generations" of Aborigines who as children were forcibly removed from their parents to live with whites

2001 August - Australia turns away hundreds of boat people over several months, the most prominent group having been rescued from a sinking ferry. Australia pays Nauru to detain many of them

2001 November - Howard wins a third term in general elections.

2002 2002 Bali bombings, the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia, killing 202 people, (including 88 Australians.

2002 - Aid agencies, rights groups and UN report criticise policy of holding asylum seekers in detention camps until their visa applications are processed. Woomera desert camp in South Australia sees riots, hunger strikes and escapes.

2003 January - Australia deploys troops to the Gulf ahead of a possible war. The move sparks public protests.

2003 Bushfire ravages the capital, Canberra. More than 500 homes are destroyed. Other fires rage across New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania

2003 February - Senate passes no-confidence motion against Prime Minister John Howard over his handling of Iraq crisis. It is Senate's first-ever vote of no-confidence in serving leader.

2003 May - Governor-General Peter Hollingworth resigns after admitting that, as an Anglican archbishop in the 1990s, he allowed a known paedophile remain a priest.

2003 July - Australia heads peacekeeping force intended to restore order in troubled Solomon Islands

2003 Australian military deployed to Iraq War to oust the Saddam Hussein regime for serial non-compliance with the 1991 Gulf War Peace Treaty.

2003 Northern Territory introdues uniform Age Of Consent set at 16 for everyone.

2003 New South Wales becomes the last State to have a Uniform Age of Consent at 16 for everyone.

2003 Australia hosts the Rugby World Cup, with the home side losing the final to England in Sydney

2004 A bomb explodes outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, Asia.

2004 Federal Election: Howard Government (Liberal-National Coalition) wins fourth term and defeats Mark Latham led Australian Labor Party.

2004 February - Race riots in district of Sydney, sparked by death of Aboriginal teenager.

2004 March - Parliamentary committee clears government of lying about threat posed by weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In July, report details intelligence failings over Iraq, Bali bombings, but clears government of manipulating Iraq intelligence.

2004 August - Government announces a multi-million dollar cruise missile programme, set to give Australia the region's "most lethal" air combat capacity.

2004 September - Bomb attack outside Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, kills at least nine, injures dozens more.

2004 October - John Howard wins fourth term as prime minister; his party extends its grip on parliament.

2004 John Howard took a tough stance on big issues, including asylum seekers and the Iraq war

2004 November - Death of Aboriginal man in police custody sparks rioting on Palm Island, off north-east coast.

2005 Sydney beachside suburb of Cronulla sees a protest against the alleged bashing of a beach lifeguard, developing into an alcohol-fuelled, racially-charged riot.

2005 January - Worst bush fires for more than 20 years kill nine people in South Australia.

2005 July - Australia says it will deploy 150 special forces troops in Afghanistan to counter rebel attacks. The original contingent was withdrawn in 2002. Further deployments are announced in 2006.

2005 November - As parliament debates controversial new anti-terrorism laws, police say they have foiled a planned "large-scale terrorist attack".

2005 December - Racially-motivated violence, involving thousands of youths, hits Sydney

2006 The Commonwealth Games are held in Melbourne.

2006 Australian Forces are again deployed to East Timor to help stabilize the country. (to 2007)

2006 January - Australia and East Timor sign a deal to divide billions of dollars in expected revenues from oil and gas deposits in the Timor Sea. Under the agreement, discussions on a disputed maritime boundary are postponed.

2006 April-May - Australian troops spearhead peacekeeping forces in the Solomon Islands and East Timor after unrest in both countries.

2006 August - Proposed legislation, under which future asylum seekers who arrive by boat will be sent to offshore detention camps, is scrapped after a revolt by ruling party lawmakers.

2006 December - Amid the worst drought in a century, the government slashes economic growth forecasts, reflecting a slump in farm output. In January PM John Howard declares water security to be Australia's biggest challenge.

2007 Sydney hosts APEC summit.

2007 Australia avoids recession amidst Global Financial Crisis (to 2010)

2007 November - Opposition Labor Party, under Kevin Rudd, sweeps to power with landslide victory over John Howard.

2007 December - Prime Minister Rudd signs documents ratifying Kyoto protocol on climate change, reversing the previous government's policy.

2007 Federal Election: Kevin Rudd (Australian Labor Party) defeats John Howard (Liberal-National Coalition) and becomes Prime Minister.

2008 Kevin Rudd leads bi-partisan Parliamentary apology to the Stolen Generation.

2008 Longest heatwave for an Australian Capital City recorded in Adelaide.

2008 Sydney hosts Catholic World Youth Day

2008 Quentin Bryce becomes first female Governor General of Australia.

2008 Australia ends its policy of sending asylum seekers into detention on small Pacific islands, with the last refugees leaving Nauru.

2008 July - Labor government abandons policy - introduced in 1990s - of holding all asylum seekers in detention centres until their cases are heard.

2009 Black Saturday: Massive bushfires swept across Victoria, resulting in 173 fatalities.

2009 May - Australia announces plans to more than double its submarine fleet and buy 100 US Stealth fighters as part of a $70bn military modernisation programme.

2010 February - Five Muslim men are sentenced to lengthy prison terms for conspiracy to carry out attacks.

2010 Kevin Rudd challenged and replaced as leader of the Labor Party by Julia Gillard; Gillard becomes the first female Prime Minister.

2010 Mary McKillop canonised as Australia's first Saint of the Roman Catholic Church.

2010 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologises for the policy of sending thousands of children to former colonies under a migrant programme that ended 40 years previously.

2010 Federal Election results in hung Parliament and narrow victory by Julia Gillard (ALP) over Tony Abbott (Lib-Nat Coalition); Liberal Ken Wyatt becomes the first Aborigine elected to the Australian House of Representatives

2011 December - Economy grows unexpectedly fast in the third quarter of 2011, driven by construction and mining. GDP rose 2.5% on the year, whereas analysts had expected 2.1%

2011 State of Queensland affected by major flooding followed by Cyclone Yasi.

2012 January 26 - Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott escorted from protesters by riot police on Australia Day. Protesters were acting on false information conveyed to them by a woman linked to Gillard's office.

2012 February - Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd resigns to mount a challenge to Prime Minister Gillard's leadership, but is defeated.

2012 July - Controversial carbon tax, which penalises big polluters, comes into force. Prime Minister Gillard says it is needed to meet climate change obligations; opponents say it will cost jobs and raise prices.

2012 August - Five Australian troops are killed in Afghanistan in what Prime Minister Gillard says is Australia's deadliest day in combat since the Vietnam War.

2012 September - After an independent panel recommends setting up holding centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to cope with rising numbers of asylum-seekers, the government says it will send the first group for processing in Nauru. Australia also signs an agreement with Papua New Guinea to conduct offshore processing on Manus Island.

2013 January - Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard says elections will be held in September, hoping to use the long run-in to recoup support.

2013 March - A chaotic and abortive leadership challenge bounces Prime Minister Gillard into a major cabinet reshuffle to oust supporters of long-standing rival Kevin Rudd. The previous month the Greens dropped their alliance with Labor, but pledged to keep the government in power.

2013 June - After months of infighting, Kevin Rudd manages to oust Julia Gillard as Labor leader and prime minister in a parliamentary party vote.

2013 July - Australia reaches deal with Papua New Guinea that will allow it to ship asylum seekers arriving by boat onwards to its Pacific neighbour.

2013 Papua New Guinea will receive generous aid in return, and the offshore processing centre on its Manus Island will be significantly expanded to hold up to 3,000 people.

2013 September - Parliamentary elections. Landslide victory for Liberal-National Coalition, led by Tony Abbott.

2013 October - Government adopts new policy of naval vessels intercepting boats of migrants and directing them back to Indonesia, which is followed by a dramatic reduction in arrivals.

2014 March - Australia takes a leading role in search for missing Malaysian Airlines plane MH370, thought to have been lost in the southern Indian Ocean.

2014 April - Japan and Australia reach an agreement over a trade deal that will lower tariffs between the two nations.

2014 September - Australia says it is sending 600 military advisors to Iraq as part of effort against Islamic State group.

2014 Police carry out the nation's biggest ever counter-terrorism raids, with 15 arrests in Sydney and Brisbane, sparked by intelligence reports that Islamic extremists were planning random killings.

2014 December - Islamist Man Haron Monis takes 18 people hostage in Sydney cafe; two hostages and gunman die when police storm premises.

2015 March - Parliament passes law requiring its internet and mobile phone providers to store customer data for two years as anti-terror measure.

2015 June - Government announces 20-year plan to develop the infrastructure of the north, including transport and water resources.

2015 September - Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull replaces Tony Abbott as prime minister after a successful Liberal Party leadership challenge.

2016 April - Prime Minister Turnbull announces plan to hold early parliamentary and Senate elections in June, after Senate rejects government bill twice.

2016 July - An early general election sees Prime Minister Turnbull's conservative Liberal-National coalition secure the narrowest of majorities over the opposition Labor Party.

2016 August - Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accuse the Australian government of condoning the systematic abuse of refugees and asylum seekers at its camp on Nauru. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says the claims will be investigated.

2016 China says Australia's decision to block two Chinese companies from buying a controlling stake in the country's largest electricity network will seriously impede future investment in Australia.

2016 Australia agrees to close a controversial asylum seeker detention centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island but says none of the 850 people held there will be resettled on Australian soil.

2016 Linda Burney becomes the first indigenous woman to be elected to Australia's lower house of parliament.

2016 September - Australia says it will close its permanent research station on Macquarie Island, a remote post between Australia and Antarctica due to lack of funds.

2016 Controversial politician Pauline Hanson says Australia is in danger of being "swamped by Muslims" and calls for an end to further Muslim immigration and a ban on the wearing of burqas.

2016 Australia acknowledges that its warplanes took part in a US-led raid in Syria which Russia says killed up to 90 Syrian government soldiers.

2016 November - Government's bid to hold a referendum on whether to legalise same-sex marriage is narrowly defeated.

2016 Australia says refugees held in detention centres on the Pacific islands will be resettled in the United States in a "one-off deal".

2016 Islamic State militant Neil Prakash, described as Australia's "most wanted terrorist" who was thought to have been killed in an air strike in Iraq , is arrested in Turkey.

2016 December - Police arrested five men suspected of planning a terrorist attack in Melbourne on Christmas Day.

2017 January - Indonesia suspends military cooperation with Australia after material allegedly insulting the country's founding principles is found on display at an Australian military base.

2017 December - Australia legalises same-sex marriage.
